ITS INSANITY NOT HANNITY

 

It is now one week since Trump declared a national emergency and so much has happened in the meantime that it has become just another of the ever-accelerating daily-disasters that we have become accustomed to since Trump’s inauguration on January 20^th 2017. About the only things that have not happened since Trump made the announcement are any signs of either the emergency or the predicted constitutional crisis that it would cause. Almost all of the Republicans who so strongly opposed it before it was declared have meekly fallen in line behind Trump.

When he proclaimed the phony emergency, in order to try to override the constitutional separation of powers and obtain funds to build his wall, which had been denied to him by the legislative branch, Trump cited advice received from “a terrific, terrific supporter of what I do”, Sean Hannity – the leading voice on Trumpland State News (otherwise known as Fox)  – as well as Rush Limbaugh (who he also praised extravagantly). But  while the media focused on Trump’s seeming sub-servience to such extreme right-wing commentators, as his reason for declaring the emergency. I believe the main reason is much more fundamental.

We have an insane President.

You don’t have to take my word for this, It is reported that, in part, Michael Cohen’s testimony before congress next week will focus on  “what it’s like to work for a Madman”. Also, thousands of mental health professionals have gone on record about Trump’s mental state, giving credence to his having a mental disorder, although, without an actual in person study and analysis, none of them can provide a firm diagnosis. Here are some of the possible diagnoses that have been suggested and their associated symptoms

Narcissistic Personality Disorder: exaggerating your achievements and talents; requiring constant admiration; taking advantage of others to get what you want; having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others; believing others envy you; and behaving in an arrogant and haughty manner.

Malignant Narcissism:  disregard for right and wrong; persistent lying or deceit to exploit others; being callous, cynical and disrespectful of others; lack of empathy and lack of remorse about harming others; and failure to consider the negative consequences of behavior or to learn from them.

Delusional Disorder:  having unshakable beliefs and being unable to tell what is real from what is imagined. These delusions aren’t bizarre and usually involve mistaken perceptions. People with this disorder can continue to socialize and function normally, apart from the subject of their delusion. They generally do not behave in an obviously odd or bizarre manner.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect; famously described by New York Time columnist  David Brooks as “being too incompetent to understand his own incompetence”, for which he called Trump “the all time record holder”.

Trump has difficulty distinguishing between truth and lies, has no capacity to accept facts that contradict his beliefs, is delusional as to how he is perceived and has no capacity for empathy. He also seems to believe all the lies he tells, regardless of how frequently he changes them. But because he can function in a relatively normal way he probably does not belong in a mental institution – but certainly does not belong in the White House.

So we do really have a national emergency. It has nothing to do with “The Wall”. It is that our American democracy, our values – and the whole character of this great and unique nation – are under imminent threat, because we have an insane president who may well be under the influence of our principal adversary in the world. Because this emergency has crept up on us gradually, many people have begun to accept it as normal, whereas, had it occured suddenly  – such as happened in Iran, when the Shah was overthrown, or in Germany when Hitler seized power – the contrast between America two years ago and now would have been seen as a very clear emergency.

While the changes to America have been nowhere near  as severe as what happened  either in Germany or Iran, they are significant and troubling, America is no longer the leader of the free world. The words of our President cannot be trusted because he has lied over eight thousand times since taking office. He denigrates our intelligence agencies and puts what Putin tells him ahead of their warnings.  We have become a cruel and uncaring country, separating three-year-olds from their parents and putting children in cages. We give huge tax breaks to billionaires and increase taxes on the middle class. Instead of planning to ameliorate climate change, we deny it and exacerbate it  Most of our cabinet officers are either corrupt or incompetent (or both). We have become more racist and have moved towards white supremacy. We are allowing vital government departments to atrophy. We scorn our allies, praise dictators and our president has been investigated by the FBI as a possible Russian agent.

So what does the future hold?

Well, first, the Democrats have control of the House, and, led by Nancy Pelosi (once scorned, even by Democrats, but now recognized as one of our great Speakers) now  have the power to expose, slow down and even prevent some of the worst abuses from continuing. So, if Trump serves out his full term, the next two years should not be as bad as the last two. Second, perhaps theTrump presidency will not survive the next two years. It is unlikely that  the Mueller report, the SDNY investigations, Roger Stone’s apparent collusion with the Russians on Trump’s behalf, Paul Manafort’s sharing Trump campaign polling data with Russian intelligence or Michael Cohen’s knowledge gained from ten years of working as Trump’s fixer, which is now in the hands of prosecutors, will all come up dry. So it is more likely than not that Trump will be implicated in indictable or impeachable offences – and perhaps will either resign or be removed from office. If that happens, it will not be because he is insane. It will be because of the results of his insanity.

Stay tuned!