Trump's Mental Deterioration After a Lifetime of Hate

 In some alternate reality somewhere it is sound campaign strategy to go to a Jewish conference on anti-semitism and spout anti-semetic rhetoric including letting the world know that - if he loses - it is the fault of "bad Jews."

In that same universe, it is sound strategy to talk to the civic leaders in a city and basically call their city a shit hole. One person remarked that it's like telling a woman she's ugly and then asking her out on a date.

I'm hoping that we are not living in THAT reality and, call me foolish (you will anyway 🙂  ), but I don't believe we are.

Stetching my memory back decades to C.S. Lewis' "That Hideous Strengh" (I believe - it was in one book of Lewis' "Space Trilogy"), I believe Lewis characterized the "Satan in human form" character as cruelty for cruelty's sake - that is, mindless cruelty.

It's taken just short of 80 years for Trump's malignant narcissisim to turn into unbridled hate and cruelty and, now, what appears to be irreversable mental deterioration.

"“The whole country will be like — you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit,” the Republican presidential nominee said. “Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president.”"
Donald Trump (Speaking to the Detroit Economic Club)

https://apnews.com/article/trump-detroit-2382e6f01ea6d236e8a2b755ff150580

My last full day as a registered Republican...

will be on Wednesday, November 6th of this year no matter who ultimately wins the presidential election. My party affiliation in Pennsylvania will be "None (No Affiliation)."

It is now quite obvious that the de facto "great man" of the GOP is inciting violence during the interval between Election Day and Inauguration Day, that those MANY GOP OFFICE HOLDERS who know how dangerous he is are too frightened of being targeted if they speak out, and that he is painting immigrants - as well as Jews and people of color and gays and about any other marginalized group you can think of - as inhuman.

Trump lacks the brains to understand how dehumanization logically leads down the Nazi path of genocide and certainly doesn't care to: for all his grave faults, he is not ideological - unless his ideology is whatever enhances his own prestige, political power, and wealth.

I'll lose my ability to weigh in on either party's primaries but I am content to let the Democrats and Republicans choose their own candidates for office.

I will continue to help campaign for Democratic nominees until a detoxified GOP returns, which will no doubt be either sometime after I'm dead - or never.

But my agenda will switch from partisan campaigning to rebuilding social capital at the local community level.