Tag: Trump

Categories
reddit

Trump, the Magnitsky Act, and Bill Browder

This is part of an ongoing series highlighting some of the best political commentary from Reddit. Content skews to the left, because — as they say — facts are inherently liberal. All credit for this content goes to the original author. For more great content like this, check out the Reddit category or tag.

Why is the infamous Trump Tower meeting between top Trump Campaign officials and Russian operatives in the summer of 2016 so important? First we must understand The Magnitsky Act & Bill Browder.

Bill Browder is the reason the Magnitsky Act was enacted.[1] Sanctions against Russian Oligarchs allied with President Vladimir Putin were enacted specifically to put pressure on Putin’s authoritative style of governance.[2] Putin cares about these sanctions because they hurt the relationships he’s cultivated with corrupt, powerful officials in the country.[3] The Magnitsky Act was discussed at the now infamous Trump Tower Meeting.[4] Russia banned Americans from adopting Russian children in retaliation against the sanctions.

I recommend watching Bill Browder’s Senate Congressional testimony. He paints an incredible picture of how the Russian government operates and provides a motive for the Russians to work with the Trump campaign.[5]

If you would like the read the Magnitsky Act legislation;

H.R.6156 – Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012[6]

S.284 – Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act of 2015/2016[7]

June 9, 2016 – A month before candidate Trump publicly asked for help from a foreign adversary, his surrogates met with Russian operatives at the now infamous Trump Tower meeting. They discussed the Magnistky Act. One operative was working under the direction of the Russian Deputy Attorney General who died in the helicopter accident. The other operative has ties to Russian intelligence and has been accused of orchestrating hacking campaigns.

One of the Russian operatives, Natalia Veselnitskaya, is an outspoken opponent of the Magnitsky Act.[8] Trump Jr. admitted to discussing adoptions, which means they discussed Russian sanctions. While the Kremlin has vehemently denied Veselnitskaya working for the Russian government, Swiss authorities allege that she was involved in an attempt to enlist a foreign country’s law enforcement agent as a double-agent to work for the Russians.[9] She did this on behalf of Russian Deputy Attorney General Saak Albertovich Karapetyan. Moreover, in 2017 at the G20 summit Putin and Trump discussed adoptions and the Magnitsky Act.[10] The other Russian operative present at the infamous Trump Tower meeting, Rinat Akhmetshin, has ties to Russian intelligence and has a history of being embroiled in court cases related to hacking campaigns.[11]

July 27, 2016 Candidate Trump looked directly at the camera and publicly asked Russia for their help to find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails, the Russian military intelligence (GRU) hacked the Clinton campaign thereafter.

During a campaign rally in Florida on July 27, 2016, President Trump called on Russia to help him find Hillary Clinton’s missing 30,000 emails.[12] Special Counsel Mueller’s indictment against 12 Russian Intelligence Officers found that on July 27, 2016 Russian hackers known as Guccifer 2.0 hacked the Clinton campaign.[13]

DoJ Indictment of 12 Russian Intelligence Officers Pg. 7 – 8

The Conspirators spearphished individuals affiliated with the Clinton Campaign throughout the summer of 2016. For example, on or about July 27, 2016, the Conspirators attempted after hours to spearphish for the first time email accounts at a domain hosted by a thirdparty provider and used by Clinton’s personal office. At or around the same time, they also targeted seventy-six email addresses at the domain for the Clinton Campaign.

August 22, 2017 Glenn Simpson testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that the Trump campaign accepted regular intelligence from the Kremlin during the 2016 campaign.

