Fascistnating (sic) The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump: A Psychological Reckoning'

[Pryderi]

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2020/03/the-strange-case-of-donald-j-trump-a-psychological-reckoning/?

Trump, McAdams argues, can’t form a meaningful life story because he is the “episodic man” who sees life as a series of battles to be won. There is no connection between the moments, no reflection and no potential for growth when one is compulsively in the present.

Donald Trump is a “truly authentic fake,” writes McAdams, professor of human development and social policy at the School of Education and Social Policy. “Trump is always acting, always on stage — but that is who he really is, and that is all he really is. He is not introspective, retrospective or prospective. He does not go deep into his mind; he does not travel back to the past; he does not project far into the future. He is always on the surface, always right now.

<snip>

In previous books, McAdams applied his tools of psychological interpretation to the lives of U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Despite their differences, both leaders had moving redemptive life stories, atoning for past mistakes, overcoming obstacles or mounting powerful comebacks.

But for Trump, McAdams says, there can be no comeback story, because when a hero wins every scene there is nothing to come back from. “He can’t show any kind of growth or learning, because to grow you have to have once been small,” he says.

[Laffy Kat]

1. Spot on. nt

[Pryderi]

2. It makes sooo much sense. Makes you wonder about his upbringing. n/t

[Skittles]

3. and he (with Russia) was able to fool over 60 MILLION American voters

THINK ABOUT THAT

[Midnight Writer]

5. I think very few of his supporters were fooled.

The fact they are still with him, in roughly the same numbers, speaks to a shared pathology.

[milestogo]

4. Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

A man once told me he was his truest self when "greasing the waiter's palm" to get the best table in the restaurant. Pretty sad, really.

[Laffy Kat]

6. Yes, and transparently so.

Why don't more people see it? Care?

[UTUSN]

7. K&R indeed, although we have known enough from Day 1 to despise and be repulsed by him!1