Dakota Beacon

As I looked at the picture of Trump, on the morning after his glorious revolution, having taken over the Republican Party, now standing with his VP choice at his side, launch into yet another rant concerning Rafael Cruz, Pence seemingly embarrassed, suddenly a picture from the past came to mind.  I realized I was looking at the Lyndon Johnson of our own time.  It occurred to me that this show was not for our benefit, nor was it for Ted or Rafael Cruz.  It was intended to humiliate Pence, to force him to literally and figuratively stand with him on his most indefensible statements, to shame him and to dominate him.  For the same reason he ordered Chris Christie to NEVER call him “Donald” – he is “Mr. Trump” to him.  It is a game – insult the other player as deeply as possible (in the case of Dr. Carson it was calling him a child molester, a “sick puppy”) and then making them bend their knee to him in submission.  Very primitive, really.

Most people who got to know Johnson called him a psychopath.  The reasons were innumerable  – his intense egomania, his brutality, his vindictiveness, his insecurity, his obscene behavior – especially to women, his temper, his crude coarseness and his willingness to say or do anything necessary to win his immediate objective or his long-range revenge.  I recall vividly, as many who came of age in the late 1960’s will, the image of Johnson’s VP, Hubert Humphrey, cruelly set upon a horse, looking like Humpty Dumpty in a huge Stetson hat, intentionally set up to look ridiculous and be an object of pity and derision.  Why?  He needed no reason.  It suited his fancy and besides he wanted to show Humphrey and the rest of the world that Humphrey was no more than his lackey.  It was only to humiliate Humphrey.  And we all got to see it.  The stories of LBJ’s viciousness are legion.  It is notable that no one anywhere, even his hometown, celebrates his memory.  So often did the word “psychopathic” come up in describing LBJ, that I became curious as to the telling symptoms of this disorder.  Some draw a line between “sociopath” and “psychopath”, but the difference is not really pertinent in comparing Trump’s behavior with that of LBJ.  So, not being a psychiatrist, I just looked up the classic signs of sociopathy.  It seems that they fit Trump to a “T”.  These tests are numerous, all slightly varied, but they are consistent in content and interpretation.  *

Here is a summary of one of these (credit Heidi-Kirsten):

