Marycat, your 10-year experience as a court reporter must have been rewarding. Were and/or are you a lawyer? I’m not. Are you offering a legal opinion? You seem very confident, even adamant, that you’re right and others are wrong.
I agree: “… appearing via zoom is a privilege for rich, "special" criminals like Trump.” Hence, there were opportunities for him to take advantage of privileges available to “ ‘special’ criminals like Trump.” “Criminal Trump”did no request the privilege of Zoom appearance that appear to be sometimes available to his privileged class; as a corrupt, fascist illegitimate billionaire. He sought to, instead, profit from the pathetic role of ‘Victim,’ yet another scam.
Trump thrives while playing his many roles, except while sensing we’re onto his scam. Con artist don’t like to be exposed. They become stressed out and mistakes more common. They lose their aura; the respect from all but diehards. Collapse usually follows. Hence, he’s a danger to himself and others. Failure to incarcerate him, to place him in protective custody, bordered on DOJ’s malpractice. I suspect that DOJ’s failure was strategic; on purpose.
Since when has fascist, mafioso, traitor, etc. Trump been “following the law?”
As to “The pandemic is basically over…” it’s not true. Look it up. People are still dying, long Covid remains a serious concern; issues troubling to everyone other than Pandemic deniers seeking to appease Trumpian agitators and Pollyannas who profit from the appearance of normalcy.
With respect to “defendants generally cannot appear in court via Zoom,” as a non lawyer, I hesitate to comment, but will. (Lawyers in the Lucid community: please weigh in.)
The statement was qualified with “generally;” allowing for exceptions to the rule. Hence, Trump could have conceivably requested the opportunity to appear in court by Zoom, had he made thru counsel the appropriate motion; he did not.
DJT did not because as a performer, a drama and publicity addict, a narcissist with an insatiable need for attention, a grifter profiting from his everlasting scams, he knew instinctively that he would profit from the appearance before the judge and/or magistrate.
Yes, he played the role of victim, agitated his pathetic, but dangerous White supremacists, fascist, domestic terrorists, his cult/base; anticipating the civil war he intends (try to) create if he loses in 2024 (if the MAGA GOP fails to cheat enough before and during the upcoming elections.)
The spectacle was brazen, masterfully choreographed, and obvious to anyone paying attention; unless in denial as most if not all in his cult members are.
Marycat, I will depart from my usual practice of not dignifying uncivil outbursts with a response.
I will say that your egregious and disrespectful street fighting thuggish words are inappropriate for both the street and/within Lucid; although, we who revere truth and truth telling expect to encounter occasionally bullying as part of our pro bono work.
I urge you to seek counseling since it’s unhealthy to take comments personally, especially in this nurturing and supporting platform, setting and community. We may attack the message, not the messenger.
Having said that, I reserve the right to respectfully respond to any comment that seems deserving of a response.
If we submit a comment we ought to be willing to have said comment addressed and even challenged, and the encounter should be respectful; we do so as friends, family, community with the objective of finding the truth and making this a better world; together; while in solidarity we seek to defeat fascism.
I have no authority within Lucid, but consider your choice of words and writing style an attempt to intimidate and encourage self-censorship rather than stimulate civil discourse. The apparent bullying and thuggish conduct, the intimidation, that I sense and feel, anticipated while we’re in the midst of a fascist surge, will motivate me only to persevere, to be better at what I do; challenge mis or disinformation, offer some of what I’ve learned during an 81-year journey—to more forcefully and courageously speak my truth in spite of the bullies and thugs I encounter.
Marycat, I demand an apology. I should be treated as I treat others, respectfully. I welcome Lucid’s intervention/mediation. If I’ve been disrespectful I ask that it be brought to my attention, with specifics,
Yep. I wonder if we can take this back minimally to when rump knew about covid and allowed Elaine Chao to send China 18 tons of PPEs and x number of ventilators mid-January. He knew we had it in the US and lied about it while totally depleting (after he literally stole PPEs governors were getting without federal help (Gov. Hogan, MD told us about it). Repubs allowed it while Pelosi and democrats were trying not to kill us by telling the truth. At that time, a commenter on the WaPo referred to repubs as murderers. Crazy and wish it wasn't.
Fascism has no empathy, sympathy, remorse, compassion, kindness, honesty or other virtues because fascism is a reflection of its sociopathic creator, Mussolini. It's no accident that nearly all fascist leaders have been sociopaths/psychopaths. They have no virtues.
I’d prefer the Mussolini hanging upside down version in front of halls of Congress, with baseball bats in the hands of those he’s done wrong to... all of us here certainly!
I agree! Imagine how cathartic it would be for those who have been wronged or lost loved ones to the way he handled C-19 if we could all show up with torches and pitchforks!!!
Steve, I agree: Fascists have no empathy, a characteristic of psychopaths/!sociopaths; the latter more successful than the former.
Mussolini may have coined the fascist label, but it should be shared more generously. I wouldn’t argue against referring to Franco as a fascist.
