Trump 34: Leading the Alternate Reality

[AmazonGrace]

5 hours ago, Botkinetti said:

I think at this point reporters should only be noting when he trump says something truthful. For example

President trump made 17 statements today. Only the first part of number 14 is correct and factual. He is wrong about everything else.

CNN should employ 24/7 factcheckers and put a running ticker on the screen.

President Trump's lies 3456, 3457, 3458....

Also days that he golfed compared to Obama and days since he held a press conference and answered all questions like a big boy

[AmericanRose]

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 12:26 PM, AmazonGrace said:

 

Doesn't he have an economist (or common sense) to explain to him that exports are up because everyone has been trying to get in as many shipments as possible before the tariffs went into effect? That's not going to be repeated...

Of course, he's talking about the United Sates.

[thoughtful]

9 hours ago, Botkinetti said:

I think at this point reporters should only be noting when he trump says something truthful. For example

President trump made 17 statements today. Only the first part of number 14 is correct and factual. He is wrong about everything else.

Color coding for anything in print  would be nice -- the truth in black, lies and bluster in Trump-face orange. Something like this, perhaps:

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[fraurosena]

I guess Juncker's colorful cue cards were still too difficult for the presidunce.

 

[AmazonGrace]

Mr. Kellyanne:

 

[AmazonGrace]

Spoiler

 

Why is President Donald Trump behaving in ways that seem ever more irrational, impulsive, self-destructive, dangerous and cruel? Many Americans have been shocked by Trump’s behavior, most recently by his taking the side of a known enemy in Vladimir Putin and Russia over his own intelligence community.

It isn’t possible to reliably diagnose any individual from a distance, but it is reasonable to flag clear, observable signs of impairment and to make inferences based on repetitive patterns of behavior. There is a significant difference between diagnosing a specific disorder and analyzing the meaning of the qualities Trump exhibits, such as paranoia, grandiosity, lack of empathy and pathological deceit. Trump’s behavior, we believe, is the predictable outgrowth of this psychological disposition, exacerbated by the stress of the intensifying criminal investigations he faces.

Our assessment is based on descriptions from those who have worked with him, his own voluminous responses to real situations in real time, and above all by our unique vantage points. One of us is a forensic psychiatrist who has treated more than 1,000 individuals with characteristics similar to Trump’s. The other spent 18 months shadowing, observing and interviewing Trump in order to co-write The Art of the Deal.

Trump’s increasing grandiosity is evident in the superlatives he uses to refer to himself—“stable genius” among them—and in the way he has consolidated his power by getting rid of aides and Cabinet members who have challenged his authority. Because no person or circumstance can possibly satisfy his needs, nearly everyone in his life eventually becomes expendable, and he becomes more and more isolated.

Trump’s growing paranoia is reflected in the vitriolic comments he has made about a range of perceived enemies, including Democrats and Republicans, allies in the G-7, the intelligence community, the news media and immigrants. His hunger for absolute power is evident in his bizarrely admiring words about despots, including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte. His frequent lies reveal his need to redefine reality when the truth doesn’t serve his needs.

Given Trump’s volatility, incuriosity and severely limited attention span, his decisions are not significantly influenced by reflection or analytical reasoning. Because he cannot tolerate even the mildest criticism, he is largely immune to learning and growth. Instead, unable to regulate his emotions, he reacts angrily, and often with threats of revenge, to any challenge to his authority. Even success provides him with only momentary satisfaction.

Trump’s psychological disposition has profound implications for our personal, national and international security. Unfortunately, Americans remain deeply reluctant to talk openly about mental health or to recognize how profoundly it can influence behavior. Because the president’s level of mental impairment is so unusual to observe, it is difficult for most of us to understand what catastrophic desperation such people can feel to fill their own inner sense of emptiness.

Trump described to Tony a cold father with whom his relationship was “almost businesslike” and a mother who was mostly uninvolved in his life. Through Bandy’s work interviewing men who were deprived in childhood of the love and support necessary to develop a core self, she concluded that the stable internal center that holds their beliefs, principles, attachments, loyalties—and even their capacity for humanity—never gets well established.

Instead, most such men become almost completely dependent on others for their sense of self-worth. They become hypersensitive to slights. In the most extreme cases, their envy can prompt them to take sadistic pleasure in tormenting perceived enemies, and those they think are getting more respect than they are. In Trump’s case, his need to demonstrate over and over that he is worthy of admiration overwhelms his capacity to focus on nearly anything else.

