Trust Trump?

 

donald-trumpShortly before the Indiana primary, The Wall Street Journal’s “Notable and Quotable” published a brief squib lifted from the Mayo Clinic’s online entry regarding narcissistic personality disorder:

If you have narcissistic personality disorder, you may come across as conceited, boastful or pretentious. You often monopolize conversations. You may belittle or look down on people you perceive as inferior. You may feel a sense of entitlement—and when you don’t receive special treatment, you may become impatient or angry. You may insist on having “the best” of everything—for instance, the best car, athletic club or medical care.

At the same time, you have trouble handling anything that may be perceived as criticism. You may have secret feelings of insecurity, shame, vulnerability and humiliation. To feel better, you may react with rage or contempt and try to belittle the other person to make yourself appear superior. Or you may feel depressed and moody because you fall short of perfection. . . .

[The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5] . . . criteria for narcissistic personality disorder include these features:

Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance

Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it

Exaggerating your achievements and talents

Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate . . .

Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner

If there was no commentary, it was because there was, in fact, no need – for it was self-evident whom the editors of that daily had in mind. It is nonetheless worth noting that, had they published the same squib at any time between April, 2009 and January, 2015, everyone would have recognized that the target was Barack Obama. Never in the history of the American Republic has there been a President as devoted to self-referential pronouncements and to self-praise. Nor have we ever had a President before who supposed that his knowledge and ability was superior in every particular to that of the experts whom he had hired to advise him. The self-confidence of Barack Obama knows no bounds.

There is, to be sure, this difference between our current President and the aspirant targeted by The Wall Street Journal. The latter is deficient in self-discipline. Incontinence ought to be his middle name. He is incapable of marital fidelity, and he has long advertised the fact. He is a model of indiscretion, and he responds to criticism with uncontrollable rage. By way of contrast, the former exercises iron self-control. Rarely if ever does he let the mask drop. He is discreet to the point of being secretive. If he is guilty of infidelity, he has kept the thing under wraps, and his every move is choreographed and calculated.

That the Mayo Clinic description fits is nonetheless obvious. A few years back, David Maraniss published a volume on Barack Obama’s early life titled Barack Obama: The Making of the Man. Although Maraniss was among the President’s most unabashed admirers, the book was informative, and it conveyed just how strange a fellow he was. There was a chapter entitled “The Moviegoer” that demonstrated how, from early on, Obama conceived of his life as a film or novel and of himself as its author. As he acted, he was always standing two or three steps back, in the shadows, watching with delight as his performance unfolded on stage.

In a sense, everything about Barack Obama is fiction. It is telling that, early on in his Presidency, he was always fretting that he might be losing what he called “the narrative.” More recently, as David Samuels has shown in detail in the most recent issue of The New York Times Magazine, Obama managed — with the help of his advisor and alter ego, the aspiring novelist Ben Rhodes – to play an elaborate con on the journalists on the foreign affairs beat and through them to mislead the country with regard to the deal his minions negotiated with Iran. If there are any “moderates” in the Iranian government, they have no leverage, and he and his close advisors knew that all along. He wanted his way, and he got it — as always by lying to us.

One might respond to what I have said here by noting that all aspiring politicians think highly of themselves. Vanity is simply a part of the picture – and this is true. But very few of them are as vain as Barack Obama, and no one before him supposed that words trumped deeds, that everything is ultimately fictional, and that saying that something is so is good enough to make it so.

The crisis that is rapidly approaching – in domestic and in foreign affairs – is a function of the fact that we have a President who sees us as pawns in a work of fiction designed to demonstrate his greatness. Most politicians think of themselves as public servants. Most suppose that any glory they will achieve will be a function of the actual service they perform. In Barack Obama’s world, those of us who make up the public are simply extras, and he is the impresario, staging a drama for his own adulation. If he has been careless in a thousand ways, it is because he really does not care at all about our welfare.

