"Trump's Personal Pathology is America's Foreign Policy"

An absolutely brutal dissection of Trump's psyche and the dangers of his Presidency.

A few snippets, it's long...

The Mayo Clinic describes narcissistic personality disorder as “a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others.” Mayo further explains that “beneath this mask of extreme confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that’s vulnerable to the slightest criticism.”

Does any of that sound familiar?

Then compare Mayo’s list of symptoms to the multi- faceted demands of democratic leadership in a dangerous and complex world. Those afflicted with NPD “have an exaggerated sense of self-importance”; “have a sense of entitlement”; and “require constant, excessive admiration.” They “expect to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it.”

As a result, he entered office unable to appreciate America’s objective strengths in conducting our foreign relations. These matchless blessings included friendly neighbors; peerless economic vitality; our leadership of important global institutions; the strength of our alliances and multilateral relationships; and a reputation, for all our faults, as a democracy which embraces political freedom and human rights. Encased in his feral inner landscape, Trump saw these assets as vulnerabilities.

Birds are starving all over the world...

Here's a cheery thought to start the week. All over the world, for the past few years, birds have been starving to death. Some of it is attributable to those clever Chinese climate hoaxsters. Some of it also is attributable to general and casual environmental vandalism. But birds are starving to death all over the world.

(H/t to Ben See—@ClimateBen—on the electric Twitter machine for collecting all the stories.)

Anyone else worried he will declare a National Emergency today?

And that the shutdown will continue? I'm certainly not going to watch or listen, but I will be checking DU and TPM and DailyKos this afternoon...