While our elected officials and much of the news media have avoided the topic of Trump’s mental health, it is clear that our adversaries have carefully studied his psychological weaknesses and determined how to use them to their advantage, as we saw during his negotiations with Putin and Kim Jong Un. Ironically, our own intelligence community does just this sort of analysis about foreign leaders.

Trump’s grip on reality will likely continue to diminish as he faces increasing criticism, accusations, threats of impeachment and potential criminal indictments. We can expect him to become more desperate, more extreme in his comments, more violent in his threats, and more reckless and destructive in his actions. His latest extreme threat to Iran is one example, and he is likely to return to similar threats to North Korea if he feels that Kim Jong Un is making him look weak and unsuccessful.

So how can we hold onto our own mental health in the face of the danger Trump poses? First, don’t use logic or rationality to try to understand or counter Trump’s statements and behaviors. He is driven not by reason but by negative emotions that are infectious. Trump thrives on creating fear and sowing confusion. He lies without guilt. Don’t match his emotion with your own.

Second, be clearer than ever about your core values, beliefs and principles, and rely on them for guidance and comfort, especially when you are feeling most triggered and fearful. Challenge every day the natural inclination to feel overwhelmed, fatigued or numb in the face of Trump’s behavior. This is what people with his psychological inclinations count on. Trump is aware that whatever he says repeatedly—no matter how outrageous—many people are more likely to believe, or at least to stop resisting.

Lastly, recognize that fear is your enemy. Holding onto the opposites of realism and optimism is the best antidote. James Stockdale, a Navy vice admiral, was imprisoned for eight years in North Vietnam and tortured repeatedly. What he said afterward about how he survived is relevant for anyone dealing with feelings of helplessness and hopelessness: “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."

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Bandy X. Lee is assistant clinical professor in law and psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and a project leader for the World Health Organization.

Tony Schwartz is the chief executive of The Energy Project and the co-author of The Art of the Deal.

 

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/inside-the-mind-of-donald-trump-219074

So can we expect more fawning NYT coverage?

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/inside-the-mind-of-donald-trump-219074

So can we expect more fawning NYT coverage?

If find the last part of that tweet to be very, very disquieting. Enemy of the People. 

That's unadulterated demagoguery right there. 

[47of74]

I see Spanky McFuckface is going on about shutting down the government now

Quote

President Donald Trump says he's willing to shut down the government if Democrats refuse to vote for his immigration proposals, including building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

   Trump says: "I would be willing to `shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT!"

 

[Cartmann99]

Oh hell, he's throwing another tantrum in the cereal aisle. 

 

[47of74]

9 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

Oh hell, he's throwing another tantrum in the cereal aisle. 

 

I wonder what set Spanky McFuckface off this time?

Maybe it was this from the LA Times calling into question his "election"

Quote

We need to talk about a forbidden subject: the legitimacy of the current president.

As more and more facts about Trump’s incongruous victory emerge, the doubts gnaw harder — and grow harder to ignore.

A nation devoted to majority rule has a minority president. Who squeaked into office on an electoral college technicality. Against most data projections. Using dark money. Using voter suppression. Using Russian disinformation.

And, most chilling of all, with a massive assist from the Russian military, which not only hacked the Democrats, but also hacked voting software and a voting-system manufacturer.

 

 

[Cartmann99]

5 hours ago, 47of74 said:

   Trump says: "I would be willing to `shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT!"

https://qz.com/1049331/merit-based-immigration-where-could-you-move/ 

Mr. Cartmann99 has a doctorate and over twenty years of teaching experience in a STEM field. At his current income level and age, he would not have enough points to immigrate to the United States under Trump's plan. 

Here's the proposed rules for married couples:

Quote

Effect of spouse on accrual of points: If an applicant has a spouse who will be accompanying or following to join the applicant in the United States, the applicant will identify the points that the spouse would accrue under each of subsections (c) through (e) [age, education, English-skills] if he or she were applying for a points-based immigrant visa:
* If the number of points that would be accrued by the spouse is the same or higher as the points accrued by the applicant, the number of points shall not be adjusted;
* If the number of points that would be accrued by the spouse is lower than the number of points accrued by the applicant, the number of points accrued by the applicant shall be adjusted so that it is equal to the sum of 70% of the applicant’s points and 30% of the spouse’s points.

https://qz.com/1195155/trumps-merit-based-immigration-proposal-would-dock-points-for-spouses/

Mr. Cartmann99 scored higher than I did on the merit-based immigration quiz, so neither of us are MAGA enough for Trump's America. 

