Is America on the Verge of a Mental Breakdown?

[Jimmy Higgins]

We remember the days of the Obama Administration. The right-wing media dying for a scandal, blowing anything out of proportion they could. We had the birth certificate, we had bowing-gate and coffee cup-gate.

Just in the past week plus we had:

1. a top official in the White House post a scathing OP-ed in the NY Times.
2. Bob Woodward released a book indicating that Trump isn't really the President anymore.
3. The Trump Campaign chairman plead guilty in lieu of cooperating with the Mueller Investigation.
4. Trump claimed that almost no one died as a result of Hurricane Maria and that there was a conspiracy against him about it.
5. And an anonymous woman stepped out claiming Trump's SCOTUS nominee attempted to rape her, has become un-anonymous and presented evidence to support her claim... and it appears the GOP was aware of it and proceeded with the nomination anyway.
6. And just in time for Xmas, Trump Admin announced they were going to tariff everything else China exports to the US.

This sets aside Trump's love tweet to the leader of North Korea and the claim that the economy hasn't had a GDP higher than the unemployment rate in nearly a century.

 

[Opoponax]

It's kind of status quo for a Republican administration. Think of the Bush/Cheney years: war, financial disaster, corruption, etc.

Maybe Americans are addicted to excitement in their politics. The last POTUS wasn't called "No Drama Obama" for no reason. He just went about doing his job, working in the best interests of the country, and rebuilding America's reputation. There were no legitimately noteworthy scandals.

Then in comes Scandalf the Orange. Nothing is too outrageous or absurd; no hypocrisy too shocking; no tradition that can't be willfully and casually shat on. Not a week, often even just 24 hours passes without a genuine What The Fucking Fuck??? occurrence. At this point, it would take a set of encyclopedias to catalogue and comprehensively discuss the fuckery that's happened since the 2016 election.

And it's all very entertaining.

With Obama, Fox and the GOP had to work hard to manufacture faux-scandals. Obama was the antichrist, he was born in Kenya, he was raping the Constitution at every turn, Michelle Obama was a tyrant-ess bent on making your kids eat kale, etc. It was all silly nonsense. Now though, the fate of the nation is truly at stake and man, that's some exciting shit.

 

[phands]

In the view of us non-merkins, the US is way past said verge, and is indeed well into terminal bipolar dementia.

 

[Elixir]

In the view of us non-merkins....

What IS your nationality, Phands? You seem quite vested (and versed) in US politics for a furriner.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

In the view of us non-merkins....

What IS your nationality, Phands? You seem quite vested (and versed) in US politics for a furriner.

All Russian agents are well versed in US politics.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Opoponax, you said it exactly right about the set of encyclopedias. How will any future historian be able to get between two covers the amount of moronic, hateful, juvenile, caustic, coarse-minded, delusional stuff our chief exec says and does? It will require a Robert Caro approach, and who will want to read a multi-volume set about an unreconstructed 8-year-old mind in a flabby orange septuagenarian body? The other part that makes my head swim: just imagine for two seconds how the Republican establishment would react to any Democrat saying any one of a couple of hundred malicious or deceitful things this President has said. Brushing off Putin's habit of having journalists murdered by saying we have rough stuff in America, too. His remarks about "flipping" in which he sounds just like a crime boss. Calling Chuck Todd a 'sleepy-eyed son of a bitch'. The Democrats invented death numbers from Puerto Rico. But why go on? We have taken the fast train to Crazy Town and it's only going to get worse.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Also, in direct answer to the OP's question, yes, and our national anthem should be changed to the Three Stooges opening theme (the one with the cuckoo birds cheeping in the background.)

 

[untermensche]

America is not a thing that can have a breakdown.

Trump had a life and learning breakdown.

He was born a little prince to a rich incredibly ambitious man and he has floated through life because of a manic insanity.

He has also remained incredibly ignorant to many things.

He has a stunted emotional intelligence and remains in the greedy and narcissistic stages of young childhood.

The manic full grown children do very well in capitalism.

It is a system that favors the insanely greedy and narcissistic.

The sane person with empathy and charity struggles in the system.

The best system for all is when all are as charitable as possible.

The best system for a few is a system where greed prevails.

 

[Opoponax]

Opoponax, you said it exactly right about the set of encyclopedias. How will any future historian be able to get between two covers the amount of moronic, hateful, juvenile, caustic, coarse-minded, delusional stuff our chief exec says and does? It will require a Robert Caro approach, and who will want to read a multi-volume set about an unreconstructed 8-year-old mind in a flabby orange septuagenarian body? The other part that makes my head swim: just imagine for two seconds how the Republican establishment would react to any Democrat saying any one of a couple of hundred malicious or deceitful things this President has said. Brushing off Putin's habit of having journalists murdered by saying we have rough stuff in America, too. His remarks about "flipping" in which he sounds just like a crime boss. Calling Chuck Todd a 'sleepy-eyed son of a bitch'. The Democrats invented death numbers from Puerto Rico. But why go on? We have taken the fast train to Crazy Town and it's only going to get worse.

Right? Yet conservatives are still frothing from when Obama said we'd all be able to keep our doctors (never mind the context of that statement--for the sake of convenience, we'll just pretend that Obama intentionally lied about that).