Many fear to liberally ascribe the adjective because it’s shocking how widespread fascist traits have been and still are, at home and abroad. Psychopathy & sociopathy should be considered pandemic.
The U.S. may have been fascist since its founding. This, to me, may be worthy of further study.
The climate crisis, yet another existential threat, reminds me to advocate for adding environmental plunder to the list of traits fascists seem to share.
With psychopathy and sociopathy being as common as they are, I feel that fascism is always lingering just under the surface in society, waiting for some fool like Trump to come along and resurrect it.
Steve, for the sake of splitting hairs, I’ll suggest that Trump is no “fool.” I’m sympathetic, as to the pejorative, but remain concerned that we may unwittingly underestimate and trivialize the dire existential threat posed by Trump and those of his ilk; exceedingly dangerous fascist terrorists. He is deranged, a malignant narcissist, an evil genius, a sociopath, to say the least, but he’s no “fool.” I fear that even in jest usage of the term might lead some into denial and exacerbate the dire Machiavellian threat he represents. I don’t believe any “fool” could have succeeded in harming the U.S. as much as he did and does. I respectfully and painfully suggest that the “fools” may have been everybody but Trump. Even if he spends the rest of his life behind bars, DJT, his cult, and those they worked for succeeded in significantly harming America, their hated “Other.”
Yeah, and we see it constantly. I have an image in my brain of an obviously very poor ... my word would be peasant, on his knees during their covid which decimated the population, wanting Bolsonaro's adoration. It was sickening. Every time I saw him, I saw rump the obvious equivalent which was compounded by Bannon going to Brazil to help with the coup.
"Cruelty is the Point" recording. We all better know why at this time and rump and daddy put a "c" on condo applications and it didn't mean "confidential" that was a hint. For me it was that NYT's ad in 1989 that I won't regurgitate against the Central Park 5. Annnnddd (sorry, small rant) the gov. of FL has promised to slit people's throat the first day in office. So, sociopath or psychopath, the end result appears to be the same.
(Ruth, I don't know if you have any pull with your super interviews but on Katie Phang just now, the statement came out on closed caption that the FL governor was going to "slip" their throats. We're probably smart enough to know that's not the word, though, and for me, it's a laugh with seriousness driving behind it.)
Trump’s world constantly looks for approval and loyalty. Then, Trump steps back and lets those loyalists take the blame and punishment! Hope this third indictment does not allow Trump to turn his head, walk away, and continue to pile up the lies! He needs to be removed from our national scene! Trump is not fit to ever serve!
A couple of decent things happened - yes, rump is a great propagandist with the help of all the enablers. Yes, his followers die for him (literally) but the numbers of supporters of the craziest of them is still in the mid 30s (poll, in which I don't believe but want to :) from this morn).
I didn't realize the arraignment could've been done by zoom. Argh and expected from years ago. But the analysis by someone on CNN was about how fidgety rump was. I think she said he looked afraid (may not have been that strong). Since he has a psychosis and he is playing a role, was he really nervous or was that part of act (what I tend to think a "strongman" would do - look worried when he has shown us he's incapable of feeling and enjoys cruelty)?
This comment really summed it up, "The strongman is nothing without enablers." Enter Lisa's response.
I'd like to say more but I better not other than, yes, he did. Again, he wants sympathy so is he? He really needs to wear a burlap bag. We'd know who was under it and it would be a new kind of attention?
A while back (I can't remember when), I was watching a Sci-Fi/Fantasy show (can't remember the name - but I DO remember MINE! LOL) And the "hero" told the people who were suffering under the antagonist to "Ignore him. He'll disappear. He needs you to see and believe in him"
As people started following those instructions, the antagonist started to fade as people turned their backs on him. He was pleading for their attention, and promising things he couldn't/wouldn't deliver)
As the people walked a way from him, he finally disappeared. Damn! I wish I remembered the name of that show!! That scene has stayed with me all through the former guy's attempt to ensconce himself as the grand Poobah.
I don't mean this as a negative, but it sounds fabulous and now I want to watch it. I did variations of a search but nothing showed. So, may you dream and have the name drop into your long-term memory and tell us.
THE existential questions, i.m.o., are: (1) HOW can Trump & Associates game the system over the next 15-16 months? (2) HOW can that gaming be thwarted and stopped? (3) WHAT effective role(s) do we have in the thwarting and stopping?
Important to me is to not get caught up in what Eric Berne called an "Ain't It Awful" pastime and game, nor in repeated lamenting. Rather, to invest energy and time in sharp awareness and countering moves.
I think one important set of moves in that regard is the set posed by David Pepper in "Saving Democracy." But that set is focused on the long term and, to an extent, assumes we have a decade in which to move and counter-move. And another important investment of energy, this one toward perceptual sharpness and, besides what we are getting from you, Ruth, is in grasping the study put out by Lilliana Mason in "Radical American Partisanship."
