You got it Robert, for anyone the any empathy or compassion, destroying a whole civilization is truly NOT the way to go. I think he DID realize what he was saying because he has not a filter in his brain to shut things like that down. But to promise the people of Iran in one breath and decided to destroy their whole country in another is a whole different story. Plus what he has done to our country: Promised to make it "great" again and ending up making us a pariah to the rest of the world!
Well, now we know what a war conducted by the village idiot on behalf of the Royal Fool looks like. For his great successes in Iran, Dementia Don will award Pete Hogsbreath the “Supreme Order of the Sycophantic Fop.”
While we’re comparing ancient history to today, let’s remember the Parthian Shot. Nowadays the term refers to insulting someone over your shoulder as you walk way. The origin was the defeat of a heavily armed Roman invasion of what is now Iran at the battle of Carrhae in 53BC. Advancing into a desert region, the Roman infantry would be attacked by Parthian cavalry that would ride up to the Roman lines then ride away while peppering them with arrows fired while at full gallop. The Roman forces were annihilated.
Thanks for the crash course on narcissistic delusion, then and now. It really does seem as if while history doesn't always repeat itself, it rhymes in an iterative way. Maybe this is one mechanism of evolution. Hope so, because I am, frankly, in need of a break!
"Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad." This version is more modern, but the ancient Greeks definitely understood the concept. Whether this applies mainly to Trump or to the country that made him president is, I guess, open to question.
Yep. IMO we Americans might not be technically "mad" according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual on my desk, but we certainly suffer from any number of contributory maladies, most especially a kind of basement level paranoia, a vulnerability to conspiratorial delusion and a pathological reliance on avoidant defenses leading to passivity and addictive disorders. I've discussed this perspective, among other things, in my substack, but even as the truth you're pointing at becomes more and more plain, educating the public is still like whistling in the wind. One very unfortunate related problem is that the 25th Amendment is structured in a way that psychiatric illness is difficult to use as a reason to remove a president from office.
But anyone who is/was remotely paying attention should be able to see that the sociopathic emperor has no clothes on. It's disturbing, and quite alarming, to me that we had the mad fool once already, and people decided to, once again, engage in a painful and deep self inflicted serious wound. that it will possibly take generations to recover from. And that's only if the larger populus can figure out how to think. We had a multitude of extreme warnings the first time that this individual is dangerous and yet, we (large we, not me) did it again. Makes no sense at all when we had a sane, competent, reasonable (not perfect, but not crazy and destructive) candidate. It speaks volumes to the general intellectual, psychological and emotional and otherwise health and maturiity of the American public.
"Mad" has more than one meaning, and though "angry" and "crazy" aren't synonyms there *is* a relationship between them. "Angry" probably isn't in the DSM unless it gets out of hand (which it has been known to do), but it's also been a characteristic of the U.S. electorate for several decades. The vast majority of these voters aren't certifiable, but their anger is a force to be reckoned with.
The analogy of Trump to Croesus is appropriate, the greed, the unbridled desire for power, the narcissistic arrogance and the utter ignorance and stupidity. But there is an old saying that is just as appropriate, Fools names like their faces are often seen in public places. That also suits Trump perfectly.
Thank you for this excellent column, Mr. McElvaine. You final sentence is, I fear, not going to happen: "If King Donald finds himself on a political pyre, where he certainly should be, Apollo should not save him." He should be removed from office immediately, either by the 25th Amendment or impeachment, but that is, I expect, wishful for thinking for most of us. Cowards and sychophants surround and protect him. I used to wonder what the breaking point was for these lickspittles--and his MAGA cult of worshippers--and now believe there is none. And I still believe that only way we'll ever be rid of this authoritarian war criminal, is when there are enough ordinary Americans in the streets demanding him gone.
What a great analysis. I didn't know the story of King Croesus, but it sure puts our current mess in historical context. History is a good teacher. "Operation Epic Insanity" is as you pointed out a total disaster for our nation. The "if"--I to hope Apollo is on vacation if and when. Thanks, Robert.