I have belabored this because we face a similar prospect with Donald Trump. Like Barack Obama, he is an accomplished actor, and he has one remarkable gift. He can spin a tale of his own greatness, and he can make the credulous believe it. Furthermore, like Barack Obama, he has devoted his life to aggrandizement. He is not a promise-keeper; he is a promise-breaker. He seduces others, uses them, and dumps them. Look at the women in his life; look also at his record as a businessman. In business, when he fails, his partners are always left holding the bag. When he speaks of “the art of the deal,” he has in mind “the art of the steal.” It is not clear that he has ever cared – really cared — for another human being: apart, perhaps, for his children whom he considers extensions of himself. It is all about winning, all about humiliating opponents, all about showing off, all about commanding the stage.

I can see why those who recoil in horror at the prospect of Hillary Clinton becoming President (as I do) are inclined to suppose that The Donald would be better. He might be. He just might be. But if he is elected, it will be The Donald Show, just as we have lived through The Barack Show. The chief difference will be that Trump will be erratic – driven this way and that by his anger at perceived slights. The man has no principles whatsoever, and he has no self-control. Barack Obama has systematically exploited us in support of the narrative he is intent on constructing. There will be no system to what Donald Trump does. Under his direction, our government will be as chaotic as his romantic life, and we will once again be extras in a drama staged by and on behalf of someone else.

Can we trust the man? If you think so, I believe that you are deluding yourself. His record in affairs both public and private shows that he does not keep his word. He will make a commitment for the purpose of getting what he wants, and he will break that commitment the moment he has what he desired. In the end, he will betray everyone who relies on him. He always has.

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  1. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    I, like many voters right now, am very uncomfortable with Trump as president. I wouldn’t care what he said he would do.

    • #1
  2. Merina Smith Inactive
    Merina Smith
    @MerinaSmith

    Another it’s-all-about-me president, only without system and method–that sounds about right.  I wonder if Ben Rhodes will be willing to aide Trump with his story-telling skills.  It will be easier.  All he has to do is be Baghdad Bob.

    • #2
  3. tigerlily Member
    tigerlily
    @tigerlily

    Paul A. Rahe:donald-trump

    Can we trust the man? If you think so, I believe that you are deluding yourself. His record in affairs both public and private shows that he does not keep his word. He will make a commitment for the purpose of getting what he wants, and he will break that commitment the moment he has what he desired. In the end, he will betray everyone who relies on him. He always has.

    Of course. I am in complete agreement on this, and it is difficult to understand how any reasonable person could come to any other conclusion based on Trump’s history.

    • #3
  4. Bkelley14 Inactive
    Bkelley14
    @Bkelley14

    It’s simply this: #AgainstHillary.

    • #4
  5. PsychLynne Inactive
    PsychLynne
    @PsychLynne

    So just to add  perspective, for the diagnosis of any personality disorder the following general criteria must be met:

    The essential features of a personality disorder are impairments in personality (self and interpersonal) functioning and the presence of pathological personality traits. To diagnose a personality disorder, the following criteria must be met:

    Significant impairments in self (identity or self-direction) and interpersonal (empathy or intimacy) functioning.

    One or more pathological personality trait domains or trait facets.

    The impairments in personality functioning and the individual‟s personality trait expression are relatively stable across time and consistent across situations.

    The impairments in personality functioning and the individual‟s personality trait expression are not better understood as normative for the individual‟s developmental stage or sociocultural environment.

    The impairments in personality functioning and the individual‟s personality trait expression are not solely due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., severe head trauma).

    The criteria then go onto the specific disorders, of which narcissistic is one.  Hopefully this highlights that not all people who are self-centered suffer from this.  Or it may confirm what you already thought.

    What I am sure of, is that we are in trouble no matter who wins the presidential election.

    • #5
  6. PsychLynne Inactive
    PsychLynne
    @PsychLynne

    Paul A. Rahe:Can we trust the man? If you think so, I believe that you are deluding yourself. His record in affairs both public and private shows that he does not keep his word. He will make a commitment for the purpose of getting what he wants, and he will break that commitment the moment he has what he desired. In the end, he will betray everyone who relies on him. He always has.

