Some Republican pundits are not being "nice" to neo- fascist sociopathic narcissist Donald "Rum" Trump this morning in the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle. We hear from two whose powers of analysis end when it comes to acknowledging the fetid swamp from which their party's candidate grew, and their diligent participation in creating said swamp over the past 40 or so years. Nevertheless, go for it, guys.
Charles "Kraphammer" Krauthammer takes note of Rump's basic criterion for judging everything (spoiler alert: it's all about Rump):
... To understand Trump, you have to grasp the General Theory: He judges every action, every pronouncement, every person by a single criterion — whether or not it/he is “nice” to Trump. [snip]
You’re a fan of his, he’s a fan of yours. And vice versa. Treat him “unfairly” and you will pay. House speaker, Gold Star mother, it matters not. [snip]
... Trump’s hypersensitivity and unedited, untempered Pavlovian responses are, shall we say, unusual in both ferocity and predictability.
This is beyond narcissism. I used to think Trump was an 11-year-old, an undeveloped schoolyard bully. I was off by about 10 years. His needs are more primitive, an infantile hunger for approval and praise, a craving that can never be satisfied. He lives in a cocoon of solipsism where the world outside himself has value — indeed exists — only insofar as it sustains and inflates him.Of course, Rump had already proven Kraphammer's point back in July 2015, when Rump mocked Kraphammer's paralysis, saying, “I went out, I made a fortune, a big fortune, a tremendous fortune… bigger than people even understand. Then I get called by a guy that can’t buy a pair of pants, I get called names?”
Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson is again not being "nice" to Rump this morning, noting Rump's many pathologies, among them Rump's basic criterion in life that we just saw spelled out above:
... To quote myself from a January column: “We are witnessing what happens when a narcissist who thinks he is at the center of the universe is actually placed at the center of the universe.” Trump’s political judgments seem mostly based on how others view him, making Vladimir Putin a friend and Paul Ryan an enemy. On policy, Trump claims to know more than experts while displaying stunning ignorance. He lies with disturbing ease. He seems to lack the gene for empathy.We'd like to be sympathetic, in that you're calling out Rump and refusing to support him, unlike moral cowards like Rep. Paul "Lyin'" Ryan, Sen. Mitch "Missy" McConnell, and most of the Republican Party establishment. That said, there is that little detail about the last 40 years of pandering to ignorance, racism, bigotry, xenophobia, etc., etc.
So, bottom line: You birthed him, you grew him, you own him. Sad!
