The Oaf in Chief telling the world how he will single-handedly save the American nation from disaster.
But, here's the clincher: while the author, Mark Ashwill, sounding like a Never Trumper, paints Trump and his gang as unique manifestations of evil, a new vile species in an otherwise benign political order, he's none of the kind. Trump is not an aberration from the system he sprang from: he's just the ultimate and most disgusting exponent of it, a horrible, undeniable tumour—perhaps the most flamboyant ever— in the cancerous imperialist system mind managers insist on calling "neoliberalism". And, here's the uncomfortable fact the "oppositional press" never mentions: Trump was made possible, in fact inevitable, by decades of betrayals by liberals in power, a disgusting record capped by the regime of smooth-talking charlatan and still unindicted war criminal Barack Obama. The Democrats, who long ago abandoned the real working class (in America this social category is routinely camouflaged by politicians as "the middle class", yes, there are no poor or working stiffs in the USA) and chose identity politics over class struggle, literally paved the road for the rise of a Donald Trump or someone equally revolting, morally repugnant being now the clear and nonnegotiable requisite trait of all aspirants to the presidency of the American republic. (On this, see our post with Jimmy Dore dissecting Obama's endorsement for Biden.)
Are we being too extreme? I doubt it. Look around. Behind the theatrical chest-thumping and hair-pulling, Trump is constantly enabled by his supposed ideological foes, the Democrats, and numerous media shills. They are his policy collaborators rather than true opponents or critics. A fog of petty and by now tedious hostile rhetoric seeks to cover their treachery, but when it comes to truly important policies to the plutocracy that owns it, the duopoly acts like the one party it really is, and both wings, Dems and Rethugs, deliver for their billionaire masters. A bunch of millionaires in the political class and media delivering the goods for the billionaires who own everything worth owning and still want more—is that a nifty arrangement or what!
For proof (there are many) just look at their abject support of Trump's openly proclaimed gangster goals toward Iran, Iraq, Venezuela and a host of other nations, not to mention his highly disruptive war on China, a bipartisan imperial policy, mind you, initiated by Obama's mellifluous sounding "pivot to Asia". Or their but latest example of pious collaboration in ripping off the masses, the woefully mislabeled CARES act (it should be called the WHO CARES act), shoveling trillions to the already filthy rich and their corporations, while delivering a $1200 pittance (the "cheese in the mousetrap") to the desperate working stiffs.
I write these lines—again— because too many people "dump on Trump" without looking at the broader context. Criticizing Trump is easy; the man is a target as big as a beached whale. Few can miss it unless totally deaf and blind. But all will NOT be well when he's gone; we won't return to an idyllic and wonderful democratic nation because that never existed, except in the imagination of professional patriots who have drunk too much of the US exceptionalist kool aid, and the legion of professional apologists for the rotten status quo spawned and extremely well paid by an entrenched regime of cunning and obscenely wealthy elites. To suggest we will is foolish or dishonest.
More sobering, proving we inhabit an information world crammed with half-truths and often only partial or defective truth tellers, fake news, as the Trumpian broken clock constantly complains, do exist, and The Washington Post, which the author quotes without further warning or qualifier, remains one of their main shameless creators and disseminators, along with its binary partner, The New York Times, aped, as usual, by the rest of the less exalted mainstream media. Yes, it is NOT obscure publications of the left (or right) that represent the main danger of "fake news", for which there is really no cure, except learning how to think and patiently sift information sources, certainly not the kind of "inquisition panels" currently used by the likes of Facebook, proposed and endorsed by the Democrats (the Dems literally jawboned a reluctant Zuckerberg into setting up such panels). The Fake News "scare" fueled by the worthies in the mainstream press (not to be confused despite intersections with Trumpian alarms about the same) is a masterful example of a deception inside a grand hypocrisy: those who warn us against such crime are the actual perpetrators, and so have been for many generations. In fact, as the tragedies of Korea, Vietnam, Central America, Iran, China, and other notable instances of imperialist violence attest, just in the postwar period, the US media have been telling largely lies most of the time, and the simple proof is that such crimes could not have been committed if the media had been doing its job, "telling it like it is," as the revered Walter Cronkite used to say but failed to deliver. Ultimately, I guess, you can't ever have a truthful and dependable press inside a capitalist democracy, an oxymoron by definition. For at any given time, a "capitalist democracy" is in actuality only a plutocracy in varying degrees of disrobement. From that fundamental lie stem all others, such gross power imbalance tainting all institutions.
