Pam🌺

Amateur psychologist & lawyer. Educated as an historian.

[George Whitesides @gtwhitesides]

I was stuck in an airport for 7 hours today, like hundreds of thousands of Americans. I'm grateful for the air and ground crews who work tirelessly through disturbances, and I'm grateful to be on my way home to my family tonight.

Here's some straight talk on a late Friday night.

Our national air traffic system does need upgrading. It is old in parts and the fact that we have to keep it all going safely while we are upgrading it makes it complicated and hard.

I recently visited an ATC regional center and I was very impressed by the work of the controllers. They do heroic work every day to keep us safe and keep the system working. The reality is that they are understaffed and overworked.

The lack of communications from the administration today was really poor. The Transportation and Homeland Security leaders were slow to provide updates, and when they did speak, they didn't have good explanations about what was happening, nor whether it would happen again.

All of these issues demand that competent professionals should be leading the critical national system of air transport and safety. The president installed a guy with basically no professional transportation experience in one of the most crucial jobs we have as a country. That was a mistake, and we see it when he encounters crises. The American people deserve much better.

Everywhere we are seeing the consequence of poorly qualified political leaders in this administration.

Today the United States lost its measles-elimination status. That should be, on any other day, top headline news. It is a national tragedy and disgrace rolled into one, because it means that many kids will get sick from measles, and some will die, and that is totally unnecessary. It is due to the profoundly misguided leader of our nation's health and disease-control systems, RFK Jr, and the man who appointed him.

This week we also discovered that the Commerce Department, which is in charge of many export controls, appears to have looked the other way when they were informed that a shell company was smuggling advanced AI chips to China. Even though other government departments told them to prohibit such export sales. Commerce is led by a former investment banker who seems more interested in deals for the nation and his family than in protecting our national security.

And don't get me started on the Secretary of our Department of Defense, which has hobbled our nation's fighting force by firing our finest leaders, getting us into wars of choice, burning through precious stockpiles of our best defenses, and trying to politicize one of the bedrocks of our democracy, an apolitical military.

The chickens are coming home to roost. When bad leaders take over big organizations, the rot takes time to become apparent. For a while, competent civil servants keep the train on the rails. But after a while, it's just too much, and we are seeing that across transportation, health, export controls, science and defense.

Last week, the American people rejected this incompetence (among other things). They want government that works. That fixes and upgrades systems properly. That doesn't let our rivals steal our secrets. That doesn't squander our nation's military strength. That keeps our children safe from disease.

To be clear, that desire is not partisan. They just want government to do properly the things it is supposed to do. We have to do better as a nation, and the president needs to pick competent leaders rather than people who just look the part.

[The Shallow State @OurShallowState]

