Torn about whether Trump is an act?

[jberryhill]

One of the following is true:

1. The Trump phenomenon is a natural consequence of his horribly flawed personality and the dysfunctional GOP allowing the inmates to take over the asylum.

Or:

2. The Trump phenomenon is a masterwork of political engineering, no doubt devised in a Gotham City lair that would shame Batman (the Adam West batman)

There is an episode of the old Batman, by the way, where Penguin runs for mayor. If you haven't seen it, please do.

The thing is:

It doesn't matter. It simply doesn't matter. The functional result is the same.

(Edit: whoa, big mistake with an image search for a meme. Oops.)

[Jamastiene]

1. Part of me thinks he has got to be an act.

How can anyone be as egotistical as he is? For real? Ya know?

[jberryhill]

3. But how could he fake it for so long and so well?

It's getting to be like the "looks like dogshit" routine.

[TheBlackAdder]

15. I thought it was theatrical art, but not now. I think he's in it for the long haul.

.


He's going to secure the GOP nomination by pandering to the GOP base that FOX News and the right-wing sites built.

Then, he will change to a more centrist position during the General to secure moderate voters.



He will say he's a businessman and does what's needed to secure a victory for the USA.


.

[RKP5637]

22. He's a businessman and he has a business plan to secure the WH. He's a smart cookie, the buffoonery

is an act. I would not at all be surprised to see him secure the R nomination, much as the plan you just described. As you said, FOX News and the right-wing sites built ... they built the road and he driving down it full steam ... and he will swing to the center after he gets what he wants, the nomination.

[TheBlackAdder]

28. I hope he secures the GOP nomination, to get smoked in the General.

.


There will either be a lot of people kissing his ring, especially the ones at FOX News, or he will go without them.

Unfortunately, he's burning a lot of bridges to win the General election. But, that's my supposition.


.

[RKP5637]

29. It's definitely added a different twist to it all. I can't see him winning the general. n/t

[pnwmom]

19. He almost certainly has a personality disorder called narcissism. Nowadays, a psychiatrist would probably say

a personality disorder with "features of narcissism," but he is a textbook case of the old textbook definition of "narcissistic personality disorder."

I have come across a few of these people in my lifetime, but no one on Trump's scale. He does trump all.

A true narcissist has no empathy; no ability to see the world from anyone's point of view except his own. (This is what would distinguish that person from someone with "healthy narcissism," who has a lot of self-confidence but can put himself in other people's shoes.) This person has such a strong need to be perfect, to be better and superior to everyone else, that he convinces himself that he really is.

And even though these people are disordered in their thinking, that disorder doesn't have to keep them from success. People are drawn to a narcissist's sense of his power, and as long as they cater to him, he will respond positively. He wants beyond anything to be adored, and as long as you are among the adoring, he will be happy to have you near him. If you poke at him, he'll want to crush you like a bug . . . or like Megyn Kelly.

It's the combination of extreme boastfulness, the need to be utterly superior in every way, the inability to admit any flaw, plus an utter lack of empathy -- a complete inability to see the world from any point of view other than his own -- that distinguishes a pathological narcissist from the garden-variety selfish jerk.

And while we laugh at him now, it is horrifying to imagine what would happen if he somehow managed to become President.

[RKP5637]

23. It would be horrible to see him as president in tense negotiations with say, for example, Putin. n/t

[pnwmom]

30. The clash of two narcissists would be titanic. What a scary thought. n/t

[rocktivity]

31. More

http://psychcentral.com/disorders/narcissistic-personality-disorder-symptoms/

- Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)

- Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love

- Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)

- Requires excessive admiration

- Has a very strong sense of entitlement, e.g., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations

- Is exploitative of others, e.g., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends

- Lacks empathy, e.g., is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others

- Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her

- Regularly shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

rocktivity

[pnwmom]

32. What allows some of these narcissists to hide in plain sight

is that they do not appear to be grandiose -- the ones who ARE extremely high achievers, as he is. If a narcissist has delusions of grandeur, he may be pretty easy to spot. But when a narcissist seems to have earned his extremely high opinion of himself, when he isn't delusional, it is easier to miss the narcissism at the core of his personality.

The first narcissist I knew didn't seem grandiose because he didn't appear to exaggerate his accomplishments - he HAD achieved a great deal, as some narcissists do.

[LAGC]

2. Options 1 and 2 aren't mutually exclusive. (n/t)

[jberryhill]

5. Depends on interpretation

I meant to imply in #2 that Trump was a volitional agent in the plan. Because if he's been set up, then it is really a species of #1 anyway.

[LAGC]

8. He's a troll, a plant, and a Frankenstein monster all wrapped up in one.

He knows exactly what he's doing. He's playing them all like fiddles and his sycophants are just lapping it up.

