Thursday Reads: America’s Ongoing Crisis Has Reached Emergency Levels
Posted: November 30, 2017 Filed under: morning reads, U.S. Economy, U.S. Politics | Tags: Donald Trump, GOP tax scam 49 CommentsGood Morning!!
The media is finally waking up to the fact that the “president” of the U.S. is not just a pathological liar, not just a sociopath and a malignant narcissist–he is actually suffering from a serious thought disorder with delusions.
Jonathan Chait at New York Magazine: New Reports Suggest Trump Might Not Be a Liar at All, But Truly Delusional.
The Washington Post and New York Times have accounts from insiders suggesting Trump habitually insists upon the impossible in private. He does not merely tell lies in order to gull the public or to manipulate allies. He tells lies in private that he has no reason to tell. He still questions the authenticity of Barack Obama’s birthplace, despite the birth certificate. He insists voter fraud may have denied him a popular-vote triumph. He tells people Robert Mueller will wrap up his investigation, with a total vindication of the president, by the end of the year.
He questions whether the Access Hollywood tape, on which he was recorded boasting of sexual assault, is even him. (Both the Post and the Times report Trump repeatedly has denied the validity of the tape in private, “stunning his advisers,” as the Times puts it.)
It is of course entirely possible that Trump is lying to everybody, including his own staff. But the lies in these articles do not always fit into any pattern of rational self-aggrandizement. Trump tells senators or his aides the Access Hollywood tape is not him, but they don’t believe him. He has no reason to bring up the birther fabrication in private.
His apparent belief that Mueller will complete his sprawling investigation by the end of the year is not only pointless but self-defeating — rather than prepare allies for a long defense, he is preparing them for a fantastical scenario. (It is also further evidence that, when Mueller fails to vindicate him by the new year, Trump will lash out wildly, firing him, Jeff Sessions, or others.)
If Trump actually has the ability to convince himself of his own lies, it would suggest a possibility far more dangerous than even his critics have previously assumed. He might be in the grip of a mental-health issue, or at least one more serious than mere sociopathy. And the mutterings that he might need to be removed from office through the 25th Amendment could grow more serious than many of us have expected.
Gee, no kidding. It was obvious during the campaign that Trump was nuts, to use a technical term. Now people in the media are waking up to the reality of the situation when it may well be too late. BTW, a person can be a liar and delusional at the same time.
Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker at The Washington Post: Trump veers past guardrails, feeling impervious to the uproar he causes.
President Trump this week disseminated on social media three inflammatory and unverified anti-Muslim videos, took glee in the firing of a news anchor for sexual harassment allegations despite facing more than a dozen of his own accusers and used a ceremony honoring Navajo war heroes to malign a senator with a derogatory nickname, “Pocahontas.”
Again and again, Trump veered far past the guardrails of presidential behavior. But despite the now-routine condemnations, the president is acting emboldened, as if he were impervious to the uproar he causes.
If there are consequences for his actions, Trump does not seem to feel their burden personally. The Republican tax bill appears on track for passage, putting the president on the cusp of his first major legislative achievement. Trump himself remains the highest-profile man accused of sexual improprieties to keep his job with no repercussions.
Trump has internalized the belief that he can largely operate with impunity, people close to him said. His political base cheers him on. Fellow Republican leaders largely stand by him. His staff scrambles to explain away his misbehavior — or even to laugh it off. And the White House disciplinarian, chief of staff John F. Kelly, has said it is not his job to control the president.
Rucker and Parker quote from Trump’s speech in Missouri last night:
In Missouri, he was talking about taxes, but he might as well been describing his mind-set.
“Hey, look, I’m president,” Trump said. “I don’t care. I don’t care anymore.”
The Hill: Scarborough: Trump allies told me he has dementia.
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough said on Thursday that people close to President Trump told him during the campaign that Trump has “early stages of dementia.”
During MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Scarborough said Trump is “completely detached from reality.”
“You have somebody inside the White House that the New York Daily News says is mentally unfit,” Scarborough said.
“That people close to him say is mentally unfit, that people close to him during the campaign told me had early stages of dementia.”
Scarborough said the country is closer to war on the Korean Peninsula than most Americans know.
“We heard this months ago, that we are going to have a ground war in Korea, they believe that inside the White House for a very long time,” Scarborough said.
“If this is not what the 25th Amendment was drafted for,” he added, referring to the amendment that covers presidential succession and the response to a president with disabilities.
Hey Joe, why didn’t you say this during the campaign??
Last night during his speech in Missouri, Trump gave a clear demonstration of how jumbled his thought process is. Someone put the words “rocket fuel” on the teleprompter and he veered off into an attack on Kim Jong Un.
The Hill: ‘Art of the Deal’ co-author: Trump ‘losing his grip on reality.’
“But what it means in simple terms is he’s losing his grip on reality,” Schwartz told MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ari Melber” when asked about Trump’s reported suggestion that the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape may not be real.
“His reality testing is really poor and I believe that’s exactly what’s going on,” Schwartz added.
Schwartz described “a dramatic change” in Trump from when he co-authored the book with him to how the president speaks now.
“He is more limited in his vocabulary. He is further from as I say- this connection to what is factual and real. He is more impulsive. He is more reactive. This is a guy in deep trouble,” said Schwartz.
He also said that many employees at the White House are “hostages to a cult leader.”
