How many heartless bastards does it take to screw up a country?
I’m not going to promise that this is the last column I ever write about the shortcomings of Dat Guy. There is an overwhelming wealth of material, refreshed daily from the source, as Hair Twitler sits on his Golden Commode every morning and lets his miniscule thumbs do the talking. However, to daily respond to these inherent, incessant outrages is to get lost in the orange coils of what passes for a mind in Dis Guy.
But we need to understand him, first, from the level of that psyche, so that we can indeed separate the important from the immature. He is a physical coward; any courage is skin-deep. We all saw the look on his face those few times during the campaign where the Secret Service had to approach the podium. His first instinct was flight, not fight.
Connected to this, he is a germophobe. Even while running for President, he minimized hand shaking. He prefers fast food, like McDonalds, because he believes that a successful corporation’s quality control will provide the most germ-free meal.
Further connected to this, he is a bully. He is physically unable to protect himself, so he uses his wealth like a shield and a club. He revels in punching down, in beating the little guy who dared stand up to him, or just said something honest about him.
He has no taste, no sense of the sublime, no artistic inclinations, no aesthetic appreciation of art, poetry, music etc. The net monetary worth of these things is the measure of their worth to him. Net monetary worth is also equivalent to self-worth for him. It has to be: as a functional illiterate, it’s the only area in which he excels, and that only because of Daddy’s money, not his. If he had had to make it on his own, he’d have died a long time ago.
Also inherited from Daddy: a Klansman’s sense of superiority over lesser mortals, especially other races, rooted in a belief in eugenics, which provides a pseudo-scientific rationale for everything from segregation to slavery, from apartheid to genocide, simultaneously “proving” that his wealth is a mark of superior breeding.
Unsurprisingly, Dis Guy has become the poster child for Grandiose Narcissistic Personality disorder. He is so jealous of his carefully constructed Übermensch persona that every deal or contract of employment includes ironclad non-disclosure clauses. He sues anyone who questions his personal version of reality, especially his net worth.
Those dependent on him or wishing to curry his favor feed into his pathology – note the compulsory use of “Mr” in front of Dat Name or the article where his ex-butler reported that he routinely told Dat Guy his practice golf shots were going 20% farther than they actually did. Advisers reported during the campaign that the only way to approach him with a critique was to first wax rhapsodic over his personal greatness, then to introduce the detail they’d like to change as seemingly insignificant. Outright criticism is seen as hostility, no matter how well-intentioned.
Chuck Todd recently made a throwaway comment that echoed what we’ve heard several times: Dat Guy not only can’t take a joke, which inherently is a criticism, he also seems not to understand a joke or even to grok humor in any way other than as a weapon (yet another) against his perceived enemies. He never laughs, not in any sort of an honest, jolly way, and any attempts at “humor” are actually mean-spirited disparagement – what is known as “aggressive” humor.
This is no mere quirk, but a key to Dat Personality.
Psychiatric studies recognize four types of humor: affiliative, aggressive, self-enhancing and self-defeating. At various times, we make use of all four types. However, your basic personality is closely correlated with some types of humor, and not so much with others. The way you make or take a joke is, obviously, closely linked to how you view your relationship to the world of others.
For example, people who have a solid, positive view of their own self-worth rarely engage in humor injurious to others, whereas people who have an unstable, inflated or negative view of their own self-worth usually do.
Here are some traits that studies show correlate with aggressive humor: neuroticism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, detachment, and, most especially, antagonism.
People who are detached and/or antagonistic are personally cold. They do not share communal values. They do not make close friends. They are not given to expressions of warmth. They are unconcerned with how their moral decisions affect anyone outside of themselves. Without that moral compass, they lack inhibition. They are manipulative in their dealings with others. Their main concern is the protection of their own agenda, whatever they conceive that to be; therefore, they often use aggressive humor to dominate or intimidate (aka, bully).
Lyin’ Ted. Little Marco. Low-energy Jeb. Crooked Hillary.
Ha. Ha. Ha.
Coldness, detachment, manipulation, amorality, unstably inflated self-worth, neuroticism, psychopathy, disinhibition, bullying: it’s all a not-very-funny joke to, for, and about…
Dis Guy:
Psychomedy: if you laughed, get help.
Donnie’s best joke on himself was the painting he bought using stolen funds from his ‘charity.’ Although the dogs are certainly far cuter, that painting of Donnie has all the “art” aspects of dogs on velvet playing poker.
1Primo, could I add Munchausen to that list?
2What psychiatric illness is evidenced by Trump’s lying about his behavior, even though the evidence is clear and on tape?
3He is totally divorced from reality.