[frazzled]

6. Yeah, I'm beginning to be torn between those two theories

The crazier it gets, you can't think it's mere personality disorder. He's got the party over a barrel and I'm enjoying watching them be damned if they do and damned if they don't.

I'm finally figuring out: he's not a businessman, he's not a politician; he's an entertainer.

[jberryhill]

10. But you find yourself saying things like;

"The crazier it gets, you can't think it's mere personality disorder."

Are you saying he'd be less crazy if he was really crazy?

[frazzled]

14. Don't make my head hurt

I'm crazy enough myself lately (though in a very liberal kind of way).

[CrispyQ]

7. I think Trump is there to make the other crazies look reasonable.

That way the media can focus on what Trump is saying, vs, the actual policies the rest of them are implementing & supporting.

[Rex]

9. No he is saying exactly what the GOP bases wants to hear.

Why are people having a problem now? Did some just wake up last week and notice the GOP is full of vile scumbags?

[RKP5637]

26. Exactly what is going on! He's the idea republican candidate, he has all the hallmarks of

a true republican. What I do like is he's kicking the bullies. It's nice to see the bullies get bullied by a bigger bully and they really don't know WTF to do.

[reformist2]

11. I think he's for real. He does exaggerate his opinions to get attention, though.

I'm finding all this hand-wringing over him to be absurd, and it plays into the hands of the Republican Elite, who want nothing more than for everyone to think he's a clown.

Trump may be rude, crude, and with more than a few wacky notions, but on the other hand, there are a lot of things he says that are true about the rotten state of politics today, and that apply to both parties, actually.

[RKP5637]

27. Yep! Exactly! n/t

[rug]

12. So is he.

He is as surprised as anyone at his polling so he thinks he's not an act.

Once he starts to slide he'll declare the republicans are losers and sell the documentary rights to his campaign.

[Attorney in Texas]

13. He's not more an act than Huckabee (whose clearly running for a FoxNews hosting gig and not running

for president), or Jindal and Kasich and Fiorina (who are all clearly running for VP), or Cruz (who is clearly running for Grand Wizard).

[Hydra]

16. The Trump phenomenon is interesting

He's obviously playing angles by offering Valerie Plame the opportunity to stick it to GOP leadership. Who knows what else he's doing behind the scenes while terrifying said leadership in public by being so forthright about what the GOP really is.

He's a disaster, and always has been. Luckily, he's not ours

[bvf]

17. Of course,

there's the possibility that the RNC is playing Trump and the electorate. He doesn't have to be complicit (knowingly) in the scheme. In fact, if he's not, he's that much more of a useful idiot on the way to securing the nomination for Bush.

It's an act. Just one not necessarily realized by the giant ego that is Trump. The RNC is quite happy to let him be himself until the time comes to remove him from the game.

And don't expect a third-party candidacy, either. I'm sure the RNC has that covered as well.

[Matrosov]

18. I don't know it matters

If he's an act, he'll damage the GOP. If he's for real, he'll damage the GOP.

My hope is that he makes good on his promise to run third party and takes enough conservative voters with him to make it a landslide victory for Hillary, Bernie, Elizabeth, whoever.

[C_U_L8R]

20. Andy Kaufman lives!!

This just might be the greatest piece of performance art ever conceived... Or not.

Either way, Republicans are the suckers.

[ericson00]

21. Its Goldwater 2.0, or Goldcombover 1.0

I think it reflects a conservative uprising within the party after feeling shoved away in general elections, which is why I think Trump will get the nomination. In both cases, the establishment knew it had to quell the right-wing's desire to nominate an "principled" but un-electable extremist in order to win the next time. The GOP was also in the wilderness back in '64, as not only Kennedy/Johnson had super high approvals, but Ike was considered to be a RINO in the wake of the New Deal.

[madville]

24. I think he's making Jeb and Walker look

Normal, sane and "moderate". I think Trump is also helping these other guys poll better against Hillary as well.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

25. I have asked some people who encoutnered Trump in real life

And they aren't really sure, they say it seem more like an alternative to public masturbation than anything else.

[ram2008]

33. I think its mostly an act?

He was fairly liberal before 2012 and most people who have met Trump say he's a nice guy in person.

I don't think he believes the stuff he says, nor do I think he's a buffoon. Sure he's a cocky .1%er , but I think mostly he's just conning everyone and promoting himself. He sees the Republican primary process as a means to an end, whatever that end may be. Honestly, I don't think he expected to be where he is right now, and now that he's on top of the polls and is getting an extreme amount of media attention he's starting to panic... if you pay close attention you can notice subtle changes in his tone when he's talking about the race.

Anyway I think his ego will do him in eventually.