The costs of having a President who is mentally ill? Great article:
https://thebulwark.com/trumps-personal- ... gn-policy/
"n Ukraine, Donald Trump’s comprehensive misconduct of foreign relations has ripened into the most pregnant of our current public controversies—an impeachment inquiry. But his psychological unfitness for world leadership was apparent well before he took the oath of office.
Since first announcing his candidacy, Trump’s behavior has suggested a man with deep personal pathologies. For too long, too many closed their eyes to this dreadful reality; sober journalists ducked the obvious by disclaiming psychological expertise. But no more. George Conway put it well when he analogized this awakening to the shock of seeing pro quarterback Alex Smith sustain a horrific injury:
Even without the benefit of medical training, and even without conducting a physical examination, viewers knew what had happened. They may not have known what the bones were called or what treatment would be required, but they knew more than enough, and they knew what really mattered: Smith had broken his leg, very badly. They knew that even if they were not orthopedists, did not have a medical degree, and had never cracked open a copy of Gray’s Anatomy. They could tell—they were certain—something was seriously wrong.
And so it is, or ought to be, with Donald Trump. You don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, and you don’t need to be a mental-health professional to see that something’s very seriously off with Trump—particularly after nearly three years of watching his erratic and abnormal behavior in the White House. Questions about Trump’s psychological stability have mounted throughout his presidency. As they must.
The Mayo Clinic describes narcissistic personality disorder as “a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others.” Mayo further explains that “beneath this mask of extreme confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that’s vulnerable to the slightest criticism.”
Does any of that sound familiar?
Then compare Mayo’s list of symptoms to the multi- faceted demands of democratic leadership in a dangerous and complex world. Those afflicted with NPD “have an exaggerated sense of self-importance”; “have a sense of entitlement”; and “require constant, excessive admiration.” They “expect to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it.”
There’s more. Individuals with NPD “exaggerate achievements and talents”; are “preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance”; and “believe they are superior and can only associate with equally special people.” They “belittle or look down on people they perceive as inferior”; “expect special favors and unquestioning compliance with their expectations”; and “take advantage of others to get what they want.”
And still more: They are “envious of others and believe others envy them”; “have significant interpersonal problems and easily feel slighted”; “react with rage or contempt and try to belittle the other person to make themselves appear superior”; “have difficulty regulating emotions and behavior”; and “become impatient or angry when they don’t receive special treatment.” All this covers “secret feelings of insecurity, shame, vulnerability and humiliation.”
One need not be a doctor to read the literature, look at Donald Trump, and grasp that the organizing principle for his external behaviors lies within.
Add to these emotional distortions a couple of traits from NPD’s cousin, sociopathy—an addiction to lying and a belief that the rules don’t apply to you—and you have a day in the life of America’s president.
Americans have been so preoccupied with Trump’s daily shredding of our domestic social fabric that they have have tended to ignore the wreckage of our foreign policy and the concomitant dangers to national security.But these failures, too,are a result of who and what Donald Trump is."
.....
"But there is no one left around Trump to point out these obvious problems. Because he is psychologically unable to abide dissent or respect expertise, Trump has replaced professionals with sycophants—degrading our State Department and demoralizing its best people. The epitome of these enablers is the pompous puppet Mike Pompeo, our shrinking secretary of State, who has survived this long only through abject subservience.
Pompeo is the opposite of James Mattis; he chooses sycophancy to serve himself. In his imagined future, he is not simply a future Republican senator from Kansas, but Trump’s eventual successor. Unlike Trump, Pompeo is sane: quite deliberately, he has catered to Trump’s narcissism, fronting for Trump as he trashes the State Department and repeatedly commits gross political malpractice.
The result of Pompeo’s calculating cowardice is baneful—a dearth of sound advice and institutional engagement which empowers Trump’s mindless solipsism. Pompeo countenanced Trump’s love affair with Kim. He choked down Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds. He watched as Trump publicly contemplated canceling our mutual defense treaty with Japan; threatened to pull U.S. troops out of South Korea; mocked our NATO allies as deadbeats; and dismissed the E.U.
Little wonder that Trump has said “I don’t think I’ve had an argument with Pompeo.” Why would he need to? Pompeo never disagrees with him, thereby encouraging Trump to pretend that the intellectual, moral, and strategic Sahara of his foreign policy is as grand as Trump needs to believe – freeing Trump to do his worst, unimpeded.
But it is Pompeo’s performance with respect to Ukraine which best encapsulates Trump’s degradation of diplomacy and perversion of policy. He stood aside as Trump attempted to blackmail the new Ukranian president into serving his personal political interests, allowing Trump to subcontract the dirty work to Rudy Giuliani. Pompeo licensed Trump to bully and then fire Ambassador Marie Jovanovich. He listened to Trump’s coercive call to President Zelensky, thereby acquiescing in the corruption of American aid. And then, when all this was done, Pompeo pretended to ABC’s Martha Raddatz that he knew nothing about the call before admitting, ten days later, that he had heard it all.
In sum, Mike Pompeo has pretzeled himself to be the flawless lackey Trump demands: spineless, mendacious, unprincipled, and disloyal to his own subordinates. As two seasoned former American diplomats write of Pompeo’s tenure: “At the very least, Pompeo enabled the smear campaign to go unchallenged, acquiesced in the Giuliani back channel with Ukraine and failed to say a word in defense of Bill Taylor, George Kent or Marie Jovanovich. These are breathtaking acts of craven cowardice and beneath the dignity of any Secretary of State.”
And all made possible by Duce.
. ...wanna bet on that. I'm sensing a comeback. How 'bout that UK election. Brexit's gonna happen.
