1. A quote from a French novel
Il m'avait dit que nous vivions une drôle d'époque.
I just finished reading a French novel by the Nobel Prize-winning author, Patrick Modiano, Rue des Boutiques Obscures. Most of his novels take place in occupied France during World War ll, with a special emphasis on the plight of French Jews during that awful period. In the novel I read, a group of people--that they were Jewish is not directly mentioned, but strongly implied--attempt to escape Vichy France by crossing the border into Switzerland. The protagonist recalls having met a man a few months earlier, who had just sold on the black market two diamond bracelets in order to finance his own escape form France. Willing to share some of the proceeds with the protagonist, Pedro, so he can escape as well, the kind man says what is quoted above in French: We're living in weird times.
We're living in weird times as well. I always have found it more than a bit flip when one compares the horrors of Nazi politics with those of our own; now, however, I must reluctantly admit that that French quote is particularly apt when applied to American politics today. In occupied France, there were no free press, freedom of speech, an independent judiciary--all the bedrocks of democracy were gone, allowing society to descend into the muck of fascism. We still have those institutions, but they are, for the first time in my long lifetime, under attack. Real news is called fake news and vice versa; lies are called truths and vice versa; leaders of the free world are vilified while autocrats are praised; our alliances with allies are disintegrating; the party in power has made a Faustian bargain with an incompetent egotist who is undermining every day American institutions and America's position in the world. We are living in weird times indeed. That a French quote reflecting conditions in Vichy France seems so apropos today should elicit furrowed brows on our foreheads; it is also a cause for action.
Don't get me wrong. I know only too well the history of the last world war; I'm not implying that our epoch is now as drôle as it was during World War ll. But things are getting weirder every day in American politics, there is no doubt about that. For the first time in my life I can say without exaggeration, that if we don't stop Trump's excesses, American democracy may one day soon be a thing of the past--a horrible thought!
2. An Article in The Atlantic and Louis XlV
In the June edition of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg. after inquiring among officials of the current administration about what constitutes the Trump Doctrine, discussed three of the best answers he received. He listed them in reverse order of what he considered to be the most salient replies:
3. "No friends, no enemies." This (supposedly) enables Trump to do what is in the best interests of the United States as he sees it, with total disregard regarding what friends or adversaries may think.
2. "Permanent destabilization creates American advantages." In a chaotic situation, America will benefit most, since it still is the most powerful nation on earth. In other words, if one deliberately spills a tank of milk on a road, kitties will get a few licks, but the lion will get, well, the lion's share.
1. "We're America, bitch." This Jeffrey Goldberg considers to be the best definition of the Trump Doctrine. Might makes right; Lie, Lie, and Lie Again; Bully, Tweet, and Carry A Big Stick.
It is frightening to acknowledge that all these definitions apply. But I don't think any of them is the best one. I would summarize the Trump doctrine with a famous quote from Louis XIV: "L'État, c'est moi."
There were no democratic institutions during Louis's reign, something with which Trump could easily adapt to. Louis XIV severely attenuated the power of the aristocracy; those of the highest rank had to be satisfied with the honor of handing him his clothes as he dressed. What he demanded above all was unalloyed loyalty
Our would-be Sun King from Queens believes it his divine right to reign unopposed. He has alienated and driven out many former members of his team. He considees himself to be "a very stable genius." He doesn't want to work with experts, since, in his view, he's the only expert needed.
There are contrasts, of course. Louis XIV was an intelligent man; during hs reign, French culture reached great heights. Trump, in contrast, is subliterate; the White House, which during all previous presidencies honored and celebrated artists and scientists, has became a cultural backwater during the age of Trump.
Another similarity: there is an aspect of "après moi, le déluge" about Trump. What Republican could whip up his base and lie as he does? Pence, after all, makes Louis XVl and Marie Antoinette look good. We should recall as well that Louis XIV bankrupted France. Trump's terribly unfair tax cuts do not bode well for the financial future of our country.
But it's actually much worse than that. Louis XIV certainly loved France; I've come to the terrible conclusion that Trump isn't really a patriot at all. He will do nothing for the long-term benefit of America, especially if it would make his base unhappy. Regarding civil rights, Johnson did the right thing, even though he realized that the Democrats would lose the South for generations. Such sacrifice is antithetical to Trump's nature. All he wants to be is the center of attention; all he desires is praise.
Can you imagine another president willing to meet with a North Korean dictator, without preparation? Why did he accede to Kim's demands to cancel joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises? So he could be crowned with a Nobel Prize. He came first; peace came second.
The Trump doctrine is therefore not "L'État, c'est moi," but simply "C'est moi." The Trump Doctrine is not "America First," but "Trump First."
