It is a more sensitive matter for women because for centuries, they relied on their looks for economic security, and they continue to be judged more on physical traits and clothing choices.
.. When Trump called the House health care bill mean, he knows whereof he speaks. He’s the King of Mean. Pathetically, Trump mistakes cruelty for strength.
.. The 71-year-old president’s pathological inability to let go of slights; his strongman reflex to be the aggressor and bite back like a cornered animal, without regard for societal norms; his lack of self-awareness about the power he commands and the proportionality of his responses; his grotesque hunger for flattery and taste for Tony Soprano tactics;
his Pravda partnership with David Pecker, the head honcho at The National Enquirer, which has been giving Trump the Il Duce treatment while sliming his political opponents, the “Morning Joe” anchors and Megyn Kelly — these are all matters that should alarm men and women equally.
.. Trump is isolated in the White House, out of his milieu, unable to shape the story, forced to interact with people he doesn’t own.
.. Before he got to D.C., Trump was used to media that could be bought, sold and bartered with. He is not built for this hostile environment and it shows in his deteriorating psychological state.
.. Trump has always been obsessed with looks — his own, men’s and women’s. One of his favorite phrases is “Here’s the beauty of me.”
.. back in the ’90s Donald would hand out tubes of Rogaine to male executives and say the worst thing in the world is for a male executive to go bald.”
.. I gave Trump the benefit of the doubt after his comment on Megyn Kelly about “blood coming out of her wherever” when he claimed he meant her nose. But later, a longtime Trump associate told me that Trump had practiced that line before he said it on CNN and that it was meant to evoke an image of Kelly as hormonal.
.. you can never be sure of anything that comes out of this White House.
Except the cruelty.
Trump Got Trolled
An Internet troll lobs bombshells to get a rise out of the other side, for his own enjoyment, or to get attention, or to make a point.
.. In fact, it’s possible to see Trump’s entire campaign in 2016 as one long troll of respectable opinion. It’s no accident that among his most ardent admirers were fellow practitioners such as Ann Coulter and Milo Yiannopoulos.
.. Trump was a troll long before anyone had coined the term. He’s a natural — fearless, shameless, and a genius at identifying and exploiting the psychological and emotional weaknesses of others.
.. How did the hunter become the hunted in the Russian controversy? Trump’s critics stumbled on a couple of his own greatest weaknesses — namely, an extreme sensitivity to slights over his status
.. their focus on Russia has, for all intents and purposes, been an inspired act of trolling.
.. their focus on Russia has, for all intents and purposes, been an inspired act of trolling.
.. The most successful trolls are those that elicit self-damning reactions. E.g., Bret Stephens
.. Trump didn’t realize that an investigation in a highly charged political environment is like quicksand; the more you fight it, the deeper you sink.
.. Now, it doesn’t necessarily matter whether Trump’s campaign colluded with the Russians or not. If Democrats take the House with anything like a comfortable majority, they may well impeach him based on an obstruction case.
.. For now, it looks as though Trump’s handling of the Russia story is his reaction to the inaugural crowd-size controversy last January writ large — a lashing out at a perceived insult that he believes diminishes him and his achievement.