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What's Wrong With Trump?

Arkady

Arkady

President
I saw some older interviews with Trump, from the 1980s and 1990s, and he was almost cogent in his communications. These days, unless he's reading from a teleprompter, he's barely even lucid. Are there any theories out there as to what might have happened?

I'll give you an example. Here's a transcript of some comments he made about the idea of American exceptionalism:

I don't like the term. I'll be honest with you. People say, "Oh he's not patriotic." Look, if I'm a Russian, or I'm a German, or I'm a person we do business with, why, you know, I don't think it's a very nice term. We're exceptional; you're not. First of all, Germany is eating our lunch. So they say, "Why are you exceptional. We're doing a lot better than you." I never liked the term. And perhaps that's because I don't have a very big ego and I don't need terms like that. Honestly. When you're doing business—I watch Obama every once in a while saying "American exceptionalism," it's [Trump makes a face]. I don't like the term. Because we're dealing—First of all, I want to take everything back from the world that we've given them. We've given them so much. On top of taking it back, I don't want to say, "We're exceptional. We're more exceptional." Because essentially we're saying we're more outstanding than you. "By the way, you've been eating our lunch for the last 20 years, but we're more exceptional than you." I don't like the term. I never liked it. When I see these politicians get up [and say], "the American exceptionalism"—we're dying. We owe 18 trillion in debt. I'd like to make us exceptional. And I'd like to talk later instead of now. Does that make any sense? Because I think you're insulting the world. And you, know, Jim, if you're German, or you're from Japan, or you're from China, you don't want to have people saying that. I never liked the expression. And I see a lot of good patriots get up and talk about Amer—you can think it, but I don't think we should say it. We may have a chance to say it in the not-too-distant future. But even the, I wouldn't say it because when I take back the jobs, and when I take back all that money and we get all our stuff, I'm not going to rub it in. Let's not rub it in. Let's not rub it in. But I never liked that term.​

If you condensed that rambling into a cogent statement covering all the same material, here's what it looks like:

Patriotic politicians talk about American exceptionalism, but I don't like the term. It's not accurate, at a time when countries like Germany are outperforming us and we have problems with joblessness and debt. Even when we fix those problems, we shouldn't insult other countries by rubbing it in.
​
It's normal for a politician to spiral a bit when speaking extemporaneously, and unfair to expect the pith of written comments. But I'm not sure anyone has ever spiraled quite as badly as Trump. Look at that statement. In just 360 words, he says the same thing (that he doesn't like the term) eight separate times, with only minor variations:

I don't like the term
I never liked the term
I don't need terms like that
I don't like the term
I don't like the term
I never liked it
I never liked the expression
But I never liked that term

That's not a brief Rubio-style programming malfunction, either. His extemporaneous comments frequently include enough weird repetitions to remind me of Rain Main ("definitely twenty, yeah, definitely twenty, it's definitely twenty.") Check out the end of that text above: "I'm not going to rub it in. Let's not rub it in. Let's not rub it in." Listen to his comments and you'll also hear mantra-like repetitions of "I'll be honest with you," "honestly," "believe me," and similar repetitive verbal tics. Here's another bit of Trump rambling:

We are going to make our country so strong. We are going to start winning again. As a country we don't win on trade; we don't win with the military, we can't beat ISIS. We don't win with anything. We are going to start winning again and we're going to win so much, you are going to be so happy, we are going to make America so great again, maybe greater than ever before.​

There's not a policy idea in there, or even a specific criticism. Just vague talk about winning and strength. It sounds like one of those Charlie Sheen drug-addled specials.... like the next minute he's going to be babbling about tiger blood.