Donald Trump is a malignant narcissist. He is a defective person. He has deep insecurities and even deeper cravings. He disguises both with bluster and bravado. He has a lifetime of secrets and lies - about inheritance, grades, health, wealth, acumen - and he used them to build false constructs.
The Apprentice was big for him; it allowed him to act out his idealized self. And - it identified something he was actually good at - being a reality TV show host.
His disorders include narcissism, sociopathy, paranoia, and sadism. He doesn't process anything strategically. He is transactional. He doesn't think. He feels. It's in the form of impulses and cravings.
Grandiosity is his greatest CRAVING. Humiliation is his greatest fear. Protecting his secrets and lies is paramount.
A certain number of his supporters have malignant normality - they see a distorted reality through his behaviorally disorders. That's the cult, and they constituted his POWER.
His enablers - GOP officials and RW media - rely on him for power and profit. If he falters, they falter - and if he falters bigtime, they evaporate. They serve as his CRUTCH.
Again - his grandiosity is his craving, his base of supporters is his power, and his enablers are his crutch.
What happened in the election was the result in Trump 2.0 being different than Trump 1.0. The difference was borne from his narcissistic come-uppances. In the civil defamation suits, he was narcissistically battered (exposed as a predator and $90M judgment); and in the Trump Org civil suit, he was narcissistically pulverized (exposed as a fraudster and $350M judgment he struggled mightily to post bond for and couldn't until it was reduced). In the Manhattan criminal case, he was narcissistically traumatized - true humiliation, because it branded him a criminal. Plus, the process was brutal for him - he had to physically be there, observe rules, watch nobody show up to court for much of his defense, watch old friends like Pecker and Hicks speak truth against his narrative, AND he presented no defense because he's impotent as a witness, and - after all that - he lost - to a jury - unanimously, beyond a reasonable doubt, on all charges, after a very short deliberation. He had to see ALL this in person up close, and this is a guy who always controls his environ.
He faced many other charges and ran for office again to stay out of jail. When he won, he was going to be vengeful to the max. It was in the cards.
BUT - who would he be vengeful TO? His pathology does not let him see past himself. So - he hates Democrats, Republicans, Independents, giraffes, bunny rabbits, and he CANNOT feel or process empathy, shame, or contrition.
You honestly couldn't give power to a worse person.
He got old and ill and is now owned by his aberrant pathology. And the GOP was weak. And the cult was addicted to dopamine from owning libs thanks to Fox.
His mantra became "I can do whatever I want." And he did. And he overreached. Economically. Humanistically. Globally.
Yesterday, that overreach took him down. Enough truth filtered through the echo chambers. The frustration and negativity became too much for too many. His profiteering and his insensitivity about it, so abnormal, was beyond the pale.
Why am I posting all of this? I am doing it because we suffered so much because we were so collectively oblivious, quick to normalize, and we underestimated everything - including the power of grift.
If left to his own devices, he would have rewritten history. Where would we be then?
Yesterday's result is cause for celebration. But it's paramount that we see HIM - not for who he is, but for WHAT he is. It's paramount we understand him and how we got here and how we never let it happen again.
I see very little introspection occurring. Everything is analyzed in simplistic terms. As always, there is noise - false narratives and other nonsensicalities - obfuscating the full truth.
I made this post - in a noise-free zone - to push the narrative that I think matters most, that I hope we get around to discussing soon. Or eventually. History does not HAVE to repeat itself. Rip the Band-Aid off this guy.
Thanks for reading.

[Patrick Skinner @SkinnerPm]

Should be noted that @marceelias and many talented & ethical lawyers helped protect our elections from relentless and still-ongoing illegal tactics by the current administration. Tonight is very different if those without ethics & honor had prevailed. But they didn’t. Thank you.

[Amy Siskind @Amy_Siskind]

We have seen Trump for years, and escalating in recent weeks and months, seeking to discredit our elections and sow mistrust ahead of an election. Just as they did in the closing days of 2016, the NYT has inexplicably handed him a gift, that once again puts our democracy in peril.

The Times had to know the impact running the story on Alaska - which by the way is a strategy Republicans have used repeatedly over the years and is not illegal - would give Trump the ammunition he needed to sow doubt, after previously having struggling to offer anything of substance. Mind you, their main source had asked to retract her story, was fired, and had grievances against the campaign.

Let’s review 2016.

On October 31, 2016, the NYT published a front page story - similarly one week before the election - “Investigating Donald Trump, F.B.I. Sees No Clear Link to Russia,” a story that was later discredited, but similar to this week, gave Trump a lifeline ahead of an election.

Later, executive editor Jill Abramson concluded in her book that the Times "misstated the seriousness of the government's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and ties to the Trump campaign." The NYT changed the trajectory of the 2016 election, and falsely cleared Trump for so many people.

Fast forward one decade.

No lessons learned apparently. And rich after the NYT Editorial Board writes effusively this week about the dangers to our democracy and country heading into the election. Only to have the same newspaper prove it has too much avarice to learn from its own mistakes, which have already been so costly to our country. Shameful.

[Joe @electionsjoe]

What Vivek Ramaswamy has done is absolutely beyond despicable and evil. It is the most vile thing I have ever seen in politics. Using Amy Acton's birth mother who stayed married to Amy's rapist and was so abusive she lost custody of her kids, for political gain is despicable.

