23 Tuesday Jul 2024
20 Monday May 2024
Tags
authoritarian psychosis, compulsive lying, cult of personality, malignant narcissism, mass perceptual control, political psychology, political theater, psychology of dictatorship
In the varied telling of the myth, Narcissus plays the very flower of youth in its most self-admiring phase . . . except the young man cannot look away from himself, and so in admiration of his own reflection drowns, starves, or suicides his way to death and becomes the flower whose name we know.
The Malignant Narcissist — “the malignarc” hereafter — differs within with the memory of a full-on assault on his own good regard and self-concept, an episode referred to in the literature at “Narcissistic Mortification“. For health, the same covers or denies the memory and moves on with the invention of an undamaged and unassailable courageous-heroic self. As such, the narcissist–so motivated–can never be imperfect or wrong. To prove himself–or defend against a repeat of his own initial humiliation–he then embarks on the manipulation of the perception of others, either to do damage–as with “gaslighting“–or to otherwise deride his competitors and critics while elevating himself to a stature beyond the reach of others seen as imperfect, ordinary, and weak. And so the “Malignant Narcissist“ becomes for himself and the seduction of others plainly villainous to those who can see him as he is while for those captive by force, fraud, compulsion, intimidation, or the promise of patronage, he’s one big daddy–and only he alone may raise them to glory.
On what is today old Twitter’s unbridled cesspool “X” operated by billionaire Elon Musk, I’ve tried to produce in abbreviated form a few cogent observations.
As a trope: “delusional, grandiose, messianic ideation absent of normal boundaries and limits, i.e., the parameters of normal conscience“–as much has been my distillation of behavior and speech of what I have seen of Messrs. Trump and Putin–and if they are not “Malignant Narcissists”, the category does not exist.
As nature covers injuries with repairs, so the malignarc covers painful memory with denials matched by the invention of normal experiences (that may not have been so normal in real life) and the emergence of a person of heroic quality, i.e., an invented undamaged self. The damage that had been done cannot be discussed, has been dismissed and erased from everyday memory, and if press, the malignarc cannot be honest about it.
Don’t expect confessions.
Do expect crimes (fraud, especially) and lies: baseless accusations; defamations, falsehoods, and frames to deride others; deflections and denials of culpability; fabrications of reality to make events or persons appear as preferred rather than as they may be–or may have been (related: “historical revisionism”; “political theater”; “Potemkinism”); omissions or revisions of discordant facts and histories; projection of the malignarc’s own evil intentions to his targets (related to “baseless accusations”).
As leaders, expect from malignarcs efforts to control casual or popular perception locally, at least, or internationally if that stature has been reached. Expect also as part of Mass Perceptual Control censorship; discrediting operations; dismissal, jailing, or elimination of critics, all commencing beneath a darkening clouds of severe political repression.
In the mirroring pond’s surface, the malignarc sees not only himself but the world around and above himself in reflection, and in the effort to join that world, one perceived as better than the one that did him some damage early in life–perhaps this will become part of a new and modern mythos–he will choose to drown in its cold dark inversion of personal, political, and social reality. He enters his own imagined world, one he wishes to make real, and everything he believes and says may be taken as true–and everything he’s been shown or told has been a lie!
And if you don’t believe him, get lost . . . move on . . . before the same takes an interest in your destruction.
And if you do believe him–better: believe in him–well then, there’s work to be done, but first . . . your pledge of absolute obedience and respect.
An observer would note an excessive adoration and validation given the Great Leader by his minions.
A psychologist would call the same “Narcissistic Supply“.
A grounded and responsible citizen, police, or politician would express concern, warning or alarm.
Cartwright, Mark. “Narcissus”. World History Encyclopedia. March 2023.
Greek Mythology. “Narcissus: The Self-Lover”.
Oppenheim, James S. “A Dark Mirror in Language.” BackChannels, June 28, 2023.
Oppenheim, James S. “Malignant Narcissistic Process Distilled.” BackChannels, July 10, 2023.
Wikipedia. “Malignant Narcissism”.
Wikipedia. “Narcissus (mythology).
Wikipedia. “Narcissus (plant).
Wikipedia. “Narcissistic Mortification”.
Wikipedia. “Narcissistic Supply”.
#CriminalDelusionalParanoidMalignantNarcissist, #FeloniousTrump, #MaligNarcs, #MedievalVModern, #PolitCrims, #PiratesMurderersThieves, #TrumpJackedGOP, #TrumpPutin
–33–
22 Monday Apr 2024
This much must be understood about Donald Trump: he may actually believe his own bullshit.
