DJT acts like the whole world is a television show

[MIButterfly]

It's all about winners and losers and ratings and he's the star of it all. It's a reality show with no actual basis in reality. He says what he says for dramatic effect because he thinks it makes him look like the strong forceful leading man. He has all these grandiose ideas and plans that he never sees through to the end because it doesn't matter that they never happen; all that matters is that he says them in a convincing manner. He promises everything and delivers nothing. It's a spectacle. He's the star and everybody has to idolize him because that's what's in his script.

He runs (I'd say ruins) the country like he's still "The Boss" on The Apprentice. This is all just The Apprentice Part II to him.

His whole life is TV and to his mind, we're all just the audience. When you think about it from that perspective, it almost makes sense in a crazy sort of way. Not saying it's right or good, but it makes as much sense as anything else about him.

At least that's my perspective.

[pat_k]

1. Makes sense. He lives in a fantasy world he constructed for himself.

Other people are NOT living, breathing, feeling beings. They are one dimensional. The world is divided into those that give him the admiration (however phoney it may be) he must have to survive, objects to be manipulated and used, or enemies to be destroyed.

So, it makes perfect sense that it is all a "TV show" to him. His entire worldview is as one-dimensional as a TV screen.

The thing is, the fantasy is breaking down. He is seriously decompensating. And things could get worse as he loses it.

For the hell of it, I asked Gemini "When the defenses against reality collapse for a person with the dual diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Anti-Social Personality Disorder, what can happen?"

Apply whatever level of scepticism you apply to all AI.

When defenses collapse in an individual with both Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)—a combination sometimes associated with malignant narcissism or psychopathy—they lose their ability to manage their self-image and manipulate others. This psychological decompensation typically triggers extreme, volatile, and dangerous outcomes.

1. Severe Psychotic or Delusional Episodes
When their grandiosity completely fails to protect them from reality, the ego may fracture. This can lead to brief reactive psychoses or deep paranoid delusions where they externalize all blame, viewing themselves as the ultimate victim of a "persecutory" world.

2. Malignant Aggression and Retaliation
Individuals with this dual diagnosis often react to wounded pride or exposure with intense rage. Without their usual behavioral filters and manipulative facades, this can escalate into severe physical violence, stalking, harassment, or calculated attempts to ruin the lives of those they hold responsible.

3. Complete Loss of Empathy and Behavioral Restraint
The ASPD traits (lack of remorse, disregard for others) are normally kept somewhat in check by the NPD need for admiration and social status. When defenses collapse, the need for approval disappears, leaving behind a highly impulsive, predatory individual who acts purely on instinct without any moral or social constraints

4. Extreme Self-Destructive Behaviors
If they can no longer maintain their grandiose narrative or control their environment, they may turn their aggression inward. This can manifest as severe substance abuse, high-risk reckless behavior (gambling, dangerous stunts), or acute suicidal crises driven by narcissistic mortification.

5. Ultimate Social Isolation
Because their primary coping mechanism is to exploit and manipulate others, the collapse of these defenses usually results in them burning every bridge. They may alienate family, friends, and colleagues, leading to total social abandonment and destitution.

I suspect he's not the type to suffer an "acute suicidal crises," but one can hope. (I never thought I would become the type of person to wish such things on anyone, but there you go. When it comes to him my hopes go to dark places.)

As grim as having a decompensating psychopath in the WH is, I hold out hope that the level of chaos and insanity he has fomented is so extreme that we're reaching a sort of "breaking point." I think the 50-plus-year right-wingnut project (which has transferred more than 75 trillion from the bottom 90% to the top 1%) may be coming to an end, a victim of it's own success.

Imagine If This Moment Was Not About The Ascent of Authoritarians, But About A New Birth Of Global Freedom...
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221186840

[LastDemocratInSC]

2. Chauncey Gardener got elected.

[malaise]

3. Nailed it

Rec