Thread by @Nick_Carmody

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen The article, like so many before it, continues to try to view/understand Trump through a lens of reason, logic, and strategy rather than pathology. There is no method to his madness, there are just consequences of his disorders….1/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen Trump is far more compulsive & reflexive than he is strategic. To oversimplify, think about it in terms of his disorders existing on a continuum w/narcissism on one pole & sociopathy on the other, w/both disorders locked in an ongoing battle for disorder dominance/expression...2/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen Without question his narcissism appears to be ever present. But he also appears to be a sociopath. But whereas sociopaths can be cunning, strategic, & able to execute a plan to bring about desired consequences of a cunning strategy,…..3/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen Trump’s reflexive, impulsive, compulsive narcissistic need to defend his ego results in self-sabotaging short-term gains or near-sighted “wins” that often have detrimental long term consequences on his sociopathic strategies/agenda/desires (His narcissism > sociopathy)…4/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen As a result, he not only constantly gets in his own way & undermines his administration & his political agenda, but he repeatedly makes statements against interests that carry legal consequences (or at least did back when the law still mattered)….5/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen To the extent collusion & obstruction occurred, it largely became publicly known & investigated because of Trump’s ineptitude in executing a plan due to his inability to refrain from making impulsive, ego-defending statements that implicate & incriminate….6/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen Foreign leaders are also aware of Trump’s psychologically-impaired idiosyncrasies, which is why he’s so inept at carrying out foreign policy. Foreign leaders know that in addition to lacking the mental/emotional discipline & stamina to carry out a strategic, calculated plan,..7/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen Trump’s insecurity-based ego-vulnerabilities makes him an easily manipulated adversary. They use flattery to win him over, because they know he will cave and make concessions if he thinks they like him. …..8/

https://twitter.com/Nick_Carmody/status/1071020109081104384

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen With regards to other authoritarians and despots, there is a distinction between them and Trump, because although Trump has authoritarian instincts and desires, he lacks their strength, they're discipline, and their ability to play the long game…..9/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen Trump is impulsive, weak, insecure, and needy. And although he wants to be, and sees himself as one of them, the reality he’s not like them. He weakly and insecurely looks to them, as strongmen, to fill the voids of his inherent feelings of weakness and neediness…..10/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen He looks to those “strongmen” in the same way, and to fill the same needs, that his populist base looks to him. Trump is essentially a conduit between the populists in America and the true authoritarian despots around the world…..11/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen When it comes to authoritarian strongman, Trump is the equivalent of middle management. He's the spineless corporate kiss-ass who bullies rank & file employees w/fake toughness, but then follows the company president around w/pathetic “yes man”-like weakness & compliance….12/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen Trump is essentially a bully in an upper-middle class suburban school district that willingly & meekly hands over control of the student body to an inner city transfer kid w/real & demonstrated toughness… w/out a fight… in hopes of being accepted by the new/tough kid…13/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen Trump's neediness and insecurities will always make him a “beta” to other “alpha” authoritarian leaders. This was on display in Helsinki…. 14/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen W/regards to the denials, it's not that Trump is “conditioning” the US, it's that he's falling for foreign authoritarians’ tactics in the same way Trump's base fall for his tactics. His denials are always “strong & powerful”, so he falls for the same. 15/

https://twitter.com/Nick_Carmody/status/1077235720492769281

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen Similar to his “nobody knew” statements, his narcissism prevents him from “seeing” anything outside of his own perspective. Therefore he thinks everyone perceives life & consumes information exactly like he does. This fuels his lack of self-awareness. 16/

https://twitter.com/Nick_Carmody/status/1088763789925699585

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen B/c those foreign authoritarian denials have such an effect on him & his "authoritarian follower" instincts (like his base), he projects his behavioral acceptance on to everyone else expecting everyone else will except those denials just like he does. 17/

https://twitter.com/Nick_Carmody/status/1103256672800108545

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen We have seen him repeatedly do this before with his projected accusations, which are almost always confessions/admissions. 18/

https://twitter.com/Nick_Carmody/status/1056931789942464513

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen To Trump, strength doesn't come from character, which is about doing the right thing. Strength of character is a foreign, contemptible concept to Trump. This is why he has such reflexive hatred for people like McCain (“not my kind of guy”) & Mueller. 19/

https://twitter.com/Nick_Carmody/status/975213742748127234

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen Trump views strength synonymously with power. To Trump, strength comes from being able to make people do what they don't want or are prohibited from doing, as evidenced by his decades of buying, blackmailing, or intimidating people. 20/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen For most of his life Trump felt inadequate unaccepted by the elite in New York. Getting things done implied strength. Even if “by any means necessary”. In fact, if something was accomplished by any means necessary was a show of increased strength. 21/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen Therefore anyone who was thwarted by rules and regulations were viewed as weak. Basically, it’s the view that "the working man's a sucker". 22/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen With that as a backdrop, aside from having very little understanding of the Constitution, Trump also has very little respect for it because he views its constitutional checks & balances as an impediment to his pathological need/insecurity to show overcompensating strength. 23/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen As a result, he not only views other authoritarians w/admiration due to their lack of constitutional limitations, but he feels inadequate by comparison for being held back by ours. Constitutional restraints, separation of powers, and checks and balances….24/

@tammyleitzel @MatthewFeyen …are a constant reminder of his insecurities & inadequacies because "strong" people, the type of people he admires and has always wanted to be, would just get things done. This is one reason why he constantly tries to subvert that which exposes his weakness:

The constitution.