Tracker

Trump’s unraveling: Mental health experts explain why the next 4 months could be really dangerous Donald Trump on Friday commuted the sentence of his crony, Roger Stone. As Mitt Romney tweeted, “Unprecedented historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president.” So the president of the United States takes action to help his buddy, a convicted felon, but he cannot take decisive steps to combat the coronavirus pandemic and save lives. This is an act of corruption of the highest order. And this is an example of Trump’s mental disorder and a stark preview of his unraveling over the next four months leading up to the November election. Heading to the November election, Trump’s mental disorder will continue to unravel in the face of mounting pressures and stress. Now, Trump has found a new foil and is attacking Anthony Fauci, a highly respected public health expert. Dr. Fauci has served in five presidential administrations. He relies on data and science. Trump trying to discredit Dr. Fauci is a desperate attempt to blame him for Trump’s own catastrophic handling of the deadly pandemic. And it is another reflection of the gravity of his mental disorder. Unstable and Unraveling What we are seeing in plain view is a narcissistic and antisocial president who is unstable and unraveling daily. He is faced with falling poll numbers, a ferocious and ignored pandemic, an economic recession that he caused, a damaging tell-all book by his niece and defeats by the Supreme Court. Trump’s responses: rants, tweets, lies, whining, conspiracy theories, threats, scapegoating, corruption, feeling victimized, stubbornness. The list goes on and on. Since taking office, Trump’s mental disorder has been in full display. Story after story has been written about his grandiose view of himself; his 19,000 lies to the American people, his bullying, his vindictiveness, his unprecedented breaking of norms, his reckless behavior, his total lack of empathy, his use of projection, his refusal to accept responsibility for his actions and his corruption. All combined, these symptoms and characteristics and behaviors constitute a mental disorder that is serious and debilitating. And the only way to change a personality disorder is with ongoing treatment, especially psychotherapy. Cognitive Issues, Too Added to his personality pathology is the strong likelihood of Trump’s cognitive decline. His vocabulary range has narrowed. His abstract thinking is limited. His reasoning is shallow. He is unfocused. He has difficulty processing complex information. His decision-making is impaired. His judgment is poor. He often appears listless and apathetic. He repeats simple words and phrases over and over. He cannot shift and adapt. His gait can be abnormal. He had trouble drinking a glass of water with one hand. Trump’s cognitive decline could be reflective of dementia; such cognitive problems gradually get worse, not better. Heading to the November election, Trump’s mental disorder will continue to unravel in the face of mounting pressures and stress. He will become increasingly erratic, unstable and desperate. His display of power and corruption may not be hidden any longer. He will take great measures to suppress voter turnout. He will incite racism and a culture war. He will blame and scapegoat others. He will engage in escalating rants, tweets, name-calling, accusations, overt threats, projections, bullying, lies, gaslighting, triangulation, obstruction and whining. His thinking, reasoning, decision-making and judgment will continue to wane. The next four months will be unnerving and unsettling for sure. Trump is unraveling before our eyes. Alan D. Blotcky, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Birmingham, Ala. He is clinical associate professor, Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham. John M. Talmadge, MD, is clinical professor of psychiatry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He is also Senior Medical Advisor, The Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas. https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/trumps-unraveling-mental-health-experts-explain-why-the-next-4-months-could-be-really-dangerous/ (Trump is more than halfway there already, and will likely resort to Rx's to cope)

What took them so long? This was common knowledge 3 years ago. Yes, yes, I know....he's the Crotch-grabber in chief.

Trump stuns observers as his press conference goes off the deep end: ‘Self-destruction of the president’ President Donald Trump clearly misses holding rallies filled with thousands of his fawning supporters hanging on his every self-aggrandizing word. So on Tuesday, at a press event ostensibly staged to discuss his new executive order withdrawing recognition of Hong Kong as independent from China, he decided to indulge himself by launching into a meandering campaign-style monologue for the reporters in attendance. He leaped from topic to topic, sometimes in a single run-on sentence, and often failed to complete thought. He took aim at his election opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, attacking a laundry list of the Democrat’s policies that he twisted and distorted. Recalling a campaign theme he has long ignored, Trump called out Biden’s son, saying: “Where’s Hunter?” And he returned to many of his favorite topics, such as immigration. He boasted of his relationship with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and warned that a President Biden would tear down the wall he has started to build on parts of the U.S.-Mexico border. “Probably never been a time when candidates are so different,” Trump said. There was no consistent thread or argument to his ramblings, aside from his own supposed greatness. It was pure stream of consciousness, supplemented by factoids apparently printed on notes on his lectern. He claimed to be the defender of African Americans at one moment because he favors school choice, but then slipped into attacking low-income housing and saying he’d preserve the suburbs — an unsubtle code for protecting white neighborhoods. https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/trump-stuns-observers-as-his-press-conference-goes-off-the-deep-end-self-destruction-of-the-president/

And an out and out Nazi.

Israeli Data Show School Openings Were a Disaster Of 1,400 Israelis diagnosed with COVID-19 last month, 657 (47 percent) were infected in schools. Now 2,026 students, teachers, and staff have it, and 28,147 are quarantined. https://www.thedailybeast.com/israeli-data-show-school-openings-were-a-disaster-that-wiped-out-lockdown-gains?ref=home

And may never be.

