Donald Trump has ‘dangerous mental illness’, say psychiatry experts at Yale conference

What a strange pass we have come to in this country. I’m just a lay person in this field, and it has looked to me for a while that being in touch with reality is not  one of effingham Trump’s traits.

From the article on http://www.independent.co.uk/us:

“Donald Trump has a “dangerous mental illness” and is not fit to lead the US, a group of psychiatrists has warned during a conference at Yale University.

Mental health experts claimed the President was “paranoid and delusional”, and said it was their “ethical responsibility” to warn the American public about the “dangers” Mr Trump’s psychological state poses to the country.”

Here is the link to the article: Donald Trump has ‘dangerous mental illness’, say psychiatry experts at Yale conference

BBC article – How Western Civilization Could Collapse

Here is an article I found worth my time to read.  An excerpt from the article is chilling.

“That economic stratification may lead to collapse on its own… Under this scenario, elites push society toward instability and eventual collapse by hoarding huge quantities of wealth and resources, and leaving little or none for commoners who vastly outnumber them yet support them with labour. Eventually, the working population crashes because the portion of wealth allocated to them is not enough, followed by collapse of the elites due to the absence of labour.”

Enjoy!  http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170418-how-western-civilisation-could-collapse

The sad part to me is that this is a story that has repeated itself multiples in our history, yet we are not smart enough to learn from it. Or perhaps we do not have the gumption to push against the greedy hoarders and those more interested in the current profit.

Our Dishonest President – Link to LA Time Editorial

It is amazing that one of our major newspapers would be writing an article like this and calling for demonstrations.  What is even more amazing is that they are only speaking the truth.

“But if it is to do so, those who oppose the new president’s reckless and heartless agenda must make their voices heard. Protesters must raise their banners. Voters must turn out for elections. Members of Congress — including and especially Republicans — must find the political courage to stand up to Trump. Courts must safeguard the Constitution. State legislators must pass laws to protect their citizens and their policies from federal meddling. All of us who are in the business of holding leaders accountable must redouble our efforts to defend the truth from his cynical assaults.”  from the editorial

I always hate saying this, but it is a short read.  And it is worth your time.

Link to article: Our Dishonest President

The South Will Rise Again?

Last time I went backpacking in rural Missouri, the American flag was everywhere.  Unfortunately I have come to view the flying of our national flag more an expression of nationalism than of patriotism.  And that scares me.

Last weekend I went backpacking in very rural Arkansas.  I say rural.  In order to get to the trail-head, I went down several small, paved, county roads, and finally turned on a dirt county road which I followed for miles before turning onto a forest service road.  I was officially in the boonies.

I had not noticed driving there Continue reading “The South Will Rise Again?”

How do we get Trump to IKEA?

We had a small gathering at our house the other night in celebration of Robin achieving another year around the sun.  As sometimes happens the conversation turned to politics.  At least in our circle, these conversations never last a long time as we are all in consensus in being appalled and distressed at the current state of the country and the country’s politics.

I made the comment that Trump had started me praying again, a funny thing for an agnostic to do.  I do pray sometime, but I look at it as a way of focusing on what is upmost on my worry prone brain.  I elaborated by explaining that I pray every day that  Donald Trump Continue reading “How do we get Trump to IKEA?”

Must read article from The Atlantic – How to Build an Autocracy

From the article in The Atlantic How to Build an Autocracy:

“Those citizens who fantasize about defying tyranny from within fortified compounds have never understood how liberty is actually threatened in a modern bureaucratic state: not by diktat and violence, but by the slow, demoralizing process of corruption and deceit. And the way that liberty must be defended is not with amateur firearms, but with an unwearying insistence upon the honesty, integrity, and professionalism of American institutions and those who lead them. We are living through the most dangerous challenge to the free government of the United States that anyone alive has encountered. What happens next is up to you and me. Don’t be afraid. This moment of danger can also be your finest hour as a citizen and an American.”

We should all be very concerned.  Part of me wants desperately to run and hide from this cluster fuck that is happening to us.  We need to heed David Frum’s advice.

Support of Trump is a Litmus Test

Rightly or wrongly voting for or supporting Trump has become a litmus test for me. In an attempt to articulate my arbitrary position I have come up with the following reasons:

  1. If you voted for Trump you are possibly intellectually challenged. I deal with enough mentally deficient people, I do not need another one in the hopper.
  2. If you voted for Trump simply because he was the Republican candidate and you always vote Republican, or you did not want to split your ballot, then you are lacking in key critical thinking skills. See number 1.
  3. If on the other hand you have a reasonable level of intelligence and still voted for Trump then you have a twisted world view. And I am sure it is a world view I do not care to associate with.
  4. And finally if you voted for Trump because you thought it would be entertaining to have a narcissistic reality TV star in the White House… I only have a string of malas palabras for you.

In past elections I could at least see where there were some basic philosophical differences that would cause us to vote differently.  That is how is should be, that is why we have elections.  However, this election resulted in putting a thug in the White House.  There was a stark difference in an America for the people versus an America for Trump’s ego.  And if you are responsible for enabling that egomaniac, do not expect to see a Christmas card from me.

Trump mistakes LBJ quote as a guideline

“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”  ~~ Lyndon B. Johnson

I went to Snopes.com to verify this quote.  At the end of the article they stated:

” In the blunt vernacular that he loved to use, LBJ was describing what the television pundits of today would probably call the politics of resentment and divisiveness. It is still very much with us.”

Trump uses Joseph Goebbels play book on the “Big Lie”

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”  ~~ Joseph Goebbels, German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.

Below is from a New York Times article, With False Claims, Trump Attacks Media on Turnout and Intelligence Rift

He also called journalists “among the most dishonest human beings on earth,” and he said that up to 1.5 million people had attended his inauguration, a claim that photographs disproved.

Later, at the White House, he dispatched Sean Spicer, the press secretary, to the briefing room in the West Wing, where Mr. Spicer scolded reporters and made a series of false statements.

He said news organizations had deliberately misstated the size of the crowd at Mr. Trump’s inauguration on Friday in an attempt to sow divisions at a time when Mr. Trump was trying to unify the country, warning that the new administration would hold them to account.

Strap on your seat belts, while he has been lying all along, it is going to get much, much worse.  At one level, I do not believe this man is in touch with reality.  His brain is operating in some alternate, dysfunctional dimension.

I will have to agree with Trump on one thing he Tweeted, ““Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn’t these people vote?

The fact that this so called leader is still ranting on Twitter should be scaring the shit out of any reasonable person.  I know that there are certain types of people that will always be drawn to power, but it perplexes me why any sane person would associate themselves with this obscenity masquerading as a human being.