While an interesting description of trump, is he the cause or the effect; ie, why did so many people vote for him and the leaders of congress, etc.? Perhaps a great field to also explore by Primo and El Jefe.
4@Jane & PKM
YEAH but does Drumpf have that candid shot of hisownself and Jesus the Christ? Like McStabby??
5Oh dear, is that his Dorian Grey likeness PKM?? It improves as he descends into twiticisms? He’s made it to Elvis and Elvira status, I guess.
6Micr, Donnie has the exact same portrait/pose as McStabby. But by some miracle, Jesus keeps escaping the portrait.
7Jane & PKM: It isn’t that Jesus keeps escaping from the portrait, it’s that Donny runs him off because Donny can’t bear being next to someone who is more important than he is.
8Donnie has a face that shouldn’t travel without a dartboard cover and a piñata bat for his head.
van59, excellent question. Do we begin with Nixon and “dirty tricks” or the conglomerate disaster that was once the media?
9Jane, your question of where to begin is also great because where do we begin to try to understand our arrival today. We could go back to Jamestown where the killings of Indians began by white man. As far as I know, every armed conflict since then, every one, has been at the behest of the corporate interests that involved the taking of something from someone. Land from the Natives, slavery, attempted genocide of the Natives, natural resources; a few reasons. Just since end of WWII this country has been involved in over 60 conflicts world-wide. Can you think of any one of them that hasn’t been at the instigation of the corporate interest? For a start, see Wiki for Maj Gen Smedley Butler, 2 CMOH and 1 unofficial Marine MOH.
10IMO, history shows that there ain’t one thing new under the sun in over 5000 years of record regarding human nature. This country is an empire like every one to date; they come, they go. We are no exception even with the 2 oceans providing some shelter.
As pessimistic as this sounds, I believe that good will better evil in the end but this ain’t gonna come cheap or soon.
Thank you, Primo. I see accuracy is your forte. The picture you paint is razor sharp. If others don’t or can’t see as clearly is simply because they just don’t want to. Like you, I knew all about Dat Guy before he ran. There is nothing there to interest or surprise me. Throw everything you know about truth, honesty or fairplay out the door. There’s a new kid in town. Prepare for the worst.
11I had a roommate freshman year that in the two years that we all lived together– she only laughed once. And that was when this dude slipped and fell on the ice in the quad and broke his arm. She wet herself laughing. She was–difficult—but we thought we’d lead by example, be her friends and she’d be a better human.
Didn’t happen.
I’ve actually been looking for her to show up on the Trump transition team.
12van59: Begin with the Cult of Self. Been around a long time. It rises and falls with the times. This cycle started in the 60’s. It’s a powerful force, stronger than any religion or politic, in fact it bends those things to its will. The Cult manifests itself in as many different ways as there are people who embrace it. Right now it’s all around us, in everything you see and everywhere. It’s very good at masking itself as “charity” or “volunteering” or “deeply held religious beliefs”, but in reality it’s about that person feeling good about themselves, feeling “superior” and using anybody or anything to get there.
13Looking back is only instructive as a method for looking forward. van59 is correct: the CEO is the bane of society.
If we want to build this Resistance, we have to properly identify that the CEO, the major shareholders, and the monied interests have different goals and interests than the other 99% of us.
There will always be quislings who take a different view. These have been gulled into voting against their own economic interest. There may be a millionaire or two on the good side of things, as well (both Roosevelt Presidents spring to mind).
But if you see those three little letters -“C” “E” & “O” – after someone’s name, then trust must be doubly guarded and trebly earned. Actions are the only bona fides in gaining our trust. Not any words from any of Them.
Who is Them?
The people who believe that the business of America is business.
The people who turned capitalism into a religion, and religion into a business.
The people who think that wealth is the measure of success.
The people who think that the accumulation of pelf trumps the Greater Good.
The people who think that all white men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights of rape, pillage and plunder, and that governments are instituted to protect these rights.
In other words, our incoming government, including Congress and the Supreme Court.
van59 is also right in that the needed changes will not be easy or soon. Even had we won the election and filled Scalia’s seat, the fight was going to drag on. It’s just that it would have been a little less uphill.
So instead of leading, we Resist. And instead of making it top down, we will have to take the long, slow road from the bottom up. It could take decades. It took that long for the GOP to climb from 1960 to here. I was so sure we were almost there.
Now, not so much.
They say that the States are the laboratories of democracy. The experiments that escaped those labs include voter suppression and state-sanctioned bigotry: ignorance in the service of profit. In the process our political discourse has been destroyed and our tax base has been decimated, poising us on the precipice of a dark time.
