The covfefevirus has shone a great big glaring spotlight through the an incredibly magnifying magnifying glass on all the Ol’ Pussy Grabber’s mental health issues. Of course, we all knew he’s a malignant narcissist, and all of his malignance and narcissism is on full display, but it also shows that his narcissism and executive dysfunction cause him to play small ball. He can only focus on the immediate and near. He has no vision, no plan long-range or short, no guiding principles, convictions, ethics, creeds, dogmas, or any other abiding beliefs. He is an empty vessel completely devoid of any meaning. So, he focuses on the immediate. In short, he plays small ball.

It is what makes him seem so small when he’s holding his daily distractions and airing of grievances sessions — he’d be hell at Festivus, wouldn’t he? It’s why he’s so thin-skinned and has to react to every perceived slight and insult. It’s why he adoringly describes himself as a counter-puncher. He can only react. He can only go small. He can only play small ball.

Instinct for Chaos and Destruction

To cover his shortcomings — get it? small ball, SHORTcomings? Man, I crack myself up sometimes — he has developed a penchant for confusion and chaos, but it is more reflex than it is strategy; habit rather than system. He’s put so much bullshit into the public sphere that we no longer can be sure of what is true and not true. It is one part plan and one part happenstance. He just does it.

It seems small because it is small.

The best most recent example are his now infamous liberate tweets.

I can guarantee that he spent zero amount of time thinking about the meaning or possible consequences of his words. Someone had used the word liberate in that context, it sounded good to him, so he did it.

That people are out protesting and doing this kind a dumbass Rambo macho shit:

I can also guarantee that he is basking in his greatness since he caused the protests to happen. It is immensely pleasing to his souffle-like ego. He isn’t worried for the health of these people. He isn’t concerned about — he isn’t even capable of thinking of it — a spike in infections along about 1 May or deaths beginning at about 8 May. Those kinds of thoughts and concerns are beyond his capabilities. And because he is incapable of them, he denigrates those concerns as unimportant.

That these governors, his perceived opponents, are now dealing with these protests — it doesn’t seem to have done much — and the news media is covering them, is all that matters to him. It’s given him a moment’s reprieve from his phantom enemies and let him flex his muscle in one of the most meaningless ways possible

He’s small. He’s playing small ball.

Gaslighting

Gaslighting is a specific technique that narcissists use to keep people confused, off balance, and unsettled. It makes it easier to manipulate them, especially when used from a position of authority. This tweet from the chess great, Garry Kasparov really does summarize the gaslighting we’ve been subject to over the past few weeks.

Because thinking is hard and we’ve evolved to avoid it, when we get these contradictory messages it leaves us feeling distraught and confused. Even if you don’t actually explicitly connect them together, you still feel some anxiety and nagging confusion.

It also allows for his supporters to engage in a bit of confirmation bias and just focus on whichever statement whenever it suits. And, because he’s an authority — like it or not — they allow them to be treated as definitive truths by those who want to.

But, for the average barely aware independent voter, it causes division and doubt. It undermines trust in our government at a time when we need government to keep us safe. It also pits people against each other and keeps our partisan gridlock alive and well.

Luckily, the national WH press corps is doing a better job of calling the Ol’ Pussy Grabber and his minions on the dissembling disinformation campaign. Unfortunately, Fox News does not.

The Ol’ Pussy Grabber’s absolute need to be the big tough man making all the right decisions and commanding everyone but absolute inability to actually do anything that even remotely resembles leadership drives him to cheat to make up for his severe deficits in executive functioning.

The task of confronting the coronavirus is mammoth. It will take international coordination on the order of World War II. That is a role usually filled by the US, but with the Ol’ Pussy Grabber in the WH, we have shirked our responsibility as the world’s only superpower. It is clear that none of the pretenders to that designation can fill the role either.

The Useful Idiot

The Ol’ Pussy Grabber’s reliance on playing small ball and limiting himself to that which is happening in his immediate vicinity prevents us from using the enormous resources at our disposal. Worse, though, his need for constant praise, the intolerance for being wrong, the overinflated self-confidence and assurance in his own judgment and instinct makes him easily manipulable. He is the ultimate useful idiot.

While the Ol’ Pussy Grabber is playing with his liddle’ tweeter, his enablers are enriching themselves and the rest of us are suffering and dying. Worse, his enablers will be able to continue using his small ball to as a wrecking ball on our democracy and create their single-party pseudo-democratic authoritarian state.

Image Attribution

This image was found using a Creative Commons search. It was found on Flickr on the White House Flickr account. It is licensed as Public Domain Mark 1.0.