https://t.co/uvrp2yBir3
Trump's call to @GaSecofState highlights the intersection of "Trickle Down Pathology", the emasculinization of the rule of law, and a gaslighting technique I describe as "the manipulation of the interaction timeline".
To review: 1)Trump attempted to extort election fraud....1/
Audio: Trump berates Ga. secretary of state, urges him to "find" votes https://t.co/Pibw9gBt1A
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 3, 2021
https://t.co/uvrp2yBir3
Brad Raffensperger told his advisers he did not want the recording or a transcript of the call released unless Trump attacked him or misrepresented the call. Trump tweeted attacking Raffensperger Sunday morning. https://t.co/mxDSeHYeRZ
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 4, 2021
As for the \u201cinteraction timeline\u201d, it comes into play in two ways. First, the narcissist uses it to 1) excuse their own behavior, and 2) to demonize those whose reasonable reaction to the egregious behavior attempts to hold the narcissist accountable, 21/https://t.co/Psb0Dg36mm
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) August 24, 2019
\u2026.. and 3) to simultaneously claim victimhood by characterizing the reaction as an \u201cunfair\u201d, unprovoked attack against the narcissist. 22/ https://t.co/qMBVRT9UNx
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) August 24, 2019
If you look at \u201cunfairness\u201d through the lens of his narcissism, particularly through the lens of grandiosity/superiority/perfection\u2026.there\u2019s an inability/unwillingness to see things objectively. 3/
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) July 23, 2019
There\u2019s also a zero-sum dynamic: If something doesn\u2019t go 100% in Trump\u2019s favor, it\u2019s unfair, b/c he\u2019s pathologically subjective (only see the world through his own limited perspective), and thinks he \u201cdeserves\u201d 100% of the pie (zero-sum). Anything less than 100% is \u201cunfair\u201d. 4/
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) July 23, 2019
As far as \u201ctreatment\u201d, if he doesn\u2019t receive 100% adulation (narcissistic supply), it\u2019s perceived as \u201cunfair\u201d treatment. This is why there\u2019s no acceptance of accountability, why he bristles at criticism, and will go to war & hold grudges with people who criticize him (press). 5/
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) July 23, 2019
He\u2019s also oblivious, in denial, and/or dishonest about when the interaction timeline begins (which usually begins with an egregious action/statement by Trump)\u2026.. Instead pointing to other peoples' reactions to his words/actions as the initial action rather than as a reaction. 6/
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) July 23, 2019
\u2026..which allows him to always (attempt to) claim victimhood because he characterizes the situation as being one where everyone else (press/Democrats/law enforcement) is \u201cattacking\u201d Trump (or someone who sycophantically furthers Trump\u2019s interests) *without* provocation.7/
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) July 23, 2019
This due in part to Trump symptomatically living in an "immortal, eternal now", without any concept of historical significance.....other than to keep score of others who have "wronged" him. 8/ https://t.co/qezbSyOzy0
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) July 23, 2019
But, here's the thing......the problem isn't that Trump's attempt to extort and commit election fraud came to light....
....The problem is that it occurred.....13/
https://t.co/4z4hQLNmfy
The past doesn't matter...
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) September 29, 2020
Words don't matter...
Accountability doesn't matter...
Hypocrisy doesn't matter...
Apparently what matters is questioning and disparaging those who report/expose the egregious behavior.
The problem isn't that this came to light, it's that it happened. https://t.co/0IH5xAyZuL
For decades, the Right has masculinized conservative issues politics....and emasculinzed "principled morality, etc".....14/ https://t.co/JLGVxiOoVt
This is due to decades of (e)masculinization of politics. The Republicans have used the 2nd Amend (guns), Libertarianism, Foreign policy (war), etc, to masculinize conservatism,...while simultaneously emasculating empathy, compassion, principled morality, intellectualism, etc. 1/ https://t.co/aCQ3JxEahf
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) February 6, 2020
A man does not release a private conversation he has with anyone. That\u2019s part of being a man. Democrat, Republican, Trump, anti-Trump, none of that matters.
