Photo: Getty Images
When he flips to Fox News, Trump notices a caption that sums up everything: “News outlets around the world are covering Trump.” Turning to me on the sofa, he gestures at the screen with satisfaction, “The key word is covering.”
So much exposure comes at a price. As he watches, Trump maintains a quiet but constant critique of “dishonest” and “inaccurate” statements. He would like to “open up the laws” on libel to protect people like himself, he says — but adds with a shrug, “I don’t know exactly what it means to do that, or exactly how it works.” Nor does he care, because what matters more than accuracy is the sheer fact of being covered. Own the airwaves, own the campaign, run the world. To be certain that I’ve grasped this point, he expands on the theme:
“You see what this is, right? It’s ratings. I go on one of these shows and the ratings double. They triple. And that gives you power. It’s not the polls. It’s the ratings.”
From TIME piece “Donald Trump’s Wild Ride” by David Von Drehle; unfortunately, it is available to subscribers only.
Pay attention, dear readers, to the mental, emotional, and moral vacuity of our future Narcissistic Psychopath in Chief expressed in his words above.
Ratings is all that matters, in case this has not yet been clear. Substance, like facts and values — that’s for suckers.
He plans to subvert the nation’s laws — and curtail human rights, notably that to free speech — to protect his own overblown tender ego. Being uncurious and arrogant, unencumbered by guilt (or scruples, or even shame), he freely admits that he has no idea what it would mean to “open up the [libel] laws,” but he plans to do it because he, like the tremendous narcissist that he is, does not want to hear the truth about himself.
He is so invested in maintaining the false reality which he has created for the purposes of protecting his fragile ego, and which his authoritarian followers so eagerly and unquestioningly embrace, that he is willing to enshrine his delusions in and through this country’s laws.
One can only guess how he would deal with the foreign critics who would not be subject to those laws.
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The Drumpf Chronicles will be an ongoing series on this blog, somewhat against my better judgment. Because apparently you can take a girl out of politics (or so she believed), but you cannot take politics out of the girl (as she’s learning). I thought we — OK, I — would be done with it as the Bush era was largely put behind us (yes, naive, I know); obviously, I was wrong. The problem of psychopathology and its impact on the world’s affairs, politics especially, is as urgent today, if not more, as ever.
I will refer to The Donald as (Herr) Drumpf, if only because his name sounds better in the original German.
Herr Drumpf’s rise to power, both in spite of and thanks to (though mostly the latter) his glaring psychological defect — the character disorder known as narcissistic psychopathy — is a lesson that we cannot afford to ignore, even though so many want to. So Drumpf Chronicles will attempt to hammer the lesson for those children who is not learning, with a full understanding of the futility of those efforts. But somebody’s gotta do it (for her own sake, if nothing else).
good marriage central* 
Why does Drumpf remind me of the Dandy Mott character in AHS freak show?! 😳 Lol
I’m scared…
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As you should be, m’dear. We all should be. This is not child’s play, despite appearances (of the chief player).
I don’t know who Dandy Mott is, but will look him up.
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He’s a creepy spoiled brat with serious anger issues to say the least when he doesn’t get his way or attention 😯
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That’s Drumpf, alright.
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What a friggin’ quote! This guy is Uncle Adolph reincarnated! I don’t know who I despise most, Drumpf or the Drumpf-ettes who worship him. On second thought, I do know who I despise most: Drumpf AND the Drumpf-ettes-equally. Bloody idjits, the lot of em.
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They just may be equally despiseable; but I’m thinking that the Big Narcissistic Psychopaths like Adolf Drumpf would go exactly nowhere — maybe to the garbage bin of a satirical magazine — if they did not have tons of little psychopaths eager to support them and their evil schemes.
Oh, man… I feel another blog post coming on (nooo!).
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Yes. You’re right. Without the little psychopathic weasels, the big psychopathic weasels would have no psychopathic ship to buoy them above the water. Little psychopathic weasel bastards.
