The Trump regime is a punishment tour. He hates everyone, he is permanently aggrieved and therefore, everyone needs to be punished. He is the epitome of the abusive father.
The first thing to understand is that scientists debate whether sociopaths are born that way or if their traits result from life experiences that influence their development. This discussion is framed in terms of nature or inheritance rather than maturation or life experiences.
My professional experience with sociopaths is that they have an internal mechanism that generates their condition, and they never really seek assistance with their condition. The few that I worked with came under duress from their marriage partners, who gave them an ultimatum: either go for help or leave the marriage.
By every definition, Trump is a sociopath. The definition of a sociopath, as stated in the psychiatric manual (the DSM-5-TR), is someone who has the following personality traits.
1.) They exhibit a chronic pattern of disregarding the rights, feelings, and safety of others
2.) Key symptoms include extreme manipulation, lack of remorse, impulsivity, and deceitfulness
3.) Behaviors often involve breaking social norms, violence, and irresponsible actions, sometimes covered by superficial charm
4.) Prone to violent outbursts, fights, and dangerous, risky behavior without regard for safety.
5.) Masking: Sociopaths may act charming to hide their true nature and facilitate manipulation.
6.) They tend to blame others for their own failures and often target specific individuals for mistreatment,
Besides being a sociopath, Trump has delusions of grandeur or a desire to be a part of an exclusive group of men; he also has a cleanness fetish, an eating disorder, and many forms of extreme prejudices, and an extreme misuse of women.
I have been told that the American Psychiatric Association states that they cannot make a diagnosis until they have done a psychiatric examination. As a psychologist, I have always questioned a psychiatric evaluation that lasts from 90 minutes to 6 hours. No test is performed; they must evaluate the subject's behavior and make a diagnostic classification. Now compare that with our daily observation of Trump for 6 years, and which do you think is more reliable?
We have a sociopathic lying man at the head of our government, and we have a Congress that has supported everything about this disturbed man, and we have governors who are wimps, and the question is, what are you ready to do about it?
Not to forget an extremely corrupt majority on the "supreme" court, which has been laying the groundwork for what's happening now since Roberts was made chief "justice."
This was really enlightening considering I have been researching the pushback of white supremacists after the Civil war and amendments for citizenship and voting. I am glad there is a sense of hope elsewhere from the South, and even in the South against this new iteration of the KKK and White Councils/Christian Nationalism, however I live in Washington state on the state line with Idaho. Believe me, the values of the Confederacy are alive and well permeating politics, religion and community decisions on both sides of the border. White Christian Nationalism is infectious. This conversation explained a lot about Trump popularity (like with my husband in Wyoming) and the people who come to the table with grievances, not unlike whites in the South, post civil war. I like the title The War of SOUTHERN Aggression and I think we can never be too complacent about the neoConfederate tentacles reaching into small rural communities, and we need to call it out for what it is. I too have high hopes for the primaries and for 2026 and will do all I can to ensure we DO have elections.
" I have been researching the pushback of white supremacists after the Civil war and amendments for citizenship and voting." Wow, highly laudable! I like how you point out how the values of the Confederacy feed into White Christian Nationalism and it becomes infectious. I was thinking about Ohio. Like WT? happened in Ohio? But the plutocrats abandonment of the working class created a fertile ground for "grievances" - and grievances lays a population open for infection by the very unAmerican White Christian Nationalism.
grievance is it the foundation, not necessarily real grievance but perceived grievances. I watched a podcast this a.m. which names the south a fertile area for neoConfederate thought. The more I look at it, the more I realize the big error was too quickly forgiving the South for the Civil War, slavery etc. and not holding them accountable. I see that with Jan. 6, and it is clearly infected our lives today, no one is at fault or so they think. Grace and forgiveness is important, and the Union was important to rebuild, but the lies of the Lost Cause still fly today.