So why believe anything The WaPo says about Trump or anything else of importance when this is the paper that—in open alliance with the lying intel agencies that crafted the Russiagate hoax—first fanned and still peddles this psyop and leads the cavalry charge, again in cahoots with the Democrats, to stamp out free speech and silence dissidents in the US and around the globe? And by the way, equally cautionary are some of Mr Ashwill's other sources, like Foreign Policy, another spawn of the Hillary Clinton boosterist Washington Post. In sum, keep these things in mind as you plow through this piece, which is certainly worth investing the time. I only wish Mr Ashwill—whose insight and information on Vietnam's experience re the CV19 challenge are highly valuable—had relied more on left critics of Trump rather than the usual gallery of Democrats. Perhaps his long absence from the shores of the "indispensable nation" has finally stunted his olfactory sense, which we wish it hadn't. It does not help, either, that he has been apparently working for much too long with international agencies and corporations (such as GE) whose values and objectives are normally not quite conducive to a healthy society.—P. Greanville
Mark Ashwill
CounterPunch
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he famous 19th century fairy tale by the Danish writer, Hans Christian Anderson, could have been written about Donald Trump, a man-child who lives in a fantasy world of self-delusion and lies and who surrounds himself with sycophantic yes-people who value their positions and professional advancement over truth and justice. The damage caused by this corrosive mindset is limited when one is running an inherited family company but magnified and multiplied a thousand-fold when the same person is president of the United States during a global pandemic.
In his 2018 book, Rocket Man: Nuclear Madness and the Mind of Donald Trump, John Gartner, Ph.D., a psychologist who taught at Johns Hopkins University Medical School for nearly three decades, claims that Trump has malignant narcissism, a condition that combines narcissism with paranoia, sociopathy, and sadism. When combined, this perfect storm of psychopathology defines the “quintessence of evil,” according to (Erich) Fromm, the closest thing psychiatry has to describing a true human monster.”
Some examples related to Trump’s malignant narcissism, according to Gartner, are: 1) he knows “more about everything than anyone” and “has empathy for no one but himself.” 2) paranoia (“his demonization of the press, minorities, immigrants, and anyone who disagrees with him, are all signs of paranoia”); 3) sociopathy (“a diagnosis that describes people who constantly lie, violate norms and laws, exploit other people, and show no remorse”); and 4) sadism (“He takes gleeful pleasure in harming and humiliating other people. …undoubtedly the most prolific cyberbully in history.”)
A Full Throttle Misinformation Campaign
For malignant narcissists, the ends justify the means and lying becomes a perfectly acceptable tool. Trump is pathological liar in a league of his own. According to The Washington Post’s Fact Checker, he made a staggering 16,000+ false or misleading claims during his first three years in office. His lies about COVID-19 include “it’s totally under control,” ‘it will all work out well,” “it will disappear like a miracle,” “we pretty much shut it down coming in from China,” etc., ad nauseam.
This in spite of the fact that US intelligence agencies warned his administration in January and February about the severity of the epidemic in China and its potential to metamorphose into a global pandemic. A March 25th Foreign Policy essay entitled The Coronavirus is the Worst Intelligence Failure in US History claims that “it’s more glaring than Pearl Harbor and 9/11 – and it’s all the fault of Donald Trump’s leadership.”
During a visit to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, the narcissism of this self-described “very stable genius” was on full display. When a reporter asked Trump how US hospitals can prepare for an outbreak if they have no idea how many patients to expect, here was his self-aggrandizing non-answer: “You know, my uncle was a great person. He was at MIT. He taught at MIT for, I think, like a record number of years. He was a great super genius. Dr. John Trump. I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it. Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this? ‘ Maybe I have a natural ability.”
Malignant narcissists are also incapable of accepting responsibility for their mistakes because they don’t make mistakes, e.g., “I don’t take responsibility at all” for his government’s lack of preparedness. (This includes abolishing President Obama’s White House pandemic office.) Trump simply finds someone or something else to blame, be it China, “fake news,” people of color, or anyone who criticizes him. They don’t hesitate to throw gasoline on the smoldering embers of racial enmity and hatred as long as they achieve their goal of evading responsibility and finding a suitable scapegoat. The coronavirus becomes the “foreign” or “Chinese” virus.
The avalanche of Trumpian lies and obfuscations has made the US less safe and its citizens more vulnerable to the coronavirus. His inaction, inadequacy, and political game-playing represent a total abdication of leadership to the detriment of the people he was elected to serve. All of this has created a perfect storm in which the US has nearly 600,000 confirmed cases and nearly 25,000 deaths. “We’re #1!” is the mantra but in two most unenviable categories.
Like any crisis, but especially one that involves sickness and death, the coronavirus pandemic is a perfect breeding ground for charlatans and con-artists to crawl out from under their rocks and pick the low-hanging fruit that are the millions of desperate people looking for a quick fix and an easy escape from fear and uncertainty. As if to underscore the surreal atmosphere, it was reported that there are several well-known evangelical Christian pastors with links to the con man-in-chief who claim to be able to cure the coronavirus through prayer. One even told his TV show viewers that he could heal infected people who touched their TVs: “Put your hand on that television set. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord Jesus. He received your healing.”
How sad that a country that landed astronauts on the moon, developed the personal computer, and gave the world the Internet, among many other scientific and technological breakthroughs, has people who believe that a highly contagious virus can be cured with prayer and by touching a TV screen. Like Trump, false hope and fraud are what these self-proclaimed men and women of god peddle. That’s where the USA is at in 2020, a problem exacerbated by COVID-19 but that won’t disappear whenever the virus and Trump do.