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Yesterday afternoon, a local sports talk radio show reiterated personal accounts from Trump’s longtime chauffeur (now some sort of servant at his 120+ room mansion in Florida). What this guy said is truly astonishing. Trump is not a sane person. He isn’t disconnected from reality, he rejects the very concept of reality. To Trump, whatever he thinks, says, and does IS reality. That is classic megalomania from which Hitler, Stalin, and other maniacal dictators were greatly afflicted.
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There must be dozens if not hundreds of others who’ve worked with or were close to Trump at some point over the years who have similar stories about him. The media wouldn’t have to dig too deep to find them, I’d think. I certainly hope they do and soon. I’m really sick of this idjit.
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You betcha.
The problem, or one of them (and a typical one when it comes to narcissistic psychopaths), is that people who know Drumpf, and have stories to tell about his pathology, are afraid of him — for good reasons. (His ex, Ivana, retracted the story of his rape of her, for example.)
NP makes sure that those who have been abused by him will keep their mouths shut. He does it by using his, erm, well-honed interpersonal skills — of ridicule, gaslighting, intimidation, threats, character assassination, and violence when needed.
I would bet my right hand that there exist scores of people with accounts of being personally victimized by Drumpf, but who will not come forward with them any time soon, if ever. Maybe when the WWIII is over and the survivors are recollecting “the first time I knew Drumpf was dangerous” stories, they will dare to speak out (if they survive the concentration camps).
Now if you excuse me, I will go order a prosthetic for my right hand. I hear Corey Lewandowski, Drumpf’s skinhead campaign manager, is on his way to my neck of the woods.
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Great points.
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Thanks, Inspired.
That’s also another post, fates willing.
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They’re probably all in lifetime contracts under threat of ruination if they spill any ugly secrets.
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No doubt.
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Very true.
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Mhm. Right. Narcissistic psychopaths create a reality of their own, to support the peculiar needs of their disordered egos.
Some people mistake it for mental illness — and it is easy to do, given how blatantly this reality of their own making disregards that of objectively verifiable facts which most of us acknowledge, even if reluctantly at times.
But it is not a mental illness in the clinical sense. These people can navigate our shared reality very effectively, because they do understand it, even though they reject it. We know they understand it, because they exploit it with such an ease, while contemptuously disregarding it, and its limitations imposed on us (the normals), at the same time.
That disregard for our shared reality, combined with its skillful exploitation, is one evidence of their grandiose and manipulative characters.
So, Drumpf is not insane, but he is mentally very unhealthy. He is, in a way, sane like a fox.
Unfortunately, our common definitions of mental health and disorder do not allow us to easily conceptualize that difference; and, because of that, they normalize many distinctly pathological behaviors (of psychopaths and narcissists).
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I appreciate the clinical distinction between what is sane and insane, but I’m not sure if it’s all that meaningful outside of legal venues. Sociopaths and even psychopaths can function well in society, but the potential danger they pose to others is very serious. The radio talk show hosts I mentioned previously referred to Trump as “crazy,” and I wholeheartedly agree. While healthcare professionals must be wary of over-diagnosing mental illnesses, under-diagnosis carries its own risks. Society cannot endure the likes of Hitler, Stalin, and Trump running around destroying everything – just my opinion.
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You are absolutely right, Robert!
Which is why it is so important to talk about the pathology of character disorders, specifically psychopathy, as the greatest danger to individuals and society (and our earthly life as we know it).
As it is, we do not see psychopathy as a major (if any) problem.
The wisemen of the psychiatric bible, DSM, have gotten rid of psychopathy as a clinical diagnosis a couple of decades ago, substituting it with “anti-social personality disorder,” which is characterized by criminality.
The major problem with that, among several, is that most psychopaths and their activities are not criminal; if anything, they are super well-adjusted to our society and become “pillars of community” and “captains of industry,” lawmakers, bankers, clergy, and other prominent people of great influence.
Predictably enough, getting rid of psychopathy as a diagnosable disorder has resulted in its further normalization. So much so that Wall Street banks, for example, screen their applicants for psychopathic traits — not to eliminate those who score highly as employees, but to hire them.
