As the run-up to the November 2020 election unfolds; and as we witness the dark divide becoming wider, deeper, and darker, contrasting the two candidates for President is interesting. It appears the critical decision is to vote for the candidate who can best move us closer to a created VISION-ALTERNATE REALITY for America: See 9-15-2020 BLOG.
How one chooses to “show-up” in the world can be critiqued by researching, examining, and witnessing talents, skills, and experiences; making observations; and scrutinizing character, personality, mentality, and interests. Let us take-a-look at President Donald J. Trump. (Resources list available with email to JohnDeVore@aol.com)
Talents, Skills, and Experiences
- A track record of business and government failures and absolute chaotic disasters: most consequential president in history; puppet of Vladimir Putin; foreign policy bullying, badgering, and destroying; has abandoned allies; personal business endeavors with several bankruptcies; North Korean nuclear weapons stockpile has doubled; pandemic management and leadership is non-existent-dereliction of duty, passed buck off to governors who became blame targets; enlisted foreign interference in elections (Russia and China); several obstruction of justice charges; numerous lawsuits; impeachment proceedings; accepts payoffs for positions; and has numerous Trump party cronies—Lindsay Graham, Mitch McConnell, Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, et al—who are lost souls in search of a tribe and chief. No decisions made based on strategy, makes decisions on how he feels at the time; can handle small projects and sign executive orders; not able to lead projects large in scope; selection of judges and environmental deregulations may be legacy; immigration policy is inhumane. As Bernie Sanders has eloquently noted, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump golfs.”
Observations
Donald J. Trump is a genius at networking and using the media to recruit, retain, and fire, at will, addicted surrogates, circles of friends, admirers, celebrity hangers-on, and wannabes who savor and long for safety and security sought by bonding together and identifying with a tribe in order to persevere and protect against outsiders. Allegiance and admiration are given to the chief and clan. Mystical signs, conspiracy, and desires of powerful spirit beings must be followed for the continued safety and well-being of the tribe. Three years of behaviors reveal the following:
- Does not understand duty, honor, and country.
- A cheat, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a predator, a con man.
- Racist, incendiary, toxic, casts hate, disruptive, name caller, and divisive; unfit for political office.
- Repeatedly has disparaged the intelligence of service members: Americans who die in war are “losers” and “suckers.”
- Tax cuts were a corporate “boondoggle.”
- Vision for country is merely to fix what his administration has undermined, agitated, deconstructed, or destroyed during the last four years. Examples: intelligence, FBI, CIA, U.S. Postal Service, voting integrity, CDC, etc.
- Stokes fear, celebrity, and brand building; and show-photo opportunity is the foundation for his rhetoric.
- Staff selection of addicted surrogates has been a disaster and revolving door; and demands loyalty even if unethical.
- Surrounded by fixers and “yes men;” encourages rivalries and thrives on personal attacks.
- Protected by political party sorted, partisan, power worldview associates of the Federal government institution he and his cronies have chosen to deconstruct and destroy.
- Conspiracist (example QAnon) and guilty of political cowardice, blaming, passing the buck, and dereliction of duty; shirks constitutionally mandated duty and rewards misconduct.
- Sexist, multiple lawsuits, and misconduct.
- Racist: a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
- Dishonest, arrogant, and narcissist; uses position and financial power for personal gain.
- Creates martyr, irrelevance, and distractions; misleads, boasts, is egotistical, blamelessness of self, never wrong, and anxious to criticize.
- People mistakes and poor interpersonal relations skills.
- Lies, denies, blames, and spins; egotistical and self-serving; unqualified for the position and has not grown into the job because he cannot.
Character, Personality, Mentality, and Interests.
- Low-functioning: includes persons who “… do not exhibit polished and polite behaviors as a mask for their manipulations…may lack the education or interpersonal skills to control and deceive. Instead they might use threats, coercion, or intimidation to achieve their desired outcome.” (Source: Dr. Timothy J. Legg, “What Is a High-Functioning Sociopath?”, 5-28-2019, https://www.healthline.com, 1-3.)
- Narcissistic sociopath: one form of antisocial personality disorder and is the result of environmental factors such as a child or teen’s upbringing in a negative household that resulted in physical abuse, emotional abuse, or childhood trauma. (Sources: Mary L. Trump, Too Much and Never Enough, 2020, Simon & Schuster; https://psychcentral.com, Dr. John M. Grohol, “Differences Between a Psychopath vs Sociopath,” 5-20-2020, 1-5; Dr. Tarra Bates-Duford, “Psychopath vs Sociopath: 16 Key Differences,” 9-7-2018, 1-3; https://www.health.com, Rosie McCall, “9 Ways to Spot a Sociopath,” 10-4-2019, 1-7.
- Gangster, corrupt, and behaves as if above the law.
- A stale breath of death, hate, narcissism, chaos, fear, conspiracy, norm erosion, “dark,” institutional deconstruction, and neo-facism.
Partisan politics is a dangerous duel of limited and partial truths; and binds party sorted folks to fixed, literal or otherwise limiting beliefs and frames of minds. Political party sorted, addicted, cultic surrogates make obvious excuses for candidates and excuse the inexcusable with respect to morality, judgment, intent, behavior, actions, ethics and laws. W. Edwards Deming remarked, “If a person is not performing as expected, it is probably because they are miscast for the job.” Michael Cohen offers, “No one ever tells Trump the truth about his behavior and beliefs, or the consequences of his conduct and ignorance and arrogance, in business or in his personal life and now in politics. Trump is the boy in the bubble, impervious to the thoughts and feelings or others, entirely and utterly focused on his own desires and ambitions.” Next BLOG: a peek at Joe Biden.