How shall we get rid of President Trump? "Impeachment is a long, messy process, which projects the worst to a world eager for leadership," writes H. Brandt Ayers, a former Alabama newspaper publisher, "A clean, quick, decisive solution is for a majority of the Cabinet to
invoke Article Four of the Constitution declaring Trump incapacitated." To be clear, Ayers believes that the President is incapacitated right now. Numerous experts cited by Ayers claim that Trump suffers from "narcissistic personality disorder." That's the finding of Dr. John Gartner, who "was willing to break an American Psychiatric Association rule against diagnosing without personal evaluation" in order to declare Trump a sufferer from this dread disease. Seconding opinions apparently were found by Ayers in a blogger's interviews with psychiatrists and psychologists who diagnose the President as dangerously ill.
Ayers defines narcissistic personality disorder as "a personality disorder that compels him to fabricate, exaggerate and lie." The Mayo Clinic describes sufferers 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."
It should be easy, regardless of political affiliations, to dismiss this sort of speculation, first because these snap diagnoses appear to violate a professional code of practice, and second because the extent of President Trump's fabrications and exaggerations seems to depend on the eye of the beholder. That is, I don't doubt that Trump exaggerates and knowingly lies about things, but diagnosing the lying or other habits of a politician as pathological could well depend on a perception of truth, political etiquette or interpersonal conduct that is itself political rather than objective. So it should be easy to dismiss this speculation about narcissistic disorders, except that the Mayo Clinic definition, presumably crafted without Trump in mind, rings true for me in many ways. The problem for Trump's critics, and especially those who want to believe that a narcissist disorder incapacitates him, is that the diagnosis rings true not just (or perhaps not even especially) in the President's case but for lots of people in this country. Though a layman myself in this field, based on the minimal information provided in Ayers' op-ed I might diagnose an epidemic of narcissistic personality disorder in the U.S., if not a pandemic. If Trump's condition, if correctly diagnosed, would justify his overthrow, might not the spread of the contagion justify a state of emergency nationwide in order to bring the pandemic under control? Let's see if the experts have such ready answers to that question.
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4 comments:
"Numerous experts cited by Ayers claim that Trump suffers from "narcissistic personality disorder."
That 'charge' can be leveled against pretty much every major politician who has ever existed. Not to mention against, pretty much, everyone involved with Hollywood these days. Hopefully Dr. Gartner will be suitable chastised by APA, preferably by having his license to practice revoked. A physician that narcissistic has no basis - and no place - diagnosing others.
"Ayers defines narcissistic personality disorder as "a personality disorder that compels him to fabricate, exaggerate and lie." The Mayo Clinic describes sufferers 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."
That pretty much describes both Bubba and Hillary Clinton.
Quite frankly I am sick - and sickened - by the amount of hatred being spewed at tRump. The man is a cretin, certainly. A loud-mouth braggart, quite possibly misogynistic, but then so is a large percentage of American men in general, especially those who are successful. This idea of using any pretext in order to take down the President sets a very, very bad precedent and will be used, in the future, against any dem who gets elected as well, meaning our political system is, for all intents and purposes, shot. Done. Through.
The people in this country who have allowed their personal feelings in these matters to outrun their ability to think rationally (if they had that faculty to being with) are the *real* problem. The fact that many of them automatically side with 'immigrants', rather than their fellow Americans - based NOT on a familiarity or special like of said culture, but instead, based on their hatred of their political opposition, can only spell worse times ahead for all Americans. Are these fucking immigrants and illegal scumbags REALLY worth the excessive hassle they've already caused? Will the dems be able to keep the current minority vote, when welfare recipients are faced with smaller checks when NYC and other sanctuary cities have their federal funding cut? Especially when it is explained to them that they have to tighten their belts for the benefit of people who hold them in contempt just as badly as any cracker ever has?
It's become almost embarrassing to admit one's own opposition to Trump, which for me boils down to his potential to enable the usual GOP economic garbage, because it might get you stereotyped as a "snowflake," or embraced by the same. Other Presidents have been subject to more vicious invective by more articulate enemies, but the breadth and depth of hatred for Trump does seem unprecedented. Worse, it helps drive a vicious cycle of mutual hate and (perceived) disrespect, as the mass opposition feels justified in hating "haters" and really seems to see no difference between a Trump voter and a Klansman.
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