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posted by janrinok on Monday November 14 2016, @09:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the not-a-different-president dept.

I've come across an article on The Atlantic that analyses Trump's personality:

Many questions have arisen about Trump during this campaign season—about his platform, his knowledge of issues, his inflammatory language, his level of comfort with political violence. This article touches on some of that. But its central aim is to create a psychological portrait of the man. Who is he, really? How does his mind work? How might he go about making decisions in office, were he to become president? And what does all that suggest about the sort of president he'd be?

It's a long, but very interesting read.

Here's a list of sentences the article itself highlights:

Combined with a gift for humor, anger lies at the heart of Trump's charisma.

Trump appeals to an ancient fear of contagion, which analogizes out-groups to parasites and poisons.

Narcissism in presidents is a double-edged sword. It is associated with historians' ratings of "greatness"—but also with impeachment resolutions.

Andrew Jackson displayed many of the same psychological qualities that we see in Trump.

Trump has never forgotten the lesson from his father: The world is a dangerous place. You have to be ready to fight.

And the final paragraph summarizes:

Who, really, is Donald Trump? What's behind the actor's mask? I can discern little more than narcissistic motivations and a complementary personal narrative about winning at any cost. It is as if Trump has invested so much of himself in developing and refining his socially dominant role that he has nothing left over to create a meaningful story for his life, or for the nation. It is always Donald Trump playing Donald Trump, fighting to win, but never knowing why.


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  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday November 14 2016, @11:17PM

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Monday November 14 2016, @11:17PM (#426724) Homepage Journal

    I think you're projecting what you want to see onto the former leaders and candidates. Obama hits every single one of those criteria except possibly 8. In spades. As have all on the list I posted earlier. I mean, really, it takes one fuckload of hubris to think you know better than anyone else what this nation needs. I'm amazed all Presidents don't ring the whole string of bells.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 14 2016, @11:24PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 14 2016, @11:24PM (#426733)

    I don't like Obama, I think he fucked us over with his hope for change shit. But Ikanreed is right, Obama has a much more level mental state than Trump, by a huge margin. From your "all Presidents" statement it is clear you are painting with too broad of a brush, stereotyping if you will. Pretty much every major candidate has shown a more stable personality than Trump, at least as long as I've been alive.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 14 2016, @11:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 14 2016, @11:25PM (#426734)

    > I think you're projecting what you want to see onto the former leaders and candidates.

    You win today's award for least self-aware post.

    • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday November 15 2016, @01:01AM

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday November 15 2016, @01:01AM (#426773) Homepage Journal

      Oh please. Most anyone who thinks they should be leading the most powerful nation in the world has one hell of a god complex. Anyone who believes otherwise is naive to the point of willful blindness.

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @01:17AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @01:17AM (#426778)

        > god-complex

        You are really having a hard time comprehending the difference between NPD and narcissism, aren't you?
        I wonder, are you a dictionary pedant and think the word has one and only one meaning, a meaning that you happen to be particularly invested in?
        Or are you just doubling-down because your ego is too brittle to admit a mistake no matter how glaringly obvious it is to everyone watching you?
        I'm sure your response will be unintentionally revealing all on its own.

        • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday November 15 2016, @01:39AM

          by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday November 15 2016, @01:39AM (#426797) Homepage Journal

          Run through the checklist on each of them from what is publicly known. Each and every one fit at least eight of the nine that were listed. Except Reagan. Guy was like Mr. Rogers levels of humble to the American people if not to the rest of the world. Yeah, he was an actor but he wasn't that good of an actor.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @04:38AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @04:38AM (#426865)

            Game. Set. Match.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @05:03AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @05:03AM (#426874)

              Proof by non-example.
              In Buzzaro-world that's the strongest possible argument.
              You really can't argue with that logic.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @07:50AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @07:50AM (#426892)

            The fact that they all look the same to you is a function of where you stand, not where they are.

            • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday November 15 2016, @11:43AM

              by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday November 15 2016, @11:43AM (#426916) Homepage Journal

              Where I stand on this is Nonpartisanville, Reality. How about you?

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              My rights don't end where your fear begins.
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @02:01PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @02:01PM (#426950)

                > Where I stand on this is Nonpartisanville, Reality. How about you?

                Lol. Do you hear yourself?
                That's about as plausible as the MSM claiming they are non-partisan.

              • (Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday November 15 2016, @03:30PM

                by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 15 2016, @03:30PM (#426990) Journal

                No, you've got a pretty consistent pro-idiot slant, whether you assign that a party affiliation or not.

                • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday November 15 2016, @08:53PM

                  by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday November 15 2016, @08:53PM (#427188) Homepage Journal

                  That's funny coming from a "liberal" whose president has expanded pretty much every anti-liberty program Bush created/allowed. Are you even still a liberal if you're against the liberty that is your root word?

                  --
                  My rights don't end where your fear begins.