Mikko Marttinen and you, David, are right when you say Trump is not intelligent and deteriorates from dumb to dumber. According to all the people who know him, the man did not read a single book in his life. Trump is our modern-day Chauncey Gardiner (from Jerzy Kosinski's "Being There"). It is therefore pointless to analyze his word salad looking for deeper meaning. There is none.
Trump is a criminal, and we need to defeat him. What kind of criminal he is makes a difference in how to do that. For a white colar criminal, we exaine bank records for a con artist, we warn vulnerable populations. It is important to understand the characteristics of the criminal if you want to defeat them. Trump is a sociopath (malignant narcisist). They are capable of all kinds of crimes, but they do have particular characteistics, and it helps to understand them if we are to protect ourselves. They do not have to be book learned particularly because there is only one kind of knowledgte they are interested in--how to defeat legal systems. And at this they are geniuses. We do not help to defeat them by denying what they are good at. They are not like us. They do not consider ethics or empathy. It doesn't exist in their calculations. It is hard for normal people to understand because we are wired to act in accordance with empathy and ethics. Understanding the sociopathic mind is like trying to imagine the world without the color red or something. But, we must learn how they think or we cannot protect ourselves. For example, sociopaths have an incredible ability to see moral weakness in people and, based on that, corrupt them. So, when people say our solution is to put Trump in jail, they are dreaming. A sociopath will have the guards and Secret Service running errands and interference for them. Special techniques are necessary--like special training on how to not be influenced by a sociopath, and the rotating of personell who come in conact with them so no one is with them too long. You notice Trump effectively corrupted the Secret Service during his first term. I am not saying that sociopaths are invincible. If that were true, so many of them would not be in jail. And yes, they can be incredibly smart in some ways and incredibly dumb in others. Trump has no interest in becoming a scholar., but, according to his ex-wife, he kept Hitler's "My New Order" at his bedside for reading.. And attempting to understand them does not mean having sympathy for them. My exposure to sociopaths came from the ten years i spent as a teacher in a maximum security, 1300 bed, male prison. At one point, I felt myself influenced by one and went to a therapist. I quote what the therapist told me: When I feel myself tempted to violate my own ethics, I know I am in the presence of a sociopath." I recommend getting an authoritiative book and reading up. Knowledge is power, and we are going to need as much as we can get to get ourselves our of this mess.
It is not important why Trump said his lie about Zelensky starting the war.
It does not matter whether he is aware enough to know it is a lie.
We do not need to prove what he knows or does not know, what his motivations are towards Putin or Zelensky, his first impeachment or anything else.
He spoke the words, he is an adult, he is responsible for the words that come out of his mouth and he has already had enough time to fix them if they were a mistake. He has not. So any later 'fix' should be cast aside with derision. Trump has spoken 'his truth'.
People can decide for themselves if he needs to go because of what he thinks or because he is currently incapable of thinking. Whether he is that full of hate or that disconnected from reality, or if he is that much under the thrall of Putin. ANY answer, ANY explanation is far too damning of Trump. Do not even try to diagnose why he said it, or what he 'really meant', it does not matter and you do nto want to get caught up in those arguments. Trump's minions will deny, distract, confuse... they will provide an endless cycle of explanations and defenses because any one of them will be futile. Ignore them all, just go back to the quote and repeat: Trump Said...
Repeat daily the message that Trump said Zelensky started the war. Provide a backdrop of the preview of the war, when Biden warned all it was coming. post the Chyron with Trump's quote while showing footage of the huge column of tanks invading Ukraine on Day one. Post the Chyron with pictures of explosions from Russian bombs, news of torture by Russian soldiers, kidnapping or Ukrainian children... Graphics of how the beginning of the war changed day by day.
Post pictures and story of what led to Trump's first impeachment. of the MANY times Trump has sided with Putin over America, with links to the original evidence, preferably directly from Trump, for instance when he labeled the invasion by Putin "Brilliant".
