What More Do We Need To See?

Most of us are aware of the science experiment where a frog is put in a beaker of water and the flame underneath is gradually increased. It happens so gradually that the frog never jumps out. It boils to its death. That is a good description of America, the frog, in the gradual heated water that is the lack of response to Trump’s terrible behavior. Trump once said that he could kill someone on fifth avenue and no one would arrest him. That should have been the first clue of what his days as President would be.

The lone black Republican Senator, Tim Scott, said that “he had never seen anything worst coming from the White House” regarding the racist description of the Obamas as apes in a Trump post. This follows a pattern of racism calling black congresswomen to go back to their native country, calling black congresswomen as low intelligent, indicating that we need to get more people from Sweden and Norway, and we need people from South Africa indicating that it should be the white ones. He declared that he is the least racist of anyone.

This indicates that he is the worst kind of liar because he lies to himself. This is a key issue that I don’t want us to move past because it is one of the keys to his sociopathic behavior. We also see this in his quest to constantly seek evidence that he did win the 2020 election. I think that this was a lie but now I see this as something more frightening. He knew that he had lied but was completely unable to correct the behavior and stop his lie before he made that first accusation of the 2020 election to be rigged. He said something this week that revealed this key part of his behavior that reflects my view.

It was at a National Prayer Conference of all places, where he aired his grievance about the 2020 election. He said, “I had to win it. I needed it for my ego.”  Someone who has no control of their own behavior after realizing its source is powerless to stop negative behavior. It is the worst kind of sociopathic behavior because when insight doesn’t change behavior, it describes someone who is driving a car over the speed limit and must stop quickly and panics when the brakes have completely failed. Freud is still helpful in describing our psyche using his terms from his past theory for they can be pictured in a clear fashion. Trump is driven by ego (the ego is what keeps us operating in reality) with an absence from the superego that contains, guilt, and cultural norms of right and wrong in their function.

This is the most difficult kind of person to have in counseling. When they have the insight into their behavior but don’t appear that is aware enough to have the ability to stop it. This needs to be pointed out to Trump by Republicans and everyone else because he will only get worse. Some refer to this phenomenon as a descent into madness.

 What more do we need to see to hold Trump accountable? He is defended by the Republicans in Congress who could do something, but few have the courage to hold him accountable. He is a felon, a sex abuser, a grifter who has already made four billion dollars from enriching himself by the power of his office.

Our prisons are filled with Trump like people. They always feel that they are smarter than anyone and don’t experience any accountability for their actions. When I have this kind of individual in counseling and in life, I always allow the client to come to their understanding of their dilemma as one would do with Trump. He admitted that he was driven by his ego. Otherwise, he would brush it off because he feels that he is smarter than anyone else. The only thing that works in counseling and in life are well established guardrails. What I and others feel that works with this type of personality disorder is the realization that you do X and we will do Y to stop you. Actions will be held accountable by consequences. Consequentialism is a system in ethical thought.

It is why Trump changes his tune when he meets firm resistance such as what he received when he attacked Greenland and the European Union. He needs to see that if you did this, we would do this to stop you.

It was why we heard so much from people who worked for Trump who said before the last election that he will not have the guard rails this time that he had in his previous presidency. They implored the voters to not let him get near the White House.

An ego driven person does not have the ability to allow their superego to correct bad behavior which always leads to a view when confronted with an enemy or decision that their process is ready, shoot, aim. There is a corollary that it is better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. This means that you are willing to accept responsibility if something goes wrong. When has Trump taken responsibility for anything? Permission is needed to respect established boundaries, when the action is irreversible, or when it affects people involved or a nation. Think of Trump’s destruction of the East Wing. “It is already down. I can’t rebuild it.” Then there is Trump’s inhumane immigration program that was supposed to be directed toward criminals but in reality has been a reign of terror for our nation.

What more do we need to see?