CommentsCORRUPTION WATCHAs Secretary of State Rex Tillerson noted, we elected a freaking moron as President. Let’s remember that Rex Tillerson was CEO of Exxon Mobile and the recipient of the Russian civilian honor bestowed by President Vladimir Putin.
Tillerson won the award after his deal with Igor Sechin, a close ally of Putin and head of the state-owned Russian oil company, Rosneft. Tillerson’s background is crucial for us to comprehend how badly Trump behaves. There are probably few non-mental health professionals in the world with better credentials to evaluate the Tweeter-in-Chief.
Prior to the November 2016 election, few outside the mental health community knew that Donald Trump was mentally ill. Since he had been an egotistical real estate developer whose main business practice appeared to be going bankrupt to avoid paying his debts, half the nation loved him. The most avid Trump supporters could gather under a giant sign proclaiming, “Predators R Us.”
The rest of the country figured it must be an act – after all, he was a reality TV star. Is there anyone who does not know that the word “real” in “Reality TV” means “fake?” But few people who voted against Trump realized that he was seriously mentally ill.
Mental Illness is Real
Because we can see physical deformities, we do not ask legless people to run foot races. The irony is that people with physical disabilities are far more capable of compensating for their limitations than a mentally ill person.
Mental illness is not a lack of will power. Expecting Donald Trump to act presidential reveals a total lack of comprehension of the significance of his personality disorders. A paraplegic Iraqi vet can walk with artificial braces, but there is no prosthesis for a disabled mind. By calling Trump a freaking moron, Tillerson was saying that there is an irredeemable quality about Trump that makes him completely unqualified to be President. (We all know Tillerson did not use the euphemism “freaking.”)
Trump Is a Captive of His Neurology
While some mental illnesses can be treated with medication, there is no medication for Trump’s serious Personality Disorders. Bipolar patients can take Lithium, and Valium can be used for anxiety, but there is nothing for a Histrionic, a Borderline, or a Narcissist. The day may arrive when we have a magic pill for persons suffering from Personality Disorders, but that day is not even on the horizon.
We Need to Face Reality
Donald Trump cannot improve; he cannot behave except as his own neurology dictates. A shortcoming in Senator Corker’s laments is his belief that Trump has the neurological capacity to do a good job. No! People with Personality Orders do not improve. They decompensate. That means they become worse under stress. They are non-curable.
The nation needs to face the reality that Trump cannot improve – he cannot become a good President. We know that Trump is not putting on an act, as many believed during the campaign. No sane person would behave in this fashion. Only a vicious predator who cared nothing for the welfare of the nation would behave in this way.
Surprise! Americans, not Donald Trump, are the Real Problem
Despite Trump’s Personality Disorders, the real problem was diagnosed by Pogo in April 1970, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” The refusal of the American public to recognize the dangers of demagogues and would-be tyrants is not new. As I previously wrote in CityWatch, America did not reject Nazi Fascism. Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor forced us into the war in Europe. While we elect miscreants to public office, until now we have not promoted anyone as dangerously mentally ill as Donald Trump.
When Trump said, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” he too seemed surprised at his outlandish acceptance by his supporters. Since that time, it seems that Trump has lost his perspective on the gullibility of the American populace. As a person who craves love, Trump plays to the crowd and if the crowds had cheered support for helping undocumented immigrants, Trump would have fallen in love with illegal aliens. Since the crowds cheered the destruction of families and the deportation of children who have only known America as their home, Trump orders the more deportations. Due to the nature of his Histrionic and Narcissistic Personality Disorders, Trump reflects America. He cannot help himself.
Histrionics Do What the Crowd Wants
Criteria #7 for a histrionic is being “suggestible, i.e., easily influenced by others or circumstances.” Yes, Pogo was right. Trump is us. Like Frankenstein’s monster, the American public has created Donald Trump in its image. He was so easily influenced by the purveyors of hate and discord like Bannon and the cheering hordes for such a long time, that Trump has become fixated on these vicious behaviors. Promoting the hate of others has become his way to get love from his supporters. If Trump were to preach love and acceptance, they would turn against him. This histrionic trait dovetails with the narcissist’s demand for complete acceptance. For a narcissist and a histrionic, lack of adulation is worse than death.
Obama’s Economics Gave Rise to Trumpism
In 1930s Germany, the economy set the stage for Hitler. After 2008, Obama’s regressive economic policies gave us the longest, slowest recovery since the end of WW II and devastated the White Rust Belt. While Obama was ushering the blue collar middle class into foreclosure and bankruptcy, he lavished trillions of dollars on Wall Street and promoted the idea of “too important to prosecute” to protect the criminals who had crashed the economy. Although Obama was warned that his economics were laying the ground work for an American Hitler, he ignored the advice. The Democrats now need to admit that their pro-Wall Street policies incorporated a predatory disregard for the welfare of the poor, even as they proclaimed to be their savior.
The important lesson for us is that we, as Americans, tilled the soil and planted the seeds for the rise of Trumpism with its predatory racism. All Americans need to own up to the nation’s role in the creation of Trumpism.
Instead, few Democrats are doing anything to protect us all. The Democrat leaders like Nancy Pelosi obsess over how much money they can fundraise in the wake of Trump’s bizarre behavior. The Democrats have never raked in more loot than they have since Trump took office, and they are not about to let hundreds of millions of dollars slip through their greedy fingers by working with the GOP, the military and religious leaders to have Trump leave office.
When the religious right wing cheers on xenophobic hatred in the name of God’s love and when the Democrats only see fundraising opportunities, maybe the country itself is who is mentally unhinged. After all, aren’t politicians just soulless entities who reflect our inner nature?
(Richard Lee Abrams is a Los Angeles attorney and a CityWatch contributor. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Abrams views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