Within the framework of the Malignant Narcissistic Process, the necessity of lying and the related greater manipulation of others becomes clear: the malignant narcissist lies to cover over emotional damage and put in its place an undamaged and unassailable heroic self. The suspect felon in the courtroom may well believe in concert with his own invention that the proceedings are fake, politically motivated, and fixed–and he, so brave and glorious, should be out campaigning for the next Presidency of the United States of America. Now bent, delusional, and twisted, Donald John Trump, four-time indicted felony suspect, may know where he is physically and resent the power detaining him, holding him in trial, but he has no apprehension as to what he has done before the law, to others, and to his own life.
America has no king and doesn’t want one.
The foremost notable argument against having a king has come to us from Thomas Paine in his pamphlet Common Sense (1775-6). Says Wikipedia, “Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine collected various moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for egalitarian government. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776,[2] at the beginning of the American Revolution and became an immediate sensation.”
All may read today online the foundational expressions of America’s assumptions, ethics, principles, and values: Declaration of Independence; 1789 Constitution and Amendments; etc.
For the purposes of political psychology: BackChannels: Malignant Narcissism & Concepts, Coins, and Terms.
For having at hand a condensed Trump saga and conclusion: Essential Trump Tour Guide & #AmericanTraitor #DonaldJohnTrump.
I’ve tired of all things Trump.
It helps to understand him, of course, and then with reason–and perhaps even prayer–help him along to where he belongs, i.e., an asylum or prison or both.
AI art found on X and fit to BackChannels conclusions about the delusional Donald John Trump.
–33–
15 Monday Apr 2024
Tags
Donald John Trump, malignant narcissism, narcissism, narcissistic-personality-disorder, political psychology, Trump
Put yourself in Trump’s mind-https://conflict-backchannels.com/2022/07/10/malignant-narcissistic-process-distilled/. Most of your life has been spent in the shadow of a traumatic “narcissistic mortification” that you do not wish to experience ever again–and you determine you never will. First, you forget about it, pack it away, didn’t happen; then, you come out swinging, a good guy, unassailable, courageous, heroic–and to prove it, you will roll the dice! 🙂 (awful cliche). Your realpolitik is pretty tough–nasty environment–but your image is gold and you are in with all of the in-crowds! You brag up a storm; snow the bankers; charm and screw the subcontractors. The better part of human nature and prudence takes its course and you need cash, a lot of it, and it turns out you have been noticed all along, boychik.
–https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/29/trump-czechoslovakia-communism-spying;
–https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/21/how-russian-money-helped-save-trumps-business/
Lucky you!
You have a “roof” and a dragon (unlimited “resources” long before “Game of Thrones”) and plenty of “narcissistic supply”. Whether or not you can pay the freight or stay out of trouble, the high is like no other–Y-O-U! own the world!
The Dragon wants to get you to take the both of you a little higher and, well, you are an executive and the very image of American gold-leafed success–just one more step.
How hard could it be?
We should know more about the lives–and demons–associated with healthy leaders, but the evil get our attention and we have powerful concept, methods, and tools for getting “behind the curtains” and finding what the malignant narcissist has tried to cover as well as avoid all of his life, i.e., his humiliation before authority.
So Trump sits in court, a “stable genius”–a horse’s ass for countless others–found out and subject to the control of power more powerful–also more possessed of integrity–than himself.
I think he knows he has been played for criminal political power–call it the #MoscowSystem for #PiratesMurderersAndThieves–and not only will millions of others not look at him as they once had but he may not look at himself as he once had. So he yawns in court. He’ll make noises about a “rigged game”, but he’s delusional, and it’s not–and the #AmericanPublic in vast majority knows that that, finally, is the truth.
Dive in.
For disappointed Trump Republicans, consider a reset on your own methods of discerning truth or your own motivations for accepting baseless and outrageous accusations and claims–and come to some understanding about Malignant Narcissism and related criminal and politically criminal psychology.
For United States Military and Police: be true to your oath as well as quintessential American ethics, principles, traditions, and values: America’s Founding Fathers produce by 1789 a remarkable guidance for a secular democratic republic, truly one nation with justice and liberty for all. Never forget for one minute that you are the defense and security for the most advanced and greatest complex integrated and essentially classically humanist political system on the planet (well, France might be healthier at the moment–but we’ll show them how it’s done). 🙂
Good American citizens fight for the same things but play each to their own abilities and strengths.
–33–
15 Friday Mar 2024
All in one X-pression–>
Failure–https://conflict-backchannels.com/2022/09/27/djt-the-success-at-failing-two-tweets/;
Malignant Narcissism–https://conflict-backchannels.com/2022/07/10/malignant-narcissistic-process-distilled/;
Rus Real Estate–https://conflict-backchannels.com/2021/10/09/trumps-america-in-retrospect-russian-real-estate-entanglements/;
Russian Money–https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/21/how-russian-money-helped-save-trumps-business/;
Collusion–https://conflict-backchannels.com/2023/12/07/trumps-russian-collusion-no-delusion-probably/;
Traitor-Fraudulent #2020ElectionDenial, Fraudulent Electoral College Ballots ready to replace authentic ones-https://conflict-backchannels.com/2024/02/14/americantraitor-donaldjohntrump/.
