Trump's aberrant behavior is getting worse. Why are Americans ignoring his decline?

[marmar]

Trump’s aberrant behavior is getting worse. Why are Americans ignoring his decline?
Mental health experts plot out what they believe is Trump’s increasingly psychopathic behavior

By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 29, 2023 5:45AM (EST)


(Salon) In evaluating his public and private behavior, America’s leading mental health professionals have concluded that Donald Trump is mentally unwell, and likely a sociopath — if not a psychopath. In even more direct terms, Trump has shown himself to apparently have a diseased mind, which in turn amplifies his already corrupt morality and ethics, attraction to violence, and overall capacity for evil. Ultimately, if he were to become president again, such an outcome would be a disaster for both the United States and the world.

In a new essay in the New York Times, Thomas Edsall consulted with mental health professionals from some of America’s most prestigious institutions about this emergency. Their conclusion: Donald Trump’s aberrant behavior is getting worse.

....(snip)....

Leonard Class, who is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, told Edsall that:

If Trump — in adopting language that he cannot help knowing replicates that of Hitler (especially the references to opponents as “vermin” and “poisoning the blood of our country”), we have to wonder if he has crossed into “new terrain.” That terrain, driven by grandiosity and dread of exposure (e.g., at the trials) could signal the emergence of an even less constrained, more overtly vicious and remorseless Trump who, should he regain the presidency, would, indeed act like the authoritarians he praises. Absent conscientious aides who could contain him (as they barely did last time), this could lead to the literal shedding of American blood on American soil by a man who believes he is “the only one” and the one, some believe, is a purifying agent of God and in whom they see no evil nor do they doubt.

....(snip)....

Collectively, the small group of mental health professionals who followed through on their “duty to warn” the American people about Trump and his dangerousness were marginalized, harassed (including death threats) and in at least one example suffered sanctions and loss of employment. Their warnings about Trumpism and the ascendant neofascist movement and the type of widespread harm, including violence and mass death (as seen with the Trump regime’s negligent if not outright criminal response to the Covid pandemic) have proven to be prescient. Trump’s plans to become America’s first dictator are creating a cataclysmic synergy between his diseased mind, with its megalomania and God complex, and a fascist political party and movement that is eager to rubbleize democracy with the goal of creating an American apartheid Christofascist plutocracy. .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2023/11/29/trumps-aberrant-behavior-is-getting-worse-why-are-americans-ignoring-his-decline/

[claudette]

1. Because

in my view, I think the media finds its readers increase every time the orange criminal's words are published. And the magats love it.

[Escurumbele]

18. You are 100% correct, the media are the worst traitors, its all about ratings, damn the country.

All day, all networks all they do is talk about trump, even MSNBC, at least MSNBC needs to ignore the SOB, but all everyone does is talk about him. It is a trick that Putin also employed in his early stages of his political career, give the media a lot to talk about and they will keep your name on the media, it helps them because, as we know, the poorly educated who follow them think its great.

The other problem is that Democrats don't attack with the force they should, it is what someone said a while ago, "Democrats go into a knife fight with a bible", and that is not way to win a fight.

republicans have so much dirt on their resume that it should be easy to hold a campaign against them, but they don't do it, they want to be decent against indecent people, and it doesn't work well.

[True Blue American]

26. Agree.

[orangecrush]

31. Thanks for expressing your concern

[czarjak]

2. Why diid Americans embrace It in the first place?

[PatSeg]

5. Historians will be studying that for many years

That is if there still are historians.

Meanwhile, the rise of right-wing authoritarian leaders has been worldwide in recent years. It seems to run in cycles.

[czarjak]

7. America!

First to go right wing. Courtesy of Mr. Putin. Worked out so well?

[PatSeg]

10. It is like a really bad movie

and Putin is like the sinister villain in a Saturday morning cartoon or a James Bond film. There are days when it is hard to believe this is all real. Just imagine if someone told you in 2000 that Donald Trump would become President of the United States.

[Escurumbele]

23. We have to admit that Democratic governments have been infiltrated by corrupt politicians,

people who go into politics to gain power and influence, they have destroyed economies all over the World, I can talk about South America because I have studied it for a long time. South American "Democracies", or pseudo-Democracies are the best example of political corruption. If we look at one of those countries, Venezuela, a very rich country with incredible natural resources, a country where everyone should be able to lead a great life, where schools/universities/hospitals/etc. should be the envy of all and free, has been rampant with corruption to an extent that their middle class slowly disappeared. When people start suffering the effects of corruption they turn to demagogues who promise earth and sky, they want change, they want to be able to get out of the bad situation they live in, and they end up voting for those evil people.

