There are many who love Trump.
There are millions who believe he is dealing well with a range of issues. They are so convinced he is doing the right thing on these issues that it is almost impossible to convince them otherwise.
Any areas where there is potential disagreement with him are almost always regarded as far less important and hardly worth paying any attention to or discussing.
For example, in his 2016 presidential campaign he said this:
“We will pursue a new foreign policy that finally learns from the past. We will stop looking to topple regimes and overthrow governments. Our goal is stability, not chaos. In our dealings with other countries we will seek shared interests wherever possible and pursue a new era of peace, understanding and goodwill.”
The text above is so far from what has transpired. The words were clearly written for Trump, they are not in his style of speaking at all. But he apparently spoke them at some point in 2016.
This is one aspect of the many troubles with Trump.
I’ll call this aspect being economic with the truth.
In business at certain levels you find people who have used everything in their arsenal of techniques to survive. They feel that honest dealing is not enough to ensure they gain enough success to be safe from predators in the dog-eat-dog milieu of ultra-competitive near war of day to day business life. Double dealing, crafty maneuvers, underhand activities and constant sleight of hand are considered vital lest they get blind-sided and taken out by these same methodologies used against them.
I have worse to say about Trump, an analysis that may shock some, but for the moment let’s just call him a typical hard-nosed businessman who has somehow and by any means necessary survived in a cutthroat environment where he has taken many hard knocks but has somehow survived. In this process he has become the man, and president he is now.
Telling the truth and nothing but the truth in the U.S. business environment has perhaps worked for some. But in the ruthless business world of New York where Trump had his start with his father’s real estate empire telling the truth or anywhere near it could easily have been fatal.
Let’s say that Trump has merely learned some bad habits and has lost any and all faith in the simple telling of truths long ago in any naive youthful condition he may have had. he has long since known the power of lies or at least the power that comes with never having to stick to the truth. For Trump in his roller coaster business life those who stick to the truth make themselves as standing target. If you allow yourself the widest possible spectrum concerning what’s true, what’s false and what’s somewhere in between then you are an always moving target that’s almost impossible to hit.
Moving on to the next trouble with Trump it’s the one that scares me the most should he be re-elected in November.
I’ll call it the pretense of being a peacenik.
It harks back once more to his words above:
“We will pursue a new foreign policy that finally learns from the past. We will stop looking to topple regimes and overthrow governments. Our goal is stability, not chaos. In our dealings with other countries we will seek shared interests wherever possible and pursue a new era of peace, understanding and goodwill.”
Compare these words with what actually transpired once Trump became president.
In attempting to walk the talk on what he said did he search for people for his cabinet who might help him with these laudable goals?
If he did search that search came up fruitless.
He tapped people like John Bolton, Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley for some of the most important positions in government that provided the most clear definition of that government’s goals regarding foreign policy. You will I am sure know exactly what each of these people stand for and it bears no relation whatsoever to the intent behind the text above.
Each one is a hawk. And to the nth degree. These are rabid hawks, bloodthirsty hawks, insatiable neocons with a single doubt in their minds that Russia and China are enemies to be attacked with presidents to be overthrown. They all agree on the continued attempt to overthrow presidents and governments in Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. they are all happy to assist the Saudis in its war in Yemen.
Does it sound like Trump was attempting to fulfill the words above about learning lessons from the past and abandoning the regime change policies of the USA by giving these people his blessing?
This augurs continuing efforts to attack and undermine the nations singled out above after November if Trump is re-elected. There is no knowing what additional means he will use against most of those nations with the continuing assistance of Mike Pompeo and an even further cowed Republican Party supporting him all the way.
The third trouble with Trump I’ll call the wannabe dictator syndrome.
Trump believes he is in command. He demands to be in command. He wants to be seen to be the Chief Executive of the USA in the same way he was Chief Executive of the Trump empire. He doesn’t recognize the benefit of the democratic system of America where presidents are constrained in their acts by two houses of elected officials there to temper the activities of any potential radical in the White House.
The wannabe dictator syndrome ties in with another trouble with Trump. His unbounded ego, his sense of himself as hugely wise above and beyond anyone around him and indeed beyond anyone at all. He clearly considers himself to have risen above those who deal with issues by dint of their intellects or though experience or long hours of study. He believes in himself and his gut instinct on issues. And he acts on those and from what we have heard from ex-employees in the White House he is largely dismissive of all else.
Trump, love him, hate him or merely fear him is a typical candidate for total power that we call a dictator. Full of himself, reliant only on his own instincts and 100% sure he is right 100% of the time. And if anyone says otherwise they are a liar and his enemy from that moment on.
My own views on Trump take me beyond even these criticisms which it seems to me are enough to raise disquiet at the very least.
I consider Trump to be an obvious sociopath, what’s known in psychiatric jargon as a ‘socialized psychopath’. I see him as a textbook example in fact.
A socialized psychopath should not be thought of as having a killer instinct, a socialized psychopath as the term implies is one that shares certain characteristics with the serial killer type of psychopath as seen in movies such as ‘Psycho’ or in real life embodied in people like Jeffrey Dahmer. What is shared however are certain characters of mind. No conscience. No empathy. A grandiose sense of being always right. An almost complete lack of empathy for others. An overwhelming ego, extremely narcissistic. And a willingness to lie at the drop of a hat in a self-interest that is all-consuming.
For me this is the central reality concerning Trump. And, it could be said it is not even his fault. He simply is that way and was always driven by his mentality to do the things he does. And he will continue. He won’t have a moment of catharsis wherein he realizes he hasn’t been doing things quite right. That is not possible for a sociopath. They are that way and have no way out. Trump will continue to act as he does in all respects, right to whatever bitter end awaits him and us.
And that is true whether you love him, hate him or merely fear him.
The sickening truth for all those vitally interested in furthering the possibility for world peace and ending the awful, divisive and destructive intent behind America’s regime change wars is that the alternative choice to Trump, Biden, is unlikely to be any better on that score than Trump and may even in fact be worse.
Currently a significant minority in America are revolting against a range of issues that began with one particular incident of police brutality against a man of color. It is surely clear to most that this revolutionary spirit is also directed at Trump and the direction he is taking the USA. His response in sending in federal troops is controversial at the very least and in my view indicative of his desire to be seen as a strong leader.
Rightly or wrongly Trump is dividing America into two camps, his supporters and his enemies.
So, we will undoubtedly see two enemies functioning as potential supporting issues for his campaign leading up to the November vote, the inner and outer enemies. And you will know I’m sure just how much leverage is gained in the USA in having enemies to point to when you need to strengthen your base. When you can point at believable foes over there rather than have evidence of your own failures inspected right here you have pulled off one of the most potent political tricks of all.
So, business thug, smart guy who can play 4D chess, a sexual abuser, a wannabe dictator, a stable genius, Putin’s Puppet, a serial liar, a tyrant, a traitor? Or a sociopath, a socialized psychopath?
These and more are the options when taking a view on this quixotic man.
And this inability to pin him down precisely is perhaps the final... ‘Trouble With Trump’.
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