Charlie-Sheen-Winning-Duh.jpg


Check out how whole sections of his comments involve saying the same thing two or three times in a row:

We're going to repeal and replace Obamacare. It is a total disaster. We're repealing and replacing Obamacare. It's gone. We're getting rid of Common Core. We're going to education our children locally. We educate our children locally. We are going to preserve our very sacred Second Amendment. There's not going to be any more chipping away at our Second Amendment. If we had protection in California recently and so many other places, you could even look to Paris. Paris has the toughest gun laws in the world. France has the toughest gun laws in the world.​

Did he have a stroke or something? Is it some kind of dementia?
 
Last edited:
Arkady said:
I saw some older interviews with Trump, from the 1980s and 1990s, and he was almost cogent in his communications. These days, unless he's reading from a teleprompter, he's barely even lucid. Are there any theories out there as to what might have happened?

I'll give you an example. Here's a transcript of some comments he made about the idea of American exceptionalism:

I don't like the term. I'll be honest with you. People say, "Oh he's not patriotic." Look, if I'm a Russian, or I'm a German, or I'm a person we do business with, why, you know, I don't think it's a very nice term. We're exceptional; you're not. First of all, Germany is eating our lunch. So they say, "Why are you exceptional. We're doing a lot better than you." I never liked the term. And perhaps that's because I don't have a very big ego and I don't need terms like that. Honestly. When you're doing business—I watch Obama every once in a while saying "American exceptionalism," it's [Trump makes a face]. I don't like the term. Because we're dealing—First of all, I want to take everything back from the world that we've given them. We've given them so much. On top of taking it back, I don't want to say, "We're exceptional. We're more exceptional." Because essentially we're saying we're more outstanding than you. "By the way, you've been eating our lunch for the last 20 years, but we're more exceptional than you." I don't like the term. I never liked it. When I see these politicians get up [and say], "the American exceptionalism"—we're dying. We owe 18 trillion in debt. I'd like to make us exceptional. And I'd like to talk later instead of now. Does that make any sense? Because I think you're insulting the world. And you, know, Jim, if you're German, or you're from Japan, or you're from China, you don't want to have people saying that. I never liked the expression. And I see a lot of good patriots get up and talk about Amer—you can think it, but I don't think we should say it. We may have a chance to say it in the not-too-distant future. But even the, I wouldn't say it because when I take back the jobs, and when I take back all that money and we get all our stuff, I'm not going to rub it in. Let's not rub it in. Let's not rub it in. But I never liked that term.​

If you condensed that rambling into a cogent statement covering all the same material, here's what it looks like:

Patriotic politicians talk about American exceptionalism, but I don't like the term. It's not accurate, at a time when countries like Germany are outperforming us and we have problems with joblessness and debt. Even when we fix those problems, we shouldn't insult other countries by rubbing it in.
​
It's normal for a politician to spiral a bit when speaking extemporaneously, and unfair to expect the pith of written comments. But I'm not sure anyone has ever spiraled quite as badly as Trump. Look at that statement. In just 360 words, he says the same thing (that he doesn't like the term) eight separate times, with only minor variations:

I don't like the term
I never liked the term
I don't need terms like that
I don't like the term
I don't like the term
I never liked it
I never liked the expression
But I never liked that term

That's not a brief Rubio-style programming malfunction, either. His extemporaneous comments frequently include enough weird repetitions to remind me of Rain Main ("definitely twenty, yeah, definitely twenty, it's definitely twenty.") Check out the end of that text above: "I'm not going to rub it in. Let's not rub it in. Let's not rub it in." Listen to his comments and you'll also hear mantra-like repetitions of "I'll be honest with you," "honestly," "believe me," and similar repetitive verbal tics. Here's another bit of Trump rambling:

We are going to make our country so strong. We are going to start winning again. As a country we don't win on trade; we don't win with the military, we can't beat ISIS. We don't win with anything. We are going to start winning again and we're going to win so much, you are going to be so happy, we are going to make America so great again, maybe greater than ever before.​

There's not a policy idea in there, or even a specific criticism. Just vague talk about winning and strength. It sounds like one of those Charlie Sheen drug-addled specials.... like the next minute he's going to be babbling about tiger blood.