Democrats need to talk more to the country, they need to boast about all the good things they have done, while also telling people about the resistance that constantly comes from republicans when Democrats want to do well for its citizens, it should not be very difficult, and it is necessary because republicans make a lot of noise, their lies travel the waves uncontested which makes people believe they are true. republicans are also very good at lying and creating memes, memes are a powerful communication tool, Democrats need to create memes against trump and his minions, they need to fight back with the same tools, trying to depend on the decency of people is a wrong strategy, see how indecent trump is, and although he is always around 30%, it is a very loyal group.

[PatSeg]

30. You know

until recent years, I'd taken our way of government for granted. It never dawned on me what a miracle it is that our democracy has survived for so long. I've really come to appreciate our institutions flawed as they may be. Democracies don't just hatch and thrive perpetually. There will always be forces, internal and external, hellbent on taking them down. That is why education is so important and we have let our schools decline to the point where students know very little about government or history.

I agree, republicans are masters at often meaningless, but effective soundbites. They know how to play to people's emotions without actually saying anything of consequence.

[Martin Eden]

33. That's assuming the USA doesn't devolve into an Orwellian dystopia

In which case truthful history would be flushed down the Memory Hole.

[PatSeg]

35. Yes

That's why I said, "If there are historians". I was remembering "1984" and it does not feel too farfetched.

[musclecar6]

8. In my opinion

The American voters who fell for this guy’s bullshit, were taken in by a Conman, liar, and a cheat. That’s the one thing he’s good at, conning stupid/ naive or just plain evil people like him. Just like worst kind of car salesman you’ve ever come across. As we all have seen, completely immoral as others have said, likely an over the top sociopath/psychopath and out of control megalomaniac who wants to be a modern day Hitler.

Of course, now that they have thrown in with this guy and as we know ego being what it is, they can’t ever admit they were wrong for following this very evil person.

[griffi94]

20. Thirty years of RW media.

Trump wouldn't have happened had conservatives not already
gone way down the rabbit hole with Rush, Bill-O, Hannity, Beck, and the rest of the crazies.
MAGATs were primed for at least thirty years.

[Give Peace A Chance]

11. Because (many) people LOVE to hate.

[orangecrush]

32. They didn't

Last time I checked, JOE BIDEN was President!

Isn't that WONDERFUL?

[AllaN01Bear]

3. jail he should be but the courts are coddleing him

[TwilightZone]

4. Understanding the difference between a "decline" and intentionally ramping up the rhetoric.

We should probably start there. Trump's behavior has been aberrant since the day he walked down the escalator. This alleged "decline" is likely born out of desperation and not necessarily cognitive.

"we have to wonder if he has crossed into “new terrain.” "

Nope, it's just a new spin on old Trump favorites. He's been referring to "rodents" and "infestations" and making sidelong glances at Hitler for years. He's just being more overt and direct about it now.

[PatSeg]

6. He is saying quiet part out loud

He learned over the past few years that he doesn't need to temper his language, because he never pays a price for being outrageous and vulgar. That said, I think he is also in decline and perhaps is feeling desperate.

[TwilightZone]

9. Could be all of the above.

I'm not discounting cognitive decline entirely; it's possible, if not likely.

But a lot of what "experts" and others provide as examples of his decline can just as easily be explained as someone who knows that the only thing that may keep him out of prison is winning the presidency again, and he thinks the way to do that is ramp up the crazy that got him there the first time. And, as you noted, he's figured out that code is no longer necessary and he can just say what he wants.

I'll never understand why he's always withstood scandals and actions that would have doomed quite literally any other candidate in memory. Part of it is the cult-like devotion of his followers, of course, but it takes more than the cult to win. It's that other part that I don't think I'll ever get.

[PatSeg]

12. I think it is both

Given his temperament, age, lifestyle, and current legal problems, a certain amount of cognitive decline is very likely. He already showed signs of it when he was in the White House. If you compared videos of him from the past few years with ones of him in the 1980s or 1990s, it is like he is a different person. Also, his father had dementia.

I'll never understand how he withstood so many scandals either. He has perfected a tactic that seems to repel scandals. Never admit wrongdoing, never apologize, attack the accuser, and create enough chaos to divert attention. He is hardly a brilliant man, but he sure is good at these tactics. Apparently he's been doing it for many years.

[Hope22]

14. Collecting dirt on opponents

and not being afraid to blackmail them with it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had tapes of his own showing his maga minions in the house doing nasty things. Some of the recent defectors have alluded to these events.

[PatSeg]

27. Yes in that respect,

Trump is very much like Putin. It is the sort of thing that seems to come naturally to him, though I wonder if at any point it dawned on him that the same tactics could and probably would be used against him (undoubtedly Putin did so). I suppose it did occur to him and as such he probably preemptively acquired kompromat on potential enemies. Unfortunately for him, that wouldn't work against Putin.