[just_ordinary]

Wow. A few days without Internet and I miss the next big thing. Have to say I loved the „shoes in the house“ and „comforter vs. duvets” thread drifts because they gave me way more insight in how different people are than many other light hearted topics. It is always interesting what triggers a community- shoes and duvets and now nurseries. Who would have thought that. Will say though that this was only a smaller fight compared to the other topics and actually much more civil than those.

I don’t get what is suppose to be “southwest” about Felicity’’s room!? Is it the blanket on the crip and the cactus and cacti print? Her nursery looks like the simple version of what has been trendy on Pinterest a year ago. You will find similar rooms all across the world and my bet is most people wouldn’t identify it as “southwest”. I like that it isn’t overdone in terms of decorating because that is my taste but in the end a nursery is solely for the parents.

I am reading FJ for years now and will say  while we do discuss the damage and dangers of Fundamentalism about 70% is BEC, thread drifts about travels, books etc. and the regular discussions of food at weddings... I am not directly threatened by Fundamentalism in the US so I can look from afar and feel repelled but it obviously differentiates my POV significantly from other posters that indeed are affected by it.

My harsh judging starts when the people become parents as their choices are now affecting someone who cannot in any way defend themselves. My judging is based on what I see and know about them. As I haven’t watched 19kac it is mostly SM. SM never the whole truthful. It is almost always the pretty side. But I think 90% of FJ is absolutely aware of that.

People can be judged and be held accountable for doing shitty and harmful things. Trauma is an explanation but can never be an excuse. So I can judge a Fundie very harshly and still hope that they will eventually get softer or even break (but I don’t see any of them breaking away in such way as FJ wants them to). I can still gush over nice hair or clothes or sweet pictures of children and judge them for limiting their children’s education or anti-abortion campaigns. And yes, with some I find that there a very small changes that I didn’t expect and it gives me hope. And this is very subjective and no one has to see the same things as I and I don’t feel offended when someone points out why they don’t agree. I do get angry when someone calls that fangirling. If I would be a fan I would defenitely not be here.

@louisa05 I love your point about how many many non religious people hold the exact same beliefs and vote in favour of them. That exactly why I don’t care if they support gays for example (even though I think everyone should) because that is on the country and society as a whole and gays are surpressed and threatened by so many different groups that fundamental Christians are the mainstream in that regard. American (and European for that matter) society as a whole is the level where I care strongly about this topic. I look at what sets them apart from the rest (and obviously my view on US society is very flawed and incomplete) and that is for example the submission, the control, the lack of education, the strong focus on Jesus (getting saved) and the harsh abuse. In my experience the US people in FJ are still not the mainstream but the great exception when it is about politics and such (otherwise there wouldn’t have been a Bush junior or a Trump, the lack of general health care or solidarity in society). That is at least my impression.

One last thought: I don’t think putting yourself in the public light makes it fair game for people to bitch about you. In that case everyone with an Facebook/Instagram account is fair game. And we shouldn’t believe that what we do sometimes here isn’t online bullying because from time to time it just is. I can live with that but I have no problem being a judgemental bitch.

[AmazonGrace]

 If it's in all caps it's proof

[Cartmann99]

Jim Wright did a post about Trump's desire to go to a merit-based immigration system. The whole thing is great, but here's the end:

Quote

Merit? What has more merit? A dentist when you need a cavity filled or the garbage man when your cans are overflowing? The person who waits on your table when you’re hungry or the one who cuts your hair? Those people, the ones who turn up whenever you need help, the ones who stop alongside the road to help you with a flat, the ones who always turn up to help look for a missing child, the ones fill the sandbags when the water is rising and the winds start to howl, what merit do they have?

Who decides the merit of a human being?

Is merit education? Experience? Skill? Intellect? Able bodied? Ability? Something you’re born with or something you learn?

Or is merit your Race? Religion? Language? Wealth? Health? Politics? Age? Attractiveness? Breeding potential? Skull shape? Eye color?

Who decides what constitutes human merit? What makes a human being great or not?

You know, there have been nations throughout history who have attempted to define exactly that, define greatness, define merit. Measure it. And set human beings on a scale, their worth measured against each other.

Universally, history regards those societies as monsters and we hold them up as examples of horror and the ultimate villainy.

 

Who decides which people have merit and which ones do not?

