Instead of my usual weekly roundup of articles, I'd like you to consider 10 of the most unacceptable, unconscionable, and previously unimaginable things that happened this week:
- Oval Outrage: Trump bullied Zelensky and shamed America in a performance designed for an audience of one: Vladimir Putin. (More from Timothy Snyder.)
- Gaza Provocation: Trump shared on social media an AI-generated video depicting the Las Vegas-style "Trump Gaza" he fantasizes will rise from the ashes of an ethnically cleansed Gaza. (More from The Guardian.)
- FBI Returns Files: Trump celebrated getting away with another crime as Kash Patel's FBI returned 15 boxes of files seized in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. (More from NBC News.)
- Flu Vaccine in Jeopardy: The Trump Adminstration abruptly canceled the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee scheduled for next month—putting the creation of next year's flu vaccine in doubt. (More from NPR.)
- Botching the Bird Flu Response: The Trump administration confirmed it's reviewing whether to pull $590 million in funding for new bird flu vaccine. Moderna was ready for a Phase 3 clinical trial that may never happen. (More from Axios.) Meanwhile, as the risk that ever-expanding bird flu outbreaks will lead to a new human pandemic increases, the Trump Administration fired the people heading the nation's bird flu response. Then they said the firings were an accident and they would try to hire them back. (More from Politico.)
- "America’s Food Safety Is Now in the Hands of Don Jr.’s Hunting Buddy." (More from Vanity Fair.)
- Lynn Dekleva "Lobbied for Formaldehyde. Now She’s at the E.P.A., Approving New Chemicals." (More from the New York Times.)
- Education Department launches 'End DEI' snitch line: The vicious political operatives at Moms for Liberty scored another win when co-founder Tiffany Justice helped launch the U.S. Department of Education’s new “End DEI” portal. Comparisons to Nazi Germany came quick and fast. (More from Newsweek.)
- NOAA Nightmare: Massive layoffs at NOAA will imperil reliable weather and climate forecasts, jeopardizing public safety even as America's extreme weather events become deadlier and more devastating. (More from CNN.)
- Farmers Take Up Pitchforks Against Trump: Speaking of climate change... farmers who depend on climate data for their livelihoods (and our food) are now suing Trump's USDA for deleting that vital data. (More from Grist.org.)
And now a question: Would any of these 10 things have happened if America's president were not a psychopath?
A common psychopath. With unprecedented power.
Trump is a cruel, abusive, detestable human being.
He's a liar, a bully, and a cheat.
He's a serial adulterer, an adjudicated rapist, and a self-confessed sexual predator not shy about his attraction to underage girls.
He's everything "Christians" are taught not to be.
He's more than a "malignant narcissist."
He's a diagnosable psychopath.
Since 2020, I have interviewed clinical psychologist Vince Greenwood, Ph.D., five times for this newsletter on the topic of Trump's psychopathy. (I'll post those links below.)
The reason I have interviewed Dr. Greenwood so many times is because I, along with many others, including Frank Rich, George Conway, and Trump ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, believe that Greenwood is correct when he says that all of Trump's most noxious behaviors can be explained by the diagnosis of Psychopathic Personality Disorder.
"Trump, like any common psychopath, has virtually no choice, no real agency in how his mind operates or how he behaves" — Dr. Vince Greenwood.
For nine years, the media and the nation's psychiatric organizations—hiding behind the antiquated "Goldwater Rule"—have failed to adequately convey the danger represented by a man with Trump's hardwired mental disorder.
As Dr Greenwood told me in November 2023: "(Trump) has already wreaked much damage on the country and possesses no embers of shame, guilt, or reflection that might slow him down in the future."
We've seen Trump's psychopathy in action every day since he returned to the White House—his drive to dominate, his remorselessness and his impulsivity have been on full display.
Because Trump is truly unshackled.
He behaved like the "Antichrist" and American Christians hailed him as their savior.
He committed outrageous crimes against the nation and the Supreme Court made him their King.
He's won the last election he'll ever have to compete in. And possibly the last election Americans will ever vote in.
This diabolical week showed that Trump is not only unshackled, he's getting worse. And there are still 203 more weeks to go.
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P.S. This really is the time to get off X once and for all. Please find me on Bluesky and these other places.
Further reading on Trump's psychopathy:
Aug. 202o:
Diagnosis: Psychopath
A clinical psychologist explains the one disorder that trumps all others
Richard Hine
Sept. 2020:
The Frantic Psychopath
“We need to prepare ourselves for even more outrageous assaults,” says clinical psychologist Vince Greenwood, Ph.D.
Richard Hine
July 2022:
A Most Dangerous Case
A Q&A with Vince Greenwood Ph.D. on the risks America would face if the psychopath Trump were elected again
Richard Hine
Nov. 2023:
The Psychopathic Fascist
The psychopathy diagnosis means “Trump is more dangerous than even his strongest critics proclaim.”
Richard Hine
Aug. 2024:
“We Have to Brace Ourselves”
“Trump is more dangerous than even his harshest critics claim,” says clinical psychologist Vince Greenwood, Ph.D.
Richard Hine
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