#MikePence’s refusal to stop #Congress on #Jan6 effectively stopped #Trump’s #Jan6RealSteal. #Trump, who appears not to understand either #Democracy or #Integrity, had lied to his base and the #GOP every step of the way to the last election–and he hasn’t changed one bit. As a #MalignantNarcissist and #PoliticalCriminal slow-walking toward his grand jury reviewed #4FelonyCases91Counts, he’s incapable of serving other than his projected image.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-trump-property/; https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-little-moscow-sunny-isles-miami-russian-money-real-estate-2022-3.
On X–>
–33–
12 Tuesday Mar 2024
#AINOS – Americans In Name Only.
#TAKs – Trump’s Ass Kissers.
Adult responsible Democrats and Republicans, critically thinking, reasoning, and reasonable in the constructing and fine tuning of good public policy, appear slow to comprehend how deep the attack on America’s way of life, domestic tranquility, and defense and moral strength among nations has gone. In fact, a portion of today’s GOP has traded its conservative Constitutional moorings for a reactionary feudal-medieval position in time and is fast floating away from the desires, hopes, and ideals of ordinary Americans who would not allow themselves to be dumb.
For Republicans, where are “the adults in the room”?
Where is the push-back from conservatives who should be mad as hell as regards the selfish and piratical theft of their democracy?
#FeloniousTrump #4FelonyCases91Counts well may be called #AmericanTraitorTrump–and no conservative Republican dares call him out to his face.
We have seen the brazen and greedy–where are the brave and free among the much less visible virtuous?
In Putin’s world, the fire sale of state assets into the pockets of former Communist Party nomenklatura had been set up by the mid-1980s as insurance and precaution against the possibility of bankrupting the state (hunt around in Karen Dawisha’s work for the scholarship). “A New Nobility” appears intended for the KGB/FSB and associated oligarchy that would become wealthy enough to live as it pleased without concerns for the development of Russia and its people. Private estates built on private wealth and power would become as unassailable as those who owned them. Putin would return Russia to feudal-medieval barbarism and the patrimonial authoritarianism in which the test of sovereignty and dominion would be the ability to destroy persons and property as alike and at will and with impunity.
For the west, that world awaits only inaction or passive and tacit popular American approval at the polls.
Anyone who is not constrained may wield power with a hammer and the fear of it, but in the better liberal democracies of the world, all hew to the ideals, laws, and principles of democratic order by constitution and by legal code, centuries of it and fine tuned by conflict, reason, and struggle for the greater good.
Whatever “the nobility”–who would themselves represent law in each their respective domains–may think of themselves, there are those around them–or placed beneath them–who judge quietly, perhaps sullenly, but with determination to set right the wrongs of merely vulgar power. The dimensions that matter: awareness and comprehension; compassion and empathy; good conscience and intents; courage and fortitude; goodness in spirit; good grooming and manners; inherent grace, justice, and magnanimity.
Most Cogent on BackChannels: https://conflict-backchannels.com/2023/12/07/trumps-russian-collusion-no-delusion-probably/; https://conflict-backchannels.com/2024/02/14/americantraitor-donaldjohntrump/.
–33–
03 Sunday Mar 2024
Tags
American Democracy, American GOP, American Reactionary Putsch, Medieval v. Modern, Meme Mike Johnson, modern democracy, Peace of Westphalia, political absolutism, political modernity, political power, Power of Kings, Traitorous GOP
Suzie Qz posted this on X today as appropriate to Trump’s #RevoltingGOP and House Speaker Mike Johnson’s role in the reactionary subversion of America’s guiding principles and values:
The response that came to me yielded two additional:
If you would be passionate about the survival of American democracy, be at least curious about the Thirty Years War and the Peace of Westphalia that served to end it while also revolutionizing European diplomacy, redefining the assumptive principles of sovereignty, and forever modifying relationships between powers and the management of their affairs beneath an umbrella greater than themselves. This one treaty would then set a part of the stage for America’s own revolutionary departure from the power known to kings.
Before the Westphalia settlement, there was no recognizable diplomatic profession. Spies, irregular envoys, and heralds citing scripture or handing out ringing declamations were the usual route that princes chose to alert one another to the start of war. After Westphalia, the diplomatic craft was practiced by a kind of well-born guild, with members who were adept at melding reason, precedent, and law with quiet allusion to the implication of armed compunction.
Nathan, James A. Soldiers, Statecraft, and history: Coercive Diplomacy and International Order. 1 ed. Westport CT: Praeger Publishers, 2002 — cited: https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1146&context=the_histories–Patton, Steven. “The Peace of Westphalia and its Affects on International Relations, Diplomacy and Foreign Policy.” The Histories 10:1 (91-99), 2019.
–33–
28 Wednesday Feb 2024
–33–
BackChannels 