Psychopathy was considered “moral insanity” back in the early days of psychiatry; but since we no longer have any use for those antiquated notions of morality and conscience, talking about psychopaths as morally insane is not welcome — especially since it would condemn a great number of Very Important People.
But one other major problem with calling psychopaths crazy is, apart from the clinical unsoundness of it, that it is unfair to mentally ill people who are, by and large, peaceful and decent folks.
Unlike psychopaths, mentally ill struggle with life and face significant stigma as a result. Psychopaths are just the opposite: they are very effective at life and garner the respect of others because of it. Their lack of conscience helps in it.
Mentally ill tend to frighten and repulse others, while psychopaths attract people to themselves. Mentally ill appear bizarre and incomprehensible, while psychopaths inspire (in too many people) admiration and a desire to emulate them.
Mentally ill get locked up and out of society, while psychopaths easily rise in its ranks. Hitler, Stalin, Drumpf, and their likes would not be classified as mentally ill because they were / are not: they never exhibited any signs of mental illness. But they are mentally defective — which is a better and more accurate term to use — and in the worst possible way, as they effectively lack a conscience.
If it helps to call psychopaths like Drumpf crazy for everyday use — and in several ways they are — then it’s fine, I suppose; but we need to be prepared to defend this accusation with those who will challenge it by pointing out, for example, how successful these men are at what they do (and how respected they have become as a result). This itself suggests that, far from being nutcases, they possess qualities which make them more effective at life than most others. One of those qualities, the main one, is their lack of conscience — and this is what has to be underscored, time and again, IMO.
Long story short, we absolutely must talk about the dangers of psychopathy, but do so keeping in mind that it is different from mental illness.
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Brilliantly said.
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Thank you.
I hope it makes sense; it not easy sometimes to explain the difference between mental defect like a personality disorder and mental illness, especially since the mechanisms of both are not clear.
But it helps to remember that the first one is permanent (like eye color) and (typically and mostly, as we believe) inborn; while the other is “acquired” — i.e., although at least some predisposition to it is probably genetically-based, its symptoms can manifest, seemingly “out of the blue,” at any point in life, often beyond childhood (like schizophrenia, for example, which usually starts in late adolescence / early adulthood) — and it comes and goes, as far as its symptoms are concerned.
This also means that one has a chance of being cured of mental illness (and most people can expect at least some relief from it as they age), but not of a character disorder, which is permanent.
If you are born with a conscience, you do not lose it as a result of illness, mental and not; although our conscience may become (dangerously) dull and quiet for various reasons.
If you are born without a conscience, though, there is nothing that can be done to help you acquire it. We can only hope you will limit your activities to buying casinos and beauty pageants (and that you call off Corey L. from my doorstep because such an insignificant fish like myself is not worth your trouble — thank you kindly in advance).
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IMO, psychopaths often create mental illness in others through their abuse, maltreatment, and domination of them. Psychopaths feed on people who have a conscience. They manipulate, twist, and torture people to do their bidding. The people who abuse children and/or exploit them are usually psychotic individuals who present themselves as totally sane. Thus, when their victims exhibit symptoms of mental illness from the abuse they’ve received their whole lives, it is the victims themselves who look like the “broken” and “damaged” ones whilst their abuser gets away totally free. The sickness and/or disease in our society isn’t those with mental illnesses, it’s those who are psychotic. It’s the narcissistic psychopath that must be expunged from our society if it is to survive. Trump is a cancer that needs irradiation. He needs to go. If not, his abuse will create illness in us all.
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Absolutely yes. 100% yes. YES.
I will just indulge my inner pedant for a second and add that you mean psychopathic instead of psychotic in your splendid comment here.
Psychotic is related to psychosis (mental illness — like schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder). Psychopathic is what describes psychopaths.
Off to post a mind-blowing comment about Drumpf from a prominent conservative. (While checking to see if pigs are flying outside my window yet — or maybe that’s Corey Lewandowski already…? 😉 )
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Yes. You’re absolutely correct.
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Informative and fascinating, thanks!
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You’re welcome, Robert.
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