    In grad school, we talked about features/traits/disorders of personality along a continuum.  Features are the glimpses or characteristics we can see in everyone we know–perhaps the person you know who always enjoys “top of the line” products, or is just a little convinced they are a little better than others;  features may show up in specific settings or under stress;  Traits are features with the volume turned up–traits tend to cause more problems in relationships, and are present in more situations.  Disorders of personality typically result in significant impairment in relationships and are persistent (exist for a long time) and pervasive (across all areas of an individuals life).

    Just a little Abnormal Psych 101 for your Tuesday afternoon.  For my grad school seminar “Christian Perspectives on Personality Disorders” we had a plant and staff a church with the various disorders and build in the appropriate structure and protections, as well as assess risk.

    • #6
  7. Casey Inactive
    Casey
    @Casey

    I love this.

    We keep hearing how this year is different.  But it isn’t different.  It is three times the same.

    Only, if you are right, a little worse.

    • #7
  8. Paul A. Rahe Member
    Paul A. Rahe
    @PaulARahe

    Bkelley14:It’s simply this: #AgainstHillary.

    I understand. I really do.

    • #8
  9. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    Great article.  Obama also surrounded himself with like minded ignorant ideologues and had never accomplished anything except earning credentials in the safe environment of university.  Trump has two things going for him, one of them being us.  He is used to building things where he is neither builder, architect or engineer, so he has experience working with people who know how to do things.  Obama had not and still hasn’t.  If we exercise leverage with quiet subtlety but firmness, we may be able to surround him with suitable adults and get the right kind of supreme court nominee.  To get our votes in the quiet of the voting booth,  he must pre announce key appointments,  appointments he can take credit for, not concessions to anyone.  His picks, his name goes on the Tower.    There is more to it than getting elected and that’s why we need adults in Treasury and State,  and we must have a sold replacement for Scalia.   We don’t want a contract with America list of policies because he’ll put his on there and we don’t want that unless or until he is surrounded by grown ups who understand financial markets, foreign policy and Austrian economics.  (I started to say “and economics”, but that doesn’t guarantee anything sound it would include people like Krugman.)

    • #9
  10. Tim H. Inactive
    Tim H.
    @TimH

    PsychLynne:

    Just a little Abnormal Psych 101 for your Tuesday afternoon. For my grad school seminar “Christian Perspectives on Personality Disorders” we had a plant and staff a church with the various disorders and build in the appropriate structure and protections, as well as assess risk.

    If I understand you correctly, you were supposed to figure out how you could staff a church with people exhibiting all of these personality disorders, right?  And then find ways of protecting the institution and the people who inhabit it, given the trouble the disorders are likely to wreak?

    That’s actually a fascinating exercise.  I’d like to see something like that done with other kinds of bureaucracies or government.

    • #10
  11. Robert Lux Inactive
    Robert Lux
    @RobertLux

    “[I]n the memorable words of this Journal’s Mission Statement, what difference, at this point, does it make?  Cruz is not going to Save the Constitution.  Trump almost certainly won’t either.  We’ve explained some of the reasons why.  To recap in brief: mass immigration, radical modernity, and the cycle of regimes.

    All you most opposed to Trump are a big part of the first and second.  You’ve not so much as stood athwart history yelling stop as stood beside the left whispering “not quite that fast, OK?

    Also, we’re not racists!  Please like us!” [I’ve long thought this would make the perfect epigraph for Ricochet.  Lose the “Conservative Conversation and Community” –RL]

    The agenda—secure borders, economic nationalism and America-first foreign policy—is what matters.  We have our doubts whether that—or anything—can save us now.  Since nobody has any better ideas, or anything better to do (in the political realm), why not try it?  Same-old is a sure loser, electorally and pragmatically.”

    More discussion of the above, here:

    http://www.vdare.com/articles/patriot-leo-cons-breaking-with-conservatism-inc-academe-over-donald-trump

    • #11
  12. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    I would trust Trump with his life.

    • #12
  13. Nick Stuart Inactive
    Nick Stuart
    @NickStuart

    Trust Trump.

    Trust Clinton.

    Or stay home and sulk (or vote 3rd party, which amounts to the same thing).

