By Tobin Smith
In a recent conversation with a very nice and genuine
#Trump supporter, it struck me: He had NO knowledge or contextual understanding of the important adjectives, nouns or terms I and others had written or used in our columns railing against
#NeverTrump and “Trumpism.”
Inescapable Fact: Many of the most damning and convincing points I have made in my arguments against the man and his Trumpism movement never got made because the reader simply did not know/comprehend the definition of the word or phrase in the context it was made.
Please understand: I am not in any way impugning the intelligence or education of Trumpists.
But the facts are many of the best arguments against Trump and Trumpism ARE written by very highly educated and erudite people. They DO use big words and complex illustrations to make their points. Many have historical references that most Americans are not familiar with including yours truly!
In short:
You can’t build a convincing case against such a complex person as Trump with the 4-5th grade level language that Trump speaks
Solution: I started a “Trump & Trumpism Glossary and Dictionary” that is linkable to ANY note, column, rant or post that I or any other
#NeverTrump advocate can refer to.
BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP!
We need YOUR nouns, phrases, historical references and clinical/political terms against Trumpism to ADD to this glossary. I promise I (or someone from my social media team) will add your posted descriptions, terms, words, adjectives, historical references to this glossary in alphabetical order by word/phrase type. Please add them from web-based dictionaries or non-politically sponsored websites with an embedded LINK whenever possible.
If you don’t want your name used, just say “anonymous” and we won’t.
This Facebook Blog/Note page makes your submissions simple: just post comment and paste in the link to validate the submission!
THANK YOU in advance for helping OUR CAUSE: A counter-revolution of concerned Americans against the perils, economic risks and false promises of Trumpism.
Descriptions of D.J.Trump
Authoritarian personality: is a state of mind or attitude characterized by belief in absolute obedience or submission to one's own authority, as well as the administration of that belief through the oppression of one's subordinates. It usually applies to individuals who are known or viewed as having an authoritative, strict, or oppressive personality towards subordinates.
Demagogue (dema, gog
): An emotive dictator: a political leader who gains power by appealing to people's emotions, instincts, and prejudices in a way that is considered manipulative and dangerous. Throughout its history, the word
demagogue has been used to disparage any leader thought to be manipulative, pernicious, or bigoted.
[4] Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) : “A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy.” The disorder is indicated by at least five of the following:. If you have 5 of these traits, you are Class 5 NPD.
1. An exaggerated sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements). A sense of one’s own importance, a grandiose feeling that one is alone responsible for any achievement is a hallmark of the narcissist. Grandiosity is one of the central tenets of a narcissistic personality. Narcissists tend to take credit for everything, as if no one else contributed to the end product. Witness Trump’s declaration that, “When people see the beautiful marble in Trump Tower, they usually have no idea what I went through personally to achieve the end result. No one cares about the blood, sweat, and tears that art or beauty require.” What do you know: not only is Trump a developer and an artistic visionary, but he seems to be a stellar architect and construction worker as well.
And history will agree (naturally). “Anyone who thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken,” says Trump. Sadly,indeed.
2. Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty or ideal love. How many presidential runs does it take for the process to be defined as a preoccupation rather than an occupation? I’d leave it at that, except for the existence of this little gem: “My fingers are long and beautiful, as, it has been well documented, are various other parts of my body.” Not only all-powerful, but all-beautiful, too. The man has it all.
3. Believes he is “special” and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions). To narcissists, the “little people” or anyone beneath them (which is mostly everyone) don’t matter. Trump’s lambasting of Rosie O’Donnell is a good case in point: “Rosie O’Donnell called me a snake oil salesman. And, you know, coming from Rosie, that’s pretty low because when you look at her and when you see the mind, the mind is weak. I don’t see it. I don’t get it. I never understood – how does she even get on television?”
Clearly, Rosie lacks the power to understand the dazzling intellect that is Donald Trump. Trump needs someone of equal status to appreciate his immensity. But it can’t be Larry King, because as he told King, “Do you mind if I sit back a little? Because your breath is very bad. It really is. Has this been told to you before?”
