Post AW3DssV9JUVH1GDhPE by chairgirlhands@chaosfem.tw
(DIR) More posts by chairgirlhands@chaosfem.tw
(DIR) Post #AW3DZdoNho1lxR2iFk by Teri_Kanefield@law-and-politics.online
2023-05-26T14:54:22Z
0 likes, 2 repeats
I disagree with this statement about Trump:"There's no devious strategy ... it's 100% pathology, which is then postrationalised by commentators."I don't disagree that he is a malignant narcissist.I disagree that this is 100% of the explanation for his rise to power.How is it that Trump managed to take over a major political party and not one of the thousands of other malignant narcissists?He must have some other qualities that make him capable of seizing power.1/
(DIR) Post #AW3DZeqtpvdVBXEEoi by Teri_Kanefield@law-and-politics.online
2023-05-26T14:58:39Z
0 likes, 2 repeats
He shares characteristics with the other famous strongmen in history.They use language the same way. They see the world the same way.There is obviously a shared pathology.Timothy Snyder said once that Trump is a "talented" politician. I googled but can't find the quotation, so it must be in one of his YouTube videos.I suggest that in addition to pathology, Trump has an unusual ability to tap into what we might call a long history of grievance and anti-government anger.2/
(DIR) Post #AW3DZfVJPfxjCs8Vo8 by Teri_Kanefield@law-and-politics.online
2023-05-26T15:00:33Z
0 likes, 2 repeats
I'm suggesting that it is more complicated and any attempt to find simple answers is problematic.I remember when people believed that Trump was too stupid to seize power so someone had to be pulling his strings.Someone would have to be in the room with him at all times telling him what to say and obviously that isn't happening.This is an issue again of course because Trump will soon be back on the national stage.3/
(DIR) Post #AW3DZgDyjbgvRP2BQe by Teri_Kanefield@law-and-politics.online
2023-05-26T15:06:09Z
0 likes, 2 repeats
My theory: In addition to all of his mental/ emotional issues, he has his finger on the pulse of right-wing extremism.He knows which fights to pick.He knows how to tap into simmering grievances.He knows better than to pick a fight with Mickey Mouse or launch his presidential campaign on a website.He is a showman with a flair for drama. He is an actor who understood the optics of coming down a staircase in an opulent lobby.He doesn't mind if we think he's stupid.4/
(DIR) Post #AW3DlheJGOQ5Ko5EP2 by robhon@mastodon.social
2023-05-26T15:15:56Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@Teri_Kanefield He operates exactly like a mob boss. He, at least tries, to keep his hands clean and maintain plausible deniability, while others around him take the fall for his every action.It's how he's operated his whole life.
(DIR) Post #AW3DomPi0PEGypilf6 by mjf_pro@hachyderm.io
2023-05-26T15:21:54Z
0 likes, 2 repeats
@Teri_Kanefield His ability to understand and then tap into the emotions of disaffected right-wing zealots who would kill or die to destroy the Federal Guv’mint is his greatest political strength.His malignant narcissism — that prevents him from identifying competent underlings that he has to work with and through to achieve that destruction is his Achilles heel.
(DIR) Post #AW3DssV9JUVH1GDhPE by chairgirlhands@chaosfem.tw
2023-05-26T15:24:44Z
0 likes, 2 repeats
@Teri_Kanefield It probably helps to understand that the concept of quantifiable “intelligence” is bullshit. People are smart about some things and dumb about everything else. The variable is what your speciality is. In Trump’s case, he dedicated his life to the skills that go into con artistry. He’s an idiot about anything not relevant to that. By multiple accounts, he has no taste in music, he can’t read, he’s awful at managing his money, is a terrible partner, etc.
(DIR) Post #AW3KKye2fIuLuFA4Ce by philip_cardella@historians.social
2023-05-26T15:15:05Z
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@Teri_Kanefield I think this is exactly right. He has an uncanny instinct for threat assessment. He tends to focus on the threats he deems the most significant to him and ranks them in order that they'll become the biggest threat. Too little time to bring receipts but he identified Hillary and Joe as his biggest rivals early in the respective *primaries*. He was right--WAY before it was obvious Biden would win, for example. I still think he's not all that bright BUT he has some advanced skills
(DIR) Post #AW3KKzaBB9PcoYMUoy by philip_cardella@historians.social
2023-05-26T15:18:32Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@Teri_Kanefield along my lines of threat assessment skill is your point about knowing how to tap into grievance. At the end of the day what Trump is best described as, in my opinion, is a con artist. That's his biggest skill. He's a great snake oil salesmen. EVERY snake oil salesman has people who know he's a fraud. He only cares about that group when they're an actual threat to his con. So far, he continues to sell his snake oil with massive success to the conned.
(DIR) Post #AW3KP3dm281OYfyvPU by JJPeterson@toot.community
2023-05-26T15:16:04Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@Teri_Kanefield His superpower is tapping into all the angst carried by mediocre, uneducated white men in the US, and he knows how to make them complicit in his crimes, his schemes, and his abuses, so that he can extort them at a later date. Once they are partners in crime, trump gets away with murder. I’m pretty sure he controls the WH press corps this way. All those Mar-a-Lago weekends together.
(DIR) Post #AW3KQpr2GDzQNf24Lw by philip_cardella@historians.social
2023-05-26T15:21:35Z
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@Teri_Kanefield but to the stupid part, he cares about two things and that's it. Money and attention. Every rich person cares about that because every rich person thinks it's a damn game and all that matters in the end is the total amount amassed. That's it. Some also crave the power. For Trump, it's the attention he craves, not the power. As an aside, what terrifies me about DeSantis is he seems to care little about the money or the attention--he ONLY wants power.
(DIR) Post #AW3KQr2lq4yG4LWxHc by philip_cardella@historians.social
2023-05-26T15:39:28Z
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@Teri_Kanefield *every rich person cares about money. That's the "that." Many ultra rich actually don't want attention. Trump would rather have attention than money.