People like Graham know that trump is poison. The powerful trump base keeps him in power within the party. Graham knows that Trump is basically sabotaging the party. He's in a quandry......if he turns on trump, he loses power and the party goes into the wilderness for years. He is treading water to get through these times; in his mind he has no choice. He is a weak man
The trump thing is an addiction. The best way to break an addiction is to bottom out, take your lumps and rebuild from the ashes. If Graham were a man of strength, he would stand for something by taking this route.
Sadly the republican party measures patriotism by the number of flags they can wave. They are not only unpatriotic but unamerican.
Ruth...you wrote "the thrill of partnering with an amoral individual for whom there are no limits or restraints" as an explanation why the GOP gives him a pass on everything. That's it. That's the answer I've been looking for as to why his base still loves him. Rick Reilly, in his book "The Commander in Cheat" made a comment about Trump's over-the-top cheating at golf. He wrote that his cheating is so brazen that you almost admire it. I just could not understand that comment. Golfers who cheat are considered pariahs by their fellow golfers. But you explained it..."no limits or restraints". Thank you.
That motive may go a long way to explaining why "MAGAs of the Left" (I know quite a few) find Trump less troubling than their political identification would predict. What they seem to share with Trump is a reflexive contempt for the restraints -- the guardrails or checks and balances -- of any established system. Trump's impatience in many ways mirrors their own, and they see him as a kind of ally in throwing bricks at a despised temple.
People did not use to be like this . . . it's like something was unleashed from a bottle. Why are people so desperate to be unrestrained? Did the internet (www=wild wild west) introduce / seduce them into seeing so much more of the world and thus be like little kids in a candy shop running amok?
A Noam Chomsky writes, (and discusses) there are three fundamental threats faced by the global society. Global warming, nuclear warfare, and now public misinformation is the third culprit. For the past 50 years the USA has undergone one the greatest upper wealth relocations in the nation's history. Working people have seen wages drop in half while basic living conditions have raised in price. Trump's support is represented by the economic elite which has benefited by the Trump economic policies (tax decreases) and the victims of these policies who can easily cast the blame for their woes at the feet of immigrants, minorities, and other groups, fill in the blank of day. The blame is amplified by social media sites, news outlets, and other purveyors of false and jaded information.
The angry working class becomes groomed for fascism. Our neoliberal elites send in Trump to sell fascism to the masses, knowing full well that fascism benefits the oligarch class with the establishment of a cartel economy.
Great examples, Ruth, to illustrate the con-man’s malevolent understanding of MICE -- you got ‘em if you can find what their worst, unhealthy attachment is: money, ideology, corruption/compromise, ego
You are so right on about how fear and self interest can so easily seduce a politician. Please, please give us your thoughts on the avenues we can take today to convince those politicians as well as the general public not yet seduced by the cult magnetism .
May I suggest that we all present our ideas on the most effective ways to spend our money and energy on fighting this plague.
imho, we turn outward, every day, leave our silos and make conversations, try to build new bridges. It is so comfortable to stay in our silos. I think a concerted effort to talk is needed with those we don't normally chit-chat with?
Agreed and think we also must fight fire with fire. Have Democracy oriented PACs start to show some of the ways our freedoms will be lost if Trump-or DeDantis & co wins. Show liberal news organizations being shut down, authors and journalists being jailed in countries like Hungary or Russia. Maybe a picture of a real holocaust scene.
Ruth, I just saw your appearance on Amy Goodman's DemocracyNow. I was proud to know you and proud of your clear responses to Juan and Amy's questions about the relation between the just dead Berlusconi and Trump. Cult leaders, they both were and are. Authoritarians functioning within a democracy, they were and are. Today's essay reminds us of the truth we carry forth.
Agree, thank you Ruth for clarity, easy to understand, while still giving depth. Remarkable communication skills, thank you. Content and tone are so rational. Hoping we are reaching others, I think we are shifting the sands. One grain at a time, each of us.