4. Requires excessive admiration. No matter the sincerity, as long as the praise comes frequently and at a high enough volume. Says Trump, “All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me – consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected.” Clearly. Admired, wherever he may go, even when he’s talking about himself in the third person, as in, “Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money.”
As he puts it, “Nobody but a total masochist wants to be criticized.”
5. Has a sense of entitlement. The world owes the narcissist everything; he, in turn, owes it nothing. I think Trump’s attitude can be summed up with this approach to marriage: “I wish I’d had a great marriage. See, my father was always very proud of me, but the one thing he got right was that he had a great marriage. He was married for 64 years. One of my ex-wives once said to me, ‘You have to work at a marriage.’ And I said, ‘That’s the most ridiculous thing.’”
6. Selfishly takes advantage of others to achieve his own ends. I don’t have a quote for this one, but perhaps we can talk to one of his ex-wives.
7. Lacks empathy. Narcissists don’t sympathize with the feelings of others. Who are these “others,” anyway? No one matters except for me. I won’t recreate the Rosie rampage in full, but sentiments like, “I’ll sue her because it would be fun. I’d like to take some money out of her fat ass pockets,” capture the spirit.
8. Is often envious of others or believes others to be envious of him. Here, it seems like Trump is dominated by the second sentiment, the expectation that everyone is envious of his success. Everyone wants to be Trump. As he puts it, “The old rich may look down their noses at me, but I think they kiss my ass.”
9. Shows arrogant, haughty, patronizing, or contemptuous behaviors or attitudes. Again, other people don’t matter. They can be treated like nothing, because who are we kidding – nothing is the closest description of what they are.
Clients don’t matter. As Trump puts it, “When I build something for somebody, I always add $50 million or $60 million onto the price. My guys come in, they say it's going to cost $75 million. I say it's going to cost $125 million, and I build it for $100 million. Basically, I did a lousy job. But they think I did a great job.” Take them for the suckers they are; that’s the ticket.
The media doesn’t matter. According to Trump, “You know, it really doesn’t matter what (the media) write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.” The piece of ass doesn’t matter, either; any will do.
Other businesses don’t matter. As Trump says, “If you want to buy something, it’s obviously in your best interest to convince the seller that what he’s got isn’t worth very much.”
But it’s ok. Trump doesn’t have to be nice. After all, it’s not like he wants to run for office or anything: “I'm not running for office. I don't have to be politically correct. I don't have to be a nice person. Like I watch some of these weak-kneed politicians, it's disgusting. I don't have to be that way.”
Too bad. We need a good candidate. Because according to Trump, “One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace. Good people don’t go into government.
Racist: somebody who is prejudiced against or hates others who are not of his or her own race or one who holds broad based opinions based on prejudices and stereotypes related to race.
Xenophobe: one unduly fearful of what is foreign and especially of people of foreign origin. Xenophobic having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.
Description of Trumpism
in non–totalitarian societies is similar to
divinization, except that it is established primarily by mass media
White American id: In Freudian psychoanalytic theory, the part of the psyche that is unconscious and the source of primitive instinctive impulses and drives. The other parts of the psyche are the ego and the superego.
Suspension of Disbelief: a willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe the unbelievable; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment as coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
The Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle aka five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance
The Facts Behind White Working & Middle Class Economic Disenfranchisement & Demonisation of the GOP Establishment
A significant number of mostly white middle and working class Americans genuinely feel that America’s embrace of 21st century globalism, Free Trade and the admission of 9 million legal/11 million illegal immigrants took their jobs and/or devalued their skilled/semi-skilled labor and they blame GOP party leadership and elected officials.
Populist Leaders & Political Groups in America
Populist: an advocate of the rights and interests of ordinary people, e.g. in politics or the arts
Populism is a
doctrine that appeals to the interests and conceptions (such as hopes and fears) of the general population, especially when contrasting any new
collective consciousness push against the prevailing
status quo interests of any predominant political sector.