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) January 4, 2021
You don\u2019t repeat things said to you privately. That\u2019s simple man code. https://t.co/hlRPamglnV
When supporting and defending the behavior of a pathologically disordered leader becomes the top priority, the "defense" (behavior) of the subordinates will invariably become pathologically disordered. This is the essence of \u201cTrickle Down Pathology: 10/ https://t.co/FO0STMN0jO
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) November 13, 2019
When supporting and defending the behavior of a pathologically disordered leader becomes the top priority, the "defense" (behavior) of the subordinates will invariably become pathologically disordered. This is the essence of \u201cTrickle Down Pathology: 10/ https://t.co/FO0STMN0jO
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) November 13, 2019
They're boxed-in to their support of Trump by caricatures of their morality/intelligence. To admit Trump is who/what he is substantiates those caricatures to some degree. It's less psychologically/emotionally distressing to preserve the Trump fallacy, and to continue...1/ https://t.co/WSdFFJTd2h
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) August 24, 2020
More from Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych
Details/competency are boring, and expertise causes people to feel ignorant. So they choose reality TV stars over competent leaders, or actual mental health professionals.
Thank you. This is what happens when the press (all do this) serves some other interest than the public. A self-governing people should not tolerate this, or we get Donald Trump. https://t.co/UKfjcAypYE
— Bandy X Lee, MD, MDiv (@BandyXLee1) December 28, 2020
https://t.co/uMufgDNlaO
There's an interplay between "collective narcissism" & "American Exceptionalism" that creates resistance to learning. Learning requires voluntary intellectual subordination: an admission the "teacher" knows more than you. This triggers our narcissistic sense of exceptionalism..1/ https://t.co/DrmW7AXB6l
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) May 15, 2020
When disinformation causes otherwise irrational behavior to appear rational.
Let's unpack.....1/
In the video above, @rubinreport uses Johnathon Isaac’s response about being unvaccinated to correctly encourage people to
- avoid summarily demonizing people
- have a measured, good-faith interpretation of other people's potentially good-faith “rational” motivations/actions
2/
I agree. Jonathon Isaac was very impressive in that interview.
We won’t make progress as a society by engaging in the same behavior that helped create the problem. And : 3/
Yes, fighting the temptation to name call (or "own the Cons"), rather than articulate the behavior is important. Calling them "Covidiots" is an indulgent lack of emotional discipline/maturity.
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) September 4, 2021
It's difficult to solve the problem by engaging in the same problematic behavior. 1/ https://t.co/5FBK2jNI6f
Yet, just 12 seconds into the show, Rubin’s characterization of efforts to contain covid as attempts to “control”/tyrannize not only demonizes medical professionals (“elites”), but it’s also an implicit refusal to acknowledge ANY good faith motivation to protect public health: 4/
“[Covid is] going to be this constant cudgel that they can always use to control us and lock us down and put more rules on us, and all of the *stuff* that you all get since they’re always going to do that….. 5/
Great analysis. Now, what do we do about it. Do we need to \u2018reprogram\u2019 minds of those who\u2019ve fallen into a veil of deception? Do we treat these folks as cult victims? When it is a group narcissism, folks have to \u2018kill off\u2019 a part of themselves to escape, not easy recovery.
— Ponder (@Washyourowndish) April 23, 2021
No one is receptive to finding “common ground” when the starting point of the person who claims to desire common ground is telling them they’ve been brainwashed, and that they need to be “deprogrammed”. 2/
This plays into the “Totalitarian” narrative that Tucker Carlson is propagating, even going so far as using the “don’t believe your own eyes” to reinforce the narrative. 3/

Of course, this is exactly what occurred during Trump’s presidency. Basically, it’s another attempt to confuse and distract with moral/false equivalency. 4/
In the past, the Right attempted to excuse Trump’s pathological dishonesty with allegations of the Left lying: if everyone is lying, then no one is lying……because lying is normalized.
