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Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Trump Taking Money From Special Interests Is ‘Proof The President Isn’t Influenced By Special Interests’
Right, so as you know, the Trump era in American politics has been defined by a generalized aversion to facts and a demonstrable (and very often comically ridiculous) tendency for the President and his subordinates to tell the public that up is down, the sky isn't blue, the grass isn't green and that's not a Russian.
It is, as more than a few outlets and commentators have decried, a "post-truth" environment.
Everyone knows Trump is a pathological liar - even the GOP. As Bob Corker put it back
On the question of Trump being a pathological liar:
“While no consensus definition for pathological lying currently exists in the literature, the identified functional elements of the phenomenon are: the repeated utterance of untruths; the lies are often repeated over a period of years, with the lies eventually becoming a lifestyle; material reward or social advantage does not appear to be the primary motivating force but the lying is an end in itself; an inner dynamic rather than an external reason drives the lies, but when an external reason is suspected, the lies are far in excess of the suspected external reason; the lies are often woven into complex narratives.
“We shall define pathological lying as Healy and Healy8 did, but without the quagmire of etiology. Pathological lying is falsification entirely disproportionate to any discernible end in view, may be extensive and very complicated, and may manifest over a period of years or even a lifetime.”
Definitely.
Pathological Lying Revisited
Charles C. Dike, Madelon Baranoski and Ezra E. H. Griffith
Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online September 2005, 33 (3) 342-349;
http://jaapl.org/content/33/3/342.long
Here is a bit more from Marty’s referenced link, some discussion as to why a person is a pathological liar — a really good article and worth a read. Thank you Marty!
There is some discussion about pathological lying “between those who lie pathologically as a direct complication of a psychiatric disorder (secondary pathological liars, in our opinion), and pathological liars who do not demonstrate symptoms of a clearly defined psychiatric disorder (primary pathological liars) … true pathological lying should be independent of a primary major psychiatric disorder.”
” … pathological lying may sometimes be associated with criminal behavior; the pathological liar may acknowledge, at least in part, the falseness of the tales when energetically challenged; and, in pathological lying, telling lies may often seem to be an end in itself. However, it is evident that no single descriptive tableau of a pathological liar settles all the nosological and etiological questions raised by the phenomenon of pathological lying.”
“Psychiatric conditions that have been traditionally associated with deception in one form or another include Malingering, Confabulation, Ganser’s Syndrome, Factitious Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Antisocial Personality Disorder. Lying may also occur in Histrionic and Narcissistic Personality Disorders.”
“Histrionic Personality Disorder is characterized by dramatic and attentionâ€seeking behavior. These individuals frequently lie to attract attention and in severe cases, the lies may be so frequent as to resemble *pseudologia fantastica. Their superficial and dramatic character and constant attentionâ€seeking behavior often point to a diagnosis of Histrionic Personality Disorder.”
(*Pathological lying, pseudologia fantastica, mythomania and morbid lying are generally used interchangeably) (Histronic Personality Disorder: a psychological disorder usually beginning in early adulthood, characterized by excessive emotional expression and attention-seeking behavior)
“Individuals with Narcissistic Personality Disorder may tell egoâ€boosting tales to obtain constant approval from others. In this condition, lies are mainly told for the reason of selfâ€aggrandizement, which is often obvious to the audience.”
Running an extortion racket out of the White House is definitely NOT something I thought I would see in my lifetime. This administration is FUBAR.
The benchmark for the largest and most powerful criminal organization in world history has now been set.
The level of criminal and corrupt activities that are directed, encouraged and inspired by Trump and his minions, in and outside the WH, and further extended and turbo-charged by Trump’s equally corrupt cabinet members, cabinet-level officials, agency heads, etc., and supported, emboldened, validated and cheered on by the voices and actions of Republicans in both houses as the well dead silence of other Republicans in said houses, had never been seen in American history. To this statement one must consider that no criminal or criminal organization has ever persistently attacked with success, the FBI, DOJ, a special counsel, and the courts, in the same fashion that Trump has.
This catastrophe is only exceeded by the whole hearted and affirmative support of substantial portions of America’s religious communities, to include Evangelicals, right-wing-Christians, and Chabad and other American Jewish Orthodox groups, who ignore, tolerate and accept Trump’s evil and biblically abhorrent conduct in exchange for what can only be termed a quid-pro-quo of his delivering important matters to those communities. It’s as if they have taken the position that their biblical commandments and tenets were negotiable.
In the end, Trump will have managed to undress and demonstrate the complete lack of credibility of countless religious institutions in this country who were willing to demonstrate that their central beliefs meant little in exchange for the words of a well known charlatan.