[1] Political parties and politicians often use the terms
populist and
populism as
pejoratives against their opponents. Such a view sees populism as merely empathising with the public, (usually through rhetoric or unrealistic proposals) in order to increase appeal across the
political spectrum (cf.
demagogy).
[2]Know Nothings a member of the exclusively White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) U.S. political party of the 1850s that opposed the participation of immigrants and Roman Catholics in political affairs, and whose members denied knowledge of the party
Whigs U.S. a member of a 19th-century U.S. political party that favored a loose interpretation of the Constitution and opposed the Democratic Party
Huey Long Every Man a King. Huey Long was Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1930. A
Democrat, he was an outspoken
populist who denounced the rich and the banks and called for "Share our Wealth."
Historical Roots of Trumpism
Here's all you need to know about the roots of Trumpism in the Republican Party:
In 1968, Richard Nixon's worst state was Mississippi:
Mississippi vote for President, 1968
George Wallace 64%
Hubert Humphrey 23
Richard Nixon 14
In 1972, Richard Nixon's best state was Mississippi:
Mississippi vote for President, 1972
Richard Nixon 78%
George McGovern 20
64% + 14% = 78%.
With Nixon's southern strategy, the Republican Party simply folded in the Wallace vote.
Telling It like It Never Could Be: Lies, Absurdities, Unconstitutional and/or Illegal Proposals/Promises From Trump
Trump said he would call Carrier’s CEO up on day one and tell him that every unit the company sent to the U.S. would be slapped with a 35 percent tariff.
His rivals couldn’t do that because they were bought off by campaign donations, he added. Within 24 hours, Trump was certain the CEO would call back and announce the company would return to the U.S.
Key point: The crowd loved it. Policy is beside the point: Trump’s fans love his brash manner of speaking, which they call telling it like it is—even in dozesn of cases like the tariffs, where Trump is telling it like it could never be.
#Trump Absurdity: "When I make the U.S. Military Strong Again Mexico will not be playing with us with war!" #1 Fact: America spends more than next 7 highest spending countries combined and 54% of ALL discretionary Federal spending--if that does not make our military "strong" what will?
#2 What on earth does "not be playing us with war" mean?
#3 Is Trump aware that if he were actually President his statement would be assumed by every country that he was threatening war with Mexico if they did not pay for wall across our border?
EVERY day Mr. Trump shows himself to be unable to grasp the legal, constitutional and military impact of his words and deeds. THAT makes him unambiguously unqualified to be the Commander-in-Chief of our brave military men and women. His amazing lack of judgement or grasp of the implications from his daily bout of verbal diarrhea and absurdities makes him more dangerous to U.S. citizens that ISIS in that actual wars have been started over less inflammatory rhetoric.
Social Security: Donald Trump suggested that as president he would finance Social Security by requiring countries that benefit from U.S. military protection to pay for the service.
"We're the policeman of the world: We take care of Germany; we take care of Saudi Arabia; we take care of South Korea," he said during Thursday night's presidential debate. "Saudi Arabia was making a billion dollars a day and we were getting virtually nothing to protect them. ... We are going to be in a different world. We're going to negotiate real deals, now, and we're going to bring the wealth back to our country."
"I will do everything within my power not to touch Social Security, to leave it the way it is, to make this country rich again, to bring back our jobs, to get rid of deficits, to get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse, which is rampant in this country, rampant, totally rampant. And it's my absolute intention to leave Social Security the way it is, not increase the age, and to leave it as is."
When CNN's Dana Bash noted that eliminating "improper payments" would only save $3 billion (out of an estimated $150 billion shortfall), Trump turned to the military option. He also suggested that the Social Security program's financial problems are somewhat less urgent than Rubio thinks. "You have 22 years," Trump said. "You have a long time to go. It's not long in terms of what we're talking about but it's a long time to go."
American Political Terms
Senate filibuster or vote for cloture.
Big Multi-Syllabic Words
Unambiguously: “completely clear in meaning or intention and unable to be misunderstood
https://www.facebook.com/notes/tobin-smith/the-trump-counter-revolution-needs-a-glossary-dictionary/10153459581443302?hc_location=ufi