...or 2), a combination of: everything is a lie, therefore nothing is a lie\u2026.that lying is a necessary tactic to win or to compete against evil enemies (Libs/media) who are lying,\u2026or that they\u2019re in a Darwinian fight for survival where lying is a law of the political jungle.13/
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) July 6, 2019

\u201cIn one of the only original passages in his Ohio speech, he criticized \u2018woke generals\u2019 and claimed that \u2018our military will be incapable of fighting and incapable of taking orders.\u2019 America\u2019s \u2018military brass have become weak and ineffective leaders.\u2019\u201d https://t.co/IHqNTcgILg
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) June 27, 2021
....to remember that 53 of the 500 people arrested for the Jan. 6th insurrection were former/current military. The Right knows the military has a potential extremist problem, except that rather than attempt to understand and solve the problem,...2/
Wow. Great speech by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Milley:
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) June 24, 2021
"I want to understand white rage....I want to understand what caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the constitution of the United States." 1/
pic.twitter.com/lxVpPO9BHE
...Trump, and the Right Wing Media Echo Chamber are attempting to exacerbate and inflame the problem.
The Echo Chamber knows that FOX is on nearly every TV in and around military bases, so when Ted Cruz talks about the military being emasculated....3/
Holy crap.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 20, 2021
Perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea.... https://t.co/8aVFMW98NM
......and when Matt Gaetz and J.D. Vance talk about the military losing
With Generals like this it\u2019s no wonder we\u2019ve fought considerably more wars than we\u2019ve won. https://t.co/wt43YAs6cU
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) June 23, 2021
...5/....https://t.co/23iwQikwgH
I personally would like American generals to read less about \u201cwhite rage\u201d (whatever that is) and more about \u201cnot losing wars.\u201d
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) June 25, 2021
More from Politics
To me, the most important aspect of the 2018 midterms wasn't even about partisan control, but about democracy and voting rights. That's the real battle.
2/The good news: It's now an issue that everyone's talking about, and that everyone cares about.
3/More good news: Florida's proposition to give felons voting rights won. But it didn't just win - it won with substantial support from Republican voters.
That suggests there is still SOME grassroots support for democracy that transcends
4/Yet more good news: Michigan made it easier to vote. Again, by plebiscite, showing broad support for voting rights as an
5/OK, now the bad news.
We seem to have accepted electoral dysfunction in Florida as a permanent thing. The 2000 election has never really
Bad ballot design led to a lot of undervotes for Bill Nelson in Broward Co., possibly even enough to cost him his Senate seat. They do appear to be real undervotes, though, instead of tabulation errors. He doesn't really seem to have a path to victory. https://t.co/utUhY2KTaR
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 16, 2018
Michael van der Veen begins Trump's defense: "The article of impeachment now before the Senate is an unjust and blatantly unconstitutional act of political vengeance" pic.twitter.com/xRaZHEPIaC
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 12, 2021
Es wird argumentiert, dass Trump nur habe sicherstellen wollen, dass die Wahl fair abgelaufen sei. Die Verteidigung zeigt Clips einzelner Demokraten, die der Zertifizierung von Trumps Stimmen 2016 widersprechen. (Dass es 2016 keinen von Obama gesandten Mob aufs Kapitol gab?Egal!)
Die intellektuelle Unehrlichkeit ist so unfassbar, ich weiß kaum, wo ich hier überhaupt anfangen soll; so viele fucking Strohmänner auf einmal.
Die Verteidigung spielt random Clips, in denen Demokraten “fight” sagen, fast zehn Minuten lang. Weil Trump 20mal am 6. Januar “fight” gesagt hat. Dies ist kein Witz. Komisch, dass sonst die Folge nie war, dass ein Mob das Kapitol gestürmt hat und Pence hängen wollte
WATCH: Trump's defense plays nearly 10 minutes of clips showing Democrats using the word "fight," to defend Trump using the word "fight" about 20 times in his speech to supporters before the Capitol riot began https://t.co/YUg7sgxuDX pic.twitter.com/3eMNp7E2S2
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 12, 2021
“Dieser Fall geht um politischen Hass” Ich mein, ja. “Die House Managers hassen Donald Trump.”
So close.