1. Are you considered charming?  Many people think that one-on-one Trump is charming and fun to be with.
2. Do you use this charm to manipulate or con others? Are you kidding?
3. Do you have a big ego?  Only the biggest.  And only the Best Words, and a Great Brain.
4. Are you a pathological liar?  Well, there are many examples, but here’s one: he first said he met and visited with Putin and they got along.  That happened to be patently untrue.  When it became a liability, he then said he didn’t know Putin and had never met him.  Pathological?
5. Do you feel remorse when you hurt someone? More like “satisfaction”.   When did this man ever feel remorse?  He’s afforded himself ample opportunity.  He says he has “nothing to be forgiven for”.
6. Do you often break promises?  Well, he’s been married three times.  He has been bankrupt seven times.  Ask his “students” at Trump University if he broke any promises. 
7. Are you incapable of loving anyone?  This only he knows.  I don’t speculate.  I don’t think he loves himself, though.
8. Do you get bored easily? Trump Steaks.  Trump Airlines.  Trump Real Estate.  Trump Champaign.  Trump Escort Service.  Trump University.  Trump Magazine.  Trump hotels, casinos, etc., etc.  Ivana.  Marla.  Melania?  He was quoted as saying that he was already bored with Marla Maples when he saw her coming down the aisle to wed him.  (“What the hell am I doing here?”)
9. Do you not care much about the feelings of others?  I don’t even know where to begin here.  You try.  He virtually called Heidi Cruz, who has done nothing to him, “ugly”.  He said the same about Carly Fiorina.  He insulted Megyn Kelly. 
10. Do you have bad control over your impulses?  Well. . . . you fill this one in.  (Hint:  his recent exchange over the Khans and their hero soldier son.)  This is important and is related to judgment, perhaps the most important factor for a president.
11. When you were younger were you prone to behavior problems?  He was so disruptive that his school kicked him out and his dad placed him in a military academy.
12. Are you irresponsible and unreliable?  Only if you consider his personal and professional history.
13. Are you not loyal to your significant other?  He has been married three times but has openly bragged about his legion affairs, and the importance of the men he cuckolded.
14. Are your plans for the future unrealistic?  Who knows on this one.
15. Do you cling to others for self gain?  He clings to Putin at the moment.
16. Would you break the law?  I would say he is willing to abuse the laws – eminent domain, for one.  Bribing officials (openly) is another.  Yes.
17. Would you have committed criminal acts as a child?  Maybe.  We do know he was banished from school at 13 and placed in a military academy.  His father described him as “very rough” as a child.  And he would know.  Fill this in yourself – he lived a pampered life and anything he did out of line would be unlikely to come to light.
18. Are you a paranoid person?  It is difficult to tell with Trump – is he play-acting or does he believe the things he says?  He thinks he can’t get a fair trial from a judge because the judge’s parents were Mexican.  There’s that.  But maybe he’s used to buying his judges and hasn’t succeeded with this one yet.  He seems to rely on the National Enquirer for his news, which could tend to make one paranoid.
19. Do you tend to have many short-term relationships but never any meaningful long-term ones?  Who can say about meaningful long-term ones?  But we know he tends to have many short-term ones, both in business and in his personal life.  He trades on his reputation as a womanizer.
20. Are you secretive?  Is it secretive to invite someone to speak at “your” convention, approve the speech in advance and then activate booing and appear at the apex of the victim’s speech, or is this just vindictive and self-destructive treachery?  He met with Bill Clinton just before he announced his candidacy.  Bill said to run.  So does this mean he and the Clintons are betraying/ scamming us?  Or does it mean he’s betraying/scamming them?  Only he knows for sure.
21. Do you know the difference between right and wrong?  It seems to be one of those areas that simply does not matter to him.  For this purpose I assume he does know.  Just doesn’t really care.
22. Do you learn from your past mistakes?  Well, again . . . Trump Airways, Trump Steaks, Trump Magazine, Trump Champaign, etc., Ivanka, Marla, virtually everything he has said during this campaign, his abominable stunt at the convention and his pointless insult the morning after his acceptance speech.  It seems he does not profit from his errors.  Or even those of others.  Possibly he refuses to recognize them as “mistakes”.
23. Do you just want to “be trusted”?  “Trust me . . . “, “believe me . . . “ He uses these phrases without thought.  He stands in front of us telling us first one thing and then the opposite.  He expects us to trust him – he’s running for our Presidency.
24. Do you betray people’s trust?  His wall is now a virtual one.  His deportation scheme is now “rhetorical”.  He has been on every side of every issue.  He wants us to believe he is a practicing Christian, yet he knows absolutely nothing about the Bible, and he seems to have developed this interest, along with the interest in the right to life, within the last 6 or 7 months.  He has left creditors in the lurch as well as ex-wives and other liaisons.  Anyone who trusts him will have to find out for themselves. 

The score on the pop self-test was 22 of 24 in the sociopath column.  I gave the benefit of the doubt on the 2 where there was any doubt.  The result:  “scary”.  Basically, Donald Trump is a petulant child.  That he is 70, that he has bullied and conned his way to celebrity, does not change this.  Should we let him play with matches?

We need not compare Trump with the sinister Lyndon Johnson, who was a creepy, repulsive psychopath widely believed to be a murder.  We need only note the many ways in which Trump does fail to measure up to a minimum personal standard for the Presidency of our country.  Think about it:  if he should win, he will control the ONLY party of opposition to the lethal Democrat machinery.  Is this good?  Is this as good as him NOT controlling it, and someone else controlling it?  It is very easy to say “anyone but Hillary!”  but we may be postponing the inevitable with disastrous results.  It is like ignoring cancer.  Pleasant to just believe we don’t have it, but very, very dangerous.

*http://www.allthetests.com/quiz18/quiz/1140475124/Are-You-A-Sociopath