    Anyone who seriously believes Trump would be worse for the country than Clinton should vote for Clinton and own it.

    • #13
  14. Tom Meyer, Ed. Member
    Tom Meyer, Ed.
    @tommeyer

    Paul A. Rahe:At the same time, you have trouble handling anything that may be perceived as criticism. You may have secret feelings of insecurity, shame, vulnerability and humiliation. To feel better, you may react with rage or contempt and try to belittle the other person to make yourself appear superior. Or you may feel depressed and moody because you fall short of perfection. . . .

    This is one of the primary reasons I’m #NeverTrump. As best I can tell, there’s a significant, double-digit chance that Trump’s megalomania and narcissism will trigger an unnecessary shooting war with the Chinese or the Russians.

    Despite his being The Most Militaristic Person There Is™, I’m not keen to seen what happens when Trump tries tangling with an ex-KGB colonel like Putin.

    Donald Trump is simply not someone you entrust with a nuclear arsenal.

    • #14
  15. Could Be Anyone Inactive
    Could Be Anyone
    @CouldBeAnyone

    But, but, but…..he fights!

    • #15
  16. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    Nick Stuart:Trust Trump.

    Trust Clinton.

    Or stay home and sulk (or vote 3rd party, which amounts to the same thing).

    Anyone who seriously believes Trump would be worse for the country than Clinton should vote for Clinton and own it.

    I feel bitterly toward the people who’ve placed us in this position.

    • #16
  17. Hypatia Member
    Hypatia
    @

    Congrats on finding yet another unflattering freeze-frame of Trump to go with your article!  Yeah, you really caught him looking shifty! (‘Course he doesn’t really look like that, any more than pretty Mrs. Cruz looks like that pic which caught her in an ugly grimace, but so what?)

    And congrats to you, Dr. Rahe, on your professional, in depth analysis of these two men!

    Oh, you’re not a psychiatrist?  That’s lucky for you, cuz shrinks can be sued for publishing this kinda pseudo pop analysis.  Barry Goldwater successfully sued Ralph Ginzburg and Fact magazine in 1964, for publishing a piece about his “unconscious” by a doc who never met him.  That, and the sabotage by the GOP elites like Romney Sr., cost him the election and gave us LBJ.  Among  LBJ’s lasting accomplishments was to dump Social Security in with the general budget to show a balance.  How’s that workin’ out for us 50 yrs on? Oh, yeah, and LBJ proceeded to bomb the excrement outta the Vietnamese, just like everybody was so scared Goldwater would do.

    Well, if you and the authors of the pieces you quote are not shrinks, guess you  don’t hafta  worry about the Goldwater case precedent.

    But y’know, it’s also against the law to practice medicine without a license.

    Masterful, your closing statement, that Trump will, in the end, betray everyone who relies on him. “He always has”.

    Really, sir?  Then how come he has the biggest family, children and grandchildren, of any candidate in the field this year?  Yes, he’s twice divorced, but is that unusual in our country, or morally culpable?  To me as an attorney experienced in the oxymoronically- named field of “Family Law”, Trump’s situation is quite remarkable: two ex-wives, and all of his children by those exes, all enthusiastically supporting him.

    By the way, “Doc”, did you ever have Ronald Reagan on your journalistic couch?  I’d value your medical opinion on his “trustworthiness” cuz,  remember, not all of his adult children by previous wives rallied to his side when he ran for president.

    i agree we can’t trust Obama.  I never did, so his behavior wasn’t a shocking “betrayal” to me. We can know he’s untrustworthy without examining his personality type; we just have to look at what he has actually done, the lies he has told.

    But we do not know that about Trump, just because a couple newspapers have published a junk science hatchet job.

    • #17
  18. Karen Humiston Inactive
    Karen Humiston
    @KarenHumiston

    This really is a nightmare.  Here we are, facing an appallingly corrupt and unlikable candidate in the person of Hillary Clinton — someone who we all agree would be a disaster for our country.  And yet many of us, myself included, fear that our own guy would be even worse.  Someone wake me up.