Charlie-Sheen-Winning-Duh.jpg


Check out how whole sections of his comments involve saying the same thing two or three times in a row:

We're going to repeal and replace Obamacare. It is a total disaster. We're repealing and replacing Obamacare. It's gone. We're getting rid of Common Core. We're going to education our children locally. We educate our children locally. We are going to preserve our very sacred Second Amendment. There's not going to be any more chipping away at our Second Amendment. If we had protection in California recently and so many other places, you could even look to Paris. Paris has the toughest gun laws in the world. France has the toughest gun laws in the world.​

Did he have a stroke or something? Is it some kind of dementia?
Click to expand...
Could it be Alzheimer's?

https://www.alz.org/care/alzheimers-dementia-repetition.asp
 
Arkady said:
Could it be Alzheimer's?

https://www.alz.org/care/alzheimers-dementia-repetition.asp
Click to expand...
There was a medical study that tracked nuns from the time they were novices until after their deaths. One interesting thing it found is that the nuns who, as young women, had written intricate, idea-dense sentences wound up less likely to develop dementia later in life.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127211884

By that standard, we'd expect Trump to be susceptible. Run his text through a reading-level gauge and you find he's at about a fifth-grade level. The idea density is very low, which is why it's possible to render all his ideas in just a fraction as many words (e.g., my boiling his 360 words down to 47 without losing any ideas). He's about to turn seventy, and obviously a lot of people remain sharp as a tack well after that age, but his manner of communication certainly suggests a possible problem.
 
You could be on to something.

But then, one could argue that he's (perhaps over zealously) dumbing it down to the lowest common denominator..

and doing a damn good job of it...

and...there are an awful lot of dumb people around these days...
 
Trump has been in a rough and tumble business world for a long time and is a rough and tumble guy. He talks like most Americans talk when they're pissed off. Alzheimer's? No that would be Hillary who slams her head into counter-tops on occasion, especially when she's scheduled to testify before a Congressional committee. Or remembers being "under sniper fire" when she was really shaking hands and pretending to care about her fans in Bosnia. Was that Alzheimer's or just the regular Clinton lying for no good reason? Trump reminds me of what I've heard about Harry Truman...no nonsense, cut to the chase, get things done. I can imagine how terrifying that is to a democrat.
 
"A person with Alzheimer's may become suspicious of those around them, even accusing others of theft, infidelity or other improper behavior. While accusations can be hurtful, remember that the disease is causing these behaviors and try not to take offense."
https://www.alz.org/care/alzheimers-dementia-suspicion-delusions.asp
Both candidates are far beyond their mental and physical primes; would we be out of line for asking to see some current medical records?
 
What's Wrong With Trump?

He covered up Bills rapes

He said marriage was between a man and a woman

Claimed to land under sniper fire

Changed his opinion to civil unions for gay people

yep there is a lot wrong with Trump!
 
Arkady said:
I saw some older interviews with Trump, from the 1980s and 1990s, and he was almost cogent in his communications. These days, unless he's reading from a teleprompter, he's barely even lucid. Are there any theories out there as to what might have happened?

I'll give you an example. Here's a transcript of some comments he made about the idea of American exceptionalism:

I don't like the term. I'll be honest with you. People say, "Oh he's not patriotic." Look, if I'm a Russian, or I'm a German, or I'm a person we do business with, why, you know, I don't think it's a very nice term. We're exceptional; you're not. First of all, Germany is eating our lunch. So they say, "Why are you exceptional. We're doing a lot better than you." I never liked the term. And perhaps that's because I don't have a very big ego and I don't need terms like that. Honestly. When you're doing business—I watch Obama every once in a while saying "American exceptionalism," it's [Trump makes a face]. I don't like the term. Because we're dealing—First of all, I want to take everything back from the world that we've given them. We've given them so much. On top of taking it back, I don't want to say, "We're exceptional. We're more exceptional." Because essentially we're saying we're more outstanding than you. "By the way, you've been eating our lunch for the last 20 years, but we're more exceptional than you." I don't like the term. I never liked it. When I see these politicians get up [and say], "the American exceptionalism"—we're dying. We owe 18 trillion in debt. I'd like to make us exceptional. And I'd like to talk later instead of now. Does that make any sense? Because I think you're insulting the world. And you, know, Jim, if you're German, or you're from Japan, or you're from China, you don't want to have people saying that. I never liked the expression. And I see a lot of good patriots get up and talk about Amer—you can think it, but I don't think we should say it. We may have a chance to say it in the not-too-distant future. But even the, I wouldn't say it because when I take back the jobs, and when I take back all that money and we get all our stuff, I'm not going to rub it in. Let's not rub it in. Let's not rub it in. But I never liked that term.​

If you condensed that rambling into a cogent statement covering all the same material, here's what it looks like:

Patriotic politicians talk about American exceptionalism, but I don't like the term. It's not accurate, at a time when countries like Germany are outperforming us and we have problems with joblessness and debt. Even when we fix those problems, we shouldn't insult other countries by rubbing it in.
​
It's normal for a politician to spiral a bit when speaking extemporaneously, and unfair to expect the pith of written comments. But I'm not sure anyone has ever spiraled quite as badly as Trump. Look at that statement. In just 360 words, he says the same thing (that he doesn't like the term) eight separate times, with only minor variations:

I don't like the term
I never liked the term
I don't need terms like that
I don't like the term
I don't like the term
I never liked it
I never liked the expression
But I never liked that term

That's not a brief Rubio-style programming malfunction, either. His extemporaneous comments frequently include enough weird repetitions to remind me of Rain Main ("definitely twenty, yeah, definitely twenty, it's definitely twenty.") Check out the end of that text above: "I'm not going to rub it in. Let's not rub it in. Let's not rub it in." Listen to his comments and you'll also hear mantra-like repetitions of "I'll be honest with you," "honestly," "believe me," and similar repetitive verbal tics. Here's another bit of Trump rambling:

We are going to make our country so strong. We are going to start winning again. As a country we don't win on trade; we don't win with the military, we can't beat ISIS. We don't win with anything. We are going to start winning again and we're going to win so much, you are going to be so happy, we are going to make America so great again, maybe greater than ever before.​

There's not a policy idea in there, or even a specific criticism. Just vague talk about winning and strength. It sounds like one of those Charlie Sheen drug-addled specials.... like the next minute he's going to be babbling about tiger blood.

Charlie-Sheen-Winning-Duh.jpg


Check out how whole sections of his comments involve saying the same thing two or three times in a row:

We're going to repeal and replace Obamacare. It is a total disaster. We're repealing and replacing Obamacare. It's gone. We're getting rid of Common Core. We're going to education our children locally. We educate our children locally. We are going to preserve our very sacred Second Amendment. There's not going to be any more chipping away at our Second Amendment. If we had protection in California recently and so many other places, you could even look to Paris. Paris has the toughest gun laws in the world. France has the toughest gun laws in the world.​

Did he have a stroke or something? Is it some kind of dementia?
Click to expand...


This is the lets put Hillary's issues on Trump post...add one more manufacturing job to the list.
 
My support for Trump has been a long time coming. I was a Rubio supporter and still believe to this day he would have made the best president and grown the party to include millennials and latinos. But, it was not to be this time around. I am pushing to have Trump's Cabinet include strong-minded members who can steer the Donald back from the edge of his outbursts without the country and world being afraid to wake up in the morning to find out he's living in a tree (sports term for being on an impossible winning streak) Rubio would make an excellent Sec.of Defense...he knows the issues and doesn't get pushed around. If Newt is destined to be the VP that's fine too, and I'd like to see Christie as AG. Somebody has to put the Clintons out of business once and for all time and CC is a man who can get that done.
 