[True Blue American]

29. One of the traits of Alzheimer's disease

Is anger,hate rage. Even he Doctors warn you about that. It is also inherited. Runs in families.

I just saw a picture of Trump. Don,Jr. Had him by the hand leading him off stage. A lot of his Truth Social rants are written by others.

[yardwork]

13. Too many Americans listen to propaganda.

They watch Fox News, listen to hate radio, and hang out on internet sites sponsored by the Russian and Chinese governments.

Too many Americans assume that everything will always stay about the same, and that it's perfectly safe for them to rail against Democrats and engage in performative "protest votes."

Millions of Americans will vote for Trump just because they're angry and want to lash out. His disgusting behavior is a feature - it makes his supporters feel like they're doing something important fighting the "establishment." And they've decided that they're "not safe" and he's the only daddy who can protect them. He's an abusive vulgar gross daddy, but they're used to that.

Too many Americans on the left will do the same, maybe not vote for Trump but not vote at all or vote for some "alternative" puppet because Biden hasn't made all their dreams come true.

[Rocknation]

15. Not ALL Americans are ignoring it

Just the ones who don't want to condemn themselves by admitting that they've NEVER noticed that he's ALWAYS been in decline.

Trump's "landslide" popularity is the biggest of his big lies. He's lost the popular vote TWICE in a row, and by TWICE as much the second time.


rocktivity

[Backseat Driver]

16. I can't seem to find the verb form (gerund?) of "rubbleize" (to rubblize? democracy) in a dictionary.

however, I did notice the noun "rubblization."It is an engineering technique for resurfacing roadways in which concrete or other modern hard surfaces and structures above ground are destroyed by hammering, creating cracks and defects that are left in place but leveled before application of a new surface layer. The results seem to be a less costly, stronger, more durable optional roadway surface. Would some member of the English spelling police please make a determination of this apparent alternative word's correct spelling?

I can see this "new" word form "to rubbleize"replacing the name of said technique, "rubblization" (which is indeed a word) in terms of an "engineering" technique metaphor made even stronger by adding "social" to the term "engineering" said to be more cost effective as well as more durable? That would, I think, require changing the preceding preposition from "to" into "for" or adding the new form, spelled "rubbleize" to the dictionary to properly parse this alternative meaning. However, ideologies are not quite the same as what was meant in the founding words of a strong and durable Constitution of USA that politicians seem to believe needs major resurfacing for a smoother ride (meaning longer life) after more than 200 years. In addition, material and/or structural engineering isn't quite the same as a more specific and specialized "social engineering" which has many negative connotations in context?

Isn't parsing grand? LOL - Just pondering how things get so twisted - Perhaps it's not the "engineers" that have the liability but the "developers' fault"? There I go pondering and over-thinking those "alternative facts" in our language again...Some spelling bee save me!

[RAB910]

17. The MSM is ignoring it, that's why it's not being talked about

[Old Crank]

19. Constant stream of sound bites

That is all they care about. But if Joe stutters it is front page news.

[orangecrush]

21. It's not hyperbole

We have been warned.

Believe it

[NoMoreRepugs]

22. One can NEVER go broke or fail to amass power by taking advantage of the ignorance of the sizable

portion of the American public that through social media and the teevee want to be told what to think and believe.

[barbtries]

24. it's the media

the only video news i consume anymore as a rule is the Meidas Touch. They cover it all. They provide coverage of all the cases pending, trump's apparent cognitive decline, his increasing fascism. They are lawyers and provide great analyses of what's happening and are quite good at predicting what will happen.

they also employ extensive clips from fox news and trump's speeches and they have commercials imbedded in their videos, but I have youtube premium and fast forward through it because their content is really good.

Leave it to the media to blame Americans for their failure. i mean fuck that!

Trump's behavior is so far from normal. Nobody could ignore it if the media wasn't normalizing or ignoring it day in and day out. We're a nation trapped in an abusive relationship and it's time to break free of it already.

[no_hypocrisy]

25. Because it's entertaining.

This is how 21st century fascism gets a foothold: Politics as amusement, divertissement, reality TV. It’s all blended.

[Irish_Dem]

28. Mental health experts have been talking about Trump's mental status since day one.

The GOP doesn't care.

[agingdem]

34. Americans are not ignoring Trump's verbal Nazi vomit..

Last edited Thu Nov 30, 2023, 12:26 AM - Edit history (1)

Trump's base of rabid cult imbeciles may not notice or care their master is a deranged psychopath but the rest of us "get" he's batshit nuts, consumed with delusions of despotic grandeur...and we are well aware that every Trump burp and fart is Breaking News and a network money-maker..which why we've turned off cable news with the endless parsing of Trump's spewed vomit, and turned on progressive podcasts..