Tag: chaos

Corruption, Anger, Chaos, Incompetence, Lies, Decay

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END OUR NATIONAL CRISIS: The Case Against Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s re-election campaign poses the greatest threat to American democracy since World War II.

Mr. Trump’s ruinous tenure already has gravely damaged the United States at home and around the world. He has abused the power of his office and denied the legitimacy of his political opponents, shattering the norms that have bound the nation together for generations. He has subsumed the public interest to the profitability of his business and political interests. He has shown a breathtaking disregard for the lives and liberties of Americans. He is a man unworthy of the office he holds.

The editorial board does not lightly indict a duly elected president. During Mr. Trump’s term, we have called out his racism and his xenophobia. We have critiqued his vandalism of the postwar consensus, a system of alliances and relationships around the globe that cost a great many lives to establish and maintain. We have, again and again, deplored his divisive rhetoric and his malicious attacks on fellow Americans. Yet when the Senate refused to convict the president for obvious abuses of power and obstruction, we counseled his political opponents to focus their outrage on defeating him at the ballot box.

Chaos, Fear, And Shared Irrationality: Why Supporters Still Cling To Trump

A looming question in today’s political climate is: Why do Donald Trump’s devotees continue to support him despite the carnage of his well-documented failures? Although we are in the middle of a deadly pandemic that is surging and not contained, Trump seems to maintain a base support of 35 percent to 40 percent. What are the psychological factors that influence or underpin his supporters’ attraction to him? And might this provide some perspective on how to change these supporters’ minds?

Multiple psychological factors seem to influence and explain his supporters. We have divided these factors into four major categories: Rebelliousness and Chaos; Shared Irrationality; Fear; and Safety and Order.

Rebelliousness and Chaos

Some Trump supporters have a strong desire for rebelliousness and chaos, and view Trump as the perfect vehicle for achieving their personal goals. These supporters tend to become “anti-establishment and anti-government,” even when it is against their best interest. Many are unhappy with their station in life and believe chaos in the political system will bring them important gains. They seek immediate and sweeping changes and believe a rebellious attitude and rebellious behavior are what is necessary. They would rather have chaos, even dangerously or regressively so, than the status quo. Continue reading.

Fanning the Flames of Chaos

The following article by Kenneth T. Walsh was posted on the U.S. News website October 6, 2017:

President Trump’s cycle is clear: announce a goal, then back off to let others do the work.

Credit: Andrew Harnik/AP

The pressures on every president are relentless and inescapable. Presumably Donald Trump is learning this basic fact about his job as he enters the most crucial period of his first year in office.

Americans want their president to be commander in chief, policymaker, healer, innovator, protector, role model, celebrity, administrator and empathizer. Trump has never needed to show most of these qualities before, and it’s unclear whether he can do so now.

So far, Trump has excelled as a disrupter who wants to shatter the norms of Washington. His job-approval ratings are poor, hovering below 40 percent, indicating that while his approach may satisfy core supporters who want him to turn Washington upside down, the rest of the country isn’t pleased. Continue reading “Fanning the Flames of Chaos”

One GOP senator’s extraordinarily dim assessment of the Trump administration

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website October 4, 2017:

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) weighed in on the tumult within President Trump’s administration on Oct. 4, and said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “ends up not being supported in a way that I would hope a secretary of state would be supported.” (C-SPAN)

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) announced recently that he would not seek reelection in 2018, and that seems to have freed him up to speak more candidly about the Trump administration. And speak more candidly he did on Wednesday.

In a conversation with reporters, Corker responded to an NBC News report that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had to be talked out of resigning after disagreements with President Trump. Corker, who as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has worked extensively with Tillerson, said he wouldn’t disclose sensitive conversations that the two might have had. Continue reading “One GOP senator’s extraordinarily dim assessment of the Trump administration”