[Aaron Blake @AaronBlake]

After Trump put his name on the Kennedy Center, "gifts to the arts institution plunged 42% and donation pledges dropped more than 100%."

How is that second number bigger than 100%? Apparently because earlier pledges were withdrawn.

https://t.co/P8IKYFzoha

[George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway3d]

It’s not just weird; it’s delusional.

HE. IS. PSYCHOTIC.

If your grandpa said things like this, you’d take him in for a full neuropsychiatric workup.

And it’s time the media starts interviewing psychiatrists and psychologists to talk about it.

DO. YOUR. JOBS.

[Tom Nichols @RadioFreeTom]

Trump is trying to blackmail the Kennedy Center into putting his name on it. They should refuse.

Remember Kipling's warning about paying the Danegeld.

https://t.co/lZgz9CAvYx

[Sarah Longwell @SarahLongwell25]

I don’t think we spend enough time talking about what a profoundly unprincipled hypocrite Speaker Mike Johnson is.

[Pam🌺 @beachtobeach]

@SitcomPeople Nick Davis - All My Children!

[The Shallow State @OurShallowState]

He fomented an insurrection. He botched a pandemic. He stole classified documents. He committed every type of fraud known to man. He protects pedophiles. He's a convicted felon. He's an adjudicated rapist. He monetizes the presidency and weaponizes justice. He lies and obstructs at every turn. He's lawless. He's needy. He's compromised. He's narcissistic. He's psychopathic. He's paranoid. He's sadistic. I can go on.
AND YET - no matter how bad we know he is, and no matter how bad the many things we know he did are, remember this: Some of the things we don't yet know he did, are even worse.

[Pam🌺 @beachtobeach]

@ATRightMovies Channel 2 - CBS
Channel 4 - NBC
Channel 5 - WNEW
Channel 7 - ABC
Channel 9 - WOR
Channel 11 - WPIX
Channel 13 - WNET
NYC suburbs 1960’s

[The Shallow State @OurShallowState]

He's an adjudicated rapist, and SCOTUS knows it. He fomented an insurrection, and Jack Smith knows it. He botched a pandemic, and Dr Fauci knows it. He has committed every type of fraud known to man, and all men know it. He protects pedophiles. He lies as he breathes. He monetizes the presidency and weaponizes justice. He's lawless. He obstructs at every turn. He's an idiot - useful and otherwise. He's narcissistic. He's psychopathic. He's paranoid. He's sadistic. I can go on.
YET - no matter how bad we know he is, and no matter how bad the things we know he did are, remember this:
Some of the things we don't yet know, are even worse.

[Tim Walz @Tim_Walz]

Found an imaginary problem, said only they could fix it, didn’t listen to experts, hired buddies who grifted millions, failed miserably, bragged how great it went.

The entire Trump presidency in a nutshell.

[Bill Kristol @BillKristol]

"The UFC event captures something about this moment in our history.

After all, it’s vulgar, it’s violent, it’s commercial, it’s grandiose, it’s tacky, and it dishonors a place once thought worthy of care and respect. In other words, it’s Donald Trump."

https://t.co/4JB8V0GX4L

[Britni Danielle @BritniDWrites]

So Virginia can't use their new map, which was approved by voters. But Alabama can?

But sure, SCOTUS isn't "political"

[Alex Cole @acnewsitics]

Not securing the Strait of Hormuz before beginning a bombing campaign will go down as the biggest military blunder of all time. Donald Trump is a dummy.

[Ned Price @nedprice]

The biggest news isn't that Trump is appointing someone without a national security background to a position that, by law, requires "extensive" experience. It's that Pulte earned Trump's trust by using **mortgage** records to pursue perceived political enemies. Now this top henchman will have access to some of our most sensitive intelligence and exquisite capabilities. That's why this is so noteworthy -- and concerning.

[Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice]

In almost 18 months, Trump has implemented 92% of Project 2025’s recommendations for the White House.

This should be alarming to everyone.

A total destruction of our institutions from within — so they work less efficient for YOU.

[maddie @madsssagascar]

quote so evil it could be used in a childrens comic book to be widely and easily understood as “thats the bad guy”