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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254026: Sep 4th 2018 at 9:33:39 PM

Too bad Pelosi's challenger is also old. And a bigot.

Seriously, screw Jaffe.

Disgusted, but not surprised
AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#254027: Sep 4th 2018 at 9:39:37 PM

It's definitely good that the Democrats are getting some new blood injected into them. That Pressley and Capuano have very similar platforms is not necessarily a bad thing, since Pressley's youth allows her to carry on Capuano's mantle for another several decades.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254028: Sep 4th 2018 at 9:43:58 PM

That Pressley actually has some experience in city government makes it better.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#254029: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:10:15 PM

I do think Trump is senile and his decisions are being affected by said condition. He's still a racist and asshole but his memory and ability to make decisions has been compromised. It's not a psychiatric diagnosis but a worry about the symptoms as well as the fact he had his doctor lie about his condition plus the many reports on it which have suggested he might be.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Sep 4th 2018 at 10:13:32 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254030: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:11:54 PM

[up]Again, barring a professional diagnosis, it's best to refrain from making such assumptions.

We shouldn't engage in making sensationalist claims that have little genuine evidence. I have similar reservations about the "Donald Trump has incestuous feelings for his daughter Ivanka" crap.

Edited by M84 on Sep 5th 2018 at 1:12:43 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#254031: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:17:03 PM

[up] I don’t think anyone actually takes that one particularly seriously. (Well, mostly)

Edited by megaeliz on Sep 4th 2018 at 1:18:05 PM

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#254032: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:17:55 PM

When in doubt, it is better to summarize the facts then to speculate on the cause. So for instance, Donald Trump acts in a manner around his daughter which is unusual and disturbing. That’s corroborated by a lot of evidence. Speculating that he has actual incestuous desires, not so much.

Trump behaves erratically, refuses to read detailed information or briefings about domestic or foreign affairs, and often tweets in the middle of the night. He has a tendency of regurgitating talking points from FOX News, and making white supremacist statements. That’s more accurate and less ableist than calling him deranged.

Edited by wisewillow on Sep 4th 2018 at 1:20:08 PM

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254033: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:19:48 PM

I mean, there's more than enough stuff to criticize about Trump already. We really shouldn't be making shit up.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#254034: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:20:08 PM

We also know he's been involved with a known pimp of teenage girls and behaves innapropriately at pageants for teenage girls.

But that doesn't mean he's incestuous.

But it does make me uncomfortable with the "joke" since there's not a zero percent chance he could have sexually abused his daughter. It's not entirely out of character for someone like Trump.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254035: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:21:53 PM

[up][up][up]Yeah, it's one thing to list his actions. Those are just observable fact. It's quite another to outright claim he has dementia or something.

Disgusted, but not surprised
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#254036: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:25:07 PM

That said, that Twitter that megaeliz quotes every so often seems to do a pretty good job predicting Trump's behavior in terms of the behavior of a narcissist.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254037: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:29:37 PM

Even if that thread does offer some good points and has made some accurate predictions, I'm still not entirely comfortable with it whenever it goes as far as to outright claim Trump has NPD.

Disgusted, but not surprised
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#254038: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:31:42 PM

What's interesting to me, is when for example, this one online comedian has written a bunch of parody songs where he implies (or outright states) the joke that Trump's secret love affair with Putin, while he is also proudly gay himself.

Edited by megaeliz on Sep 4th 2018 at 1:34:40 PM

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254039: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:34:19 PM

When you're actually a member of the minority group, it's somewhat more acceptable to make these kind of jokes. N-Word Privileges, basically.

Disgusted, but not surprised
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#254040: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:36:39 PM

[up][up][up] and apparently, the guy's ex-wife and former boss were both narcissists, so he knows his stuff, probably better than a lot of experts, because in general, the nature of NPD means they don't actually end up seeing a lot of them in clinical settings.

Edited by megaeliz on Sep 4th 2018 at 1:41:29 PM

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254041: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:39:05 PM

By that logic I would be an expert on NPD. My own father's behavior has some signs of narcissism, which might explain why he spent some time as a Trump supporter (not sure if he still is). Though TBF, he has never been officially diagnosed with anything.

Yeah, growing up with him was an...interesting experience. There's a reason I always preferred my mom even if she was the parent who would dole out the corporal punishment in my younger years.

