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I'll tell you why I am so worried about our response to Trump right now.
Narcissists are like boa constrictors. They aren't cobras. They don't strike once with lethal venom. They slowly asphyxiate. They squeeze and squeeze.
Their hold tightens and fighting it gets harder.
1/
Narcissists are like boa constrictors. They aren't cobras. They don't strike once with lethal venom. They slowly asphyxiate. They squeeze and squeeze.
Their hold tightens and fighting it gets harder.
1/
Narcissists are perpetually looking to increase their stranglehold.
They do that by stepping over boundaries and testing the response. If there isn't one, that boundary is erased and the violation becomes the norm.
They redraw the lines. Endlessly. Unless they're checked.
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They do that by stepping over boundaries and testing the response. If there isn't one, that boundary is erased and the violation becomes the norm.
They redraw the lines. Endlessly. Unless they're checked.
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Whatever is the very WORST thing a narcissist is allowed to do without stiff push-back becomes the BEST thing they will do tomorrow...
...because, again, wherever the line is, they're going to cross it... and cross it and cross it and cross it.
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...because, again, wherever the line is, they're going to cross it... and cross it and cross it and cross it.
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The only saving grace is that narcissists are so averse to being seen as shameful, the push-back does not even need to "win" to be successful.
If they know crossing a particular boundary is going to beget a fierce blow-back, they test it less - and in smaller ways.
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If they know crossing a particular boundary is going to beget a fierce blow-back, they test it less - and in smaller ways.
4/
The act of resistance is essential. It is the ONLY way to keep a narcissist from strangling their target with more and more egregious breaches of norms or even the law.
You can either beat back every attempted squeeze or accept that you just let the lines be redrawn.
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You can either beat back every attempted squeeze or accept that you just let the lines be redrawn.
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Again, the WORST thing you allow today will be the BEST thing the narcissist attempts tomorrow.
Donald Trump is trying to entirely violate the biggest boundary of them all:
The ability to hold him independently accountable.
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Donald Trump is trying to entirely violate the biggest boundary of them all:
The ability to hold him independently accountable.
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If we do not fight however fiercely it requires to beat back Trump's attempts to obstruct Robert Mueller's investigation and the full disclosure of its findings, that line will never be redrawn.
If Trump is allowed to obstruct Mueller now, we're in serious trouble.
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If Trump is allowed to obstruct Mueller now, we're in serious trouble.
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I think I've reasonably credentialed myself as fairly fluent in what makes Trump tick and what we can expect and I am now screaming this:
If we do not fight like hell to bring Mueller's full findings and his testimony to light, we may well have reached the point of no return.
8/
If we do not fight like hell to bring Mueller's full findings and his testimony to light, we may well have reached the point of no return.
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The risk that there will not be a free and fair election in 2020 will increase exponentially.
The damage he will do along the way will increase tenfold.
This is the tipping point.
If we do not fight this obstruction ferociously, prepare for horrifying days ahead. For real.
9/9
The damage he will do along the way will increase tenfold.
This is the tipping point.
If we do not fight this obstruction ferociously, prepare for horrifying days ahead. For real.
9/9
