Can believe there’s only one comment on this. I’ve been following Dr. Lee for 4 years now, so as soon as I saw “Trump Contagion” I knew it would be a good read. Yes he’s a virus indeed. And a virus is not considered life. They are more like automatons that highjack a cell’s dna in order to “reproduce”. That’s a very good description of the Trump contagion. It’s neither organic nor life-promoting. But it is highly contagious if one is not immune.
As ever, I appreciate the observations and commentary. However, I also never fully grasp the connecting or analogizing most everything to narcissism. But that is of less interest to me than the enlightenment gleaned from your continuing attention to important issues and your accompanying insights.
A couple of thoughts stirred up by your commentary -
I understand the medical concept of small doses - which inoculate- and large ones - which overwhelm.
However at the same time, this seems at odds with the social and psychological concept of the “slippery slope” where small changes leave us unaware of and unready for later large (and dire) consequences. The continual shift of attention, decision making and political power to the Presidency is one such example as is the same (and perhaps contradictory) shift of such powers to unaccountable government agencies.
With regard to absolute immunity of a President placing them above the law- I have yet to hear anyone point out the obvious. Should this be so decided by this Supreme Court -the currently sitting President could immediately “remove” all opponents including any Supreme Court justices who so ruled as well as any legislators who might impeach him. And any decision or laws could be reversed ad infinitum.
Absurd and destructive? Yes. At that point legal and likely? Indeed.
As for your suggestion at the end there, don't you think Biden would have overturned Dobbs to reinstate Roe vs Wade if it were that easy to overturn the Supreme Court's rulings? The United States Constitution establishes three equal branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. The purpose of this separation of powers is to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful and to create a system of checks and balances. This being said, Biden could pack the courts with additional justices to tilt the scale towards more favorable outcomes.
The through line about Trump's narcissism and becoming immune to it is predicated on the notion of immunity from the American people's perspective. I don't think of this as a slippery slope because we're already in an epidemic of narcissism; that ship has sailed! The focus of this Substack is to illuminate and bring out from the shadows hidden forms and manifestations of narcissism all around us. Thanks for reading and good to hear from you!
Can believe there’s only one comment on this. I’ve been following Dr. Lee for 4 years now, so as soon as I saw “Trump Contagion” I knew it would be a good read. Yes he’s a virus indeed. And a virus is not considered life. They are more like automatons that highjack a cell’s dna in order to “reproduce”. That’s a very good description of the Trump contagion. It’s neither organic nor life-promoting. But it is highly contagious if one is not immune.
As ever, I appreciate the observations and commentary. However, I also never fully grasp the connecting or analogizing most everything to narcissism. But that is of less interest to me than the enlightenment gleaned from your continuing attention to important issues and your accompanying insights.
A couple of thoughts stirred up by your commentary -
I understand the medical concept of small doses - which inoculate- and large ones - which overwhelm.
However at the same time, this seems at odds with the social and psychological concept of the “slippery slope” where small changes leave us unaware of and unready for later large (and dire) consequences. The continual shift of attention, decision making and political power to the Presidency is one such example as is the same (and perhaps contradictory) shift of such powers to unaccountable government agencies.
With regard to absolute immunity of a President placing them above the law- I have yet to hear anyone point out the obvious. Should this be so decided by this Supreme Court -the currently sitting President could immediately “remove” all opponents including any Supreme Court justices who so ruled as well as any legislators who might impeach him. And any decision or laws could be reversed ad infinitum.
Absurd and destructive? Yes. At that point legal and likely? Indeed.
Hi Pete!
As for your suggestion at the end there, don't you think Biden would have overturned Dobbs to reinstate Roe vs Wade if it were that easy to overturn the Supreme Court's rulings? The United States Constitution establishes three equal branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. The purpose of this separation of powers is to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful and to create a system of checks and balances. This being said, Biden could pack the courts with additional justices to tilt the scale towards more favorable outcomes.
The through line about Trump's narcissism and becoming immune to it is predicated on the notion of immunity from the American people's perspective. I don't think of this as a slippery slope because we're already in an epidemic of narcissism; that ship has sailed! The focus of this Substack is to illuminate and bring out from the shadows hidden forms and manifestations of narcissism all around us. Thanks for reading and good to hear from you!