This is one that will not be crowded out. Sure, people care about economy and that will still play. Sure Musk is Chaos incarnate and that will play well in many ways. But most people care about Ukraine enough to know it was Russia that started it and kept it going.
Always end with "Do you believe 78 year old Trump who has always deferred to Putin, or your own memory?" Which of course was enhanced with the video memory of it all.
People know Trump lies, but this one stinks bigger than most and has a strong emotional impact.
Play it up big and constantly. Do not let it get forgotten when Trump does something else terrible.
The notion that Trump lacks intelligence itself lacks intelligence. The man made it to the highest office in the world twice. How stupid could he be? Plus, it is a dangerous delusion because it obscures the depth of what he may be up to. People who think he is stupid only look at the surface of what he does. We must get it straight. Trump is a full blown sociopath (malignant narcisist). They are not stupid. Their thinking is not slowed down by concerns with empathy and ethics, so they see clearly to power relationships and particularly loopholes in the powere structure. They can be chess moves ahead while we do not even see the danger. They are also consumate actors--able to mimic emotions they do not feel. They can, therefore, act dumb if it is in their interest to do so in order to attract a following of people who pride themselves on being anti-intellectual. We should even question whether the observed decline is real or staged. You notice that his hair and makeup have changed of late. He is now gray instead of orange, and his skill is pale because that fake tan isn't being used. Does he want us to think he is declining, so he can turn the government over to Vance while he rules from the sidelines? Wake up and think, people. Look beneath the surface for what is really goibg on
Bravo, right on the money, well said. His persecution complex is evidence of schizophrenia. His renaming Gulf of America, is to see how far he can make others kiss the ring. Emperors new clothes is what he says it is. He was elected President, not King.
Not sure how long he can fool the masses, but he is stepping on a lot of toes, who thought he was God's gift to the universe.
Trump has certain capabilities and strategies that have served him well.
Trump (like most everybody) is incompetent in most areas but he is never willing to admit he is. One of those areas is the law and how the government actually works. He does not study how to do the job, it is not his interest.
Mikko Marttinen and you, David, are right when you say Trump is not intelligent and deteriorates from dumb to dumber. According to all the people who know him, the man did not read a single book in his life. Trump is our modern-day Chauncey Gardiner (from Jerzy Kosinski's "Being There"). It is therefore pointless to analyze his word salad looking for deeper meaning. There is none.
Trump is a criminal, and we need to defeat him. What kind of criminal he is makes a difference in how to do that. For a white colar criminal, we exaine bank records for a con artist, we warn vulnerable populations. It is important to understand the characteristics of the criminal if you want to defeat them. Trump is a sociopath (malignant narcisist). They are capable of all kinds of crimes, but they do have particular characteistics, and it helps to understand them if we are to protect ourselves. They do not have to be book learned particularly because there is only one kind of knowledgte they are interested in--how to defeat legal systems. And at this they are geniuses. We do not help to defeat them by denying what they are good at. They are not like us. They do not consider ethics or empathy. It doesn't exist in their calculations. It is hard for normal people to understand because we are wired to act in accordance with empathy and ethics. Understanding the sociopathic mind is like trying to imagine the world without the color red or something. But, we must learn how they think or we cannot protect ourselves. For example, sociopaths have an incredible ability to see moral weakness in people and, based on that, corrupt them. So, when people say our solution is to put Trump in jail, they are dreaming. A sociopath will have the guards and Secret Service running errands and interference for them. Special techniques are necessary--like special training on how to not be influenced by a sociopath, and the rotating of personell who come in conact with them so no one is with them too long. You notice Trump effectively corrupted the Secret Service during his first term. I am not saying that sociopaths are invincible. If that were true, so many of them would not be in jail. And yes, they can be incredibly smart in some ways and incredibly dumb in others. Trump has no interest in becoming a scholar., but, according to his ex-wife, he kept Hitler's "My New Order" at his bedside for reading.. And attempting to understand them does not mean having sympathy for them. My exposure to sociopaths came from the ten years i spent as a teacher in a maximum security, 1300 bed, male prison. At one point, I felt myself influenced by one and went to a therapist. I quote what the therapist told me: When I feel myself tempted to violate my own ethics, I know I am in the presence of a sociopath." I recommend getting an authoritiative book and reading up. Knowledge is power, and we are going to need as much as we can get to get ourselves our of this mess.
