@blatham,
blatham wrote:
And it isn't that this sort of inflation of one's place or role in history is merely worthy of ridicule, though it certainly is worthy of ridicule. Nor is it merely that this characteristic is pathological, though it is surely that too.
The most important aspect to this is how characteristic it is of the autocratic leader. If we understand this, we understand that Trump is far closer to Kim Jong-un or Muammar Gaddafi or Henry VIII or Napoleon than he is to any prior US president including Nixon.
Both Blatham and farmerman are very willing to deduce rather deep judgments about Trump's character, based on their distant observations of what he says & tweets, and mannerisms they observe on television. These things can indeed provide insight to character, and most of us through our lives do develop some skills in this area. However the facts that, both go so far into detailed specific judgment; have obvious political biases against Trump; and have failed completely to cast the same critical, but superficial, eye on his competing political figures , should make us all skeptical, Farmerman claims Trump has A.D.D. and is another Hitler: Blatham sees pathological self-importance and impulses towards autocracy comparable to that of Kin Jong Il & Kaddafi.
I'll concede Trump appears and likely is a bit egoistic. Moreover he has (like most candidates) laid out a program of action he proposes to take in office. In his case it involves major changes to domestic policy and the organization and behavior of the Executive Branch of our government, and some specific new approaches in our approaches to the many external cchallenges we face -- all after eight years of failed (largely absent) leadership in the hands of the hapless, self absorbed, ego driven, incompetent currently in the White House. Hard to do all that, and survive a very divisive, sometimes bitterly personal campaign, without some appearances of self awareness, drive and a willingness to challenge and change things before him.
I too have entrertained concerns about Trump's willingness to deal with a government structure deliberately designed to limit single sources of power with checks and balances. He exhibits a pattern of eye-catching initial overstatement, usually followed by more sensible synthesis that could help or hurt his performance in office. In contrast his choices of strong, independent people for his cabinet and his outreach to both opponents and leaders of the Congress, suggest some real leadership ability. Time will tell us all. Either way it will be a marked change from what we hve seen for the past eitht years from the neurotic, narcissistic Hamlet currently in the White House.
It has occurred to me that Obama likely thought he was telling us the truth in his now famous " If you like your current health plan you can keep it; if you like your doctor you can keep him..." statement regsarding his then developing plan to upend the health care system in the country. I suspect the truth is he just didn't know (or perhaps care) about the details and specifics, and didn't have enough experience in actually leading any organization to know they are both material and important. Analogous statements could be made about his inept foreign policy.
Now in the wake of eight years of steady and significant losses in both Houses of Congress and state legislatures across the country, plus 15 or so State governorships and the Presidency, Obama flatly rejects the idea that any of this could have been a result of his "leadership", policy or legacy,claiming, as he recently did, that none of this s a reflection on him and that he could have won a third term as President. Notwithstanding the juvenile (perhaps unmanly would be better, but the wussy segment of the audience would not be pleased) tone of this very odd statement, it certainly does suggest some serious denial, detachment and self absorption that does not comport with the requirementd of high office,
Obama epidomizes the self-absorption of neurotic, deluded progressives who wish (or demand) to be judged by the virtue of their intentions instead of the results they actually achieve. It's a bit like a General demanding to be judged by the elegance of his battle plan, instead of the outcome of the battle. Nice if you can get it but life and responsinility don't work that way.
I believe the stark contrast that Trump presents to the current occupant of the White House contributes to the impressions that both Farmerman and Blatham are expressing. It is merely odd that they never noted or acknowedged Obama's contributions to that contrast.
