Toon & text by John Auchter
The President expresses himself in superlatives: The transcript was perfect, I am the chosen one, I have the best words, and so on. It’s an effective rhetorical device. The absolute certainty projects a pseudo-strength that many find very appealing. And the ridiculousness always offers a backdoor escape — if it is received as too over-the-top, supporters can always say, “it was a joke” or “he didn’t mean it literally. Duh!”
Trump has done this his whole public life, and he will continue to do so as he clings to the presidency, so it’s not a surprise. But it is upsetting — one of the things that triggers people. (Quick aside: This whole celebrating “triggering” people is like a schoolyard bully faking a punch to your face, exclaiming, “You flinched!,” and then taking two free shots to your arm as a reward. OF COURSE you’re gonna flinch! In what stupid world is pulling back to protect your face the wrong move?)
But what can you do? Well as with any bully, persevere. Persevere by continuing to hold the bully accountable and not be overwhelmed by the sheer volume. So in among the fountain of recent rants, Trump has been selling hard the idea that all (superlative) Congresspeople voting for the impeachment articles are hopeless leftists. This is simply not true, and Michigan offers three of the best examples of why: Justin Amash from the 3rd district, Elissa Slotkin from the 8th, and Haley Stevens from the 11th.
The toughest part is that there will never be tangible evidence that calling out his lies and exaggerations has done any good. Of all of Trump’s moral deficiencies, the worst (and arguably the least Christian) may be his utter lack of humility. There never is a moment of self-reflection, so he will never apologize or ask forgiveness. He will not — and seemingly cannot — admit to an error. This is especially apparent in this season of Advent when Christians prepare themselves for Christmas. (Publicly insulting the recently deceased to trigger a widow is generally not how this is done.)
John Auchter draws cartoons. Lots and lots of them. You can find them at his incredibly popular website auchtoon.com. You can also find his stuff on Michigan Public Radio’s website under Opinion.
I disagree only in that Trump is not capable of devising such a rhetorical device. He isn’t that smart. Period. His behavior comes from being a complete Narcissist, along with being a child in men’s clothing. He has not developed a mature sense of being. And his only way in which to be a speaker to hundreds is repeating what has worked in the past. The same old garbage! He is a bully and as a bully, he only knows to bash the persona of others, which is also symptomatic of his Narcissist behavior.
Well said!
I am an Independant and I detest trump.
Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year in 2020.
And don’t forget……. Vote in 2020!
Perfectly put. Trump is simply mentally ill.
Forced to watch some of Trumps BS while trying to follow the impeachment hearings, it seems to me that this situation in the White House , is worse than folks think. PLEASE VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Jimass, you graduated from what medical school? Where did you serve your psychiatric residency? Are you board certified? Oh, wait…….you only play psychiatrist in this tiny forum? Perhaps you stayed at a Holiday Inn Express? Wonderful qualifications no doubt. Kudos doc!
Trump plays King Herod in our Christmas pageant.
The GOP needs more life preservers because of all the spittle pouring out of Donnie’s mouth.
There are those among us who feel we need a degree in psychology to opine about the Impeached Presidents state of mind, do we also need a degree in Literature to realize he doesn’t have the ability to form complete sentences? Asking for a friend
I’m not a certified mechanic, by I can tell you when a car is on fire.
Hey brad go back to daddies basement and ask Santa for some common sense. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Not really.
Narcissism is a personality disorder, not a mental disorder. Most of us have some level of narcissism, especially those of us in politics. Even though some of us exhibit much higher levels of narcissism than others, the term has been thrown around way too much and is being used incorrectly. Narcissism itself is not a disqualifying factor. The world is full of narcissistic assholes in powerful positions and they are not a threat to society.
Any psychology expert will tell you that you cannot diagnose someone with a personality or mental disorder by simply reading their tweets or watching them on TV., but we can get clues to what their problem might be.
My personal and professional opinion is that Trump exhibits a lot of signs of someone who is a sociopath. Narcissism is a trait of a sociopath. Even being a sociopath is not a disqalifier by itself. Plenty of sociopaths can still behave responsibly, but many do not. Unfortunately, Trump appears to be one of those who do not behave responsibly.
The key trait in a sociopath is lack of empathy and that is on full display with Trump. My opnion is that Trump exhibits behavior of a sociopath who is on a dangerous and destructive path as he doesn’t appear to be keeping his personality flaws in check. Some notable sociopaths in history include Hitler and Stalin. Serial killers are usually sociopaths. They feel nothing for their victims.
Before you ask, Brad, I would never give any information here that might lead you to my identity. Your comments show me that you are an extremely deranged and angry individual. Your words and way of writing do little to conceal a deep seated hatred towards others who comment here. I think there is a high possibilty that if the opportunity presents itself, you could be dangerous. I strongly recommend that others protect their identities here simply for the fact that you are hovering these comments.
That said, I could tell you that I once served as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at a well known Michigan university, but unless I provide a link to my profile on the schools website or to a scanned pdf of my certificate, you won’t believe me. So why should I or anyone else here bother trying to prove our qualifications on anything to you?
I just said he is mentally ill. Generally speaking. Never mentioned anything specific.
He definitely shows signs of mental and even cognitive disorders. I wasn’t referring to your comment specifically, I just thought I would take this opportunity to point that out. I keep seeing the word “narcissist” being applied to Trump as if it has any significant meaning in regards to his fitness for office. It doesn’t. I could almost guarantee that a higher level of narcissism was present in every one of our past presidents. Huge egos and arrogance are often the driving factors in seeking such highly public positions of power. Narcissism usually isn’t dangerous by itself, but sociopaths can be.