Once again we are in shock about The Don’s actions on “Liberation Day.” It appears that no one in the business world, nor for that matter in his own administration, anticipated the level of tariffs he placed on almost all countries (that Russia was not one of them does raise a few eyebrows.) Even Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Australian territories near Antarctica, where many penguins but no people live, got a smackdown. Makes you somewhat suspicious about who came up with the plan. After all, penguins are a real threat to the American economy.
Some have even suggested that what The Don laid out in his address from the Rose Garden was the same thing that three different A.I. systems created. Let’s face it, if the crazy right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer (“9/11 was an inside job”) can sit in the oval office and get The Don to immediately fire a number of seasoned members of the National Security team because she deemed them disloyal, then all bets are off as to who came up with the formula for the tariffs. Rumor has it that it might be the penguins communicating to Laura Loomer through a special language.
Despite a nearly 6,000 point drop in the stock market totalling over 6 trillion dollars of losses, The Don was gleeful and said “Big business is not worried about the tariffs, because they know they are here to stay, but they are focused on the BIG, BEAUTIFUL DEAL, which will SUPERCHARGE our economy. Very important. Going on right now!!!” So far businesses, big and small, are not feeling the love. And what about the average American? According to the Yale Budget Lab, average American households could experience a loss of $3,800 in purchasing power per household based on 2024 dollars. And in full “let them eat cake” form, The Don hopped on a plane to Mar-a-Lago for a weekend of golf and a million-dollar-per-person fundraiser with all his high-flying buddies. Praise the Lord, they chanted. Anyone want to take bets on who wins the senior division of the golf tournament?
The Don’s defenders are just telling people to chill out and trust the genius and his instincts. Come on people, what’s all the hysteria about? Have some patience, it’s all going to be okay. Soon we will all be so rich that we will be tired of being rich. Umm, just ask the millions of retired Americans how they feel about socking away money in their 401Ks their entire lives only to see it dwindle because of a delusional policy. Hey, come on you seniors, just believe in The Don. He’s going to create “early bird special” rules around the country so retirees are guaranteed at least one meal a day.
We just have to trust him. Who cares that this great economic mind went bankrupt six times in his real estate career? No biggie. I don’t know about you, but I think most people might not want to invest their faith in a man who declared bankruptcy six times? But wait, they did. Oh America, so many of you believe in angels (70%). Such a gullible place.
So should we be shocked by his tariffs? How can we understand his motivation to do this despite the prediction of catastrophic consequences? Who knows, maybe The Don has been ordained by the Lord above to bring America out of the darkness. More likely he could care less about America and its people. Maybe his recent move is all about his megalomania and his delusional belief that he is anointed to change the world order in his image; maybe this is all a product of a very disturbed mind. Maybe, The Don is just acting out his malignant delusional fantasies.
It has been evident from everything The Don has done, or has had done in his name-take Elon Musk’s taking a chainsaw to the federal government- to see that there is no thought-out plan and there is no concern about the consequences to real people. The Don used to be concerned about the stock market, but even that has been discarded. All there is left is the whims of a malignant narcissist who is in pursuit of power, riches and revenge. We are pawns of one man’s fantasy world.
I have said this time and time again: if you want to understand what is happening, you need to understand the disturbed nature of his psychology- you need to stop underestimating the destructive nature of a malignant narcissist (Hitler was one!). For many, The Don’s charisma, his ability to tap into grievance, and his “I am your savior and retribution” message is very powerful. He didn’t create the world of grievance, but there is no one better at exploited it than him: He is the perfect vessel for channeling it.
The Don has been a proponent of tariffs most of his adult business life. What’s his obsession with tariffs all about? Sure there are economic motives I could discuss, but I would like to venture a psychological explanation. Here me out on this.
Tariffs are using your power to squeeze (sometimes squash) another country into submission. For The Don, tariffs are the adult version of the schoolyard bully. In the schoolyard bully analogy, the bully is going around the schoolyard shaking down people and intimidating them into buying his lunch. According to The Don, the world has been ripping us off and taking advantage of us for a long time. Their treatment of us is downright humiliating. It’s time to prove who is in charge, who is on top.
As I have written many times, pathological narcissism is a compensatory mechanism for the deep humiliation someone experiences as a child at the hands of a parent. (The Don’s father was known to heap plenty on his son.) In order to survive the humiliation, the child wants to do anything it can to fend off these awful feelings. This is accomplished by seeking power over others and making them feel the way you do: as when they feel small you feel big and when you feel big, you can’t feel small. Other people need to be defeated to ensure you never feel the pain of your own smallness and the humiliation that it brings. You are cut off from any capacity to experience empathy for others because empathy requires vulnerability and vulnerability requires an emotional humbleness that is forbidden.
An other element of narcissism, is the delusional world one creates that allows someone to believe that they are better, smarter and more capable than everyone else. For instance, take The Don’s idiotic statement when he was running in 2016 that he knew more than the generals, when he actually knows nothing. That is a perfect example of his delusional grandiosity. Our country elected a man who actually believe that!
Not all narcissists reach the level of malignancy that The Don achieves. What do I mean by malignancy? Basically, that the lack of empathy is coupled with a disturbing desire for revenge. Malignant narcissists not only have an insatiable thirst for power, with no concern for who they destroy on there way to obtain it, but they get endless pleasure in destroying things. Look at him go after law firms who were against him and universities that are teaching the wrong things. Every time he gets capitulation, he is gleeful because his bullying has humiliated his foe and triumphed and someone is paying for his lunch.
The Don’s megalomaniacal delusion, that he can create a new America and a new world order, is something he truly believes. He is going to bring manufacturing back to our country, the likes of which you have never seen. He is going to make America rich beyond you wildest dreams. He is going to erase all the elements of American history that challenge the fantasy of American exceptionalism, because any stain on our greatness is something that must be rooted out, in the same way there can be no stains within him. His desire to punish countries for taking advantage of America are a projection of his own personal psychological disturbance and his need to make everyone else small. A dangerous man who has an insatiable need for bringing the world to its knees is running our country. Anyone who gets in his way, beware.
Republicans are terrified of this prince of darkness. Maybe if they truly understood the depth of his pathology, some would finally understand that he has no interest in them as well. They too are his pawns, who are under the illusion that tying themselves to him confers power on them. Tragically, they have bought into his delusion and can’t break free. The questions are: will there be a breaking point when the Kool-Aid runs dry for these lawmakers? Will the Americans who voted for this nefarious and destructive man finally see him for who he is? Will the Democrats be able to present an alternative that will compel the people to want to trust them again? The longer we wait for any of this to happen, the more damage he will do. We better get on it before there is little to protect.
The Grand Offal Party 