Becky I suggest you read Ron Chernow's "Grant." It's an engrossing & highly entertaining biography of Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Union Army & President of the USA. I wanted to learn about Grant when I read in Doris Kearns-Goodwin's "A Team of Rivals" how this great general cried at Lincoln's funeral! But what I gained was an appreciation of why Grant & Lincoln were so lenient with the Confederates. The Civil War brought a level of death and destruction to our soil could not have been imagined, nor can we, who live 150 later, can imagine. There was a deep longing for an END of all the grizzly cruelty and brutality. Grant (mistakenly) thought, especially given Sherman's March to the Sea, the Confederates would want to mend their ways in an effort to achieve a lasting peace. Meanwhile Lincoln, was it denial? He sincerely believed that the love of our USA, which was a young country at the time, would give the former Confederates the motivation to work towards a just society for all men. Remember, Lincoln choose Andrew Jackson because Jackson was the sole Southerner who stayed in Congress after the Confederacy was formed. Hind sight is always 20/20. But try the book - it's a great read.
I will check it out. I don't think the grace of Lincoln and Grant was naive or wrong, and I don't think they ever anticipated the venom of the Confederates who would not accept defeat (sounds like a president we know). Grace is always better and hindsight is always 20/20 vision. They were optimists and saw Union victory as a chance to repair not punish. I think this would be a good addition to my library. I do hope to do justice on the topic of the Lost Cause, I never had heard of it, but it sure was alive and well in my educational materials, and today too. I am working on a book, So Much I Never Knew, about understanding racial relations through the lens of history, in progress now 6 years, so much change in that time.
It certainly makes sense that MAGA is constituted of White Supremacist Neo-Confederates who are now trying to reconstruct the North. Witness where ICE and Border Control are operating most violently-- in Northern cities, not the borders.
Mike is so right on. Bigotry has been alive and well since 1776 and before. I 100% knew there would be a strong backlash backlash when Obama was elected. Yes, it was a hopeful sign of things to come. Since I have had a bit easier perspective of who we are as a people due to the time, place, and circumstances in which I have lived, the notion that we as a people had taken a significant turn towards some kind of enlightenment was clearly obsurd.
My great awakening occurred when Reagan won. We all wanted to believe it was mainly about the economy. It wasn't. It was about an intense fear that young black men might be invading white neighborhoods and workplaces. What bound together Reagan's popularity was his bigoted dialog. He didn't create the phrase "welfare queens", he popularized it. It rang true for a huge number of people across the political spectrum. That one thing, all by itself, showed me the true heart of America. Of course, the "war on drugs" was the same thing. The dramatic increase in arrests and convictions of young black men was an incredibly clarifying exposure of who we are as a country as a whole. White people, in comparison as a whole, escaped the harsh punishments when caught with drugs.
Finally, to bring this to the present. The popularity of the whole notion of wokeness grabbed a hold of such a large portion of our country has brought out into the light who a large chunk of our nation really are. This is simply a basic part of society. It always has been, and always will be.
The only revolution that has ever occurred that changed our society was the industrial one. All of the rest has been an illusion. It's physically impossible for the human mindset to change. We all like to think we understand it except when we evaluate our own personal behavior. If anything, being crowded together at our jobs where behavior is increasing controlled, makes us want to avoid closeness in our communities. It seems we've become less violent over the millennia but I am not so sure. The scenario I like to think of is the old one about the Hatfields and the McCoys. That is who we all are. The two clans almost continuesly threatening and taking potshots at one another and then end up, from time to time, having a son and daughter getting married from each family. It never ends and it's who people have been since forever.
One final thing that we all know is true. What the hell happens to all of us when we hop into our vehicles? Driving to and from the two places we think of as defining our best sides. Raising our families and working to do so and then jumping into that fancy machine only to instantly change from Jeckle into Hyde. It's weird how much effort it takes to keep the out of control small children we are. "I'm better than you arrrre, nyah nyah nyah nah nyahhhhhh nah. Showing off our shiny vehicle and ready to pounce on anyone who violates our corner of the sandbox.