My take on Lindsey Graham is that he never had a coherent sense of self, so he would attach himself to people to become somebody "relevant." When he was attached to John McCain. he became like McCain, a strong national security hawk. McCain died, and Trump found Graham an easy mark due to Lindsey's neediness. Hollow people tend to fall into narcissistic traps. While this is only one person, it is an important case study on the Trump phenomenon in the GOP.
The problem with the GOP is that it has been primarily a reactionary party that knows what it does not like ("libs," "Socialists," "big government,” “woke," etc). But if all you have to define your political movement is negative and reactionary, any positive ethic or governing principles you may have had are hollowed out. This is a set up for narcissistic pathology which is the centerpiece of authoritarian cults. A narrative becomes constructed around one's own uniqueness, as victims of the "left," the "deep state," etc. Whether the narratives are true or not does not matter, what matters is whether they resonates with the needs of others, both politicians and voters. Mental pathologies are infections, and Trump, a textbook narcissist, became a virus in an immunocompromised host, the Republican party and their voters. Because their narratives are filled with lies, they defend them ferociously and can be vengeful and dangerous. This is going to get much worse before it gets better.
Once upon a time, the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln and stood for laudable ideals. Unfortunately those sentiments that shaped it’s founding are long gone.
Agree.... Democracies promote virtues, while fascism promotes vices. It is my opinion that fascism is like this because this political system is usually led by a sociopath. Sociopaths lack virtues.
Kevin, thank you for this pure and extensive analysis with several great points -- awesome -- “Lindsey Graham never had a coherent sense of self” -- “Hollow people tend to fall into narcissistic traps.......is an important case study” -- “Mental pathologies are infections, and Trump, a textbook narcissist, became a virus in an immunocompromised host, the Republican party and their voters.”
Thanks Diane for pulling those threads. Each week the knowledge gained from Ruth and what we share gets better and more precise. Now what do we do with it? Share and converse outside our groups? idk.
This is totally disturbing that the trump sycophants, like Roy, Meadows, Graham, and Jordan are so totally dystopian in their allegiance to their cult hero! “Hollowed out” is the perfect description of them, Ruth. Thank you for your voice of insight and reason. We can only hope that yours and many others with similar messages will prevail!
The. thrill" of not following the rules and doing whatever you want. These are selfish and destructive feelings that healthy, well-socialized people push back on and do not follow gleefully. "Leaders" who follow gleefully are doing great harm to our country and must be voted out of office.
Agree, I wonder where this came from. Years ago we didn't have legions of people yearning to do unlawful things for the undying thrill-of-it-all. I mean we'd ride a motorcycle, or drive in a red convertible with the top down and hair blowing, grow a mustache, get a tatoo & that was the end of it. Even in the 1960s people wanted freedoms but didn't so grossly crave to misbehave or act unlawfully. Scheming was not a 'thing'. Is there something in parenting skills gone amok? Lots of people have inherited loads of money due the stock market acceleration, has this caused this uppity-ness / superiority/ protectiveness in so many? Just awful.
National leaders are role models, and once we have one that has no ethics, morals, emapathy or remorse (like Trump), we see followers emulating their role model, causing societal chaos. Trump is our first sociopathic president and we're seeing how much damage one person can bring.
I predict that Mr Nauta is going to wish he'd just stayed in the Navy...
The Trump coalition is composed of thugs and other sycophants! They truly believe that the end justifies the means! Ignoring them isn’t an option!
I, too, have always preferred the word 'thug' to describe Trump.
Great minds think alike! 😬
Yes indeed, Trump suffers from Machiavellianism, which is one piece of the Dark Tetrad personality.
People like Graham know that trump is poison. The powerful trump base keeps him in power within the party. Graham knows that Trump is basically sabotaging the party. He's in a quandry......if he turns on trump, he loses power and the party goes into the wilderness for years. He is treading water to get through these times; in his mind he has no choice. He is a weak man
The trump thing is an addiction. The best way to break an addiction is to bottom out, take your lumps and rebuild from the ashes. If Graham were a man of strength, he would stand for something by taking this route.
Sadly the republican party measures patriotism by the number of flags they can wave. They are not only unpatriotic but unamerican.
