http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yooge
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Now that we’re in the midst of the political conventions and immediately following the Trump narcissist extravaganza, it’s time to do something unusual, to separate from cable blather and give our full attention to reality.
Trump’s 1987 book “The Art of the Deal” was presented as an autobiography by the then-38-year-old Trump. In truth, Tony Schwartz is the ghostwriter who penned every word of it and he has an irreparably guilty conscience now for having done so. His Faustian bargain with Trump and the truth about Trump’s dishonesty are detailed in the July 25, 2016 issue of The New Yorker magazine in a critically important piece by Jane Mayer, author of “Dark Money.” Schwartz tells us that in writing the book, “I put lipstick on a pig.”
You need to read this piece to fully understand:
- That Trump really is a sociopath.
- That Trump is impulsive and has no attention span.
- That, “Lying is second nature to him.” “He lied strategically. He had a complete lack of conscience about it.”
- That Trump has no regard whatsoever for the people he falsely claims to champion.
- That the only thing Trump wants to make great is his public attention. For Trump, it is not and never has been about America.
On that second point Schwartz says, ” . . . that it’s impossible to keep him focused on any topic, other than his own self-aggrandizement, for more than a few minutes . . . ” His experience with Trump left him with the clarity that Trump has, ” . . . a stunning level of superficial knowledge and plain ignorance.” Those are really bad personality flaws for someone who is Commander in Chief of the world’s most powerful military. The job of president requires the ability to learn and understand deep and complex issues and all the implications surrounding them. Says Schwartz, “I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.”
Regarding Trump’s claim to care about the poor and working people, “In the past seven years, Trump has promised to give millions of dollars to charity, but reporters for the Washington Post found that they could document only ten thousand dollars in donations – and uncovered no direct evidence that Trump made [the promised] charitable contributions from money earned by “The Art of the Deal.”
To illustrate the impact of the last point about public attention, George W. Bush wanted to be seen as a war president. He proceeded to lie us into invading Iraq, which led to ISIS, the Syrian civil war, an unrestrained Iran, terrorist murders around the world and our never-ending Middle-East wars, all because Dubya wanted the public attention and image of war president. And Schwartz tells us, ” . . . that Trump seemed driven entirely by a need for public attention.” What do you suppose that sort of personality disorder might mean for our children and grandchildren?
It’s crucial that the American people know and understand the frightening truth about this P.T. Barnum-like charlatan before it’s too late. So send this blog to everyone you know, lefty, centrist or righty, informed or not and tell them to click on the link to Mayer’s article on Schwartz, just as you will. Tell them to read the piece – it’s startling – and then to pass this along to everyone they know. Because this is about reality – actual facts – from the guy who studied Trump like no other and knows the truth about him. We can handle the truth; what we can’t handle is a yooge sociopath in the White House.
So go ahead – do it now before the next hyperbolic news cycle breaks your concentration. And remember – and I mean this literally – we’re all counting on you.
You can watch Tony Schwartz on Bill Maher’s Real Time – RNC Convention Edition here starting at 22:20.
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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.
YOUR ACTION STEPS: Please offer your comments below and pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe. Thanks! JA
Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
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7 Responses to Yooge
Brian Muldoon July 28, 2016
Jack: Exactly. But we long have been conditioning ourselves, as a culture, to be susceptible to such ridiculous flim-flam. The tide of self-delusion that allows people to support Mr. Trump, and then refuse to consider any facts or logic that might call that support into question, has its origins in the training we get, first from our parents and then from our society. Our parents tell us that Santa is real and our institutions claim that we can win immortality by living a good life and that a new BMW will make us happy. We are so accustomed to deception (advertising, political promises) and to our role as merely consumers that we hardly notice that we are being manipulated by clever people who know how to trigger a subconscious reaction. Trump mastered the dark arts in his TV work. And there is a yooge audience out there that can no longer differentiate between “reality TV” and reality. The leaders of ISIS have achieved the same results–and if they can convince alienated, impressionable young men and women to kill themselves for some imaginary reward in the imaginary afterlife, Trump can certainly convince alienated, impressionable TV watchers that he will save them from life’s hard truths. They believe this because their pre-frontal lobes have become, through conditioning, vestigal organs. Let’s just hope the thinkers outnumber the anti-thinkers on election day.
Ernest Draffen July 25, 2016
What I just read expresses the thoughts I had when This devil entered the political scene and expressed his ideas! What I really worry about now is there are so many in our country who agree with his nonsense. I’m really concerned for our country. E. Draffen
Dan Wallace July 24, 2016
When election day comes, I am going to go to the Container Store, buy a bag of 100 clothespins, put all 100 on my nose and vote for Hillary. My only options here are to hate myself a lot or hate myself even more than that. As much as I think that an instinct for truthfulness, a moral compass, decent judgment and some ability to keep one’s ego in check are core requirements for the office, I think having a functioning pre-frontal cortex trumps them. (See what I did there?) She will not be a good president, but she does not pose an existential threat to the republic. He does.
Jack Altschuler July 26, 2016
Be sure to send a picture of you with 100 clothespins on your nose.
Your painful Republican conundrum was acknowledged in a heartfelt (yes, really) essay, “A Hard Time to Be A Republican” at http://bit.ly/2a7LMYY.
Ed Shuman July 24, 2016
Jack, thank you. This was thoughtfully and beautifully expressed. I’m going to read Mayer’s article on Schwartz.. I saw him (Schwartz) on Bill Maher’s show last week. I, like many ostensibly level-headed Americans, am totally baffled at how so many millions can actually follow such a cretin, a bully and brainless thug who, among other things, gets away with fabricating EVERYTHING. I guess fear mongering and xenophobia are frighteningly alive and well in America. I worry so that my dear state of Florida, more redneck than Texas and Alabama, will actually put him in the White House. God help us all.
Eddie
Frank Levy July 24, 2016
While all of this is good information, Trying to use facts to convince Trumps supporters to change their votes is a fool’s errand. Likewise, trying to convince those that have already decided to vote for a third party candidate, or to not vote at all, is also a waste of time – these people obviously do not care about nor understand the hideous and long-lasting consequences of their choice to NOT vote for the Democratic nominee for president.
To my mind, the real work, whether Hillary wins or loses, will be to show these frightened, xenophobic, racist, homophobic, and less educated Trump supporters, that they have been mis-led by the Republicans, especially Trump, to hate and fear the wrong people, and that America need not be a zero-sum nation where one group’s success is dependent on another’s failure or demise.
Jack Altschuler July 26, 2016
You are right: Trump voters won’t change their minds. He has 35% of Republican voters (the base) sewn up. On the other hand, those intending to vote for a third party candidate or not vote at all are not lost causes.
This election is like every other: It will be won or lost in the middle, clawing for the votes of the non-base voters. It’s complicated this time because both of the main contenders are deeply disliked by the non-base voters. Even many base voters on the left – Bernie zealots – cannot fathom voting for Hillary. Their passion is tied to their lost cause, which demonized Hillary, making her unacceptable to many of these folks.
So, the work is and will be to communicate with those who aren’t extremists, to educate them of the truth. Dan Wallace said it well (comment above): “She will not be a good president, but she does not pose an existential threat to the republic. He does.” You may disagree, believing she will be a good president; that’s fine. The key point is that he poses an existential threat to the republic. Go tell some people today. And tomorrow.