In the south, many politicians pander to conservatives who happen to be Christian by calling themselves Christian conservatives. Many voters unfortunately buy into this thinking these people have their best interests at heart. Others whether or not they are evangelicals do not necessarily always buy into what they’re peddling. Looking at the numbers the more critically thinking voters are in the minority. They view the electing process as looking for a president, a senator or a representative not a Sunday school teacher.
The thought that it could be the business community that takes trump out has crossed my mind, but who would they pick? j d vance is peter thiel's guy. How do the kochs feel about him?
The clergy and houses of worship that have spoken out against the regime give some hope in the fight against the installation of the white christian nationalism of project 2025. Raising the curtain on these extreme beliefs needs to be done.
Most of these new and old robber barons don't care about anything other than increasing their own bank accounts. This is what they have in common with the orange dumpster.
Thank you so much Mr. Podhorzer for the terrific insights you shared with us all during your video chat with Jen Rubin and Norm Eisen. I loved how you zeroed in on the very different groups that make up the “Trump coalition.” This is not discussed often enough and I sincerely get irked when people lump all “Trump supporters” together. Well, yeah- I AM guilty in my lazy or frustrated moments of calling out the “Trumpistos” but I’m keenly aware of the distinct separate groups that keep Trump in power - and how Trump plays them against each other, or when a action is to seduce one group exclusively. I greatly appreciated your insights on the Federalist Society & the Roberts Court. It’s no longer the Republican Party but a coalition hoping Trump will bring them what they want, while at the same time asking themselves, “Have we unleashed a monster?”
Yes, the Klan is back - and not only in the South, tragically. Now reading Timothy Egan's 'A Fever in the Heartland'. If a woman took them down before, women could be able to take them down now, or?
This is such an important Coffee with the Contrarians. Podhorzer revealed why there is such division in the US. Before I heard this Coffee, I wondered how someone could see what was going on and think of themself as a patriot. Don’t they believe in the Constitution? But now, I understand. I appreciate this enormously because the division is created, in part, by our willingness — including my own — to rest easy in our bubbles. You know the effects, the accentuation of the belief, the rigidity — where will compromise come from? If compromise is not possible, Podhorzer has great suggestions: Remove old laws like the Comstock Act, the Alien Enemies Act, the Filibuster . . . I would add to make DC and Puerto Rico states…and Guam and Samoa! Podhorzer also said that it was inexcusable to not pass the reforms for voting. Absolutely. Bravo.
I just read Podhorzer's substack on the media. It was very enlightening and shows paths to solutions. It seems to me that access to real information is more a root of our issues than the idea half of American support neoconfederacy. When people really see reality, they react. The civil right movement is a great example - people cared when they saw violence against Black Americans. The filming of ICE's gestapo tactics has an impact.
I am not sure Podhorzer's theories explain Democrats winning seats in red states during the Trump regime. I am not sure his views reflect the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement. Though it is often believed that Black Lives Matter no longer has an impact - I disagree. I think many Americans really faced the truth that not all people living in the United States has the same rights. I believe it fundamentally changed the conversation. Now seeing Brown people being treated with the same conditions - it's the same story with a different history. Yes - neoconfederacy makes sense as one group of the Trump regime's coalition. The groups supporting the Trump regime are using each other to gain and maintain power. Frankly, I think it's Oligarchs with the real power, using neoconfederacy and Christian nationalists to keep themselves in power. MLK was right - it may be economic class that binds us together, instead of race.
My experience in rural NC 100% supports Podhorzer's view of an impenetrable Confederacy subculture. In the iron. grip of MAGA. These folks feel righteous and defiant.
The Trump regime is a punishment tour. He hates everyone, he is permanently aggrieved and therefore, everyone needs to be punished. He is the epitome of the abusive father.