Graham is a parasite. He moved downward on the hierarchy McCain to mango Mussolini
Graham has Machiavellianism just like Trump and Mussolini.
Ruth...you wrote "the thrill of partnering with an amoral individual for whom there are no limits or restraints" as an explanation why the GOP gives him a pass on everything. That's it. That's the answer I've been looking for as to why his base still loves him. Rick Reilly, in his book "The Commander in Cheat" made a comment about Trump's over-the-top cheating at golf. He wrote that his cheating is so brazen that you almost admire it. I just could not understand that comment. Golfers who cheat are considered pariahs by their fellow golfers. But you explained it..."no limits or restraints". Thank you.
That motive may go a long way to explaining why "MAGAs of the Left" (I know quite a few) find Trump less troubling than their political identification would predict. What they seem to share with Trump is a reflexive contempt for the restraints -- the guardrails or checks and balances -- of any established system. Trump's impatience in many ways mirrors their own, and they see him as a kind of ally in throwing bricks at a despised temple.
I don't tolerate cheats on the golf course.
People did not use to be like this . . . it's like something was unleashed from a bottle. Why are people so desperate to be unrestrained? Did the internet (www=wild wild west) introduce / seduce them into seeing so much more of the world and thus be like little kids in a candy shop running amok?
Ruth, excellent! You sure put it on the page and make us think. Thanks for your words! Keep it up!
A Noam Chomsky writes, (and discusses) there are three fundamental threats faced by the global society. Global warming, nuclear warfare, and now public misinformation is the third culprit. For the past 50 years the USA has undergone one the greatest upper wealth relocations in the nation's history. Working people have seen wages drop in half while basic living conditions have raised in price. Trump's support is represented by the economic elite which has benefited by the Trump economic policies (tax decreases) and the victims of these policies who can easily cast the blame for their woes at the feet of immigrants, minorities, and other groups, fill in the blank of day. The blame is amplified by social media sites, news outlets, and other purveyors of false and jaded information.
#3 makes #1 and 2 more likely. Noam knows.
The angry working class becomes groomed for fascism. Our neoliberal elites send in Trump to sell fascism to the masses, knowing full well that fascism benefits the oligarch class with the establishment of a cartel economy.
We’ll said
keyword = angry
It’s the enablers who have encouraged this threat. Trump should have been held accountable from day one. Maybe now?
Great examples, Ruth, to illustrate the con-man’s malevolent understanding of MICE -- you got ‘em if you can find what their worst, unhealthy attachment is: money, ideology, corruption/compromise, ego
You are so right on about how fear and self interest can so easily seduce a politician. Please, please give us your thoughts on the avenues we can take today to convince those politicians as well as the general public not yet seduced by the cult magnetism .
May I suggest that we all present our ideas on the most effective ways to spend our money and energy on fighting this plague.
imho, we turn outward, every day, leave our silos and make conversations, try to build new bridges. It is so comfortable to stay in our silos. I think a concerted effort to talk is needed with those we don't normally chit-chat with?
Agreed and think we also must fight fire with fire. Have Democracy oriented PACs start to show some of the ways our freedoms will be lost if Trump-or DeDantis & co wins. Show liberal news organizations being shut down, authors and journalists being jailed in countries like Hungary or Russia. Maybe a picture of a real holocaust scene.
Ruth, I just saw your appearance on Amy Goodman's DemocracyNow. I was proud to know you and proud of your clear responses to Juan and Amy's questions about the relation between the just dead Berlusconi and Trump. Cult leaders, they both were and are. Authoritarians functioning within a democracy, they were and are. Today's essay reminds us of the truth we carry forth.
Agree, thank you Ruth for clarity, easy to understand, while still giving depth. Remarkable communication skills, thank you. Content and tone are so rational. Hoping we are reaching others, I think we are shifting the sands. One grain at a time, each of us.
What a great summary! Thank you, Ruth.
My take on Lindsey Graham is that he never had a coherent sense of self, so he would attach himself to people to become somebody "relevant." When he was attached to John McCain. he became like McCain, a strong national security hawk. McCain died, and Trump found Graham an easy mark due to Lindsey's neediness. Hollow people tend to fall into narcissistic traps. While this is only one person, it is an important case study on the Trump phenomenon in the GOP.
