Does Donald Trump have single redeeming human quality?

[ApatheticNoMore]

I don't really hate him, I have hated other Presidents worse, maybe as I thought they actually had the mental capacity for some awareness of their actions and their effects. But Trump, I don't think he really does. He lies but he doesn't have the brains to be truly calculating except in the most narrow narcissistic sense. It makes it harder to hate him on a personal level, hate his policies maybe.

[nswef]

What bothers me is the stealth moves of the congress in passing things that the press does not pay attention to as they are so busy with the buffoon in chief? Distraction while serious legislation is changing the country's laws.

[thomasd]

Very well said. You are certainly right about this.

[gimmethesimplelife]

He seems a very sad and lonely man to me. I often feel sorry for him.

You are a better person than I am - Thank You for your take here. I've never looked at the man this way......and I agree with your first sentence 100% - I'm working on your second sentence, trying to find some sympathy for him. Gotta say it's not easy but I am trying much as I dislike the man.......he genuinely does seem sad and lonely to me, also. Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

I’ll say this for the man: He’s not Mrs Clinton.

Myself and everyone I know in the 85006 is painfully aware of this fact on a daily basis. Are we ever! Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

I think the only person he loves is himself. We are the laughing stock of the world. Collectively the IQ in the US is certainly on the decline.

I could not agree more with you here, TT. Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

I've been on internet discussion boards and before that BBS Chat rooms long enough to know that he's just continuing a predictable cycle. In the 80's it was a proven fact among all my liberal online friends that our President was the most evil person to ever inhabit the office, old and mean spirited. He was followed by his minion who as a previous head of the CIA was also evil incarnate, but in a refreshing bit of Democracy in action he was followed by the most brilliant president ever, who was then followed by the dumbest President ever, then the most brilliant (again) ever (and a minority to boot, that made him extra brilliant), and then there's Trump. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

I disagree with your overall jib here if I may? Logical reason: Trump strikes fear in the hearts of those of low income at a deeper level than any Republican before him in my lifetime (I am 51 years of age for a reference point). No President other than Trump in my lifetime has me finding luggage very cheap at a thrift shop and then calling folks on my phone tree to let them know and ask them if I should buy it for them and have them pay me back later - luggage for getting packed and ready to run just in case. No prior President has ever brought out this need to be engaged with protecting others in quite this way..........to give the man some credit though, this is a quality in myself that I very much like that Trump has brought out. I just wish that Trump had not gotten in and this quality could be directed elsewhere.........but what is is. Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

I hate Trump. And it feels good.

For me, Cathy, hate is such a strong word. I don't hate Donald Trump per se (even though I've posted very very very little positive about the man).....I personally fear him a great deal and I personally fear America (nothing new there) for voting someone of this low caliber in - this says a great deal about America and I'm afraid little if any of what it say is positive or flattering. Though even here I find a silver lining......the world overall is seeing America differently now and is distancing itself from us. I see this as very positive for the rest of the world given that there is much wrong with America. Rob

[Rogar]

I don't think that this is here nor there, ok Trump is not the president we need for the environment or for even planning any sort of way to deal with not prevention but the fallout that is going to come . ....However to even imagine that Trump's 2 terms are the factor in *global* warming (yes the U.S. is a major emitter of greenhouse gasses but it's not the only one) much of which we are seeing is effects built in globally by past decades rather than present policies - well no. To blame him for local issues like not protecting local ecosystems due to decisions by his EPA is fine, but global warming dwarfs (or is that trumps) Trump. The feedbacks of global warming are likely much bigger at this point than any feedbacks trump can add or detract from so to say (arctic methane, dying trees etc.).

trade with China has to be a contributor to global warming, a lot of things are going on that don't make sense, cases where we ship the raw materials to China, they manufacture something, and the finished good gets shipped back. In what world is that environmentally sane? So Trump shoots from the hip in maybe not that well thought out trade policy, but prior policy also was written by lunatics as far as I am concerned (because again in what sane world does shipping goods that can instead be made locally around the world make sense?)

I suppose it is all in relative degrees, but I would tend to think that 4 or 8 years of reversion to fossil fuel technology and roll back of environmental regulations may not be major, but may be significant. When you lay off half the EPA with cumulative experience that probably amounts to centuries, it is going to take some time to replace them. The National Renewable Energy Lab near my home is facing similar lay offs. Coal power plants don't flip a switch to natural gas or wind and then back again. I'm increasingly running into the Derick Jensen type attitude that there is really nothing significant the average person can do, short of revolution, and there is no use trying, probably for some of the reasons you mention.

[CathyA]

I think "hate" might mean different things to different people. I DO think about Trump as a small child, and how his parents (especially father) must have treated him, to make him think the way he does...........Or, maybe he was born this way. Yes, I can feel sorry for him.
I was raised by a hateful man......I think he was a narcissist too, or maybe just so damaged from his own childhood. But my point is, I was different than Trump (and my father)....and capable of great compassion. I've always wondered why some people can "rise above" their upbringing, and some become an extension/mirror of the cruel people in their childhoods.

But........no matter how awful someone's childhood was, they eventually are responsible for who they have become. Hopefully, they have the introspection to help guide them to a different way to live and feel. I don't feel that Trump has this ability.......nor the desire. I'm not saying people aren't redeemable, ....and maybe some are just too broken, but I sure don't see any chink in Trump's emotional armor.