26 Comments

Enjoy your vacation, Ruth!

Expand full comment

Vacation? What's that??? Anyway, enjoy!

Expand full comment

I’m still amazed almost every day when I hear someone dismiss Trump’s threats as political strategy only. They say there’s no real intent in his words to follow through! That’s, excuse my language, is pure BS! He has every intention to regain power and will use any means to keep it! His authoritarian movement must be taken seriously! We simply can’t be Nero and fiddle away!

Expand full comment

Totally agree John. The prospect of living under a second Trump administration is chilling. Ruth is correct. We’ve been warned. We cannot allow that to happen.

Expand full comment

Trump has groomed his people with techniques like his promotion of binary thinking. You're either with the deep state or you're against them. If you're not with me, you're for the deep state. Trump good, Dems evil. ........................Zero nuance to be seen here.

He also likes to say that he is protecting his followers from the evil outsiders. He loves to say that it's not Trump they're after, it's you, my followers. They feel threatened by this supposed attack and huddle close to their savior. It simply polarizes the nation further, which is what he wants. He's building an army of followers so strident that they would be willing to kill for him. This is classic narcissistic triangulation. If this sounds a bit like the Manson clan, it should.

Expand full comment

That really gives me the chills and makes me feel sick. To think this could really actually happen here in the US is just beyond words. Great comment Steve.

Expand full comment

Thanks Ann. Trump suffers from the Dark Tetrad Personailty. These people are highly manipulative and dangerous. Most of the world's worst leaders have had this personality; psychopathy, sadism, Machiavellianism and narcissism. It is rule by the worst-- kakistocracy.

Expand full comment

Manson, Jim Jones, & Trump have very similar characteristics! All are extremely dangerous!

Expand full comment

They have no problem killing people if they feel they can get away with it. Pinochet is another example of a sociopath who killed by proxy. And to think we have people in the US cheering Trump on. WTF?

Expand full comment

I found a pretty good article about the Dark Tetrad. OMG! It’s scary! This guy T**** is one sick man. Worse than I ever thought. https://www.insider.com/dark-tetrad-personality-traits-what-they-are-and-what-they-mean-2018-10

Expand full comment

The reason why these people are so dangerous is that they have no conscience; they don't know right from wrong. They don't have an ethical guard rail.

Expand full comment

Another great interview. Have a wonderful and well-deserved vacation.

Expand full comment

I just became a paid subscriber. I appreciate all the work you do and the knowledge you share. Most of it is horrifying, but I would rather have a clear-eyed view of the possibilities so that I can do my small part to resist rather than wake up to a dictatorship one day.

Expand full comment

Welcome to Lucid, I am so glad I joined. I have gotten a lot out of my experiences here. I share your view about knowing the horrifying truth and then often wonder why it calms me. I think it is because it aligns the reality I am experiencing with a rational set of facts. IDK =]

Expand full comment

Ruth has emerged as one of the country's leading experts on authoritarianism. I always learn form her expertise!

Enjoy your vacation!

Expand full comment

Have fun Ruth!

Expand full comment

Glad to be a subscriber! I love when I see you on MSNBC! We must all hear what you have to share!

Expand full comment

Thanks again, Ruth. Enjoy your vacation.

Expand full comment

Enjoy your vacation Ruth. You earned it. As you previously said, self-care is essential as things are only going to intensify as the 2024 election gets closer.

Hoping people are listening and taking your warning to heart.

Expand full comment

Warnings each and every single day! IF Trump returned to office, and we suffer disastrous results, WE the People deserve what we receive! Get off the chair, get out there and register! Most of all be prepared to VOTE BLUE! We must get the House back, hold on to the Senate, and take over ALL powers politically! Make ourselves heard and mean it! The present Supreme Court would be so different IF Hillary Clinton had been elected! WE the People got sluggish, and Trump the con man/little neo-dictator walked in. This CANNOT happen again, but it is up to YOU!

Expand full comment

Thank you!

Expand full comment

Keyword: History

Expand full comment

Positive: Love the picture. Reminds me of sailing off Vancouver Island at sunset, as well as Pensacola Bay a few years later. Wonderful.

Negative and true: I missed seeing you with Ali Velchi on MSNBC. What you say is always good reminders of our current state of danger. I feel like screaming at and shaking some of the ones giving us "news" (I don't mean Fox nonsense). They seem to be lollygagging and speaking about stuff that means so little compared to the danger we are all in. Dems and many usually sensible Americans don't seem to be truly awake and alert to reality and the possibility of future destruction. I once found dictionary words I typed on to 4 pages to describe Trump and others like him. He definitely is a psychopath but the one word that fits him and his followers best is DESTROYER! Ruthie B.

Expand full comment

Excellent photo! Question: What do Donald Trump and Robert Oppenheimer have in common? Both are ‘destroyers of worlds.’

Expand full comment