But we can use those same laboratories to discover new cures and counteract the ravages of weaponized greed.
And I’m willing to spend the rest of my life fighting to do so. We’re going to have to win this back, indeed, the hard way: one precinct at a time. Then one ward. Then one town, one township, one county.
Resist. Fight. Win.
14Primo: Great piece. Thanks. Someone sent me the text of a Facebook story (I know) that claims Donnie owes 560 million to an outfit called Blackstone Bayrock. I haven’t been able to find it in a legit source yet, so it may just be fake news of a different kind. If it is true, the consequences are truly terrifying, and grounds for impeachment if not prosecution. Oh, I almost forgot. Anybody who can correctly use the word grok in a sentence has a special place in my heart. Jane and PKM: I’m voting for the bat. Big ole bat.
15DaChipster, please! CEO? Here’s one for you: 401K. The “THEM” is us. Please let’s not point fingers irresponsibly. DIG DEEPER PEOPLE! The answer is there. Has always been there. A deep hole and at the bottom is our own reflection. You may not like to hear that but it’s the truth.
16I’m following, JAK, insofar as the I Got Mine, or I’m gonna Get Mine or someone is preventing Me from Getting Mine cult-of-me, but I’m having trouble moving beyond the victim-blaming aspects of anything more. I mean, how much can you blame a guy for trying to win a rigged game when it’s the only game in town, and it’s play or your kids starve?
They’re not inherently bad, they’ve just been drawn that way.
As much as I dislike organized religion, as much as I eschew a formalized spirituality based on subjective self-interested morality, there are messages inherent in some teachings which resonate, and provide moral guidance.
“Who is my neighbor?”
I think that may be where you’re going? It’s where I’m going, anyway.
17What is pelf? As in “…the accumulation of pelf.”
18Was it a typo for self?
JAKvirginia, please indulge me; I don’t understand what your point is esp. 401k. Too cryptic for me. I used the term “corporate” as a generalization since corporations and CEOs didn’t exist in the definitions we use today back then but the principles of making money and acquiring power are still the same. I gave a reference to support my contention. Primo deserves at least as in depth an analysis, don’t you agree?
19As for your comment at #13, if I understand your point, you may not have understood mine. If you have, my apologies. I’m saying what we are witnessing is basic human nature since the beginning of recorded time; only the clothes covering our nakedness are different:).
Stick with me, kid; I’ll learn ya stuff:
noun: pelf – money, especially when gained in a dishonest or dishonorable way.
Origin
20late Middle English (in the sense ‘booty, pilfered property’): from a variant of Old French pelfre ‘spoils,’ of unknown origin. Compare with pilfer.
This is real quick, I’m due at a meeting shortly.
The 401K? That’s the investors. Joe Average who wants the highest return. That drives the CEO and all of corporate. Them is us.
But for any of it, the Cult of Self has been growing steadily over the last 50 years. Look deeply and you’ll find the patterns. “Free Love”? Free for whom? And from there to today it’s been a steady progression to the self-obsessed Donald, the current High Priest of the Cult.
Just like there is no magic pill to lose 50 lbs. of ugly fat in a week, there is no easy cure to the Cult. Think Scientology on steroids. We all have to change. And it will take time and a great deal of effort. But first, we have to be willing to see. And that’s the hard part.
21OK, you’ll never be Mike Royko but it’s good to hear from you again. As I recall you are somewhere in Ohio and it seems that Ohio is the place where people who can come up with creative epithets for Prince Drumperdinck a.k.a. His Glorious Combover a.k.a. He-Who-Tweets-In-the Dark. There is a writer named Linda Tirado who tweets as @KillerMartinis. She lives in Ohio and usually starts the day off with at least 3 new ways to describe the Leader of the Death Eaters. Keep up the good work.
22Don, I just followed Killer Martinis. She sounds like my kind of woman.
Great post Primo. I admire your thinking and writing.
“no artistic inclinations”
23That’s for sure. He **likes** those portraits of himself. I call those 5th grade paint-by-numbers efforts.
“Germophobes” usually suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder. More generally, this type of OCD symptom is a fear of contamination (which may be germs–as the media always portrays it–or a million other things). OCD is not pleasant and severe OCD can be debilitating. There is some OCD humor that is funny, but making fun of someone’s OCD is not funny. There are plenty of other things, which you mention, about Trump to disparage.
24I took a nap and had a dream where 2 minutes after the usurper ……. on jan 20 the GOA chains the doors shut on the post office.
Did not erase dread but did give it a minor karmic smile.
Then I woke up.
25Kierkegaard was right.