 

You?

Me?

Donald Trump?

Congress? Voters? The mob? Some faceless bureaucrat? A secret committee? Do we contract it out? Outsource the decision to a company in Bangladesh? Who decides?

And how long, once we begin assessing immigrants on their supposed merit, their unmeasurable and unknowable potential contribution to our alleged national greatness, how long before we likewise begin dividing up natural born Americans into categories of relative worth? How long before we begin separating those with merit from those judged to have less, or none?

And what do we do with those who have no merit to our society? What happens to them?

When the state grants itself the power to decide which humans are worthy and which ones are not, then slavery, genocide, absolutism, war, and horror follow almost immediately. Every time.

Every. Time.

Every. Single. Time.

Power corrupts.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

And there is no power more absolute, or more corrupting, than a government who declares itself the arbiter of human worth.

 

 

Since I have difficulty defining merit and what merit alone means – and in any context, whether it's judicial or otherwise – I accept that different experiences in and of itself, bring merit to the system. 
-- Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States.

http://www.stonekettle.com/2018/07/quod-erat-demonstrandum.html?spref=tw

[WiseGirl]

12 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

Mr. Cartmann99 has a doctorate and over twenty years of teaching experience in a STEM field. At his current income level and age, he would not have enough points to immigrate to the United States under Trump's plan. 

Interesting to find that I don't have enough points to immigrate here to the US either.  Will you and mr. Cartmann99 be joining me in Canada or New Zealand? 

Trump couldn't even pass this. His age bracket isn't even on the first question. 

[AmazonGrace]

12 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

https://qz.com/1049331/merit-based-immigration-where-could-you-move/ 

Mr. Cartmann99 has a doctorate and over twenty years of teaching experience in a STEM field. At his current income level and age, he would not have enough points to immigrate to the United States under Trump's plan. 

Here's the proposed rules for married couples:

https://qz.com/1195155/trumps-merit-based-immigration-proposal-would-dock-points-for-spouses/

Mr. Cartmann99 scored higher than I did on the merit-based immigration quiz, so neither of us are MAGA enough for Trump's America. 

I'm good for Canada, Australia, NZ and Hong Kong, rejected in the USA and South Korea.

[Alisamer]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

I'm good for Canada, Australia, NZ and Hong Kong, rejected in the USA and South Korea.

Same. 

I'm guessing if we went to that system in the US, illegal immigration would shoot WAY up (wall or not). The "American dream" immigrant story is always great-great-grandpa who showed up at Ellis Island at age 20 with $5 and a dream, not a Nobel Prize winner with a doctorate who showed up with a high-paying job already waiting for him. So many immigrants start out cooking or doing nails or working construction or mowing grass... but then go on to start their own restaurants, salons, construction companies, or other businesses! This "merit" system doesn't reward hard work or entrepreneurship at all. And I'm betting Melania would not have qualified. Pretty white model or not.

[GreyhoundFan]

"Documents: Trump golf course damaged sand dunes in Scotland'

Spoiler

LONDON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s family business partially destroyed legally protected sand dunes in Scotland when it built a golf course north of Aberdeen, according to government reports released in response to a freedom of information request.

Scottish Natural Heritage, which monitors the country’s sensitive and scientifically important sites, said that construction of Trump International Golf Links Scotland “led to the direct loss” of up to 68 hectares (168 acres) of the 205-hectare Foveran Links site.

The damaged and destroyed drifts, one of the best examples of moving sand dunes in Britain, developed over 4,000 years, according to the agency.

“The construction has removed the vast majority of the geomorphological interest within the vicinity of the golf course,” Scottish Natural Heritage said in the documents.

The documents were released following a public records request made by Bob Ward, policy director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics. Britain’s Observer newspaper first reported the studies.

Trump International Executive Vice President Sarah Malone said the company owned less than 5 percent of the site of special scientific interest, or SSSI, most of which remains untouched.

“As for the small portion that we do own, no other SSSI site in the land has seen more environmental care or investment,” Malone said in a statement. “The site was ignored until Trump took ownership, and is now celebrated and enjoyed by many.”

As for the land developed for the golf course, “it has changed in parts because we have sown grass, but our environmental consultants and (Scottish Natural Heritage) can confirm that many of the special attributes of the land remains and the wildlife is flourishing.”

The golf course was completed in 2012 and is part of what the Trump Organization envisions as a larger project that could include two golf courses, a 450-room hotel and as many as 1,500 homes.

