Wow. Just wow.
Donald Trump asked an advisor why the U.S. can't use nukes. Three times. (And the Washington Post has doubled down on its earlier reporting that the POTUS can launch nukes unilaterally.)
Trump refused to endorse Paul Ryan and John McCain (though his running mate, Mike Pence, apparently didn't get the memo) sending the GOP leadership into "a new level of panic."
The idea that Trump is actually mentally ill is getting a fair amount of traction.
And as if that weren't enough chaos for one day, a 777 crashed on landing in Dubai. That this isn't even close to being the top story of the day gives you some idea of how utterly insane things have become. Loki would be proud.
Dr. Drew says that Trump is clearly not mentally ill. At the same time, Scott Adams (Dilbert creator, and a huge Trump fan) admits that Clinton has successfully driven the political narrative, such that the open question about whether Trump is mentally ill, is now seen as legitimate journalism.
ReplyDeleteMaintaining control of the narrative is a critical skill in politics, one which Trump manifestly lacks.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, the Adams theory is that Trump is a master at controlling the narrative (aka persuasion or negotiation), and in particular that is the explanation (which Adams was among the first to predict) for Trump's complete dominance of the GOP field.
ReplyDeleteAdams is pointing out Trump's recent bad week(s), specifically for the contrast that it shows with the previous year. This was an excellent week for Clinton controlling the narrative. Adams highlights it as well -- but because of the unusual (unique?) nature of Clinton's recent "persuasion" success -- esp. over Trump.
Yes, controlling the narrative is a critical political skill. But I think you're way off base with an accusation that Trump "manifestly lacks" this skill. He's clearly the big loser in the last couple of weeks. However, he's been a huge (yuge!) winner with this very same skill, over the last year.
> Dr. Drew says that Trump is clearly not mentally ill.
ReplyDeleteNo, he doesn't say that at all. He says he's not *insane*. Insanity is not the only kind of mental illness. He thinks Trump might well be manic or bipolar.
He also dismisses the possibility that Trump is suffering from "malignant narcissism" on the grounds that his familial relationships are healthy. He seems to forget about Trumps two ex-wives, both of whom almost certainly signed NDAs which will punish them severely if they tell the truth about Trump.
> Adams theory is that Trump is a master at controlling the narrative (aka persuasion or negotiation)
Persuasion and negotiation and controlling the narrative are not the same thing. Trump is actually good at all three, but only when he controls the edit. This is really Trumps major problem: he still thinks he doesn't have to watch what he says because he can always fix it in post-production. That works great on a reality show, not so much in politics. This is not controlling the narrative, it's letting the narrative spin so wildly out of control that it will almost certainly cost him the presidency (praise Loki!)
Worse (in terms of his winning the presidency), the *reason* he has allowed the narrative spin so wildly out of control is that he can't set aside petty grievances. He's like Marty McFly: call him a chicken and you've got him wrapped around your finger. *That* is the reason he must not be president. It is so easy to pull Trump's strings anyone can do it. (It's a testament to Republican stupidity that no one figured this out during the primaries.) Putin would make mincemeat out of him.
Yes, well, I think I objected because you first said
ReplyDelete> "a critical skill in politics ... which Trump manifestly lacks"
but now say
> "Trump is actually good at all three"
which seems very different to me. (I was thinking, for example, of the analysis of Trump's $2B in free media during the GOP campaign. That's pretty strong evidence that Trump has master-level skills on this topic.)
As to "mentally ill", I suppose I would distinguish between a description of the spectrum of various "healthy" personality features (introvert, extrovert, etc.), vs. a mental state that requires professional intervention (because the subject must change). Drew says, for example, that most politicians are probably narcissistic. It seems to make the term almost meaningless, if you want to fold this into the term "mentally ill".
On the other hand, I love your McFly / chicken example. I think you're right. Trump originally seemed "unpredictable", but actually he's a thin-skinned bully. You have to be careful about becoming a target, but if you want to manipulate him, he's quite predictable. I agree with you.
Give Christ A Chance
ReplyDelete@Ron
>This is not controlling the narrative, it's letting the narrative spin so wildly out of control that it will almost certainly cost him the presidency (praise Loki!)
It seems obvious to me that Trump is the candidate that Loki supports.
Perhaps you should shop around for a new deity.