Saturday, August 31, 2024

QOTD -- Narcissism Risen To Sociopathy

 

"... Donald Trump and his staff knew – and were reminded of – federal regulations specifically prohibiting the misconduct their campaign engaged in at Arlington’s section 60 this week. But the law aside, only a gross lack of manners, decency and humility could incline a person to film a fundraising appeal over the resting places of dead men and women who cannot decline to participate in the coarse spectacle. The photo of a grinning Trump giving a jaunty thumbs-up over these patriots’ graves is an indelible image of narcissism risen to the point of sociopathy.  [snip]

"Trump sees the armed services as yet another entity to be misused for his personal benefit, damaged and then discarded just as he has with his bankrupt businesses, the evangelical Christian churches and the Republican party. Beyond that, his boorish statements and bad behavior regarding the military almost certainly come from a place of self-loathing. Trump dodged the Vietnam war draft by claiming – probably falsely – to suffer from bone spurs. A gnawingly insecure man, Trump is self-conscious of his lack of the virtues towards which the military strives: as the US army puts it, loyalty to the constitution, dutiful fulfillment of responsibilities, respect for others, selfless service to both the country and subordinates, honor, integrity and personal courage..." -- Kevin Carroll, in The Guardian, on the "shocking but not surprising" conduct of convicted felon and bone spurs sufferer Malignant Loser and his campaign misfits at Arlington National Cemetery this week.  Carroll is a retired Colonel in the U.S. Army, a former CIA case officer, and former senior counsel to John Kelly at the Department of Homeland Security.  That his former boss Kelly and other senior officers who served under the Malignant Loser haven't explicitly come out with an endorsement of Vice President Harris is an ongoing scandal, especially after the Malignant Loser's desecration of Arlington.  They know full well he's utterly unfit to serve, but remain silent, apparently favoring party over country.

The entire article is well worth a read, especially coming from a military and national security veteran.