Can you imagine a president who so completely lacks a moral core that he orders the separation of children from parents just to hear cheers from his base during a rally?
He has long ince crosssed the border from normal to pathology. The man is sick.
3. What Mental Health Professionals Are Saying
In a book entitled, "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump," edited by Bandy X, Lee, M.D. from the Yale School of Medicine, which appeared last fall, 27 psychiatrists make a strong case that Trump suffers from a mental illness, malignant narcissism. We all know the symptoms: the constant need for praise; feeling superior to everyone else; aggression and sadism; lack of empathy; self-aggrandizement; dividing the world into enemies and sycophants, etc. Talk about a trolling textbook case of a soulless selfie!
One psychiatrist, however, who devised the criteria for diagnosing narcissistic personality disorder, holds out. He still abides by the Goldwater Rule, the 1973 decree by the American Psychiatric Association, advising that psychiatrists should not diagnose a mental illness without having interviewed the person in question. In addition, according to this doctor, Trump lacks a sine qua non of the narcissism diagnosis: he doesn't suffer mental stress because of it. I find this debatable, for if Trump was truly comfortable in his skin, he wouldn't arrange those frequent rallies in red states, the sole purpose of which is to bask in cheers for him and in the jeers for his enemies. During those rallies, he often appears unhinged, a would-be stand-up, addicted to the loud adulation of those who should know better but don't. How needy, how anxiety-driven is that? Trump is caught in a negative-feedback loop created by his own defects: he increases his egregious behavior in order to get more praise from his base, which alienates the rest of us and increases our opposition, driving him to please his crowds even more.
I really don't think we need psychiatrists to inform us whether Trump meets the narrow definition of a specific mental illness. Common sense must agree with Fred Rogers who once famously said, "It's all about love--or the lack of it." It is obvious to many that love is not what animates Trump; he is a failed human being, and, as our president, is failing us and the world.
Every culture has a version of The Golden Rule as a touchstone of morality and of the best way to live. If we consider a scale that ascends in the positive direction to the right, and descends in the negative direction to the left with a minimum value of the Golden Rule at the center, Trump is so far to the negative side that one must conclude that he is spiritually, if not mentally, ill. When one adds his incompetence to the calculation, his failure both to himself and to the nation is staggering.
Allen Frances, the psychiatrist who stated that Trump doesn't meet the textbook definition of narcissistic personality disorder, went on to say that Trump isn't crazy, we are--at least those millions of people who voted for him. He has a point.
4. The Pathological Pyramid
In a previous article, I helped explain the Trump phenomenon with the image of a pathological pyramid.We have a disastrous president at the top; however, the person at the top can't float in mid-air. He is supported for about a third the way down by his enablers, the Republican politicians. The lower two-thirds represents Trump's base, those who voted for him, and still for the most part support him.
Many intellectual conservatives have already abandoned Trump. Sam Schmidt, the notable former Republican strategist, has left the party. George Will opposes the "oleaginous" president"; David Frumm from The Atlantic opposes him as well. But not the Republicans in power! Bob Corker, a Republican senator from Tennessee, and Jeff Flake, a Republican senator from Arizona, have publicly stated their vehement opposition to the president--after they decided not to run for office again. No other Republican in power has distanced himself from Trump.
One is reminded of the couplet by Alexander Pope, containg a message on the collar of a dog which was in the presence of courtiers: "I am His Majesty's dog at Kew/Pray tell me, Sir, whose dog are you?" We know the answer. They have all been bought.
Here's what Patti Davis, the daughter of Ronald Reagan had to say about how she believes her father would have reacted to the Republicans in power today:
“He would be appalled and heartbroken at a Congress that refuses to stand up to a president who not only seems ignorant of the Constitution but who also attempts at every turn to dismantle and mock our system of checks and balances.”
We live in Orwellian times. The Senate Judiciary Committee is involved in a witch hunt against the honorable Robert Mueller, in an attempt to sabotage his investigation; the Republicans on the committee are accusing the FBI and Mueller of being involved in a witch hunt against their man, who is behaving like a warlock-in-chief.
At the bottom of the pyramid are the many millions of voters who have made Trump possible. They consist largely of working-class whites, who continue (mostly) to support him, despite the fact that Trump supports them in the same spirit as French aristocrats supported French peasants before the French Revolution. How long will this continue?
I don't know, but I do know this: our democracy is in danger. Since Trump became president, our prestige abroad is declining; America is declining as well. We must fight the good fight to defeat this know-nothing would-be tyrant. If not already, get involved!
At the very least, every concerned citizen must vote, especially in the upcoming midterm election. If we don't vote in much larger numbers, we deserve what we get.
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