It is not important why Trump said his lie about Zelensky starting the war.
It does not matter whether he is aware enough to know it is a lie.
We do not need to prove what he knows or does not know, what his motivations are towards Putin or Zelensky, his first impeachment or anything else.
He spoke the words, he is an adult, he is responsible for the words that come out of his mouth and he has already had enough time to fix them if they were a mistake. He has not. So any later 'fix' should be cast aside with derision. Trump has spoken 'his truth'.
People can decide for themselves if he needs to go because of what he thinks or because he is currently incapable of thinking. Whether he is that full of hate or that disconnected from reality, or if he is that much under the thrall of Putin. ANY answer, ANY explanation is far too damning of Trump. Do not even try to diagnose why he said it, or what he 'really meant', it does not matter and you do nto want to get caught up in those arguments. Trump's minions will deny, distract, confuse... they will provide an endless cycle of explanations and defenses because any one of them will be futile. Ignore them all, just go back to the quote and repeat: Trump Said...
End of story.
Repeat daily the message that Trump said Zelensky started the war. Provide a backdrop of the preview of the war, when Biden warned all it was coming. post the Chyron with Trump's quote while showing footage of the huge column of tanks invading Ukraine on Day one. Post the Chyron with pictures of explosions from Russian bombs, news of torture by Russian soldiers, kidnapping or Ukrainian children... Graphics of how the beginning of the war changed day by day.
Post pictures and story of what led to Trump's first impeachment. of the MANY times Trump has sided with Putin over America, with links to the original evidence, preferably directly from Trump, for instance when he labeled the invasion by Putin "Brilliant".
This is one that will not be crowded out. Sure, people care about economy and that will still play. Sure Musk is Chaos incarnate and that will play well in many ways. But most people care about Ukraine enough to know it was Russia that started it and kept it going.
Always end with "Do you believe 78 year old Trump who has always deferred to Putin, or your own memory?" Which of course was enhanced with the video memory of it all.
People know Trump lies, but this one stinks bigger than most and has a strong emotional impact.
Play it up big and constantly. Do not let it get forgotten when Trump does something else terrible.
The notion that Trump lacks intelligence itself lacks intelligence. The man made it to the highest office in the world twice. How stupid could he be? Plus, it is a dangerous delusion because it obscures the depth of what he may be up to. People who think he is stupid only look at the surface of what he does. We must get it straight. Trump is a full blown sociopath (malignant narcisist). They are not stupid. Their thinking is not slowed down by concerns with empathy and ethics, so they see clearly to power relationships and particularly loopholes in the powere structure. They can be chess moves ahead while we do not even see the danger. They are also consumate actors--able to mimic emotions they do not feel. They can, therefore, act dumb if it is in their interest to do so in order to attract a following of people who pride themselves on being anti-intellectual. We should even question whether the observed decline is real or staged. You notice that his hair and makeup have changed of late. He is now gray instead of orange, and his skill is pale because that fake tan isn't being used. Does he want us to think he is declining, so he can turn the government over to Vance while he rules from the sidelines? Wake up and think, people. Look beneath the surface for what is really goibg on
Bravo, right on the money, well said. His persecution complex is evidence of schizophrenia. His renaming Gulf of America, is to see how far he can make others kiss the ring. Emperors new clothes is what he says it is. He was elected President, not King.
Not sure how long he can fool the masses, but he is stepping on a lot of toes, who thought he was God's gift to the universe.
Two things can be true at the same time.
Trump has certain capabilities and strategies that have served him well.
Trump (like most everybody) is incompetent in most areas but he is never willing to admit he is. One of those areas is the law and how the government actually works. He does not study how to do the job, it is not his interest.