Rikkitic:

 

I would like to say something about this thread. Most of it is made up of anti-Trump links and comments and some of it is clearly over the top so it would be easy to see it as simple Trump bashing. But I believe there is another important dimension to it that sometimes gets overlooked.

 

Donald Trump is not a nice person. He has a long, well-documented history of being not a nice person. He seems to have a genuinely nasty streak, as evidenced by his mockery of those he doesn’t like, including the family of a dead soldier and a journalist with a disability. He has a terrible attitude towards women, evidenced by his notorious pussy-grabbing comment. And now there is his comment about immigrants. These things and many, many others are not fake news. They are all well-documented. Trump is an unpleasant human being.

 

There are many unpleasant people in positions of power. That is unfortunate, but in itself not necessarily catastrophic. What makes it so much worse in Trump’s case is his apparent inability to grasp the consequences of his actions. He is a shallow, uncultured, unintelligent, ignorant, incompetent man with a narcissistic personality disorder and an obsessive dislike of his predecessor. He makes decisions impulsively, without thinking them through. He is a pathological liar. He tells lies about almost everything, then apparently believes them. These things are also well-documented. He doesn’t like to read and his comprehension is poor. He lets himself be led by what he sees on Fox News. He is easily flattered. He doesn’t understand even basic concepts. He takes pride in his ignorance.

 

As president of the USA, these qualities put him in a position to do enormous damage to his country and the world. He is a like a toddler with a loaded gun. He is far out of his league, hugely outclassed by those who want to manipulate him and take advantage of his limitations. He has become an embarrassment and an international laughing stock, undermining American prestige and the dignity of his office as he becomes easy fodder for late-night comedians.

 

He is also corrupt. Like Nixon, he surrounds himself with criminals. Money rules and those who dote on him are rewarded. He is drawn to fascist elements, who appeal to his simple-minded world view and in whom he sees kindred spirits. Some of his strongest critics worry that he and his cronies might actually subvert democracy in America and snuff it out altogether. Even if that does not happen, the damage that has already been done will likely take many decades to repair.

 

Trump enjoys an alarming level of popular support because he appeals to the worst instincts of his supporters. Some see him as a nascent Hitler but Mussolini might be a more relevant comparison.

 

Those of us who criticise and mock him here, do so not because we just don’t like his politics, but because we recognise the threat he represents. It is not about right or left. Donald Trump is not qualified by any measure to lead the United States of America or any other country. His election was a tragedy. The sooner that horrible mistake is corrected, the better. That, in my opinion, is what this thread is about.

Rikkitic, well said, this piece deserves global coverage.

After re-reading your summary of Trump's nature, I'm beginning to wonder if, apart from his overt criminality, there's a subconscious desire for self-destruction in this man's psyche.

It's almost as if, without knowing it, he's crying out, 'Godammit! What more do I have to do to show these these fools what an utterly loathsome creature I really am!'