UNDERSTAND A SOCIOPATH, UNDERSTAND TRUMP
The first thing to understand is that scientists debate whether sociopaths are born that way or if their traits result from life experiences that influence their development. This discussion is framed in terms of nature or inheritance rather than maturation or life experiences.
My professional experience with sociopaths is that they have an internal mechanism that generates their condition, and they never really seek assistance with their condition. The few that I worked with came under duress from their marriage partners, who gave them an ultimatum: either go for help or leave the marriage.
By every definition, Trump is a sociopath. The definition of a sociopath, as stated in the psychiatric manual (the DSM-5-TR), is someone who has the following personality traits.
1.) They exhibit a chronic pattern of disregarding the rights, feelings, and safety of others
2.) Key symptoms include extreme manipulation, lack of remorse, impulsivity, and deceitfulness
3.) Behaviors often involve breaking social norms, violence, and irresponsible actions, sometimes covered by superficial charm
4.) Prone to violent outbursts, fights, and dangerous, risky behavior without regard for safety.
5.) Masking: Sociopaths may act charming to hide their true nature and facilitate manipulation.
6.) They tend to blame others for their own failures and often target specific individuals for mistreatment,
Besides being a sociopath, Trump has delusions of grandeur or a desire to be a part of an exclusive group of men; he also has a cleanness fetish, an eating disorder, and many forms of extreme prejudices, and an extreme misuse of women.
I have been told that the American Psychiatric Association states that they cannot make a diagnosis until they have done a psychiatric examination. As a psychologist, I have always questioned a psychiatric evaluation that lasts from 90 minutes to 6 hours. No test is performed; they must evaluate the subject's behavior and make a diagnostic classification. Now compare that with our daily observation of Trump for 6 years, and which do you think is more reliable?
We have a sociopathic lying man at the head of our government, and we have a Congress that has supported everything about this disturbed man, and we have governors who are wimps, and the question is, what are you ready to do about it?
Not to forget an extremely corrupt majority on the "supreme" court, which has been laying the groundwork for what's happening now since Roberts was made chief "justice."
Jen, you absolutely clarified that Southern white male power is being revived, nurtured and celebrated by this administration…..
This was really enlightening considering I have been researching the pushback of white supremacists after the Civil war and amendments for citizenship and voting. I am glad there is a sense of hope elsewhere from the South, and even in the South against this new iteration of the KKK and White Councils/Christian Nationalism, however I live in Washington state on the state line with Idaho. Believe me, the values of the Confederacy are alive and well permeating politics, religion and community decisions on both sides of the border. White Christian Nationalism is infectious. This conversation explained a lot about Trump popularity (like with my husband in Wyoming) and the people who come to the table with grievances, not unlike whites in the South, post civil war. I like the title The War of SOUTHERN Aggression and I think we can never be too complacent about the neoConfederate tentacles reaching into small rural communities, and we need to call it out for what it is. I too have high hopes for the primaries and for 2026 and will do all I can to ensure we DO have elections.
" I have been researching the pushback of white supremacists after the Civil war and amendments for citizenship and voting." Wow, highly laudable! I like how you point out how the values of the Confederacy feed into White Christian Nationalism and it becomes infectious. I was thinking about Ohio. Like WT? happened in Ohio? But the plutocrats abandonment of the working class created a fertile ground for "grievances" - and grievances lays a population open for infection by the very unAmerican White Christian Nationalism.
grievance is it the foundation, not necessarily real grievance but perceived grievances. I watched a podcast this a.m. which names the south a fertile area for neoConfederate thought. The more I look at it, the more I realize the big error was too quickly forgiving the South for the Civil War, slavery etc. and not holding them accountable. I see that with Jan. 6, and it is clearly infected our lives today, no one is at fault or so they think. Grace and forgiveness is important, and the Union was important to rebuild, but the lies of the Lost Cause still fly today.