You got it Robert, for anyone the any empathy or compassion, destroying a whole civilization is truly NOT the way to go. I think he DID realize what he was saying because he has not a filter in his brain to shut things like that down. But to promise the people of Iran in one breath and decided to destroy their whole country in another is a whole different story. Plus what he has done to our country: Promised to make it "great" again and ending up making us a pariah to the rest of the world!
Well, now we know what a war conducted by the village idiot on behalf of the Royal Fool looks like. For his great successes in Iran, Dementia Don will award Pete Hogsbreath the “Supreme Order of the Sycophantic Fop.”
While we’re comparing ancient history to today, let’s remember the Parthian Shot. Nowadays the term refers to insulting someone over your shoulder as you walk way. The origin was the defeat of a heavily armed Roman invasion of what is now Iran at the battle of Carrhae in 53BC. Advancing into a desert region, the Roman infantry would be attacked by Parthian cavalry that would ride up to the Roman lines then ride away while peppering them with arrows fired while at full gallop. The Roman forces were annihilated.
Indeed! And led by Crassus, who lost his head.
We just get to be called Crass U.S., I guess.
Thanks for the crash course on narcissistic delusion, then and now. It really does seem as if while history doesn't always repeat itself, it rhymes in an iterative way. Maybe this is one mechanism of evolution. Hope so, because I am, frankly, in need of a break!
"Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad." This version is more modern, but the ancient Greeks definitely understood the concept. Whether this applies mainly to Trump or to the country that made him president is, I guess, open to question.
Yep. IMO we Americans might not be technically "mad" according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual on my desk, but we certainly suffer from any number of contributory maladies, most especially a kind of basement level paranoia, a vulnerability to conspiratorial delusion and a pathological reliance on avoidant defenses leading to passivity and addictive disorders. I've discussed this perspective, among other things, in my substack, but even as the truth you're pointing at becomes more and more plain, educating the public is still like whistling in the wind. One very unfortunate related problem is that the 25th Amendment is structured in a way that psychiatric illness is difficult to use as a reason to remove a president from office.
But anyone who is/was remotely paying attention should be able to see that the sociopathic emperor has no clothes on. It's disturbing, and quite alarming, to me that we had the mad fool once already, and people decided to, once again, engage in a painful and deep self inflicted serious wound. that it will possibly take generations to recover from. And that's only if the larger populus can figure out how to think. We had a multitude of extreme warnings the first time that this individual is dangerous and yet, we (large we, not me) did it again. Makes no sense at all when we had a sane, competent, reasonable (not perfect, but not crazy and destructive) candidate. It speaks volumes to the general intellectual, psychological and emotional and otherwise health and maturiity of the American public.
"Mad" has more than one meaning, and though "angry" and "crazy" aren't synonyms there *is* a relationship between them. "Angry" probably isn't in the DSM unless it gets out of hand (which it has been known to do), but it's also been a characteristic of the U.S. electorate for several decades. The vast majority of these voters aren't certifiable, but their anger is a force to be reckoned with.
The analogy of Trump to Croesus is appropriate, the greed, the unbridled desire for power, the narcissistic arrogance and the utter ignorance and stupidity. But there is an old saying that is just as appropriate, Fools names like their faces are often seen in public places. That also suits Trump perfectly.
You forgot the sociopathy. He's just a an obvious sociopath through and through.
Thank you for this excellent column, Mr. McElvaine. You final sentence is, I fear, not going to happen: "If King Donald finds himself on a political pyre, where he certainly should be, Apollo should not save him." He should be removed from office immediately, either by the 25th Amendment or impeachment, but that is, I expect, wishful for thinking for most of us. Cowards and sychophants surround and protect him. I used to wonder what the breaking point was for these lickspittles--and his MAGA cult of worshippers--and now believe there is none. And I still believe that only way we'll ever be rid of this authoritarian war criminal, is when there are enough ordinary Americans in the streets demanding him gone.
What a great analysis. I didn't know the story of King Croesus, but it sure puts our current mess in historical context. History is a good teacher. "Operation Epic Insanity" is as you pointed out a total disaster for our nation. The "if"--I to hope Apollo is on vacation if and when. Thanks, Robert.