Years ago, I received a humorous email containing made-up answers to the classic question, “Why did the chicken cross the road?”
My favorite was attributed to FBI Agent Fox Mulder of the X-Files: “You saw the chicken cross the road with your own eyes! How many more chickens have to cross the road before you believe it?”
On that note. . .
This week CNN commentator Stephen Collinson published a description of Donald Trump’s behavior during a photo-op with the Prime Minister of Ireland. Of that performance, Collinson said, “A historian 100 years hence could pull the tape of the 16-minute tour de force and learn everything they needed to know about the Trump presidency.”
The article, which you can read in its entirety here, is a description of observed behavior and is complimentary about Trump’s “irrepressible energy of a force of nature personality, . . . refusal to accept a loss and . . . instinctive reflex to seek a new opening.”
But it also uses the following phrases to describe the current occupant of the White House:
- “Willingness to trample the truth for his own benefit”
- “A selfish streak for which friend[s] sometimes pay the price”
- “A shockingly casual way of talking about. . . violence”
- “Refusal to show weakness or humility”
- “Relentless temperament”
- “Indifference to shame”
- “Indifference or rude disregard for [others]”
- “Expert[ise] at trivializing and belittling opponents”
- “A sense that he is being persecuted unfairly”
There it is. “Everything you need to know about the Trump presidency.”
Collinson was not trying to make a case for Trump’s mental unfitness for office. He was simply describing the behaviors that he observed.
And yet, what he produced is a stunningly accurate list of the traits of a person with psychopathic or sociopathic personality disorder.
Go back and compare it to the actual list of traits associated with psychopathology. I’m not asking you to make a medical diagnosis. I’m just asking you to acknowledge that there’s a chicken crossing a road. You can do that. I have faith in you.
There is one trait on the list that Collinson did not mention but that Trump displays all the time – difficulty using abstract language. He is a phenomenally effective speaker when he’s riffing in front of his base. But when he attempts to speak on anything that requires knowledge and even a modest dab of gravitas, we get this:
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the most powerful person on earth.
And remember, that kind of speech isn’t just lazy or goofy. It’s a telltale sign of psychopathology.
There is a psychopath in the White House. You saw it with your own eyes. You see it every day. How many more chickens have to cross the road before you believe it?
Carp Diem 