It's long, but this essay, by George Conway, in The Atlantic, is a tour de force. Conway is the Republican lawyer who is probably most famous for joining an acerbic anti-Trump Twitter feed with a marriage to presidential counsellor Kellyanne Conway, a circumstance that has elicited a lot of speculation about the sleeping arrangements in their McMansion, etc. If this line of inquiry is of interest to you, the essay includes such droplets as:
Those who work closely with him, and who aren't in denial, must deal with Trump's lying about serious matters virtually every day.
The either-or formulation glides over the possibility that one might "deal with it" by diving into the denial bottle and pulling the cap down over one's head, which is what a lot of people have done, possibly including Kellyanne, but for those who accept George's filing system the question remains: where does he put his spouse? She definitely works closely with Trump and it seems he (George) would be in position to perform the apt taxonomic exercise.
In the main part of the essay, though, Conway develops the idea that Trump is unfit for office on account of being a psychological wreck. Since he's a lawyer, not a shrink, he advances the view that anyone who observes Trump must come to this conclusion, notwithstanding their probable lack of psychiatric credentials, in just the same way that you might know someone has been injured badly when you see a limb bent way too far the wrong way in a football game, even though you probably lack the medical vocabulary needed to name the busted up anatomical parts.
If you want my summary of the most vivid sections, Conway, like a lawyer methodically building up a case, quotes the standard criteria for a diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) as laid out in the DSM, or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a standard reference work of abnormal psychology published by the American Psychiatric Association. Here are the nine criteria:
- Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g. exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).
- Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
- Believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).
- Requires excessive admiration.
- Has a sense of entitlement (i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations).
- Is interpersonally exploitative (i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends).
- Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings or needs of others.
- Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
- Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.
For a diagnosis of NPD, five of the above nine must be present. As you may have guessed, Conway takes them up in turn, supplying from the journalistic/biographic record instances of Trump exhibiting the described criteria. He proceeds with a verve and good cheer one does not usually associate with a conservative corporate lawyer, but the brio of the performance does not blunt an overall chilling effect. For example, while discussing numbers 1, 2, and 3, above, Conway recites the testimonials of administration officials who "have variously considered [the president] to be a 'moron,' an 'idiot,' a 'dope,' 'dumb as shit,' and a person with the intelligence of a 'kindergartner' or a 'fifth or sixth grader' or an '11-year-old child.'" These are the assessments of some of Trump's own hires. We laugh and laugh but finally may wonder what's so funny. The narcissistic personality can tolerate only family members and flatterers, so, to repeat the clichés of journalism, "the grownups have left," "the guardrails are down." He could do anything now. Hilarious.
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