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Folks, Trump can’t change.
All this talk on the cable shows about why he does what he does and why he doesn’t act on a higher level is getting very silly. Someone on a high level of character or ability can act on a lower moral level or perform on a lower level, but character development is a hard work miracle, and not something that can be done in a weekend cram session, learning what answers to say to seem like a normal person.
Trump is described by many as a narcissist. Think of the Wizard of Oz. All smoke, a trumpeting voice and a frightening projection.
Inside the hidden part a puny being pulling levers to make himself the opposite of what he is. That’s severe narcissism. Severe narcissists are very often successful because of this type of self promotion and because they are not held back by shame, scruples or any sense of caring how their behavior will affect others. Their capacity for empathy is damaged.
They are stuck on the developmental level of a child wearing a cape and running around the house believing and acting as if he’s Superman. Narcissists have primitive defenses against the puny part being exposed. Trump’s are denial, lying and attack. Denial is more primitive than lying. If I lie, I know what the truth is and say the opposite for my own advantage. Denial means that one cannot let into consciousness any example from reality that would expose the puny, shamed being pulling the levers.
Trump probably really believes he did well in the debate. He can’t accept any evidence that would cast him as one of “the losers” he mocks.
There’s no in-between in his consciousness. The larger than life character he portrays himself to be is the opposite of the 400 lb loser on a couch he derides. He can’t change his game. His psychological survival depends on constantly being better than everyone else, being on the attack, and, especially, attacking swiftly and disproportionately when criticized….
Most of us have some narcissistic traits. Trump’s whole persona is pathological. He’s a comic book man with hidden pain. He’s more of a threat than the depressed, drinking Nixon was. I disagreed as strongly as possible with Goldwater, Ford, Reagan and Bush Sr. due to philosophy and policy issues. I see Bush Jr as an alcoholic and addict without a program of recovery which developed self-reflection. I despised Romney’s business practices, but never feared his possible presidency.
Trump I regard, not only as a threat to the soul of the country, but, in league with the currently dysfunctional state of affairs in Congress, and a packed Supreme Court, as a major threat to the continued existence of the nation as a constitutional republic, as a force for good in the world. He is also a danger because he will make narcissistic decisions about the use of nuclear weapons and our response to climate change.
Please, Folks, WAKE UP.
Make calls, send money, speak to your friends. Don’t allow this man to be elected!
Yes, the government is increasingly dysfunctional, but the Wizard of Id is not the answer.
Then please start the conversation oh how Clinton is a moral and ethical stalwart of her own. Yuck.