Friday, June 16, 2017

Trump's Big CON: Thank You Dear Leader (AKA Trump is a Psycho-Narcissistic Con Man (CONt., Part 4))

UPDATE V:  "Today, about a third of the nation’s population seems to be suffering from a reality discernment malfunction. Have they been ingesting mushrooms plucked from bull dung? Drinking water spiked with credulity-enhancing chemicals?

Thus, when President Trump speaks in his fourth-grade, monosyllabic, syntax-challenged verbiage, they hear lyrical lucidity. When he brags that he has accomplished more than any other president, save for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, his starry-eyed minions nod their approval. Exactly no major legislation has been passed by Congress since Trump took office.

As Trump himself said, he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and they’d still love him.

This is the definition of reciprocal madness, which seems to have spread to the highest levels, as witnessed Monday in the strangest Cabinet meeting in American history. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said it was a “blessing” to serve the president. Each secretary matched his example in what became an epic, circular kiss-up, praising Trump’s leadership (do you suppose the last lemming thanked the first?) and expressing his or her gratitude. . .


The only way to process such tortured effusion is to remember James B. Comey. You either profess loyalty or you go back to being a member of the privileged class so abhorred by the very folks Trump tempted at the ballot box."

Read the Washington Post, Is Trump making America mentally ill?

UPDATE IV:  The Donald loves to watch the news, and be praised, and he love to hear people praise him on the news.

CNN recently "aired a story about Tangier, Va., which sits on Tangier Island, about 12 miles from both the Virginia and Maryland coasts in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. The small island, now only 1.3 square miles, shrinks by 15 feet each year, according to the Army Corps of Engineers, which points to coastal erosion and rising sea levels as the cause.

The island’s 450 residents, many of whom are descendants of its first settlers in the 17th century, are desperate. Scientists predict they will have to abandon the island in 50 years if nothing is done.

'Donald Trump, if you see this, whatever you can do, we welcome any help you can give us,' [Tangier Island Mayor James 'Ooker'] Eskridge said in the CNN piece, later adding, 'I love Trump as much as any family member I got.'"

A week later, Trump called Eskridge.

Read the Washington Post, Trump calls mayor of shrinking Chesapeake island and tells him not to worry about it.

UPDATE III:  "President Trump’s delusional outburst Monday claiming to have accomplished more than any president other than FDR at this stage in his presidency and the fawning praise recited by Cabinet members (in their best imitation of the Politburo) serve to remind us that this is not a normal presidency, and will never be one. On the day that another court ruled against Trump’s travel ban, a passable health-care reform bill is nowhere in sight and little appetite exists for a mammoth tax cut (another one beyond the America Health Care Act) with correspondingly mammoth debt, we can see just how divorced Trump has become from the reality of his failing presidency. That leaves many political watchers to wonder aloud why Republicans stick by the president. . .

First, unlike Senate and House Republicans during Watergate, there are few genuine leaders of principle whose sense of propriety is offended by Trump. The moral and intellectual quality of the current crew of Republicans pales in comparison to the type of Republicans who finally told Richard Nixon the jig was up. . .

Second, elected Republicans by and large cower in the shadow of Fox Non-News hosts, talk-radio opportunists and right-wing interest groups. They fear noticeable distancing from Trump will prompt the vultures of the right to swoop down up them, leaving only bones behind. . .

Third, given the first two factors, Republicans continue to rationalize support for Trump, or at least line-straddling. Maybe this will all die down. They could still get tax reform. Once the president is forced out, the party will descend in chaos. Hey, gerrymandering will protect the House majority!

Finally, politicians read the polls. They see Republicans by and large still support the president."

Read the Washington Post, What stops Republicans from behaving rationally.

UPDATE II:  Watch Trump "inviting each member to praise him and his administration".

The whole thing was clearly staged as public declarations of loyalty to 'Our Great Leader'.

UPDATE: Read the Washington Post, ‘I love you more, Mr. President’: A Cabinet competition.

"At Monday’s Cabinet meeting — the first President Trump had held with everyone on board — White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus spoke up to thank Trump “for the opportunity and blessing that you’ve given us to serve your agenda and the American people.”

Priebus said he was offering words on behalf of everyone in the room. But one by one, pretty much everyone else seated around the table took the opportunity to lavish their leader with praise, too, as the media looked on."

Read the Washington Post, Praise for the chief: Trump’s Cabinet tells him it’s an ‘honor’ and ‘blessing’ to serve.

Read also:

Trump is a Psycho-Narcissistic Con Man, where I first noted that Trump is a psycho-narcissistic con man,

Trump is a Psycho-Narcissistic Con Man (Cont.),

Trump is a Psycho-Narcissistic Con Man (Cont., Part 2), and

Trump is a Psycho-Narcissistic Con Man (Cont., Part 3).