To paraphrase the Narcissist’s Prayer, he’s currently moving from “That won’t happen” to “And if it does, it won’t be that bad” and on to “And if it is, that’s not a big deal.”

So expect “And if it is, that’s not my fault” in the not terribly distant future.

And so on, and so on…

If my government the government that’s managed to weasel its way into power over the land on which I happened to be born proposed an initiative to tackle fraud, I would look for the catch, because it’s guaranteed there would be one.

Connolly is an accomplice in the coup d’etat.

“Lefties keep calling us Nazis but they don’t even know what Nazis are, and oh yeah, by the way, all of these people over here should be killed because they’re an inferior race.”

Even setting aside the staggering psychopathy of the modern right - their complete and utter disregard for the lives of other human beings - I don’t even begin to understand how any human being could have so little self-awareness.

Preach.

It’s not a coincidence that it was Democrats who coined the term “flyover country.”

And it’s not a coincidence that “flyover country” won’t vote for them.

And they’re okay with that. They’d rather lose than lower themselves so far as to associate with the unwashed masses.

This isn’t ignorance or missing the point - they know exactly what they’re doing.

lol

It’s like when you’re literally trying to point something out to someone - standing there pointing with your finger - and they just can’t see it, so you’re stuck just jabbing with your finger and saying, “Right there! Right where I’m pointing! Can’t you see it?! It’s right there!”

That is and always has been the exact and only point of tariffs.

I don’t think there’s been a clearer indicator of the profound ignorance of all too many Americans than the fact that Trump actually managed to get them to believe that he could institute tariffs and lower prices.

The exact and only purpose of tariffs is to RAISE prices - specifically prices for imported goods that are lower than those of their overpriced domestic counterparts.

And that’s exactly what they will do, deliberately and by design.

Unless its asked for by a lobbyist

This is the key.

Political power in the US is openly bought and sold, and wealthy individuals and corporations generally control it simply because they outbid everyone else.

It really is just that simple.

There are too many variables for there to be one answer.

For instance, are their intentions sincere or just claimed? If they fail to carry through, is it because of things outside of their control or just because they can’t be bothered to put out any real effort?

Or from the other end, if their actions are harmful, is that by design or inadvertent? If inadvertent, do they feel any regret or do they just treat it as too damned bad?

And so on.

And note this well - he means it.

This isn’t just rhetoric - if Muskntrump and their cronies and patrons have their way about it, Americans are going to start going to prison for criticizing them.

Something that’s been sort of tickling at my brain for a while now just came together with this headline.

Tate, Trump, Musk, Vance, Hegseth, Zuckerberg and a bunch of others of the hard right all share a distinctive personality type.

Essentially they’re incels who somehow managed to get laid.

If it weren’t for particular circumstances (most often undeserved wealth), they would’ve just been typical incels, sitting at home being bitter and hateful and insecure and self-absorbed. But because of those circumstances, they managed to get laid, so they ended up with more or less the same bitterness and hatefulness and desperate insecurity they would’ve had anyway, except it’s countered by a weird situational and entirely undeserved over-confidence, because after all, they’re special, because they can get laid.

That would also go some way toward explaining why they’re so often sexual predators. Essentially they’re bitter incels who don’t have to limit themselves to fantasies alone.

No - actually the west will only survive if we can get out from under the rule of self-absorbed, hate- and fear-mongering psychopaths and clowns.

And it’s not looking good.

In the terms of the cliche, they’re trying to have their cake and eat it too.

They want the immediate gratification of being rude assholes, so they do it just long enough for that initial rush, then they back away to try to avoid the consequences.

I don’t have one.

I have a very simple process for dealing with all of this - I never check my framerate in the first place, so I never know what it is.

I just play games If there’s noticeable stuttering or lag then I maybe try to do something about it, and if there’s not, then I just play and don’t worry about it.

He’s not “wrong” - he’s a psychopath. He doesn’t “fail” to find out the truth - he simply doesn’t care, because his own immediate inclinations and desires are all that matter to him.

Future histories of the collapse of the US will include a section on the utter failure of checks and balances.

Mmm… yes and no.

This is a trait that Trump shares (and in fact, Trump is pretty much the ultimate example of it).

And yes - it’s absolutely a strategic advantage to them to toss around accusations to which they themselves are justifiably subject, since that at least diverts some focus from, and potentially completely undermines, the accusations against them.

But I think that’s more in the nature of a fringe benefit that they (and again, especially Trump) have come to recognize over the years and that first and foremost, it’s just plain old psychological projection, and rooted simply in their profound mental illness.

In Trump’s case, look at things like his obsession with crowd size and his immediate rage against anything he considers a threat to his image, or in Musk’s case, look at his cringey edgelord posturing and his lies about video game high scores. Both of them are desperately insecure and overcompensating egomaniacs, and I presume that in both cases, that’s the real root of their projection - that essentially they’re telling themselves, “I know you are but what am I?” Not as a strategy but simply as a defense mechanism for their grossly inflated and fragile egos.

But yes - chicken or egg, it is also an effective strategy to deflect or divert from legitimate accusations against them.

https://psychopathsinlife.com/psychopaths-and-projection/