To this observer, Jack Smith’s indictments are air tight. But can his delay tactics run out the clock? Trump is a drowning man, and drowning people pull down everything they can grab onto in their desperation. So I expect him to pull out all the stops. As he so famously said “this will be wild.”
Ruth, the strongman example that comes immediately to mind is Benjamin Netanyahu although you have cited many others in your writings.
If he has 30% core supporters we have to make sure that the outcome reflects the will of the majority 70%.
Dr. Eric Berne, a blast from the past, now that’s a memory jog. If you know Eric’s work, I invite you to view the Karpman Drama Triangle on a National scale. Very interesting dynamics. The beauty of Eric’s design is its adaptability from individual to a social structural understanding. Above all else, we watch the process. Thanks for the post.
I do know his work; trained as a TA group therapist a long time ago; and know the Karpman triangle as well. I don't know if you know IFS (Internal Family Systems) work; it can be looked at as a further development of TA in some (only some) ways. Hallmark of the approach is that all of us are collections of multiple sub-personalities, usually called "parts," and those parts divvy up into 3 categories--Manager-protectors, Firefighter-Protectors, and wounded parts kept in exile by those other parts, called Exiles. Cece Sykes, a leading light in the IFS community, in her book on addictive processes, puts those parts into a triangle that is rather like Steven Karpman's triangle. Rough equivalent (at least): Managers/Rescuers...Firefighters/Persecutors...Exiles/Natural Child. I think one can play around with that triangle as well in looking at the national picture.
I remember Dr Berne from my college days. I can see the Karpman Drama Triangle in Trump's propaganda mechanism. Persecutor, The Deep State-- Victim, the GOP-- rescuer, Trump. He makes his people feel wounded and needy, then he promises to protect his flock from harm with his grandiose omnipotence. It's like a mother hen extending her wings to protect her chicks. It's the ultimate bamboozle.
I still don't understand why there aren't at least a few more Republicans who prefer democracy to autocracy and are willing to say so by telling the truth abut Trump, the election, etc. I get that many are afraid of losing their seats, but--really? The rush to enable, given the stakes, is to me incomprehensible.
Most of the GOP don't feel that they are abandoning democracy; they feel that they are saving it. None of the MAGA folks I've spoken with, believe that what Trump is selling is fascism. Most GOP politicians also don't beleive it's fascism they're buying.
I see it as an act and apparently it may be the side benefit of going to elite schools (ask zuck or hawley or many others). Those, who we see as idiots (but aren't), get aways with it by lying and denying and worse. rump is selling power and money and the root to it is through lying, then fascism to a dictatorship.
Yeah, the wealth/corporate class has long wanted an atmosphere where they ruled the nation. They were not happy with just influencing Congress on K Street DC via lobbying, they wanted the whole ball of wax. Fascism would give them that control. Our current neoliberal capitalism is just a means to that end.
Follow the six Trump co-conspirators, fake electors and charges in this interactive multimedia guide which also has an audio version of the indictment.
Whether our constitutional order will survive or not remains to be seen. We are headed to a very ugly period of narcissistic collapse which occurs when narcissists ability to uphold their grandiose image is threatened. As a result, Trump and his followers will become increasingly enraged, resulting in impulsivity, intense lashing out, harm to others, projecting their own hatred and evil onto others. and the trashing of our entire constitutional system. The Republican party of enablers will not survive this, but, being a dying elephant, it could still kick our constitutional system to death before its demise, and who knows what beast will then take its place.
Trump's inner circle was chosen by him because they were just like him. Since he is a sociopath, you can bet that those around him are likely psychopaths or sociopaths. When their mask of sanity comes off, all hell with be unleashed and the true monsters will be revealed.
And in our localities, we should engage in conversations with everyone we meet, to help lower the temperature with kindness, good manners as proactive measures of society.
Exceptional review, with excellent links. I took your advice on self care, just got back from the Allagash on Wednesday. I find the noise of living deafening. Robert Frost understood the extraordinary gift of silence. I think it important to remember that while living is essential, 95% of it is just noise. I picked and ate a beautiful blueberry on the edge of a Talus Slope, something a Strongman would never know about. Have a good w/e folks, remember, yearly renewal coming up. This is an important place to be.
I really appreciated that there are SOME school administrators who see the value in teaching TRUTH about history and have invited you to speak to their teachers about its importance!
When I was in 7th grade, I was shown films from WWII of people being lined up at the edge of a pit and being shot and falling back on a pile of bodies. Of course, since then, we've seen so many more horrendous acts of war/fascism and "strongmen".
I DO have a question regarding the "strongman" playbook/mentality: Is this something that comes "naturally" to them???? Through history we've seen the likes of many such individuals...but I'm wondering if it was developed as a self-defense/suppressed anger behavior from childhood on, that the person intuitively knew how to manipulate people? Or did they study history and pick out behaviors at which they were adept.
In other words, is it an inherent psychosis/pre-disposition to this, or is developed/learned?