13 steps forwards, 5 step back. That's life.

Playing under the real threat of COVID infection would be a very bad idea for Domi. Type One diabetics have very compromised immune systems.

Its not just about the win-loss record, its mostly about the intense (and mostly friendly) rivalry between neighbours.

According to an Inuit historian, the term, "Eskimo" is a derogatory term used by the Cree, so that alone ought to be enough to change it.

In other words, business as usual in the Trump administration.

I have no problem with US health officials visiting Canada- God knows they can learn a lot from the Canadian handling of the pandemic. On the other hand, they probably know what needs to be done but are not being allowed to. It strikes me that the US having the worst record on the pandemic, followed by India and Brazil is even worse than it first appears. India and Brazil have rudimentary healthcare systems and yet they are in better shape than the US with their gazillion-dollar system. BTW: Trump is still fixated on destroying the ACA without pretending he has a better plan. Ironically, his base will suffer and die the most if Trump succeeds, but that doesn't seem to have occurred to them. No doubt the current crisis would be a lot worse if the ACA was not in place.

Being a racist is bad enough, but when you make a living by inciting hatred, that is nothing short of evil.

More like "Little Alabama".

Apparently 5 of the 10 worst weather-related disasters in Canada's recorded history have happened in the Calgary area and the recent rain/hail storm is expected to be the costliest insurance payout in Canadian history. Some advantage.

"Bad optics" means it looks bad, but does not imply or deny culpability.

The Washington NFL team has annouced that they will be releasing the new name for their team later today. Washington Warriors, maybe?

"The rats are leaving the sinking ship": Lindsey Graham agrees to let Robert Mueller testify Mueller published an op-ed in The Washington Post expressing displeasure with Donald Trump commuting Roger Stone. Senate Judiciary Committee Charman Lindsey Graham (R-Sc) stunned political observers on Sunday by siding with Democrats to allow former special counsel Robert Mueller to testify before his committee about his investigation into the Donald Trump administration. Following a Mueller op-ed published Saturday in The Washington Post expressing displeasure with Donald Trump commuting Roger Stone's sentence, Graham tweeted, "Apparently Mr. Mueller is willing – and also capable – of defending the Mueller investigation through an oped in the Washington Post," before adding, "Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have previously requested Mr. Mueller appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify about his investigation. That request will be granted." (A threatened rodent bails out, soon to be followed by many others)

Top Mueller Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann Announces Yet Another Explosive Trump Book This week, Mary Trump’s tell-all book about her uncle will be released despite President Trump’s best attempts to block its publication. But, as if that wasn’t enough to upset him, another potentially explosive book about Trump was announced Monday morning. One of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s top prosecutors is set to release a book on the two-year investigation into the alleged ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign, the Associated Press reports. Andrew Weissmann’s Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation will reportedly be published Sept. 29. “I felt it was necessary to record this episode in our history, as seen and experienced by an insider,” Weissman is quoted as saying in the announcement. “This is the story of our investigation into how our democracy was attacked by Russia and how those who condoned and ignored that assault undermined our ability to uncover the truth. My obligation as a prosecutor was to follow the facts where they led, using all available tools and undeterred by the onslaught of the president’s unique powers to undermine our work.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/andrew-weissmann-top-mueller-team-prosecutor-announces-yet-another-explosive-trump-book?ref=home (Another nail in Trump's and the GOP's coffins But the sad truth is that to Trumpites this will make no difference at all in their fanatical zeal)

Trump's psychopathology is such that he simply cannot understand the concept of selflessness. I have met these, but only about three have had the degree of dysfunction that Trump constantly manifests. You can explain to such an individual that what they are doing is wrong and will have negative consequences if they repeat those behaviours........and then they will go right out and do it again. Then they will be surprised at the consequences and not understand how it come to this. If it comes to whether he or one of his children goes to jail, Trump will not hesitate to sacrifice one or all of them

I am mildly surprised Trump didn't get lost between the first and second green.

No doubt this will cost Trudeau support if there is any proof he or the PMO were involved in the awarding of the contract, but it remains to be seen how bad the damage will be.

ITS NOT TRUMP'S FAULT!!!! EVER!!!! Trump Pushes Conspiracy Theory That Doctors Are Lying About COVID-19 to Damage His Re-Election Chances President Trump is pushing a ludicrous theory that doctors are purposefully lying about the novel coronavirus pandemic because they want to harm his chances of re-election later this year. Early Monday, Trump retweeted the conservative conspiracy theorist and former game-show host Chuck Woolery as he dismissed medical experts as politically-motivated liars. The incendiary tweet read: “The most outrageous lies are the ones about COVID-19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it.” Neither Woolery nor Trump explained exactly what aspect of the raging pandemic doctors are supposedly lying about, nor did they provide any evidence to back up the vague, unproven claim. Last week, the U.S. repeatedly broke its own daily record for new COVID-19 cases, and the nation’s death toll now totals more than 135,000. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-pushes-unproven-theory-that-doctors-are-lying-about-covid-19-to-damage-his-re-election-chances?ref=home (And it sure as spit looks like Trump and his sycophants are settling up Fauci to take the fall and get canned. They are posting edited clips of Fauci's comments to make it seem that he wasn't aware of the seriousness of the pandemic.)

But no COVID patients in hospitals, and that is possibly the best news of all.