Living with the Trump presidency

I wonder if trump is calming down a bit. Two news items, about Obama and the new travel order, neither of them announced by trump himself.

Unfortunately quite a lot of Trump's supporters are like cult members. When the evidence shows that their great leader has lied, it makes no difference - they dig in and become more passionate believers, just like the believers in the "flying saucer cult"

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08g7zv2#play

This short talk by John Gray explains "cognitive dissonance" - people will persuade themselves to believe almost anything if it leaves their belief system intact.

Yup, people convince themselves of all kinds of things. Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable thing and people find ways of reducing it.
I'm thinking of women with awful, abusive partners, who convince themselves that he is worth another chancel

Made me think of the NHS, and people blaming anything else but the government for the disarray in it.

My cognitive dissonance - trump is a temporary aberration and won't last long?
Hope not.

This is funny.

www.indy100.com/article/donald-trump-president-amnesia-doctor-emergency-services-united-states-7614201?utm_source=indy&utm_medium=top5&utm_campaign=i100

JessM Cognitive dissonance...that is fascinating. Had to look it up. Explains a lot. Cheers for that.

www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-dissonance.html

DJ that was funny!

I didn't know whether to post this interview with Trump supporters on this thread or under "watch and weep".

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39186644

These ladies are exactly like brainwashed cult members. The more outspoken one is constantly shouting mantras. The most ludicrous are "my president never does anything wrong" and "I like him because he's HONEST!" (she is talking about a serial liar, found by all reliable fact-checkers to be the most dishonest person to stand for political office in the USA and often recorded contradicting himself"

Surely a classic example of cognitive dissonance, made more shocking by the fact these black ladies lavish so much praise on a racist, misogynist billionaire supported by the KKK.

Wow, varian. Quite unbelievable.

I feel that I should see this - but I don't want to!

Alie It's like an RTA... you want to look away, but human nature makes you want to be 'warned'.

I am already scared....

The one on the right seems like a ventriloquist's dummy. The other one is just a dummy. What can you say?

What is so frightening is the total conviction of Trump supporters like these ladies. We can't envisage them altering their view under any circumstances. Brainwashed by Fox News, Breitbart and the alt-right radio shock-jocks, they seem to be like lemmings hurtling towards the cliff.

One of the few true things Trump said during the election campaign was the claim that he could stand in the middle of New York and shoot someone and people would still vote for him.

According to one commentator on Alternet "The vast majority of Trump’s supporters will fare worse economically under his administration, but this is nothing new in the Republican electorate. What is different about Trump is that he is really more a cult leader than a traditional politician."

www.alternet.org/election-2016/cult-trump

I know it's a bit pointless worrying about Trump's finger on the nuclear button as there is probably nothing we can do but his mental health is worrying.

American psychiatrists have warned, in a letter to the New York Times, that the President’s erratic behaviour, including “repeated failure to distinguish between reality and fantasy” and “paranoid claims of conspiracy”, cast doubt over his ability to react rationally in a crisis, they said.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-psychiatry-professors-dangerous-us-president-remove-post-public-safety-judith-herman-a7619801.html

I would have thought that they had broken their own code of ethics or whatever it may be called, as they have not formally assessed him or whatever it is called!

varian. Saying what you said about his mental health may well be libellous?

How can it be libellous for varian and various psychiatrists to express concern about Trump's mental health? The erratic, narcissistic, grandiose behaviour is there for all to see.
Those two young 'fans" of the Trumpster express their opinions, others express theirs. Trump certainly allows himself free reign in the way he describes others, e.g. President Obama, anyone who works for CNN or the BBC, anyone who criticises or questions his comments. If he can do it, surely, so can anyone else.

I've never known psychiatrists to make comments like the ones about Trump about any previous president, even Nixon.

I addressed my previous post to varian. The psychiatrists must look after themselves.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/a2840487-Sunday-Times-story-today-about-Mumsnet-having-to-reveal-posters-names?msgid=66563959#66563959

The link they use is this one
www.blakemorgan.co.uk/news-events/news/brief-guide-tort-defamation/

Personally I wouldnt go anywhere near this type of thing.

I think though, what I shall do in the future is the same as merlotgran does, where she just posts something along the lines of
"Be aware of libel laws varian" or whoever.

Up to what each individual poster chooses to do of course though.

I really don't think saying you are worried about Donald Trump's mental health counts as defamation, Ankers. A lot of worse things have been said about him and he has said many much worse things about his opponents.

varian

varian and Iam64 You should see what they call him on Quora!

The small proportion of right wing posters say worse about Obama!

Judith Herman and Robert Lifton were very cautious about appearing to make a professional diagnosis, but I think they are correct and very brave to alert the senate to their observations:

“We are in no way offering a psychiatric diagnosis, which would be unwise to attempt from a distance," they wrote.

"Nevertheless, as psychiatrists we feel obliged to express our alarm. We fear that when faced with a crisis, President Trump will lack the judgment to respond rationally.

“The military powers entrusted to him endanger us all. We urge our elected representatives to take the necessary steps to protect us from this dangerous president.”

Let us hope that we never see the day when they can say, 'We tried to tell you.'

I commented on GN a some time ago that we are watching Trump's behaviour, but psychiatrists world wide recognise and understand the implications of the symptoms.

ginny following on twitter it is clear that there is something very wrong with Trump.