I beleve that authoritarian leaders are closely linked to primary and secondary psychopathy. The primary type are born with this personality disorder; the secondary type develop it at a young age. The secondary type is AKA sociopathy. Both are considered anti-social personality disorder.
Authoritarianism is a reflection of the leader's mental state. From Pinochet to Stalin to Trump, all had/have a similar personality disorder.
There's evidence that some of the manipulation seen in these tyrants is practiced, so it's not all innate.
Sometimes it seems to me that the paths people with these mental health issues take are a result of countless traumas, abuses, and a coping technique to developed to survive; and their lack of opportunity to work through them via professional guidance and help.
Once the brain gets "positive feedback" from a behavior that's considered inappropriate in "normal" society/situations, it seem to keep seeking bigger and better conditions to get MORE of whatever it needs to survive (Endorphins?)
There is not much that a therapist can do for primary and secondary psychopaths. Many of them end up in prison, as they have no conscience. They are definitely risk takers, so endorphins could be part of it.
When are the American Bar Association, other lawyer's associations and law school deans going to discuss the way Republican lawyers have been pushing and defending the Big Lie, filing frivolous lawsuits and trying to undermine the ability of people to vote? I don't recall much of anything since Jan. 6
Consideration of the ABA should be given to denying many of these ineffective lawyers to continue practicing law. REMOVE their licenses! Dangerous characters.
The legal process by those attorneys has really exposed the unnecessary gamesmanship for the dollar. I grew up thinking highly of attorneys and now I have learned. I like your focus on the law school deans especially -- they are rearing the future. I hope they are strengthening ethical reasoning, dissuading monetary gains. This profession has suffered.
Thank you for the links to supplement your brilliant writing and scholarship.
Viewing the Trump mockery from a logical perspective, there appears to be three options. 1. Plea deal - unlikely, considering his ego. 2. Focus on one confused juror that would lead to a mistrial - terrifying consideration. 3. Run out the clock - equally terrifying if Trump would win the Republican nomination and the presidency.
It's baffling to me that a twice impeached former president, with three indictments and a civil assault verdict against him could continue to hold sway over a significant minority of US citizens. I'm afraid the chickens have come home to roost. The United States institutions - public, corporate, educational, and others - have continued refusing to accept the truth of our history, culture, and heritage and have spawned a society that relishes the falsehoods. We should not seek what is called justice and pray for forgiveness.
David, did you mean to say: “We should not seek what is called justice and pray for forgiveness.
Or, did you mean: “We should seek justice; pray for forgiveness and make amends when unjust?” I’m inclined to assume, hopefully, you meant the latter, not the former.
I agree with everything you well said. except for the last sentence which seems in conflict with the core of your commentary.
Thank you, Robert, for your comments. I tend to agree with you, as you provide a reasonable biblical reference (one of my favorites) to Isaiah 1:17 "
Seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless.
plead the case of the widow.
However, that particular verse does not reflect my recent comment. My comment, which is my current thought, is we do not have an American dream; we have an American myth. In my more cynical moments, an American nightmare. The idealized United States is a land of opportunity, a place where everyone has fundamental rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Our citizenry has been indoctrinated in these ideals since the founding of the nation. The list of vile acts produced by this country in the name of justice, rights, or other platitudes are too numerous to list within this forum. An authoritarian, like a Trump, is not contrary to our basic principles, but a symptom of what we, or a significant number of our countrymen, profess. To echo another biblical phrase, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." Isn't it mystifying, maybe terrifying, that nearly half of our population seems intent on giving him another opportunity to create destruction? Maybe not so mystifying; authoritarianism is part of what we are. I fear that our past is so entrenched within our society, divine intervention of some sort is our last hope.
No matter how many times you explain it, I cannot understand why any American would want him in the White House again. I’m embarrassed for this country.
Agree, I am chagrined that fellow Americans would want such chaos to return. Isn't normal life enough? Peaceful, boring government, as in the days of yore -- except we need to pay closer attention as voters and not be asleep-at-the-wheel.
He was given the option to appear by Zoom, from my understanding and reporting
Marycat, your 10-year experience as a court reporter must have been rewarding. Were and/or are you a lawyer? I’m not. Are you offering a legal opinion? You seem very confident, even adamant, that you’re right and others are wrong.
I agree: “… appearing via zoom is a privilege for rich, "special" criminals like Trump.” Hence, there were opportunities for him to take advantage of privileges available to “ ‘special’ criminals like Trump.” “Criminal Trump”did no request the privilege of Zoom appearance that appear to be sometimes available to his privileged class; as a corrupt, fascist illegitimate billionaire. He sought to, instead, profit from the pathetic role of ‘Victim,’ yet another scam.
Trump thrives while playing his many roles, except while sensing we’re onto his scam. Con artist don’t like to be exposed. They become stressed out and mistakes more common. They lose their aura; the respect from all but diehards. Collapse usually follows. Hence, he’s a danger to himself and others. Failure to incarcerate him, to place him in protective custody, bordered on DOJ’s malpractice. I suspect that DOJ’s failure was strategic; on purpose.