JoeBlam said:
My support for Trump has been a long time coming. I was a Rubio supporter and still believe to this day he would have made the best president and grown the party to include millennials and latinos. But, it was not to be this time around. I am pushing to have Trump's Cabinet include strong-minded members who can steer the Donald back from the edge of his outbursts without the country and world being afraid to wake up in the morning to find out he's living in a tree (sports term for being on an impossible winning streak) Rubio would make an excellent Sec.of Defense...he knows the issues and doesn't get pushed around. If Newt is destined to be the VP that's fine too, and I'd like to see Christie as AG. Somebody has to put the Clintons out of business once and for all time and CC is a man who can get that done.
Click to expand...

Rubio is basically a good man. But he sold out to the RINO's. He needed the money and he took it. He knuckled under regarding immigration.

Rubio does know the issues. But he can be bought and bribed. That worries me.

That said, I would love to see Gingrich as VP. I think Rubio (or maybe Allen West) would be good as Secretary of Defense. Christie or Gowdie as Attorney General.

My opinion for SoS is in flux right now. I was leaning toward John Bolton but with the recent terrorist activity in Israel I wonder if maybe Bolton is too much of a neocon. I have to think about that.
 
Jen said:
Rubio is basically a good man. But he sold out to the RINO's. He needed the money and he took it. He knuckled under regarding immigration.

Rubio does know the issues. But he can be bought and bribed. That worries me.

That said, I would love to see Gingrich as VP. I think Rubio (or maybe Allen West) would be good as Secretary of Defense. Christie or Gowdie as Attorney General.

My opinion for SoS is in flux right now. I was leaning toward John Bolton but with the recent terrorist activity in Israel I wonder if maybe Bolton is too much of a neocon. I have to think about that.
Click to expand...

Rubio got tricked by McCain and Graham on that "Gang of Eight" immigration bill. When he found out border security wasn't going to be a priority he got the hell away from them but it was too late. Anyway, I forgot about Trey Gowdie...he'd make an excellent AG...better than Fatso. Bolton I like, but Id like Mike Huckabee in that spot too. And our own Jan Brewer in charge of ICE. Who else? I want Commerce, Education, and DHS depts abolished and the spy/terrorist hunting returned to the FBI/CIA....I'll think of some more later.
 
JoeBlam said:
Rubio got tricked by McCain and Graham on that "Gang of Eight" immigration bill. When he found out border security wasn't going to be a priority he got the hell away from them but it was too late. Anyway, I forgot about Trey Gowdie...he'd make an excellent AG...better than Fatso. Bolton I like, but Id like Mike Huckabee in that spot too. And our own Jan Brewer in charge of ICE. Who else? I want Commerce, Education, and DHS depts abolished and the spy/terrorist hunting returned to the FBI/CIA....I'll think of some more later.
Click to expand...
I love Jan Brewer. I want to see her somewhere.
 
PhilFish said:
You could be on to something.

But then, one could argue that he's (perhaps over zealously) dumbing it down to the lowest common denominator..

and doing a damn good job of it...

and...there are an awful lot of dumb people around these days...
Click to expand...
It's quite possible. I think this is essentially what Scott Adams argues. He regards the point of Trump's communication not as an attempt to communicate actual ideas, but rather as a form of hypnotism: http://blog.dilbert.com/post/126589300371/clown-genius

Basically, Trump isn't trying to pitch at the rational mind. Instead, he's just trying to stuff his rhetoric with repetitive cadences and emotional buzz words. That would be why he has the repetitive "believe me" tick. The nominal content doesn't matter, it's the filler that matters:

blah blah blah, strong, blah blah believe me, blah, beautiful, just beautiful, blah blah I'm a winner, blah blah going to be great blah blah, I'm really successful, blah blah blah, believe me, it's going to be terrific, blah blah blah, honestly, blah blah, so strong, really strong...​

For smart people, that's deeply alienating, since our minds search for the substantive content and feel cheated when we discover there is none, but obviously it works for a lot of people.
 
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