The Senate Judiciary committee testimony of Fusion GPS CEO Glenn Simpson claims that that the Trump campaign received foreign intelligence aid during the 2016 campaign.[14]

Pg. 154 – 155 Senate Judiciary Committee Testimony

A. I mean, one of the key lines here in the second paragraph says “However, he and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his democratic and other political rivals.” So the issue with the Trump Tower meeting, as 1 I understand it, is that the Trump people were eager to accept intelligence from a foreign government about their political rivals and that is, you know, I would say, a form of interference. If you’re getting help from a foreign government and your help is intelligence, then the foreign government’s interfering. I mean, you know, I think that also — of course, in retrospect we now know this was pretty right on target in terms on what it says. So anyway —

Q. In reference to you think that particular sentence?

A. I mean, it clearly refers to, you know, them being interested in and willing to — it depicts them as accepting information. What we have seen to date with the disclosures this year is they were at a minimum super interested in getting information.

Q. And when you’re referencing the “disclosures this year,” could you just be specific about that.

A. The Trump Tower meeting.

Q. So with reference to the June 9th Trump Tower meeting?

A. Yes. Yes.

In the summer of 2017 President Trump discussed adoptions with Vladimir Putin during a second, undisclosed meeting between the two leaders at the Group of 20 Summit. Adoptions is a euphemism for Russian sanctions.^[15]

Trump told the Times it was “interesting” that the topic of adoptions came up in the Putin conversation.

“I actually talked about Russian adoption with him [Putin],” he said, “Which is interesting because it was a part of the conversation that Don had in that meeting.”

Multiple news outlets reported Tuesday that Trump and Putin spoke in July at the end of a couples dinner in the main room of the G-20 summit, where dinner was held following their two-hour bilateral meeting earlier that day.

  1. Washington Post – The Magnitsky Act, explained
  2. The Atlantic – Why Does the Kremlin Care So Much About the Magnitsky Act?
  3. Politico – The Putin Obsession That Led to Trump Jr.’s Meeting
  4. New York Times – Talking Points Brought to Trump Tower Meeting Were Shared With Kremlin
  5. CSPAN – Browder Senate Judiciary Testimony
  6. H.R.6156 – Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012
  7. S.284 – Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act
  8. New York Times – Trump Team Met With Lawyer Linked to Kremlin During Campaign
  9. Committee to Investigate Russia – Veselnitskaya Linked to Russian Government in Swiss Case
  10. BBC – Why did Putin talk to Trump about ‘adoption’?
  11. New York Times – Lobbyist at Trump Campaign Meeting Has a Web of Russian Connections
  12. New York Times – Donald Trump Calls on Russia to Find Hillary Clinton’s Missing Emails, July 28, 2016
  13. U.S. Department of Justice indictment of 12 Russian Intelligence Officers
  14. Senate Judiciary Committee – Glenn Simpson Fusion GPS CEO Testimony
  15. Washington Examiner – Trump says he spoke with Putin about ‘adoptions’ during second, undisclosed meeting at G-20 Summit
Categories
reddit

Donald Trump: Dictator

This is part of an ongoing series highlighting some of the best political commentary from Reddit. Content skews to the left, because — as they say — facts are inherently liberal. All credit for this content goes to the original author. For more great content like this, check out the Reddit category or tag.

“He’s totally not, like, a dictator, believe me folks!”

Donald Trump…

Updates for the week ending February 25th, 2017:

Categories
reddit

The Trump-enabling Mindset

This is part of an ongoing series highlighting some of the best political commentary from Reddit. Content skews to the left, because — as they say — facts are inherently liberal. All credit for this content goes to the original author. For more great content like this, check out the Reddit category or tag.

It’s easier to digest the Trump enabling conservative mindset when you consider why it is they are so susceptible to the principles of authoritarianism. Why is adherence to the king important to them? Why do they relish in the behavior of petulance and infantilism? Why all the rabble-rousing? Why do conservatives find these toxic virtues appealing? Why are they insecure and emotionally volatile? Why are they intellectually dishonest and why do they engage a topic in bad faith? What are they so afraid of?

Aside from the very obvious observable reputation and behavior of a lifelong scumbag and pathological liar in Donald Trump, allow me to do my best explaining what conservative authoritarianism looks like in the head-space of conservative America. I personally feel that Trumpism has transcended whatever is left of conservatism into something far more dangerous and radical, but for now we will refer to them as conservatives, even though fiscal conservatives or what’s left of them voted for Hillary. Regardless, these right-wing concepts and feelings transcend democratic partisanship given the principles of authoritarianism as they relate to what is true and when truth is diametrically opposed to one’s beliefs.