Marycat, I find amusing & disingenuous:
“It's about obeying
the law.”
Since when has fascist, mafioso, traitor, etc. Trump been “following the law?”
As to “The pandemic is basically over…” it’s not true. Look it up. People are still dying, long Covid remains a serious concern; issues troubling to everyone other than Pandemic deniers seeking to appease Trumpian agitators and Pollyannas who profit from the appearance of normalcy.
With respect to “defendants generally cannot appear in court via Zoom,” as a non lawyer, I hesitate to comment, but will. (Lawyers in the Lucid community: please weigh in.)
The statement was qualified with “generally;” allowing for exceptions to the rule. Hence, Trump could have conceivably requested the opportunity to appear in court by Zoom, had he made thru counsel the appropriate motion; he did not.
DJT did not because as a performer, a drama and publicity addict, a narcissist with an insatiable need for attention, a grifter profiting from his everlasting scams, he knew instinctively that he would profit from the appearance before the judge and/or magistrate.
Yes, he played the role of victim, agitated his pathetic, but dangerous White supremacists, fascist, domestic terrorists, his cult/base; anticipating the civil war he intends (try to) create if he loses in 2024 (if the MAGA GOP fails to cheat enough before and during the upcoming elections.)
The spectacle was brazen, masterfully choreographed, and obvious to anyone paying attention; unless in denial as most if not all in his cult members are.
Marycat, I will depart from my usual practice of not dignifying uncivil outbursts with a response.
I will say that your egregious and disrespectful street fighting thuggish words are inappropriate for both the street and/within Lucid; although, we who revere truth and truth telling expect to encounter occasionally bullying as part of our pro bono work.
I urge you to seek counseling since it’s unhealthy to take comments personally, especially in this nurturing and supporting platform, setting and community. We may attack the message, not the messenger.
Having said that, I reserve the right to respectfully respond to any comment that seems deserving of a response.
If we submit a comment we ought to be willing to have said comment addressed and even challenged, and the encounter should be respectful; we do so as friends, family, community with the objective of finding the truth and making this a better world; together; while in solidarity we seek to defeat fascism.
I have no authority within Lucid, but consider your choice of words and writing style an attempt to intimidate and encourage self-censorship rather than stimulate civil discourse. The apparent bullying and thuggish conduct, the intimidation, that I sense and feel, anticipated while we’re in the midst of a fascist surge, will motivate me only to persevere, to be better at what I do; challenge mis or disinformation, offer some of what I’ve learned during an 81-year journey—to more forcefully and courageously speak my truth in spite of the bullies and thugs I encounter.
Marycat, I demand an apology. I should be treated as I treat others, respectfully. I welcome Lucid’s intervention/mediation. If I’ve been disrespectful I ask that it be brought to my attention, with specifics,
So that I may learn and make amends.
Enablers = willing executioners
Yep. I wonder if we can take this back minimally to when rump knew about covid and allowed Elaine Chao to send China 18 tons of PPEs and x number of ventilators mid-January. He knew we had it in the US and lied about it while totally depleting (after he literally stole PPEs governors were getting without federal help (Gov. Hogan, MD told us about it). Repubs allowed it while Pelosi and democrats were trying not to kill us by telling the truth. At that time, a commenter on the WaPo referred to repubs as murderers. Crazy and wish it wasn't.
Fascism has no empathy, sympathy, remorse, compassion, kindness, honesty or other virtues because fascism is a reflection of its sociopathic creator, Mussolini. It's no accident that nearly all fascist leaders have been sociopaths/psychopaths. They have no virtues.
Yeah but...with the exception of Franco, they've all met fairly brutal ends. (Don't know if you'd call Qadaffi or Sadam "fascists" or the Taliban)
NEWSFLASH: Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco is STILL dead!
I’d prefer the Mussolini hanging upside down version in front of halls of Congress, with baseball bats in the hands of those he’s done wrong to... all of us here certainly!
I agree! Imagine how cathartic it would be for those who have been wronged or lost loved ones to the way he handled C-19 if we could all show up with torches and pitchforks!!!
I actually really like that idea. It's a blend of old and newer.
Steve, I agree: Fascists have no empathy, a characteristic of psychopaths/!sociopaths; the latter more successful than the former.
Mussolini may have coined the fascist label, but it should be shared more generously. I wouldn’t argue against referring to Franco as a fascist.
Many fear to liberally ascribe the adjective because it’s shocking how widespread fascist traits have been and still are, at home and abroad. Psychopathy & sociopathy should be considered pandemic.
The U.S. may have been fascist since its founding. This, to me, may be worthy of further study.
The climate crisis, yet another existential threat, reminds me to advocate for adding environmental plunder to the list of traits fascists seem to share.
With psychopathy and sociopathy being as common as they are, I feel that fascism is always lingering just under the surface in society, waiting for some fool like Trump to come along and resurrect it.
