Tuesday, August 22, 2017

TRUMPS MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMMATIC?: CRUZ CALLED HIM A 'PATHOLOGICAL LIAR'


“How unstable and divorced from reality is President Trump? We’ve reached the point where the nation has the right and the need to know.

We’re not accustomed to asking such questions about our presidents. We don’t know how to even begin inquiring into a president’s mental health, so we rationalize aberrant behavior as being part of some subtle strategy. We say that Trump is cleverly playing to his base, or employing the “madman theory” of foreign relations, or simply being unpredictable to gain an advantage by keeping everyone off balance.

But if Trump were really playing three-dimensional chess, presumably he’d be getting things done. His approval ratings would be rising rather than falling. Allies in Congress would be expressing admiration rather than increasing dismay. . .

 

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) hit a nerve Thursday when he said that Trump “has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence” needed in a president. That indictment was significant because Corker, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, is a respected Capitol Hill veteran who chooses his words carefully — and who thus far has been willing to give Trump a chance. Corker said he feared that “our nation is going to go through great peril” and called for “radical change” at the White House. . .

Anyone can have a bad day. But according to many published reports, Trump often erupts into rage — especially when he sees something he doesn’t like on the cable news shows he is said to watch compulsively.

In his Twitter postings, he increasingly lashes out in ways that are counterproductive. I can see some method behind his incessant ranting about “fake news,” which may actually help him with his political base. But why attack Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) whose help the president needs if he is to get legislation passed or nominees approved? Why campaign against Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has been a frequent critic but ended up supporting Trump on health care? Is Trump unable to imagine how other GOP senators — whose votes he needs if he is to get anything done — are going to react?

I have spoken with people who have known Trump for decades and who say he has changed. He exhibits less self-awareness, these longtime acquaintances say, and less capacity for sustained focus. Indeed, it is instructive to compare television interviews of Trump recorded years ago with those conducted now. To this layman’s eyes and ears, there seems to have been deterioration.

I am not professionally qualified to assess the president’s mental health; psychiatrists and psychologists who have the proper credentials and experience to do so are silenced by ethical rules. The stakes are so high,  . . “

 
During the campaign Ted Cruz called Trump a pathological liar.
http://www.bbc.com/news/av/election-us-2016-36198532/ted-cruz-donald-trump-is-a-pathological-liar



“How unstable and divorced from reality is President Trump? We’ve reached the point where the nation has the right and the need to know.

We’re not accustomed to asking such questions about our presidents. We don’t know how to even begin inquiring into a president’s mental health, so we rationalize aberrant behavior as being part of some subtle strategy. We say that Trump is cleverly playing to his base, or employing the “madman theory” of foreign relations, or simply being unpredictable to gain an advantage by keeping everyone off balance.

But if Trump were really playing three-dimensional chess, presumably he’d be getting things done. His approval ratings would be rising rather than falling. Allies in Congress would be expressing admiration rather than increasing dismay. . .

 

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) hit a nerve Thursday when he said that Trump “has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence” needed in a president. That indictment was significant because Corker, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, is a respected Capitol Hill veteran who chooses his words carefully — and who thus far has been willing to give Trump a chance. Corker said he feared that “our nation is going to go through great peril” and called for “radical change” at the White House. . .

Anyone can have a bad day. But according to many published reports, Trump often erupts into rage — especially when he sees something he doesn’t like on the cable news shows he is said to watch compulsively.

In his Twitter postings, he increasingly lashes out in ways that are counterproductive. I can see some method behind his incessant ranting about “fake news,” which may actually help him with his political base. But why attack Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) whose help the president needs if he is to get legislation passed or nominees approved? Why campaign against Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has been a frequent critic but ended up supporting Trump on health care? Is Trump unable to imagine how other GOP senators — whose votes he needs if he is to get anything done — are going to react?

I have spoken with people who have known Trump for decades and who say he has changed. He exhibits less self-awareness, these longtime acquaintances say, and less capacity for sustained focus. Indeed, it is instructive to compare television interviews of Trump recorded years ago with those conducted now. To this layman’s eyes and ears, there seems to have been deterioration.

I am not professionally qualified to assess the president’s mental health; psychiatrists and psychologists who have the proper credentials and experience to do so are silenced by ethical rules. The stakes are so high,  . . “

 
Check out any relaible factcheck website.  He’s a chronic offender.  Factcheck.doc awarded him the ‘King of Whoppers’ award 2 years in a row.  He beat out Hillary twice.

 



Would it be fair and accurate to call  him a 'pathological liar'--not in the psychiatric context but in a behavioral context?

A number of people do. Just google 'Trump a pathological liar'.
 

 

1 comment:

  1. I was never a Trumpster, so much as I was against the war monger history of Hillary. On the campaign trail, Trump said he wanted trade, not war, and spoke out against NATO.

    I know from first-hand visual that bombs and heavy artillery are not the proper tools for urban renewal and landscaping. And, IMO, NATO became superfluous in 1991.

    Now, Trump has flip-flopped. Investors are flocking to the war-toy Boyz. Banksters are smiling.

    I don't see Pence as an improvement, though, from the standpoint of a war's probability.

    We're in trouble. "Deep doo-doo" comes to mind.

    Art

    ReplyDelete