As it can be understood, the foundation of social and cultural ‘fear’ is rooted in hate and modern conservatives typically take a ‘Good versus Evil’ approach towards that which runs counter to their identity. They often express their beliefs and values exclusively in absolutes and superlatives for this reason, not unlike the linguistic congruence of Trump himself, who literally cannot speak at length about a complex subject and navigate the discourse successfully enough to promote his beliefs and express his points, making him unqualified to comment on matters social, cultural, economic, and political.

A symptom of this ‘fear’ is a susceptibility to disinformation and propaganda, in which conservatives will immediately come to defense of money-grubbing, fear-mongering oligarchs from the GOP, the right-wing media, and their corporate ‘investors’, who have worked in tandem to systematically undermine the overall well-being of humanity for personal profit. As we have seen time and time again, trickle-down is still widely accepted despite evidence to the contrary. The GOP is essentially a conduit for fostering a…political ‘Stockholm Syndrome’. These are the same morally bankrupt vulgarians that brought us anti-intellectualism as a virtue and radical identitarianism (see Richard Spencer and Fox News) and are currently moving us towards an ‘illiberal democracy’ akin to the economic and social corruption of Putin’s Russia.

The studies listed below help illustrate the manner in which the brain is susceptible to demagoguery and the principles of authoritarianism. As demonstrated, conservative youths develop more grey matter (‘shorter’ or preferred neural pathways/behaviors) around their amygdalas (fear processing center of the brain), whereas liberal youths develop more grey matter around the Anterior cingulate cortex (the reasoning center of the brain ). Accordingly, the ACC includes: the anterior region, which is involved in executive function, the dorsal region, which is involved in cognitive processes, and the ventral region, which is involved in emotional regulation. Fear in this capacity is often void of nuanced restraint and clarity and is the manner in which conservatives feel discomfort and insecurity in dissonance arousing situations. They’re in a way, wired to be ‘snowflakes’, in that fear and discomfort around a subject act as a defense mechanism that overrides objective truth in order to feel safe about one’s reputation, beliefs, and values. This while hiding behind the veil of politics to feel justified in their hatred of social and economic change through the bias of their community, the GOP itself, and conservative propaganda in the media. You routinely see this effect in religious groups and the like. Simply put, they’re fear-driven beings with symptoms of low social mobility (cultural capital).

There is fact, and there is cognitive dissonance. the latter of which is an emotional landscape where truth is relative and lowbrow conspiracy theory runs rampant. Gaslighting and projection are a staple here and falsehoods feel vindicating when they run counter to perceived liberal agendas or entities, which allows lies to perpetuate and grow. Not out of policy, but out of malice. A place of self-aggrandization where conservative constituents reside and by which the GOP has them hook, line, and sinker. As has been routinely observed, a frightening number of these people will not hesitate to vote for a bona fide dictator, a literal Nazi, child predator, or rapist. One needn’t look hard to see that these people ravenously support a quality of man they’d never, ever allow to be left alone with their wives or children. It is as if the content of one’s character doesn’t matter anymore as long as Republicans are ‘winning.’ Winning feels good, so winning is the moral high ground. A place where the reputation of a man’s character is worthless and self-reflection is impossible. Authoritarianism is very much alive in modern America and there is no shortage of narcissistic supply.

Furthermore, they all went out and voted for a malcontent snake-oil salesman who lives in a golden tower with his name written on it in caps lock. An abusive, spray-tanned, affluent egomaniac in a baggy suit with no redeeming qualities as a man, husband, father, and leader. The kind of adult you can’t bring around because you’re too ashamed and too worried about his behavior. Donald J. Trump is a person so fraught with hypocrisy and scandal that reasonable people are questioning whether he has a histrionic personality disorder or degenerative brain disease without a hint of hyperbole.