Becky I suggest you read Ron Chernow's "Grant." It's an engrossing & highly entertaining biography of Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Union Army & President of the USA. I wanted to learn about Grant when I read in Doris Kearns-Goodwin's "A Team of Rivals" how this great general cried at Lincoln's funeral! But what I gained was an appreciation of why Grant & Lincoln were so lenient with the Confederates. The Civil War brought a level of death and destruction to our soil could not have been imagined, nor can we, who live 150 later, can imagine. There was a deep longing for an END of all the grizzly cruelty and brutality. Grant (mistakenly) thought, especially given Sherman's March to the Sea, the Confederates would want to mend their ways in an effort to achieve a lasting peace. Meanwhile Lincoln, was it denial? He sincerely believed that the love of our USA, which was a young country at the time, would give the former Confederates the motivation to work towards a just society for all men. Remember, Lincoln choose Andrew Jackson because Jackson was the sole Southerner who stayed in Congress after the Confederacy was formed. Hind sight is always 20/20. But try the book - it's a great read.
I will check it out. I don't think the grace of Lincoln and Grant was naive or wrong, and I don't think they ever anticipated the venom of the Confederates who would not accept defeat (sounds like a president we know). Grace is always better and hindsight is always 20/20 vision. They were optimists and saw Union victory as a chance to repair not punish. I think this would be a good addition to my library. I do hope to do justice on the topic of the Lost Cause, I never had heard of it, but it sure was alive and well in my educational materials, and today too. I am working on a book, So Much I Never Knew, about understanding racial relations through the lens of history, in progress now 6 years, so much change in that time.
What a great conversation! Please invite him often
It certainly makes sense that MAGA is constituted of White Supremacist Neo-Confederates who are now trying to reconstruct the North. Witness where ICE and Border Control are operating most violently-- in Northern cities, not the borders.
Mike is so right on. Bigotry has been alive and well since 1776 and before. I 100% knew there would be a strong backlash backlash when Obama was elected. Yes, it was a hopeful sign of things to come. Since I have had a bit easier perspective of who we are as a people due to the time, place, and circumstances in which I have lived, the notion that we as a people had taken a significant turn towards some kind of enlightenment was clearly obsurd.
My great awakening occurred when Reagan won. We all wanted to believe it was mainly about the economy. It wasn't. It was about an intense fear that young black men might be invading white neighborhoods and workplaces. What bound together Reagan's popularity was his bigoted dialog. He didn't create the phrase "welfare queens", he popularized it. It rang true for a huge number of people across the political spectrum. That one thing, all by itself, showed me the true heart of America. Of course, the "war on drugs" was the same thing. The dramatic increase in arrests and convictions of young black men was an incredibly clarifying exposure of who we are as a country as a whole. White people, in comparison as a whole, escaped the harsh punishments when caught with drugs.
Finally, to bring this to the present. The popularity of the whole notion of wokeness grabbed a hold of such a large portion of our country has brought out into the light who a large chunk of our nation really are. This is simply a basic part of society. It always has been, and always will be.
The only revolution that has ever occurred that changed our society was the industrial one. All of the rest has been an illusion. It's physically impossible for the human mindset to change. We all like to think we understand it except when we evaluate our own personal behavior. If anything, being crowded together at our jobs where behavior is increasing controlled, makes us want to avoid closeness in our communities. It seems we've become less violent over the millennia but I am not so sure. The scenario I like to think of is the old one about the Hatfields and the McCoys. That is who we all are. The two clans almost continuesly threatening and taking potshots at one another and then end up, from time to time, having a son and daughter getting married from each family. It never ends and it's who people have been since forever.
One final thing that we all know is true. What the hell happens to all of us when we hop into our vehicles? Driving to and from the two places we think of as defining our best sides. Raising our families and working to do so and then jumping into that fancy machine only to instantly change from Jeckle into Hyde. It's weird how much effort it takes to keep the out of control small children we are. "I'm better than you arrrre, nyah nyah nyah nah nyahhhhhh nah. Showing off our shiny vehicle and ready to pounce on anyone who violates our corner of the sandbox.