Steve, for the sake of splitting hairs, I’ll suggest that Trump is no “fool.” I’m sympathetic, as to the pejorative, but remain concerned that we may unwittingly underestimate and trivialize the dire existential threat posed by Trump and those of his ilk; exceedingly dangerous fascist terrorists. He is deranged, a malignant narcissist, an evil genius, a sociopath, to say the least, but he’s no “fool.” I fear that even in jest usage of the term might lead some into denial and exacerbate the dire Machiavellian threat he represents. I don’t believe any “fool” could have succeeded in harming the U.S. as much as he did and does. I respectfully and painfully suggest that the “fools” may have been everybody but Trump. Even if he spends the rest of his life behind bars, DJT, his cult, and those they worked for succeeded in significantly harming America, their hated “Other.”
Yeah, and we see it constantly. I have an image in my brain of an obviously very poor ... my word would be peasant, on his knees during their covid which decimated the population, wanting Bolsonaro's adoration. It was sickening. Every time I saw him, I saw rump the obvious equivalent which was compounded by Bannon going to Brazil to help with the coup.
"Cruelty is the Point" recording. We all better know why at this time and rump and daddy put a "c" on condo applications and it didn't mean "confidential" that was a hint. For me it was that NYT's ad in 1989 that I won't regurgitate against the Central Park 5. Annnnddd (sorry, small rant) the gov. of FL has promised to slit people's throat the first day in office. So, sociopath or psychopath, the end result appears to be the same.
(Ruth, I don't know if you have any pull with your super interviews but on Katie Phang just now, the statement came out on closed caption that the FL governor was going to "slip" their throats. We're probably smart enough to know that's not the word, though, and for me, it's a laugh with seriousness driving behind it.)
Jared and his frat buddies were making money on it. His ass needs to fry for that!!
The PPE that is.
Trump’s world constantly looks for approval and loyalty. Then, Trump steps back and lets those loyalists take the blame and punishment! Hope this third indictment does not allow Trump to turn his head, walk away, and continue to pile up the lies! He needs to be removed from our national scene! Trump is not fit to ever serve!
A couple of decent things happened - yes, rump is a great propagandist with the help of all the enablers. Yes, his followers die for him (literally) but the numbers of supporters of the craziest of them is still in the mid 30s (poll, in which I don't believe but want to :) from this morn).
I didn't realize the arraignment could've been done by zoom. Argh and expected from years ago. But the analysis by someone on CNN was about how fidgety rump was. I think she said he looked afraid (may not have been that strong). Since he has a psychosis and he is playing a role, was he really nervous or was that part of act (what I tend to think a "strongman" would do - look worried when he has shown us he's incapable of feeling and enjoys cruelty)?
This comment really summed it up, "The strongman is nothing without enablers." Enter Lisa's response.
Trump needed to appear to play the “victim” for his minions.
Personally, thought he looked like a tired old fat man!
I'd like to say more but I better not other than, yes, he did. Again, he wants sympathy so is he? He really needs to wear a burlap bag. We'd know who was under it and it would be a new kind of attention?
Re: ..."nothing without enablers"
A while back (I can't remember when), I was watching a Sci-Fi/Fantasy show (can't remember the name - but I DO remember MINE! LOL) And the "hero" told the people who were suffering under the antagonist to "Ignore him. He'll disappear. He needs you to see and believe in him"
As people started following those instructions, the antagonist started to fade as people turned their backs on him. He was pleading for their attention, and promising things he couldn't/wouldn't deliver)
As the people walked a way from him, he finally disappeared. Damn! I wish I remembered the name of that show!! That scene has stayed with me all through the former guy's attempt to ensconce himself as the grand Poobah.
I don't mean this as a negative, but it sounds fabulous and now I want to watch it. I did variations of a search but nothing showed. So, may you dream and have the name drop into your long-term memory and tell us.
THE existential questions, i.m.o., are: (1) HOW can Trump & Associates game the system over the next 15-16 months? (2) HOW can that gaming be thwarted and stopped? (3) WHAT effective role(s) do we have in the thwarting and stopping?
Important to me is to not get caught up in what Eric Berne called an "Ain't It Awful" pastime and game, nor in repeated lamenting. Rather, to invest energy and time in sharp awareness and countering moves.
I think one important set of moves in that regard is the set posed by David Pepper in "Saving Democracy." But that set is focused on the long term and, to an extent, assumes we have a decade in which to move and counter-move. And another important investment of energy, this one toward perceptual sharpness and, besides what we are getting from you, Ruth, is in grasping the study put out by Lilliana Mason in "Radical American Partisanship."
Yes, yes, yes! How do we thwart this monster?
To this observer, Jack Smith’s indictments are air tight. But can his delay tactics run out the clock? Trump is a drowning man, and drowning people pull down everything they can grab onto in their desperation. So I expect him to pull out all the stops. As he so famously said “this will be wild.”
Ruth, the strongman example that comes immediately to mind is Benjamin Netanyahu although you have cited many others in your writings.