The problem with the GOP is that it has been primarily a reactionary party that knows what it does not like ("libs," "Socialists," "big government,” “woke," etc). But if all you have to define your political movement is negative and reactionary, any positive ethic or governing principles you may have had are hollowed out. This is a set up for narcissistic pathology which is the centerpiece of authoritarian cults. A narrative becomes constructed around one's own uniqueness, as victims of the "left," the "deep state," etc. Whether the narratives are true or not does not matter, what matters is whether they resonates with the needs of others, both politicians and voters. Mental pathologies are infections, and Trump, a textbook narcissist, became a virus in an immunocompromised host, the Republican party and their voters. Because their narratives are filled with lies, they defend them ferociously and can be vengeful and dangerous. This is going to get much worse before it gets better.
Once upon a time, the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln and stood for laudable ideals. Unfortunately those sentiments that shaped it’s founding are long gone.
Agree.... Democracies promote virtues, while fascism promotes vices. It is my opinion that fascism is like this because this political system is usually led by a sociopath. Sociopaths lack virtues.
Concisely stated.
Kevin, thank you for this pure and extensive analysis with several great points -- awesome -- “Lindsey Graham never had a coherent sense of self” -- “Hollow people tend to fall into narcissistic traps.......is an important case study” -- “Mental pathologies are infections, and Trump, a textbook narcissist, became a virus in an immunocompromised host, the Republican party and their voters.”
Thanks Diane for pulling those threads. Each week the knowledge gained from Ruth and what we share gets better and more precise. Now what do we do with it? Share and converse outside our groups? idk.
Reactionary. Defined by what it doesn't like. No agenda.
The GOP gathered by Putin in 2015 has never been detailed. We focused on the Democratic party attack. Trump could have a lot of secret dirt too IMO.
What do we do to end these charades?
OR....do they end themselves, in the suicidal collapse of the GOP?
AND....how do we PREVENT another individual from getting this deep into our government?
“The Fate of Empires and search for survival.” Sir John Glubb.
This is totally disturbing that the trump sycophants, like Roy, Meadows, Graham, and Jordan are so totally dystopian in their allegiance to their cult hero! “Hollowed out” is the perfect description of them, Ruth. Thank you for your voice of insight and reason. We can only hope that yours and many others with similar messages will prevail!
“Hollowed out” is the perfect description as in depriving something of its MOST important quality.........thanks Mike for your insights!!!
Thank you, Diane! We have to stick together in resisting these purveyors of false information! Thank You!
Absolutely, Mike, and I’m with all of you in this resistance to the spread of this false information! ✊
🙌
The. thrill" of not following the rules and doing whatever you want. These are selfish and destructive feelings that healthy, well-socialized people push back on and do not follow gleefully. "Leaders" who follow gleefully are doing great harm to our country and must be voted out of office.
"The. thrill" of not following the rules and doing whatever you want."
Those whom have no conscience and don't know right from wrong are likely to be psychopaths/sociopaths.
Agree, I wonder where this came from. Years ago we didn't have legions of people yearning to do unlawful things for the undying thrill-of-it-all. I mean we'd ride a motorcycle, or drive in a red convertible with the top down and hair blowing, grow a mustache, get a tatoo & that was the end of it. Even in the 1960s people wanted freedoms but didn't so grossly crave to misbehave or act unlawfully. Scheming was not a 'thing'. Is there something in parenting skills gone amok? Lots of people have inherited loads of money due the stock market acceleration, has this caused this uppity-ness / superiority/ protectiveness in so many? Just awful.
National leaders are role models, and once we have one that has no ethics, morals, emapathy or remorse (like Trump), we see followers emulating their role model, causing societal chaos. Trump is our first sociopathic president and we're seeing how much damage one person can bring.
Yes, it's unreal that we must have had so many fellow Americans ready to destabilize themselves. It is pathology we must address.
Steve, maybe we just rebel (lawfully) and as John Lewis said 'cause good trouble'