Volume 2, Issue No. 7
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . .
Our latest as of Thursday, August 6, 2020
~ "Having a well-developed ego," says Donald Trump, the star of The Apprentice in the 2004 book "Trump How to Get Rich" believed ghostwritten by Meredith McIver, "is a positive attribute . . . No ego means very little life force, and too much means a dictatorial personality". Sixteen years later and on the cusp of the end of his four-year presidency of the United States, that quote would find currency in the very words of his only niece, the clinical psychologist Mary L. Trump. who calls him a "narcissist". In her book "Too Much and Never Enough" subtitled "How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," she writes that "the lies, misrepresentations, and fabrications (that) are the sum total of who my uncle is."
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'WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS MAN'
Donald Trump: The Political Macho and Entertainer
By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ
Editor, The Filipino Web Channel
“Power swells the head and shatters the crown.” ― Stewart Stafford
The books have stoked my interest mainly because of current developments in our neighbour to the south, particularly the runaway spike in coronavirus cases and deaths, the upcoming election, the growing civil rights protests, and fears Donald Trump would refuse to leave the White House should he lost in the polls.
Canada shares the world's longest international border with the United States at 8,891 kilometres or 5,525 miles. Of that stretch of frontier, the major portion or 2,727 kilometres (1,682 miles), is in Ontario province (whose capital is Toronto). The point is, as the saying goes, if the US sneezes, Canada catches a cold. Simply put, it only means developments in the US would have an immediate impact on us.
The 74-year-old businessman and entertainer that Trump is has been a political novelty as far as I am concerned, since being elected in 2016 as the 45th US president. He is seeking reelection for another four-year term, and the prospect of winning (which seems unlikely, some pundits say) worries many people because of his "penchant for division".
As the US election on November 3, 2020, approaches, the number of false statements, unfounded assertions, and outright lies he has spouted has multiplied over and over to the point that fact-checkers have a busy field day deciphering anything that comes out of his mouth. (Latest interview at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zaaTZkqsaxY).
The books now in my possession provide a clear insight into the man. The former US National Security Advisor John Bolton's "The Room Where It Happened" gives a sense of who and what kind of a president Trump is, and how he wields his power. (https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/John_Bolton).
On the other hand, "Too Much and Never Enough" subtitled "How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man" by Mary L.Trump takes us in a very personal way to the innermost sanctum of the Trump family, revealing in the process how it functioned. (https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Mary_L._Trump).
I have yet to finish Bolton's 577-page book while I'm mid-way through her 227-page familial account, but already, I honestly feel that I don't really have to spend long hours to understand why Donald Trump appears so shallow and idiotic he never should have been president from the get-go.
" . . . Donald x x x understands nothing about history, constitutional principles, geopolitics, diplomacy (or anything else, really) and was never pressed to demonstrate such knowledge, has evaluated all of this country's alliances, and all of our social programs, solely through the prism of money," she says in her book.
My personal and professional opinion as a journalist is expertly amplified by an authority, the book author no less, Mary L. Trump, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University in New York. She is the daughter of Donald's older brother Fred Trump Jr. and his only niece.
That Mary Trump would write such a book had been forced upon her by the events of the last three years of her uncle's presidency which witnessed the death from COVID-19 of at least 159,000 Americans, and confirmed cases of 4.85-million as of Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020.
(In contrast, Canada recorded 8,958 deaths; and 118,000 cases of COVID-19. The global total is 698,901 deaths, and 18,510,119 confirmed cases).
"By the time this book is published," she writes in the prologue, "hundreds of thousands of American lives will have been sacrificed on the altar of Donald's hubris and willful ignorance".
"If he is afforded a second term, it would be the end of American democracy," she warns. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=yZJEI4TNMro).
The incumbent Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee in the November election versus the Democratic challenger Joe Biden, the US vice president from 2009-2017 under President Obama.
"I can't let him (Donald Trump) destroy my country," she declares.
From her viewpoint as a psychologist, she regards Donald Trump as a narcissist, which the dictionary defines as "a person who is overly self-involved, and often vain and selfish. ... a person who suffers from narcissism, deriving erotic gratification from admiration of his or her own physical or mental attributes".
"I have no problem calling Donald a narcissist - he meets all nine criteria as outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) - but the label gets us only so far," Mary Trump writes.
Indeed, prior to her book, Donald Trump had made the admission in 2004 that, and I quote him: "I, like most men, am very vain. Many times over the years, I've heard people say that men are vainer than women, and I believe it . . . so I will admit to my vanity".
One need not go far and wide and attempt to be scholarly to find justification for her statement. Cable television, social media outlets like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook have daily accounts by reporters and political pundits of what's going on with Donald Trump in the White House.
An unforgettable experience was to watch him assumed the role of an expert presiding over a press conference where he suggested injecting the body with disinfectants to ward off the novel coronavirus. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=33QdTOyXz3w).
He has also repeatedly endorsed the use of hydroxychloroquine, the efficacy of which is controversial against COVID-19 (https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/ 31/health/hydroxychloroquine- study-henry-ford-letters/ index.html).
He still refuses to wear a mask, although once or twice, apparently succumbing to pressure, did he cover his mouth momentarily. Where he says the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, the toll in confirmed cases and deaths would rise to new highs. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=-6wIOKaHMWo).
He takes to twitter instead of offering words of comfort to the nation; calls himself a "wartime president" when his own wars - actually word wars - were petty squabbles with protesters, communities of color, health experts, and those who contradict him. (Video insight: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=_aFo_BV-UzI).
"Donald's penchant for division, and devastating uncertainty about our country's future have created a perfect storm of catastrophes that no one is less equipped than my uncle to manage," Mary Trump states.
"His ability to control unfavorable situations by lying, spinning, and obfuscating has diminished to the point of impotence in the midst of the tragedies we are currently facing.
"His egregious and arguably intentional mishandling of the current catastrophe has led to a level of pushback and scrutiny that he's never experienced before, increasing his belligerence and need for petty revenge . . .
"For Donald," Mary Trump says, "lying was primarily a mode of self-aggrandizement meant to convince other people he was better than he actually was". (Copyright 2020. All Rights Reserved).
News Update, August 6, 2020
ReplyDeleteTORONTO - Mary Trump’s “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” has sold 1.35 million copies in its first week, its publisher, Simon & Schuster, announced.
The publisher said the book, sold in five languages, was ranked No. 1 in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States, and No. 2 in Australia.
Former national-security adviser John Bolton's memoir — "The Room Where It Happened"— sold 780,000 copies on its first week.