Calbuzz Classic
A world-class scoop about Trump's aberrant behavior matching The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - in 2015!
Today it’s a commonplace to view Donald Trump as clearly mentally deranged, according to the scientific framework of psychiatric practice.
In “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,” for example, more than three dozen psychiatrists and mental health experts make the case, in depth and detail:
“Once there were many who hold out hope that Trump could be prevailed upon to listen to reason and curb his erratic behavior. Now there are far fewer. His danger has not diminished though.
“So we must continue collectively to warn that anyone as mentally unstable as this man simply should not be entrusted with the life-and-death powers of the presidency.”
Oh, hell, let’s elect him again anyway.
Heads up, historians. As Trump begins to start a second term, it is worth recalling as a matter of historical record, that it was not mental health experts, let along big-foot Beltway journalists, who first called attention to the professional guideline that attest to his troubling, if undiagnosed, mental disorder - but an offbeat California political insider website called Calbuzz.
On Aug. 31, 2015, the late, esteemed political journalist Phil Trounstine joined this writer in posting on Calbuzz.com the first published report detailing the matter.
The post proceeded from a literary conceit, the claim that we were directed to the DSM-5 by Dr. P.J. Hackenflack, a fictitious, recurring character in our novelistic storytelling. “Dr. H” is a make-believe personage, but the source and substance of his findings is authentic - and stands up to factual vetting nine years later:
Unlocking the mystery: Dr. H directed us to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), the 2013 version of the American Psychiatric Association’s foundational classification and diagnostic instrument.
Here is what we found:
DSM-5 criteria for narcissistic personality disorder include these features:
Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it
Exaggerating your achievements and talents
Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate
Believing that you are superior and can only be understood by or associate with equally special people
Requiring constant admiration
Expecting special favors and unquestioning compliance with your expectations.
Taking advantage of others to get what you want.
Having an inability or unwillingess to recognize the needs or feeling of others.
Being envious of others and believing others envy you.
Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner.
Eureka.
Bottom line: “This only-in-Calbuzz insight not only entirely disproves the widespread theory of Trump as a man from outer space — but also establishes and confirms the psychological basis for his political appeal,” Dr. H. concluded. “Trump is nothing less than history’s most fully evolved avatar of American capitalism, imperialism and military aggression.”
“Clearly, once again, Calbuzz has produced landmark original research that will have profound impact, when the Beltway dimwits finally catch on,” he concluded.
Normalizing deviance. As Trump prepares to take office again, the nation is beset by a mad, stomach-turning rush to normalize him and his behavior by those who fear his wrath or retribution — from tech titans Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos to media powers like ABC and L.A. Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong , from the Bank of America and Chevron to some cowardly congressional Democrats, not to mention every member of the Republican Party.
The sad fact is most of these executives and hot shots know better, but their financial and political ambitions bury their integrity, ethics, and principles.
Here at Newsmakers - clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose - we see Trump as anything but normal, and we don’t pretend otherwise. A convicted felon who lies like he breathes, he is a corrupt, authoritarian and vice-ridden would-be autocrat, who remains as dangerous — and at least as mentally deranged — as he was when he emerged on the national stage in 2015.