    • #18
  19. Hypatia Member
    Hypatia
    @

    Congrats on finding yet another unflattering freeze-frame of Trump to go with your article!  Yeah, you really caught him looking shifty! (‘Course he doesn’t really look like that, any more than pretty Mrs. Cruz looks like that pic which caught her in an ugly grimace, but so what?)

    And congrats to you, Dr. Rahe, on your professional, in depth analysis of these two men!

    Oh, you’re not a psychiatrist?  That’s lucky for you, cuz shrinks can be sued for publishing this kinda pseudo pop analysis.  Barry Goldwater successfully sued Ralph Ginzburg and Fact magazine in 1964, for publishing a piece about his “unconscious” by a doc who never met him.  That, and the sabotage by the GOP elites like Romney Sr., cost him the election and gave us LBJ.  Among  LBJ’s lasting accomplishments was to dump Social Security in with the general budget to show a balance.  How’s that workin’ out for us 50 yrs on? Oh, yeah, and LBJ proceeded to bomb the excrement outta the Vietnamese, just like everybody was so scared Goldwater would do.

    Well, if you and the authors of the pieces you quote are not shrinks, guess you  don’t hafta  worry about the Goldwater case precedent.

    But y’know, it’s also against the law to practice medicine without a license.

    Masterful, your closing statement, that Trump will, in the end, betray everyone who relies on him. “He always has”.

    Really, sir?  Then how come he has the biggest family, children and grandchildren, of any candidate in the field this year?  Yes, he’s twice divorced, but is that unusual in our country, or morally culpable?  To me as an attorney experienced in the oxymoronically- named field of “Family Law”, Trump’s situation is quite remarkable: two ex-wives, and all of his children by those exes, all enthusiastically supporting him.

    By the way, “Doc”, did you ever have Ronald Reagan on your journalistic couch?  I’d value your medical opinion on his “trustworthiness” cuz,  remember, not all of his adult children by previous wives rallied to his side when he ran for president.

    “Does not keep his word”.  Gee, isn’t it the so-honorable Jeb who just broke the pledge he gave in front of the nation, to support the GOP nominee?

    i agree we can’t trust Obama.  I never did, so his behavior wasn’t a shocking “betrayal” to me. We can know he’s untrustworthy without examining his personality type; we just have to look at what he has actually done, the lies he has told.

    But we do not know that about Trump, just because a couple newspapers have published a junk science hatchet job.

    • #19
  20. Karen Humiston Inactive
    Karen Humiston
    @KarenHumiston

    Hypatia:

    i agree we can’t trust Obama. I never did, so his behavior wasn’t a shocking “betrayal” to me. We can know he’s untrustworthy without examining his personality type; we just have to look at what he has actually done, the lies he has told.

    And we just have to look at the lies Trump has told, and continues to tell, to know that he is completely untrustworthy.

    • #20
  21. Tom Meyer, Ed. Member
    Tom Meyer, Ed.
    @tommeyer

    Nick Stuart:

    Anyone who seriously believes Trump would be worse for the country than Clinton should vote for Clinton and own it.

    And if you think they’re both unacceptable — albeit for different reasons — and think it’s impossible to say who would to greater damage?

    • #21
  22. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    Then this means the American voting public is also bonkers. Trump didn’t get where he is by himself. If you are calling out the Narcissist traits and the infidelities, let’s not forget Clinton or the Kennedys. The world’s leaders also fall under this mantle – maybe it takes one to do battle against one. It’s not a pretty world currently. I am not disagreeing with you, but we had 17 candidates, many more moral, successful, more accomplished, more with political experience, but they did not make the cut.  We have to re-examine our current situation in light of the implosion of the Republican party.

    • #22
  23. E. Kent Golding Moderator
    E. Kent Golding
    @EKentGolding

    Nick Stuart:Trust Trump.

    Trust Clinton.

    Or stay home and sulk (or vote 3rd party, which amounts to the same thing).

    Anyone who seriously believes Trump would be worse for the country than Clinton should vote for Clinton and own it.