“When you watch Sarah Huckabee Sanders right now, you really feel as if you’re watching somebody who is being brainwashed, or has been brainwashed,” Schwartz said, referencing the White House press secretary.
Mike Allen at Axios: The White House expects Trump to get even more outrageous.
The Washington Post: Deeply unpopular Congress aims to pass deeply unpopular bill for deeply unpopular president to sign.
They’ve abandoned all sense of civic duty. I assume they know the Russians will fix the 2018 elections for them.
“(Whether this would actually happen is a question of its own.)”
Hahahahahaha. “Question”? It’s not a question anymore when it’s been answered dozens of times, and the same way every time.
Then it’s just insanity to try it again. Criminal insanity in this case given how many people will be hurt.
I just want to cry about all of this. It’s a nightmare.
It is. It’s beyond belief.
It’s horrible.
Raw Story: 10-year-old hangs herself after confronting bully — as other kids mocked her on social media
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/10-year-old-hangs-herself-after-confronting-bully-as-other-kids-mocked-her-on-social-media/#.WiA7jdnEuOw.twitter
That is sick.
Head of Move On.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
We don’t expect a 3 year old to cook a meal. Or let our kids play with matches. Or encourage our children to play in traffic.
Why would the GOP leadership not take away the keys to the car from a demented man acting as POTUS? The man is out of control. His reasoning – although never sharp to begin with – seems out of whack. The tweets speak for themselves.
We all knew he was crazy from day one. The press, in all its glory, could not get enough of this Liar in Chief. Deeply flawed, he was carried by the press as “entertainment” rather than as someone whose immorality was always on display. A fraud, a liar, an ignoramus without a sense of history or the inclination to learn. The worst example of a human being seeking the highest office of the land was given unlimited time whenever he called in while other candidates had to scramble to get 20 seconds on air.
The solution is to get him out. The GOP leadership says no. He is under investigation for collusion, obstruction of justice, money laundering, not to mention his overall stupidity and disgusting demeanor.
What will it take to reach the Long Goodbye?
I see McCain is back to being McCain and pledging to deny medical coverage to working class people with brain tumors.
What a legacy.
WTF?!
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Also Zinke’s hometown, no?
Yes. Also home to Nazi Richard Spencer and his Putin-connectd wife.
Yikes, didn’t know that!
I feel like the term Orwellian has been overused recently but not without good reason.
What could possibly go wrong?
Bet they’re going to spy on Americans and hand the info over to Putin.
Or spy on the actual intelligence agencies for Trump.
Erik Prince……….he tried to do this in Afghanistan, and failed. Now he’s trying to take over and privatize it here.
By the by did you catch Erik Prince this morning on msnbc? He was telling us to move on, nothing here on Russia connections, and Trump!
Matt Lauer’s Firing and NBC’s Theatre of Accountability
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/matt-lauers-firing-and-nbcs-theatre-of-accountability?mbid=nl_Daily%20113017%20Nonsubs&CNDID=36110751&spMailingID=12471419&spUserID=MTcxMzIxNTk4NDg0S0&spJobID=1282780965&spReportId=MTI4Mjc4MDk2NQS2
“Early stage” of dementia??? He’s progressed further than that. Early stage is when the person can still pass for normal in most conversation and actions, but doesn’t pass when you dig deeper. Trump sounds abnormal whenever he speaks — he makes no sense. Terrifying. The Democrats in office should be yelling and jumping all over this.
Definitely not early stage. And that’s on top of his malignant narcissism/pathological lying.
I imagined that we went into the new year without a budget and with a lockdown on government. What could be the legal vulnerability of a president who is not getting paid to function as such? Is their immunity impaired?
Ann, you got a big Birthday gift today!
Flynn is to plead guilty!
I sure did! It’s Flynn Friday! There’s supposed to be a plea hearing at 10:30AM, right before McConnell was planning a vote on the tax scam monstrosity.
Also, over at Lindsey Graham’s website:
BB, is it your birthday today?
Yes. I just turned 70 at 3:04AM.
Happy Birthday BB! Robert Mueller has given you a nice present today.
Hope your day gets better and better!
Thanks. I got exactly what I wanted!
Yay, Happy Birthday BB. Most wonderful day!
Congratulations! Happy Birthday and thanks for all you do!
Thanks, Ron.
Happy Birthday and many, happy and healthy returns of the day!!!!!!
Thanks Sue.
Happy Happy Birthday! Flynn Indictment for your birthday present!
Wishing you many more happy birthdays, and more Trumpist indictments as your — and our — early birthday presents! (We don’t want to wait a whole ‘nother year for the next traitor to get indicted.)
Thank you!
Flake caves. Never trust a Republican.
Party before conscience.
Kushner Is Said to Have Ordered Flynn to Contact Russia
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-01/kushner-is-said-to-have-ordered-flynn-to-contact-russia
I’m sending my thoughts and prayers to the White House today:
RESIGN RESIGN RESIGN RESIGN THE GIG IS UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pack up for prison right after you resign.
Dakinikat is going to post a blog, but she had to report for jury duty this morning and now she’s waiting for her computer to finish downloading a big update.
Oh no. What a day to have jury duty!
So far there hasn’t yet been more to the story other than surmises. I’ve been checking the WaPo front page every 20 min or so.
This male journalist seems to think other offices having a lock button which “had more innocent purposes” excuses Lauer. Yeah, other men have penises too. Does that excuse Lauer? Talk about mansplaining.