If he has 30% core supporters we have to make sure that the outcome reflects the will of the majority 70%.
Agree, stay alert in our localities to unwind bullies.
Dr. Eric Berne, a blast from the past, now that’s a memory jog. If you know Eric’s work, I invite you to view the Karpman Drama Triangle on a National scale. Very interesting dynamics. The beauty of Eric’s design is its adaptability from individual to a social structural understanding. Above all else, we watch the process. Thanks for the post.
I do know his work; trained as a TA group therapist a long time ago; and know the Karpman triangle as well. I don't know if you know IFS (Internal Family Systems) work; it can be looked at as a further development of TA in some (only some) ways. Hallmark of the approach is that all of us are collections of multiple sub-personalities, usually called "parts," and those parts divvy up into 3 categories--Manager-protectors, Firefighter-Protectors, and wounded parts kept in exile by those other parts, called Exiles. Cece Sykes, a leading light in the IFS community, in her book on addictive processes, puts those parts into a triangle that is rather like Steven Karpman's triangle. Rough equivalent (at least): Managers/Rescuers...Firefighters/Persecutors...Exiles/Natural Child. I think one can play around with that triangle as well in looking at the national picture.
Are you a TA therapist?
I remember Dr Berne from my college days. I can see the Karpman Drama Triangle in Trump's propaganda mechanism. Persecutor, The Deep State-- Victim, the GOP-- rescuer, Trump. He makes his people feel wounded and needy, then he promises to protect his flock from harm with his grandiose omnipotence. It's like a mother hen extending her wings to protect her chicks. It's the ultimate bamboozle.
Agree, long-game of a decade, keep sharp awareness and counter-moves. Stay alert in our localities.
I still don't understand why there aren't at least a few more Republicans who prefer democracy to autocracy and are willing to say so by telling the truth abut Trump, the election, etc. I get that many are afraid of losing their seats, but--really? The rush to enable, given the stakes, is to me incomprehensible.
Most of the GOP don't feel that they are abandoning democracy; they feel that they are saving it. None of the MAGA folks I've spoken with, believe that what Trump is selling is fascism. Most GOP politicians also don't beleive it's fascism they're buying.
they drank the kool-aide.
I see it as an act and apparently it may be the side benefit of going to elite schools (ask zuck or hawley or many others). Those, who we see as idiots (but aren't), get aways with it by lying and denying and worse. rump is selling power and money and the root to it is through lying, then fascism to a dictatorship.
Yeah, the wealth/corporate class has long wanted an atmosphere where they ruled the nation. They were not happy with just influencing Congress on K Street DC via lobbying, they wanted the whole ball of wax. Fascism would give them that control. Our current neoliberal capitalism is just a means to that end.
Thank you so much for the links. I will used the time I'm on the zoom call to do some reading. See you Sunday
Yes, love the links to related material ... sorta like “homework”, but you really want to do it!!
The links are great deep-dives as Randolph says, it's homework we want to do! See you all Sunday.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4137407-trump-calls-on-supreme-court-to-intercede-in-legal-fights/
Trump wants the SUPREMES TO intervene... what will the fascist right wing zealot religious extremists on SCOTUS DO?
Follow the six Trump co-conspirators, fake electors and charges in this interactive multimedia guide which also has an audio version of the indictment.
https://thedemlabs.org/2023/08/03/follow-trump-indictment-interactive-multimedia-guide/
Thanks Deepak. This is a very useful communication tool. Forwarded to my Dem club members.
Whether our constitutional order will survive or not remains to be seen. We are headed to a very ugly period of narcissistic collapse which occurs when narcissists ability to uphold their grandiose image is threatened. As a result, Trump and his followers will become increasingly enraged, resulting in impulsivity, intense lashing out, harm to others, projecting their own hatred and evil onto others. and the trashing of our entire constitutional system. The Republican party of enablers will not survive this, but, being a dying elephant, it could still kick our constitutional system to death before its demise, and who knows what beast will then take its place.
Trump's inner circle was chosen by him because they were just like him. Since he is a sociopath, you can bet that those around him are likely psychopaths or sociopaths. When their mask of sanity comes off, all hell with be unleashed and the true monsters will be revealed.
And in our localities, we should engage in conversations with everyone we meet, to help lower the temperature with kindness, good manners as proactive measures of society.
Agree, fasten our seat belts we're in for a ride.
King Kong on top of the Empire State Building.... we have to 'keep calm and carry on'.
Exceptional review, with excellent links. I took your advice on self care, just got back from the Allagash on Wednesday. I find the noise of living deafening. Robert Frost understood the extraordinary gift of silence. I think it important to remember that while living is essential, 95% of it is just noise. I picked and ate a beautiful blueberry on the edge of a Talus Slope, something a Strongman would never know about. Have a good w/e folks, remember, yearly renewal coming up. This is an important place to be.
we see the beauty.
I really appreciated that there are SOME school administrators who see the value in teaching TRUTH about history and have invited you to speak to their teachers about its importance!