    I think anyone can reasonably vote for either as marginally not as bad as the other, and accept that as a voter they did their best.  The Clinton and Trump enthusiasts need to own it.  The rest of us need not.  This is a choice forced upon us by the enthusiasts,  not one most of us wanted.

    • #23
  24. Karen Humiston Inactive
    Karen Humiston
    @KarenHumiston

    Hypatia:Congrats on finding yet another unflattering freeze-frame of Trump to go with your article! Yeah, you really caught him looking shifty! (‘Course he doesn’t really look like that, any more than pretty Mrs. Cruz looks like that pic which caught her in an ugly grimace, but so what?)

    I don’t think that photo is at all unflattering, compared to those he actually chooses for himself.  You can’t get much creepier than the one he put on the cover of his own book.  I suppose he thinks this looks tough and masterful.
    Trump creepy

    • #24
  25. Casey Inactive
    Casey
    @Casey

    Could Be Anyone:But, but, but…..he fights!

    Let’s not forget he also succeeded in business which is basically almost impossible.

    • #25
  26. PsychLynne Inactive
    PsychLynne
    @PsychLynne

    Tim H.:

    PsychLynne:

    Just a little Abnormal Psych 101 for your Tuesday afternoon. For my grad school seminar “Christian Perspectives on Personality Disorders” we had a plant and staff a church with the various disorders and build in the appropriate structure and protections, as well as assess risk.

    If I understand you correctly, you were supposed to figure out how you could staff a church with people exhibiting all of these personality disorders, right? And then find ways of protecting the institution and the people who inhabit it, given the trouble the disorders are likely to wreak?

    That’s actually a fascinating exercise. I’d like to see something like that done with other kinds of bureaucracies or government.

    It was one of the most practical and tough examinations I have ever taken.

    • #26
  27. Sandy Member
    Sandy
    @Sandy

    A major difference between the two men is that Trump associates his winning with America’s winning.  Exactly what he would consider a win for America is open to question.  He might, for instance, redefine an ignominious retreat as a victory. However I think he understands something of what is needed to “make America great.”  As liberal as his thinking generally has been—he strikes me as more an old-time Democrat, a city boss type, than anything else—he does not appear to see himself as a citizen of the world. He does not care what intellectuals think of him. These are the tiny limbs I cling to as I look over the cliff.

    • #27
  28. Hypatia Member
    Hypatia
    @

    Note:

    Editors' Note: Repeated use of sarcasm against another member is not in accord with the CoC's admonitions to treat each other with respect and in good faith.

    Karen Humiston:

    Hypatia:

    i agree we can’t trust Obama. I never did, so his behavior wasn’t a shocking “betrayal” to me. We can know he’s untrustworthy without examining his personality type; we just have to look at what he has actually done, the lies he has told.

    And we just have to look at the lies Trump has told, and continues to tell, to know that he is completely untrustworthy.

    Tha’s right, ma’am!   You stick to your simple belief  in the devil incarnate!

    My point was, we can and should do without this kinda pop pseudo science.   But don’t trouble your head about that.

    A man doesn’t get as far in business as Trump has if those he deals  with can’t trust him to keep his word, abide by his contracts.  That’s not true in politics of course.

    • #28
  29. EThompson Member
    EThompson
    @

    I agree that both Obama and Trump are narcissists but the remarkable difference is that Trump will define his superiority in terms of how he manages to make this country function again in a traditionally successful American mode.

    Obama will define his legacy in terms of how he brought us down and reshaped our economy to mimic the European model.

    • #29
  30. Kate Braestrup Member
    Kate Braestrup
    @GrannyDude

    Hypatia: Congrats on finding yet another unflattering freeze-frame of Trump to go with your article!

    Having watched the debates, I have to say that one of the odd things about Trump is how seldom he smiles, and how often he does that upside-down “U” Mussolini-mouth. Are there nice, cheery pictures of Trump looking friendly, pleasant, happy? Not triumphant, just happy?

    For what it’s worth, I think the last two presidents have been sufficiently uxorious to contradict the “they all do it” meme that justified Kennedy and Clinton’s multiple marital infidelities.

    • #30
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