So, to compare apples to orange apples, Trump said that we'd all have cheaper and better healthcare (and that it was all gonna be so easy). So where the fuck is it? Hell, where's even the rough sketch of the beginnings of Trump's cheaper and better plan?

But that's the thing. The other side isn't operating in good faith. When the Swiftboat campaign was so successful, they then fully understood they could just lie and their voters would not only still vote for them, they'd believe the lie despite overwhelming evidence. So Republican politicians can say/promise anything and it doesn't matter if they intend to follow through or if they have absolutely no intention of it. If they're held accountable at all, they'll simply blame Democrats. And the base will believe it.

Trump unashamedly kisses Putin's ass live on TV while excoriating our intelligence services?

No problem because he meant to say "wouldn't" not "would."

John Kerry publicly criticizes Trump?

He's a coward, a traitor, and a communist. Never mind that he was awarded medals for actual heroism when he saved others' lives and killed enemy soldiers. Trump is a real hero. Why is Trump a hero? Because he tells like it is, like the time when he said the tax cut wasn't going to benefit him ("believe me").

Winning the argument with ideas is over. It's about how many people go to the polls, but that may not even matter anymore.

 

[Gospel]

So what mental state best fits a country that elects a greedy and narcissistic person as their leader?

 

[Elixir]

So what mental state best fits a country that elects a greedy and narcissistic person as their leader?

 

[phands]

In the view of us non-merkins....

What IS your nationality, Phands? You seem quite vested (and versed) in US politics for a furriner.

That is a good question, Komrad!


Actually, I'm Scottish - Glasgow born and bred - but I've lived all over the world. I'm in Manhattan now, and probably permanently, if the orange scumbag doesn't change the Green Card rules, as I married a US woman about 6 weeks ago. I get to watch immigration issues very closely these days, as I'm an immigrant. Not his target demographic as I'm a white European, but they change the rules for all immigrants regardless of origin....mostly.

 

[Elixir]

In the view of us non-merkins....

What IS your nationality, Phands? You seem quite vested (and versed) in US politics for a furriner.

That is a good question, Komrad!


Actually, I'm Scottish - Glasgow born and bred - but I've lived all over the world. I'm in Manhattan now, and probably permanently, if the orange scumbag doesn't change the Green Card rules, as I married a US woman about 6 weeks ago. I get to watch immigration issues very closely these days, as I'm an immigrant. Not his target demographic as I'm a white European, but they change the rules for all immigrants regardless of origin....mostly.

You're probably fine, as long as your wife is sufficiently white.

 

[Trausti]

So what mental state best fits a country that elects a greedy and narcissistic person as their leader?

Don't we do that every election?

 

[Elixir]

So what mental state best fits a country that elects a greedy and narcissistic person as their leader?

Don't we do that every election?

Yeah. That's why Obama spent 8 years talking about himself in glowing terms, exalting his own accomplishments, making up fantastic success fantasies and presenting them as facts, violating the emoluments clause at every turn, giving himself and his best buds multi billion dollar tax breaks, railing about his predecessor, attacking enemies real and imagined...
...that's just life on Planet Trausti.

 

[whollygoats]

In the view of us non-merkins....

What IS your nationality, Phands? You seem quite vested (and versed) in US politics for a furriner.

That is a good question, Komrad!


Actually, I'm Scottish - Glasgow born and bred - but I've lived all over the world. I'm in Manhattan now, and probably permanently, if the orange scumbag doesn't change the Green Card rules, as I married a US woman about 6 weeks ago. I get to watch immigration issues very closely these days, as I'm an immigrant. Not his target demographic as I'm a white European, but they change the rules for all immigrants regardless of origin....mostly.

Aye?

And I had ye pegged as an Ulsterman.

 

[fast]

Edited out

(Reminder to self...don't drink and post)

 

[RavenSky]

In the view of us non-merkins....

What IS your nationality, Phands? You seem quite vested (and versed) in US politics for a furriner.

That is a good question, Komrad!


Actually, I'm Scottish - Glasgow born and bred - but I've lived all over the world. I'm in Manhattan now, and probably permanently, if the orange scumbag doesn't change the Green Card rules, as I married a US woman about 6 weeks ago. I get to watch immigration issues very closely these days, as I'm an immigrant. Not his target demographic as I'm a white European, but they change the rules for all immigrants regardless of origin....mostly.

Congratulations on the marriage!

 

[ZiprHead]

That is a good question, Komrad!


Actually, I'm Scottish - Glasgow born and bred - but I've lived all over the world. I'm in Manhattan now, and probably permanently, if the orange scumbag doesn't change the Green Card rules, as I married a US woman about 6 weeks ago. I get to watch immigration issues very closely these days, as I'm an immigrant. Not his target demographic as I'm a white European, but they change the rules for all immigrants regardless of origin....mostly.

Congratulations on the marriage!

Agreed.

Congrats, Phands.

BTW, I suggest you dye your hair blond.

Just in case...

 

[bilby]

In the view of us non-merkins....

What IS your nationality, Phands? You seem quite vested (and versed) in US politics for a furriner.

All Russian agents are well versed in US politics.

In Putin's Russia, US Politics are well versed by agents.