Three days ago an apparently non-gendered person (possibly a woman) named “N Ziehl” posted a Facebook riff about a personal experience with narcissistic personality disorder, and particularly as it has manifested within the life form known as Donald Trump. “I am not a professional…I am speaking purely from decades of dealing with NPD and sharing strategies that were helpful for me in coping and predicting behavior,” the person wrote. The three best observations are #1, #2 and #5, to wit:
(1) “NPD is not curable and is barely treatable. Trump is who he is. There is no getting better, or learning, or adapting. He’s not going to ‘rise to the occasion’ for more than maybe a couple hours. So just put that out of your mind.”
(2) “Trump will say whatever feels most comfortable or good to him at any given time. He will lie a lot, and say totally different things to different people. Stop being surprised by this. While it’s important to pretend ‘good faith’ and remind him of promises, as Bernie Sanders and others are doing, that’s for his supporters, so they can see the inconsistency as it comes. He won’t care. So if you’re trying to reconcile or analyze his words, don’t. It’s 100% not worth your time. Only pay attention to and address his actions.
(5) “We should expect that Trump only cares about himself and those he views as extensions of himself, like his children. (People with NPD often can’t understand others as fully human or distinct.) He desires accumulation of wealth and power because it fills a hole. (Melania is probably an acquired item, not an extension.) He will have no qualms at all about stealing everything he can from the country, and he’ll be happy to help others do so, if they make him feel good. He won’t view it as stealing but rather as something he’s entitled to do. This is likely the only thing he will intentionally accomplish.”
Thanks, hinterland bumblefucks, for saddling us with an ADD-afflicted nine-year-old as President for four years. An ice-cold sociopath, a haunted monster. If there is a God, you will suffer much more grievously over the coming four years than you did during Barack Obama‘s two terms. “If there is a God,” I say.