In the south, many politicians pander to conservatives who happen to be Christian by calling themselves Christian conservatives. Many voters unfortunately buy into this thinking these people have their best interests at heart. Others whether or not they are evangelicals do not necessarily always buy into what they’re peddling. Looking at the numbers the more critically thinking voters are in the minority. They view the electing process as looking for a president, a senator or a representative not a Sunday school teacher.
The thought that it could be the business community that takes trump out has crossed my mind, but who would they pick? j d vance is peter thiel's guy. How do the kochs feel about him?
The clergy and houses of worship that have spoken out against the regime give some hope in the fight against the installation of the white christian nationalism of project 2025. Raising the curtain on these extreme beliefs needs to be done.
Most of these new and old robber barons don't care about anything other than increasing their own bank accounts. This is what they have in common with the orange dumpster.
Aha, 'Pod' was right: https://newrepublic.com/article/206478/trump-canada-bridge-backfires-democrats-2026-weapon
A billionaire lobbied Lutnick hours before ... A connection?
Thank you so much Mr. Podhorzer for the terrific insights you shared with us all during your video chat with Jen Rubin and Norm Eisen. I loved how you zeroed in on the very different groups that make up the “Trump coalition.” This is not discussed often enough and I sincerely get irked when people lump all “Trump supporters” together. Well, yeah- I AM guilty in my lazy or frustrated moments of calling out the “Trumpistos” but I’m keenly aware of the distinct separate groups that keep Trump in power - and how Trump plays them against each other, or when a action is to seduce one group exclusively. I greatly appreciated your insights on the Federalist Society & the Roberts Court. It’s no longer the Republican Party but a coalition hoping Trump will bring them what they want, while at the same time asking themselves, “Have we unleashed a monster?”
Yes, the Klan is back - and not only in the South, tragically. Now reading Timothy Egan's 'A Fever in the Heartland'. If a woman took them down before, women could be able to take them down now, or?
This is such an important Coffee with the Contrarians. Podhorzer revealed why there is such division in the US. Before I heard this Coffee, I wondered how someone could see what was going on and think of themself as a patriot. Don’t they believe in the Constitution? But now, I understand. I appreciate this enormously because the division is created, in part, by our willingness — including my own — to rest easy in our bubbles. You know the effects, the accentuation of the belief, the rigidity — where will compromise come from? If compromise is not possible, Podhorzer has great suggestions: Remove old laws like the Comstock Act, the Alien Enemies Act, the Filibuster . . . I would add to make DC and Puerto Rico states…and Guam and Samoa! Podhorzer also said that it was inexcusable to not pass the reforms for voting. Absolutely. Bravo.
I just read Podhorzer's substack on the media. It was very enlightening and shows paths to solutions. It seems to me that access to real information is more a root of our issues than the idea half of American support neoconfederacy. When people really see reality, they react. The civil right movement is a great example - people cared when they saw violence against Black Americans. The filming of ICE's gestapo tactics has an impact.
I am not sure Podhorzer's theories explain Democrats winning seats in red states during the Trump regime. I am not sure his views reflect the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement. Though it is often believed that Black Lives Matter no longer has an impact - I disagree. I think many Americans really faced the truth that not all people living in the United States has the same rights. I believe it fundamentally changed the conversation. Now seeing Brown people being treated with the same conditions - it's the same story with a different history. Yes - neoconfederacy makes sense as one group of the Trump regime's coalition. The groups supporting the Trump regime are using each other to gain and maintain power. Frankly, I think it's Oligarchs with the real power, using neoconfederacy and Christian nationalists to keep themselves in power. MLK was right - it may be economic class that binds us together, instead of race.
My experience in rural NC 100% supports Podhorzer's view of an impenetrable Confederacy subculture. In the iron. grip of MAGA. These folks feel righteous and defiant.