Saturday, September 15, 2018

"Gaslighting" — Need for Power, Control, or Concealment Based on Lies and Denial

Seat of the National Gaslighting Center of America 
(Aka: Trump Empire, Inc. Annex)

Used frequently (daily actually) by the G-in-C
(Gaslighter-in-Chief)

INTRODUCTION:

I first heard and read about the term “gaslighting” in the CNN article noted below wherein they pose this question:

“How can a highly unstable President, whose agenda revolves around white nationalism and “America First” so dominate politics in 2018?”

That article is from CNN vis-à-vis Bob Woodward’s top selling book: Fear — article by Julian Zelizer, CNN Political Analyst, and it is an excellent article.

(Note: Some of my editing and highlights are used to make it fit the blog … check out whole piece at the CNN link – it is keeper for sure).

Fifty years after the civil rights movement transformed the country by pushing it in a progressive direction on matters of social justice, we seem to have taken a massive step backward.

Fifty years after it seemed that George Wallace's brand of politics was banished forever, his legacy lives on in the Trump White House. Our political processes were so broken that a political novice with a checkered business history and claim to fame from reality television rode his way to the presidency.

While many people in the electorate were not happy with Trump or the system that produced him, and he actually lost the popular vote, the President was still able to win, thanks to the Electoral College. His victory was likely enabled by a combination of factors – including (1) a growing inequality and the uneven recovery from the Great Recession, (2) the rot in our campaign finance system, (3) the failure of Congress to govern effectively, (4) the flaws of Hillary Clinton, (5) the growth of conservative news media, (6) the use of social media by Russian hackers, and (7) the continued popular strength of reactionary social ideas in certain parts of the nation.

As a matter of fact, Trump's support among Republican voters stands at some 85%. They would not tolerate this from any DEM president (cite: Obama in particular), so why do they tolerate Trump?

Why is this happening? The answers have less to do with the President than with everything that surrounds him. These are questions that demand the historian's interest in context rather than the reporter's thirst for detail.

The questions need to start with the Republican Party, which has provided a safe home for the reactionary brand of politics that Trump champions.

As has been well-documented, despite every offensive or false statement and tweet that comes from this White House, and shocking policies such as family separation at the border, Republicans in Congress essentially do nothing.

When serious questions have been raised about the ethical practices of the commander in chief or about how much he will do to protect our election processes, congressional Republicans haven't acted to constrain Trump.

Even as the President mounts an all-out assault on the free press, some Republicans on the Hill yell and scream but undertake no real oversight. Partisan loyalty too often trumps political courage in an age of intense polarization.

More and more Republicans have been willing and eager to have the President's endorsement in the primaries. And so, the story of Trump has raised as many questions about the state of the GOP as it has about him.

The Trump presidency also raises serious questions about our cherished system of checks and balances. Just how much can we count on the checks to restrain an out-of-control president? Hollywood filmmakers have imagined scenarios where we end up with leaders willing to do dangerous things. But audiences tend to believe this couldn't happen in real life.

My 2 cents: Related to that assessment which I agree with is this from Pogo.org re: Trump blames the DEMS (as usual) for the high death toll following Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico as their way to harm him. 

What a shameful, shameful man – yet one who remains shameless, too – how ironic is that? Pogo’s main point and excellent summary to all this is simply this: Gaslighting the country by pretending that thousands did not lose their lives is beneath the Office of the President.

Then this gaslighting ref from Psychology Today:

Thanks for stopping by.

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