Scottish authorities approved the outlines of the project in 2008, though each phase will require additional review. The company last week unveiled plans to invest 150 million pounds ($196 million) in the second phase of development.

During the original approval process, Trump promised to minimize any environmental damage, saying he was “fully committed to mitigating the effects of the course on the environment.”

Ward said the Scottish government should consider Trump’s failure to live up to the commitment when it reviews future building plans for the site.

“I think the problem here is the disregard they’ve shown and the way in which they made promises which he has not kept,” Ward said. “I think personally that the Scottish government here has not been as strong as it should have been in holding Mr. Trump to account, and I hope that they will now see the need to do that.”

Critics in Scotland previously accused the Trump Organization of failing to deliver the jobs and investment it promised when the project first came up for review.

The Trump Organization says it has already invested 100 million pounds ($131 million) in what is expected to be a “multi-phased development” costing 750 million pounds ($983 million.)

The proposed second phase will support nearly 2,000 jobs during construction and some 300 permanent jobs after it is completed, the company said last week.

Foveran Links is one of the “least disturbed and most dynamic” dune systems in Britain, which makes it important for studying the natural features of the coastline, according to Scottish Natural Heritage.

“Essentially, what has happened now is that future generations of geologists and geographers won’t be able to go and visit the site,” Ward said. “I find that inexplicable.”

 

[louisa05]

@just_ordinary We got Bush the Younger the first time and Trump because the Electoral College system allows a president to be elected by a minority of voters. Neither Bush in 2000 or Trump won the majority of actual individual voters. Almost 3 million more people voted for Clinton than Trump and approximately 6 million more voted for third party candidates. So around 9 million more people voted against Trump than voted for him. 

A candidate can win the Electoral College with just nine states (nine specific ones to get to the right number) and it only requires a majority of the vote in each state to win all of that's states electoral vote (except for two states who divide theirs with complicated formulas: Nebraska and Maine). You can literally win the presidency in our stupid system with 50.1% of the vote in nine states. Factor in that millions of eligible voters in this country simply do not vote and are not registered and voter turnouts being in only the 55-60% range for major elections; it is not implausible to conclude that the majority do not support Trump. 

[SassyPants]

9 minutes ago, louisa05 said:

@just_ordinary We got Bush the Younger the first time and Trump because the Electoral College system allows a president to be elected by a minority of voters. Neither Bush in 2000 or Trump won the majority of actual individual voters. Almost 3 million more people voted for Clinton than Trump and approximately 6 million more voted for third party candidates. So around 9 million more people voted against Trump than voted for him. 

A candidate can win the Electoral College with just nine states (nine specific ones to get to the right number) and it only requires a majority of the vote in each state to win all of that's states electoral vote (except for two states who divide theirs with complicated formulas: Nebraska and Maine). You can literally win the presidency in our stupid system with 50.1% of the vote in nine states. Factor in that millions of eligible voters in this country simply do not vote and are not registered and voter turnouts being in only the 55-60% range for major elections; it is not implausible to conclude that the majority do not support Trump. 

Unfortunately, I have yet to meet a Trump voter who would not vote for him again...it’s highly likely we’ll end up with him again! And that’s without even consider Foreign interference!

[louisa05]

1 minute ago, SassyPants said:

Unfortunately, I have yet to meet a Trump voter who would not vote for him again...it’s highly likely we’ll end up with him again! And that’s without even consider Foreign interference!

I was at the zoo in the middle of the Midwest yesterday. I saw no shirts, hats, etc...supporting him. A year ago, we saw some MAGA hats and Trump shirts. 

I did see two "resist" t-shirts, a Beto for Senate t-shirt, a "Mt Nasty" shirt (Mt Rushmore of women--Hillary and RBG, couldn't tell the rest without staring too long), a "I Really DO Care, Do U?" shirt, and two "Love Trumps Hate" shirts. 

Plus, IF the huge number of Millennials registering in recent drives turn out to vote in 2020 and don't defect to third party candidates, that could be a huge difference in some key states. 

Farm groups are also very angry about both the tariff situation and the proposed bail out. Particularly because while many family farms are being hurt badly by the tariffs, the bail out will mostly benefit corporate farming. Nebraska will still likely go to Trump (except the Second District which could swing and give the opponent 1 E.C. vote because we split--Obama got one there in 2008). But Iowa has always been a swing state. It narrowly went to Trump in 2016. It could swing back.