When I was in 7th grade, I was shown films from WWII of people being lined up at the edge of a pit and being shot and falling back on a pile of bodies. Of course, since then, we've seen so many more horrendous acts of war/fascism and "strongmen".
I DO have a question regarding the "strongman" playbook/mentality: Is this something that comes "naturally" to them???? Through history we've seen the likes of many such individuals...but I'm wondering if it was developed as a self-defense/suppressed anger behavior from childhood on, that the person intuitively knew how to manipulate people? Or did they study history and pick out behaviors at which they were adept.
In other words, is it an inherent psychosis/pre-disposition to this, or is developed/learned?
I beleve that authoritarian leaders are closely linked to primary and secondary psychopathy. The primary type are born with this personality disorder; the secondary type develop it at a young age. The secondary type is AKA sociopathy. Both are considered anti-social personality disorder.
Authoritarianism is a reflection of the leader's mental state. From Pinochet to Stalin to Trump, all had/have a similar personality disorder.
There's evidence that some of the manipulation seen in these tyrants is practiced, so it's not all innate.
Thanks so much for that!
Sometimes it seems to me that the paths people with these mental health issues take are a result of countless traumas, abuses, and a coping technique to developed to survive; and their lack of opportunity to work through them via professional guidance and help.
Once the brain gets "positive feedback" from a behavior that's considered inappropriate in "normal" society/situations, it seem to keep seeking bigger and better conditions to get MORE of whatever it needs to survive (Endorphins?)
There is not much that a therapist can do for primary and secondary psychopaths. Many of them end up in prison, as they have no conscience. They are definitely risk takers, so endorphins could be part of it.
When are the American Bar Association, other lawyer's associations and law school deans going to discuss the way Republican lawyers have been pushing and defending the Big Lie, filing frivolous lawsuits and trying to undermine the ability of people to vote? I don't recall much of anything since Jan. 6
Consideration of the ABA should be given to denying many of these ineffective lawyers to continue practicing law. REMOVE their licenses! Dangerous characters.
I am amazed at the speed of this - lack of.
The legal process by those attorneys has really exposed the unnecessary gamesmanship for the dollar. I grew up thinking highly of attorneys and now I have learned. I like your focus on the law school deans especially -- they are rearing the future. I hope they are strengthening ethical reasoning, dissuading monetary gains. This profession has suffered.
editing my comment: enablers > (can become) willing executioners
Thank you for the links to supplement your brilliant writing and scholarship.
Viewing the Trump mockery from a logical perspective, there appears to be three options. 1. Plea deal - unlikely, considering his ego. 2. Focus on one confused juror that would lead to a mistrial - terrifying consideration. 3. Run out the clock - equally terrifying if Trump would win the Republican nomination and the presidency.
It's baffling to me that a twice impeached former president, with three indictments and a civil assault verdict against him could continue to hold sway over a significant minority of US citizens. I'm afraid the chickens have come home to roost. The United States institutions - public, corporate, educational, and others - have continued refusing to accept the truth of our history, culture, and heritage and have spawned a society that relishes the falsehoods. We should not seek what is called justice and pray for forgiveness.
Option 4: Flight to avoid prosecution.
David, did you mean to say: “We should not seek what is called justice and pray for forgiveness.
Or, did you mean: “We should seek justice; pray for forgiveness and make amends when unjust?” I’m inclined to assume, hopefully, you meant the latter, not the former.
I agree with everything you well said. except for the last sentence which seems in conflict with the core of your commentary.
Thanks,
Robert Leyland Monefeldt
Thank you, Robert, for your comments. I tend to agree with you, as you provide a reasonable biblical reference (one of my favorites) to Isaiah 1:17 "
Seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless.
plead the case of the widow.
However, that particular verse does not reflect my recent comment. My comment, which is my current thought, is we do not have an American dream; we have an American myth. In my more cynical moments, an American nightmare. The idealized United States is a land of opportunity, a place where everyone has fundamental rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Our citizenry has been indoctrinated in these ideals since the founding of the nation. The list of vile acts produced by this country in the name of justice, rights, or other platitudes are too numerous to list within this forum. An authoritarian, like a Trump, is not contrary to our basic principles, but a symptom of what we, or a significant number of our countrymen, profess. To echo another biblical phrase, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." Isn't it mystifying, maybe terrifying, that nearly half of our population seems intent on giving him another opportunity to create destruction? Maybe not so mystifying; authoritarianism is part of what we are. I fear that our past is so entrenched within our society, divine intervention of some sort is our last hope.
No matter how many times you explain it, I cannot understand why any American would want him in the White House again. I’m embarrassed for this country.
Even with a knowledge of social psychology, it still baffles me how so many got sucked into the post-truth vortex.
Agree, I am chagrined that fellow Americans would want such chaos to return. Isn't normal life enough? Peaceful, boring government, as in the days of yore -- except we need to pay closer attention as voters and not be asleep-at-the-wheel.