Incredulous?

I am dumbfounded by the media response to the beginning of the Trump administration. As much as I wanted to continue a hiatus from writing about anything Trump, I am drawn to express the obvious. Am I alone in my observations? Let me know.

One might think it a Republican strategy to cloud the news of the far Right-Wing executive actions and hiring by the President in these first days by his making irrational pronouncements on such things as crowd size and the election results. I think that is only coincidental. The policies that Trump is signing or the people he is nominating are likely not generated by him. He simply doesn’t have the knowledge to do so, a reality he demonstrated repeatedly over the past year and a half.

His comments about factual circumstances that directly affect the perception he has of himself do, however, come directly from him, probably to the consternation of those looking to control the White House.

I have listened to media reporting and subsequent discussions about his off-handed, Tweeted, and official explanations (from Sean Spicer) stating his “belief” that the crowd size at his inauguration was the largest ever and the true popular vote count exceeded Clinton’s.  They (the media) express themselves as if it were a point of wonderment. “Why is he doing this (?)” is a constant remark, as if it were a departure from everything we have experienced to date.

The remarks (from the media) are framed in a way to make it appear that Trump has some kind of rational, self-interested purpose in taking simply odd-ball positions on these facts of little consequence.  Opponents of Trump want to frame the observations as displaying his diabolical desire to lie in order to achieve his own ends. Both conclusions are as off-balance as the Trump pronouncements themselves.

For reasons having nothing to do with Trump, I have spent considerable time trying to learn what I could about the condition known as a Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).  I concluded well before the tragic election that Trump has this disorder, and it is not as simple or innocuous as people may casually believe.

Narcissistic behavior is as common as running water. It affects, to some degree, virtually everyone (barring the occasional Mother Teresa).  However a NPD is relatively rare, existing at the far end of narcissistic behavior spectrum.  It is considered to exist when the patient is controlled by the condition in such a way as to conflict with reason or rationality.

No media organization wants to suggest it, but it is reasonable by the public evidence to conclude that the man just made President of the United States is mentally ill.  He has a condition which can only be managed with the combination of his acceptance of the condition and professional medical treatment. It is hard to imagine either taking place.

What does this mean? What are the possible consequences?

Donald Trump does not arrive at the bizarre conclusions that he does because, as many recognize, he has a colossal ego. He disputes obvious facts, such as number counts, because he does not recognize that he could be the cause or reason for what appears, on the surface, to be a failure. He cannot help this. If he cannot find a specific individual to blame (real or imaginary) then his only recourse is to shoot the messenger.

The consequences of a person with a NPD in such a powerful position, to my mind, range from muddled to truly frightening governance.

The American Presidency is simply a hot caldron of events for which some, if not substantial, conflict of opinion always exists.  The fact that we can see a President virtually age dramatically before our eyes is no accident.  Trump’s future reaction to critical opinion should be predictable, as should the subsequent reactions of his handlers. The first and most obvious will be the opaqueness of his administration.  This is already happening and we’re only days into his term.

The Trump administration will implode into a black hole of non-information provided to the public. We see this already with gag orders being disseminated throughout the agencies under his control. The reason why is due to the most scary aspect of his NPD – paranoia.  You must understand that in his attempt to deflect blame for anything that reflects poorly on himself he actually believes what he says. He believes that he won the popular vote; he believes more people turned out for his inauguration than ever in history.  Evidence is meaningless.

Additionally, Mr. Trump’s condition, with its associated fears, makes him susceptible to conspiracies; however, the real danger is that once he has put his “credibility” behind a conspiracy he cannot back off without admitting failure.  Do you remember the tens of thousands of New Jersey Muslims celebrating 9/11? If you think he now believes Obama was born in the USA you’re kidding yourself.  His condition doesn’t allow it. The most damaging conspiracy he currently embraces involves an entire industry: the American media lining up against him with dishonesty.

What is going to be less noticeable due to the lack of transparency is how that paranoia will affect the individuals working for him and even the military.

The people around him will begin to understand the risk they take in being out front on an issue that goes bad. Low profile will be the new standard. Disillusionment will be rampant. As he is clueless on the initiatives and/or Bills Republican leadership gets him to sign, he will blame them for every wrinkle that takes place as a result. There will be no joint mea culpa in the Trump Administration.

When a likely external terrorist attack occurs for the first time since 2001 (and on “his watch”), expect wholesale bloodshed of government officials and agencies and, unfortunately, a manic response by law enforcement and/or the military.

I feel the Nation would be better served by the Media beginning to question the rationality of Trump’s assertions instead of just questioning, with their incredulity, his motives. A President with a NPD either needs to leave office or have the condition treated. The latter would at least let the next four years fall into a holding pattern of inactivity or until Congress can be readjusted in 2018. The alternative is to release on the Nation and the World potential chaos.