Looking ahead to the November election, Trump’s success depends in part on the health of the US economy. That’s one transparent reason why he’s so insistent that “we have to get back to work. We have to get our country open.” His statement that “we have the best testing system in the world,” reflects his abject ignorance that other countries such as Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Norway, Russia, Singapore, and South Korea have tested far more people per capita than the US, which still suffers from a widespread shortage of test kits, backlogs, and delays in test results. When a reporter asked him what metrics he’ll use to decide when to relax social distancing, he pointed to his head and said, “the metric is right here.”
While the COVID-19 in Viet Nam appears to be under control, thanks to the visionary leadership of the government and the overall cooperation of the people, it continues to spiral out of control in the United States. Those numbers represent suffering, death, and a devastating economic impact, including a soaring unemployment rate and surging personal debt in a society already drowning in consumer debt.
Viet Nam as Public Health Crisis Exemplar; US as Cautionary Tale
Unlike the inward-looking US, in which too many people, including its political leaders, hold the nationalistic belief that it’s the “greatest nation on earth,” reams of evidence to the contrary, outward-looking Viet Nam has proven itself time and again to be adept at learning from other countries’ mistakes and successes, i.e., countries as cautionary tales and role models, in the grand tradition of comparative thinking and culturally appropriate action.
As a recent analysis How Vietnam Learned From China’s Coronavirus Mistakes from The Diplomat pointed out, “In the case of Vietnam, the conclusions that may be drawn are that to effectively combat the pandemic, governments in developing countries need to be transparent and open to gain people’s confidence in government messaging against the epidemic and in order to win public acceptance of the need to limit privacy for the common good. …perhaps the most important factors should be the openness and urgency of the government to place the well-being and protection of life above all political endeavors.”
Those who live in Viet Nam, both Vietnamese and expats, can be grateful they live in a country whose leadership has taken action that shows concern for the health and welfare of the people and that has acted swiftly in the spirit of collective consent and action. The contrast with Donald Trump and his administration couldn’t be starker or grimmer.
Trump is the reactive “leader” of his supporters not the president of all 330 million of his fellow citizens, He is a petty, vindictive, self-centered, hollow shell of a man with an utter lack of empathy for human suffering who is clearly out of his intellectual and temperamental depth. In a recent televised meltdown, his god complex once again raised its ugly head when he exclaimed, seemingly ignorant of the supreme law of the land that he swore to “preserve, protect and defend,” “The president of the United States calls the shots.”
Trump rarely reassures, except on cue, and all too often heaps undeserved praise upon himself, spouts nonsense and, worst of all, spreads conflicting information or disinformation in general, worst of all, at a time when people desperately want and need their government to provide them with accurate information and substantial support, both moral and material.
Like all malignant narcissists, Trump is a divider not a unifier, who thrives on conflict and acrimony, not a trait that is conducive to cooperation and good governance under any circumstances, let alone during a global crisis. It’s his way or the highway, a scorched-earth approach to flawed decision-making and dysfunctional human relationships.
Viet Nam Makes History While COVID-19 Teaches the US a Tragic Lesson
The coronavirus lays bare on an almost daily basis the litany of faults and weaknesses of Donald Trump and the country he was elected to lead. A tiny viral enemy whose crown-like shape can only be seen under a transmission electron microscope is not fazed by denial, deception, rhetorical bravado, or faux optimism, and cannot be defeated with guns, bombs, jet fighters, drones, or aircraft carriers that are paid for by a nearly trillion dollar military budget.
It is single-minded, non-discriminatory, and merciless in its pursuit of more human hosts to infect and, depending upon the circumstances, kill. COVID-19 thrives on official arrogance, which is complemented by ignorance. It takes full advantage of opportunities to replicate itself in societies and communities that miss the containment boat and whose last gasp option is mitigation, as in the United States. Too little, too late – at inestimable human and financial cost.
With 91 active cases and 0 deaths vs. about 570,000 active cases and nearly 33,000 deaths in the US, as of April 16th, and a population of 97 million vs. 330 million in the US, Viet Nam offers myriad instructive lessons for other countries, starting with the dos and don’ts of how to cope with a global pandemic. Vu Duc Dam, deputy prime minister, said last month that the total number of confirmed cases will not reach 1,000, if prevention measures are strictly adhered to. While no one can predict the future, he may very well be right, if the recent past is prologue. It is an extraordinary and potentially historic collective achievement worth aspiring to.
* * *
Puke if you must
This bloodsoaked monster is probably the most evil person on planet earth https://t.co/nGq2H1EPHt
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) April 9, 2020
[premium_newsticker id=”211406″]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
ALL CAPTIONS AND PULL QUOTES BY THE EDITORS NOT THE AUTHORS
Read it in your language • Lealo en su idioma • Lisez-le dans votre langue • Lies es in Deiner Sprache • Прочитайте это на вашем языке • 用你的语言阅读
[google-translator]
Keep truth and free speech alive by supporting this site.
Donate using the button below, or by scanning our QR code.
And before you leave
THE DEEP STATE IS CLOSING IN
The big social media —Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter—are trying to silence us.
Sign up with TGP so we can always reach you with our vital information. Don’t let the darkness win.