We now have a literal President who refuses to read long-form text and hasn’t finished a novel in five decades. A man so untethered from reality that he feels he has earned his right to be a criminal and that fondling women is genuinely appropriate. Not only will he do the crime, but he will brag about it publicly while simultaneously denying it and then turn around and gaslight whoever points out the behavior. Regardless of what you believe, or whether you think a narcissist can do good through bad in a vacuum, this is what conservative authoritarianism looks like and how it functions in the collective psyches of conservative America. Anybody who supports Donald Trump at this juncture is a certifiable dumbass or worse, a nihilistic troll. Conservativism has almost fully transitioned unto unbridled authoritarianism, and that’s not hyperbole. Things have gotten so bad that hyperbole is dead.

Brett ‘The Lech’ ‘Pudding Pops’ Kavanaugh was the nail in the coffin for me and most other reasonable people justified left or right of center. Trump supporters are enemies of maximizing the overall human well-being of their communities and they represent the single greatest threat to the advancement of mankind in the modern day GOP, which is quite literally a criminal enterprise where nefarious malcontents and malevolent frauds are thier own judge and juries. Gaslight, Obstruct Project and a third of Americans buy into the bullshit hook, line, and sinker. No wonder Donald Trump represents the classic American snake-oil con from the olden days, hocking wide-eyed mystical elixirs and promises of fortune to the desperate and gullible. These people have drivers licenses and internet connections now. Conspiracy theory is a daily part of thier routine when it comes to what they believe. Steve Bannon understood this, which I’m just now seeing you mentioned yourself. And Trump was merely the best rabble-rouser and most vindictive prick on offer. He’s a loner with no genuine friendships or relationships of substance and it took him the better part of his adult life and his dad dying to find people who could actually tolerate him as a useful idiot. He was too off-putting for liberal elites in New York, so he found unsavory hacks and criminals to jerk his ego off instead. Remember child rapist John Casablancas? Trump remembers. Between walking through the dressing rooms of naked 15 year-old girls and publicly and routinely sexualizing his own daughter, Donald Trump sure does have a lot of close relationships with child molesters and rapists. Putin was definitely onto something and it’s called The Foundation of Geopolitics. Scary times.

I’m not a liberal. You guys need to realize that those who oppose Trump are largely justified left and right of center. I myself am right of center.

Categories
reddit

The Narcissistic Personality Disorder of Trump

This is part of an ongoing series highlighting some of the best political commentary from Reddit. Content skews to the left, because — as they say — facts are inherently liberal. All credit for this content goes to the original author. For more great content like this, check out the Reddit category or tag.

I seen a few people joking or seriously expressing that Trump has “multiple” personality disorders. As a clinician, I would dispute the idea of being diagnosed with more than one personality disorder, though it can exist. It is just messy and, I feel, an unneeded exercise here.

He would perhaps qualify for multiple but I would probably myself settle on one as being severe and then list symptoms being demonstrated.

Diagnosing is honestly a way to label and it gets glorified. Symptoms matter. Diagnosis is a container. Still, it helps to label so let’s take a look.

Trump displays many of the following:

  • Disregard for right and wrong
  • Persistent lying or deceit to exploit others
  • Being callous, cynical and disrespectful of others
  • Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or personal pleasure
  • Arrogance, a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated
  • Recurring problems with the law, including criminal behavior
  • Repeatedly violating the rights of others through intimidation and dishonesty
  • Impulsiveness or failure to plan ahead
  • Hostility, significant irritability, agitation, aggression or violence
  • Lack of empathy for others and lack of remorse about harming others
  • Unnecessary risk-taking or dangerous behavior with no regard for the safety of self or others
  • Poor or abusive relationships
  • Failure to consider the negative consequences of behavior or learn from them
  • Being consistently irresponsible and repeatedly failing to fulfill work or financial obligations

And all of that meets criteria for AntiSocial Personality Disorder

He also has these:

  • Have an exaggerated sense of self-importance
  • Have a sense of entitlement and require constant, excessive admiration
  • Expect to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it
  • Exaggerate achievements and talents
  • Be preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate
  • Believe they are superior and can only associate with equally special people
  • Monopolize conversations and belittle or look down on people they perceive as inferior
  • Expect special favors and unquestioning compliance with their expectations
  • Take advantage of others to get what they want
  • Have an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others
  • Be envious of others and believe others envy them
  • Behave in an arrogant or haughty manner, coming across as conceited, boastful and pretentious
  • Insist on having the best of everything — for instance, the best car or office

That is Narcissistic Personality Disorder

I would probably refer to him as an individual experiencing a cluster B personality disorder but that he is most within the narcissistic range. It is the driver of his behaviors in that he is more narcissistic than antisocial. I don’t see borderline or histrionic as much here.

Of course, this is all quick and dirty and a true evaluation would look at more than what he displays outwardly. He has, however, a lot of information out in the public domain. Look at how he refers to himself. Look at how he displays his persona. Look at his relationships. Much of what a clinician would use is present.

Look at these snippets from DSM 5 to see how someone diagnosing would pull one way or the other:

The essential feature of antisocial personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood. This pattern has also been referred to as psychopathy, sociopathy, or dyssocial personality disorder. Because deceit and manipulation are central features of antisocial personality disorder, it may be especially helpful to integrate information acquired from systematic clinical assessment with information collected from collateral sources.

And

Other personality disorders may be confused with antisocial personality disorder because they have certain features in common. It is therefore important to distinguish among these disorders based on differences in their characteristic features. However, if an individual has personality features that meet criteria for one or more personality disorders in addition to antisocial personality disorder, all can be diagnosed. Individuals with antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder share a tendency to be tough-minded, glib, superficial, exploitative, and lack empathy. However, narcissistic personality disorder does not include characteristics of impulsivity, aggression, and deceit. In addition, individuals with antisocial personality disorder may not be as needy of the admiration and envy of others, and persons with narcissistic personality disorder usually lack the history of conduct disorder in childhood or criminal behavior in adulthood.

I think key here is that Trump is more needy of attention and while perhaps committing crimes it was done in order to boost his personal brand and make him greater. The need for money and fame were drivers.

Now for narcissistic personality disorder…

The essential feature of narcissistic personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy that begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts.

Individuals with this disorder have a grandiose sense of self-importance (Criterion 1). They routinely overestimate their abilities and inflate their accomplishments, often appearing boastful and pretentious. They may blithely assume that others attribute the same value to their efforts and may be surprised when the praise they expect and feel they deserve is not forthcoming. Often implicit in the inflated judgments of their own accomplishments is an underestimation (devaluation) of the contributions of others. Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder are often preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love (Criterion 2). They may ruminate about “long overdue” admiration and privilege and compare themselves favorably with famous or privileged people.

Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder believe that they are superior, special, or unique and expect others to recognize them as such (Criterion 3). They may feel that they can only be understood by, and should only associate with, other people who are special or of high status and may attribute “unique,” “perfect,” or “gifted” qualities to those with whom they associate. Individuals with this disorder believe that their needs are special and beyond the ken of ordinary people. Their own self-esteem is enhanced (i.e., “mirrored”) by the idealized value that they assign to those with whom they associate. They are likely to insist on having only the “top” person (doctor, lawyer, hairdresser, instructor) or being affiliated with the “best” institutions but may devalue the credentials of those who disappoint them.

Tell me if that isn’t Trump…

Now, consider his constant attacks on enemies and then read this. Think of Obama and McCain…

Vulnerability in self-esteem makes individuals with narcissistic personality disorder very sensitive to “injury” from criticism or defeat. Although they may not show it outwardly, criticism may haunt these individuals and may leave them feeling humiliated, degraded, hollow, and empty. They may react with disdain, rage, or defiant counterattack.