Edited by M84 on Sep 5th 2018 at 1:42:39 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#254042: Sep 4th 2018 at 10:47:06 PM

[up] I do think there's something to be said for actual experience with full on diagnosible Malignant Narcissism, though. As I said, most psychologists don't actually see a lot of NPD in a clinical setting, and living with someone who has it, is a very unique perspective on how it works and what it looks like.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#254043: Sep 5th 2018 at 12:10:50 AM

OTOH, a key part of being able to make accurate diagnosis of a problem is objectivity. The closer you are to the situation, the harder it is to remain unbiased. That's one of the reasons doctors shouldn't handle their family members.

Edited by M84 on Sep 6th 2018 at 3:13:27 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
PolarPhantom Since: Jun, 2012
#254044: Sep 5th 2018 at 2:59:05 AM

So, how screwed are we with the Supreme Court?

3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#254045: Sep 5th 2018 at 3:03:20 AM

Wait a couple days and we'll know.

"You can reply to this Message!"
Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#254046: Sep 5th 2018 at 3:52:57 AM

At least from this new Woodward book we now know that if Trump ever sits down for an interview with Mueller, it's game over for him. His personal lawyer, John Dowd, couldn't get him to properly answer the questions and resigned the next day rather than have to put up with the president's nonsense again.

Life is unfair...
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#254047: Sep 5th 2018 at 4:59:31 AM

Re: Pressly vs. Capuano. I was supportive of Capuano out of a general preference for incumbency when the incumbent is as progressive as the challenger, but I'm totally fine with Pressly winning, since she has good ideology, is young, and is a person of color in our entirely white delegation. That she has actual experience in government is a huge plus and shouldn't be downplayed — Pressly isn't Ocasio-Cortez; this isn't her first rodeo.

Still, one concerning aspect of her worldview is her expectation that every arm of the federal government is a bully pulpit. The House, in particular, is a boring and glacial environment whose inhabitants exist in individual anonymity (who can name more than ten outside of the leadership?) doing plodding, bureaucratic work for years. Her soaring, revolutionary rhetoric might inculcate expectations in her supporters for dynamism that simply can't exist in Congress because of the internal culture.

Edited by CrimsonZephyr on Sep 5th 2018 at 8:01:58 AM

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#254048: Sep 5th 2018 at 5:04:15 AM

I’m not sure that I share your opinion of the House. The House is supposed to be dynamic, the Senate is supposed to be plodding. God knows, if you go look up the rhetoric and policy positions of a lot of House Republicans, it’s going to be just as, if not more outspoken than Pressley’s. Just because a lot of House Republicans get to be despicable without receiving much attention doesn’t mean that the entire house is more nuanced or middle of the road.

And there are 435 people in the House, remembering all of them isn’t something a common person needs to be able to do. That said, I felt like making an attempt to see how many I know off the top of my head.

  • Paul Ryan
  • Steve King
  • Steve King (yes, there’s 2 of them)
  • Devon Nunes
  • Mike Capouano
  • Joe Crowley
  • Barbara Lee
  • Maxine Waters
  • Nancy Pelosi
  • Susan Brooks
  • Todd Rokita
  • Luke Messer
  • Pete Visclosky
  • Trey Hollingsworth (yes, he’s a rich guy who bought a seat)
  • Jackie Walorski
  • Andre Carson
  • Jim Jordan
  • John Lewis

Edited by wisewillow on Sep 5th 2018 at 8:17:42 AM

Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#254049: Sep 5th 2018 at 6:33:39 AM

Regarding Ivanka: It's easy to go "he's so narcissistic that he wants to bang himself, but female" but I honestly think it's just a lot simpler than that. He's immature. The man talks about sex like an 8th grader. He has a compulsive need to be seen a virile and sexually active with a wild libido. So the attractive woman he spends more time with/talking to than anyone else? He knows he's supposed to show sexual interest.

The fact he acts like a randy guy so much is why my personal theory is that he's not actually that interested in sex. Because seriously, he sounds like a middle-schooler talking about the 200 girls he's banged that you wouldn't know, they're friends of his sister and from out-of-town.

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#254050: Sep 5th 2018 at 6:39:24 AM

I wonder if Woodward's book will cause any heads to roll at the White House....

Tillerson never recovered from the moron leak after all.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.

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