Don McGahn -"I spent the last couple of years getting yelled at,"

[malaise]

Don McGahn, who has kept his head down since leaving as White House counsel, shared some off-the-record thoughts on Thursday in a lunch with about 40 senior Republican Senate aides.

Details: "I spent the last couple of years getting yelled at," he said, per two sources at the lunch, held in the Capitol's Strom Thurmond room. "And you may soon read about some of the more spirited debates I had with the president." McGahn didn't explicitly mention Mueller's report, but sources in the room said they understood him to be referring to it when he said this.

https://www.axios.com/white-house-counsel-don-mcgahn-trump-mueller-republican-lunch-7b687a07-4acf-4578-ac32-f0c421c74070.html

[UniteFightBack]

1. Ya never know maybe McGahn is writing a tell all book....

[malaise]

2. Now wouldn't 'that' be

lovely!

[coeur_de_lion]

7. Everybody. Will. Write. A. Book.

Everybody.

In a few years there will be so many best sellers based on working with trump.

And we'll learn the the evil that we see is nothing compared to what goes on in private.

[Poiuyt]

20. Even Trump is working on a tell-all book

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/437568-trump-plotting-tell-all-book-report

I've actually seen an advance copy. It's 300 pages of him saying, "No collusion. No collusion."

[coeur_de_lion]

21. Funny!

[belpejic]

49. I did not have treasonous relations

with that country, Russher.

[mitch96]

51. Like Mein Kampf I hope he writes it from jail... nt

[UTUSN]

3. Uh, so... he's ready for a permanent vacation?!1

[manor321]

4. The fights were clearly about firing Mueller and other obstructive acts.

One reason Trump wants to hide the report.

[tymorial]

5. I have never in my life observed someone with as thin skin as Trump

The buffoon simply cannot function without everyone stroking his ego and catering to his every whim. It's like we are living in an alternative universe from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and instead of Wonka sendingnVeruka Salt to the garbage bin, Slugworth is from the KGB and ensures she gets the Golden Goose and the factory!

[malaise]

6. I disagree

I think he is totally self absorbed and believes he is the smartest person in the room therefore no one better attempt to stop him, contradict him or humiliate him - it is narcissism on steroids.

[coeur_de_lion]

8. I think

that trump loves no one. Least of all himself.

I think that he is unhappy unless people are stroking his ego, because he is incapable of thinking he is good unless the praise comes from outside himself.

I think he has the self esteem of a gnat.

All the maneuvering he does, is trying to keep anyone from finding out just how awful he really is. He knows he's shit and spends 100% of his time trying to avoid the shame that he really feels.

I dunno ask H20 Man, he has the training to know if I'm right. But I think he is a man will rock bottom self esteem who would destroy this country to keep anyone from knowing how awful he really feels about himself.

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. Hates himself and takes it out on everything and everyone. Thanks Deplorables.

[malaise]

12. That's an interesting perspective

I'll ask WaterMan

[coeur_de_lion]

14. I asked him

Let's see if he responds.

[malaise]

15. Great - was just going to send him a PM

[H2O Man]

16. I think this

is a great conversation, and I really appreciate being asked to add my opinion. The "good news" in terms of the discussion are correct -- for Trump is both of those things: he has both raging superiority and inferiority complexes. And the two do not balance, do they?

Think of a deep pond or lake. Since I have a pond, and the weather is becoming good, I'll go with the pond. At the surface, and for a few inches, it's light, and you can see everything. It is the conscious mind. We can all see, for example, that Trump opts to lie and cheat in this slim section of his brain. It's the part that is where malignant narcissism is on full display.

But at those lower, often unconscious levels, he recognizes that he is an empty suit, and more, an inferior man. For if he did not know this on some levels, he would have no reason to brag and lie about himself. A better, stronger, and more secure person has no reason for such pathological lying and bragging. Nor do they have an endless need for praise -- he/she knows some people will like and/or dislike them. And they know that most people are unaware they exist. But Trump wants every person on earth to think about him at least once per day. That's due to the deep dark waters leaking to the surface.

[malaise]

17. Thanks brother - they don't balance

Always ask the expert

[H2O Man]

40. Right.

Being a simple-minded fellow, I often compare everything under the sun to the sport of boxing. And inside of the ring, literally everything requires balance. For if one is off-balance, not only are they incapable of punching correctly, but every punch that hits them hurts, and knocks them urther off-balance.

Let's turn to Trump. Every slight hurts him, and he lashes out wildly. Yet we see he is becoming further imbalanced before our very eys. This is a man with zero capacity to accept any criticism, however valid it may be.

More, when he makes a mstake, he always blames others, And even when his unconscious mind sends the thought of "mistake" or "weakness" up to the surface, what does Donald do? He immediately projects it upon an "enemy."

When a person's essence of being is that unbalanced, they cannot safely be counted upon to fetch a glass of water -- much less serve as president.

[coeur_de_lion]

18. At his core

the part of him he doesn't talk about at rallies and dinner parties, trump has no self esteem to speak of. None at all. Way at the bottom of that pond is nothing but blackness and the pain of knowing he is unlovable.

Someone in his childhood, probably his Dad, was as cruel to him as he is being to to our Hispanic people at the border.

It was a combination of giving him any and everything his black heart could ever want - monetarily - but not one shred of love, affection, or respect. So all his life he has been buying attention, love respect, esteem. Buying and borrowing his way out of trouble, he has finally run up against something he cannot buy. The love and respect of the American people. So he settles for those "deplorables" that he's able to fool. And gets them to hate those of us who see through his slick shiny (very thin) veneer.

He bought a series of trophy wives. He partly was given, partly bought a real estate business. Most or all of this and his other businesses are either hanging on by their teeth or finished.

It was easy for the Russians to turn him because he is so fucking needy for praise.

I think good will ultimately overcome evil for our country. But he won't make it easy, because he is so desperate that no one find out just how fucking stupid he was to be taken in by Putin. He may even think there is still something to gain from being Putin's "friend".

[H2O Man]

36. It's interesting

that you mention his father. Yes, his father was a cruel man. But it is fascinating how little his mother ever comes up. We hear less about her than we hear about Trump's daughter Tiffany. This raises issues of family structure and dynamics, both in Trump's family of origin, and as his role as a husband and father. On might be safe in speculating that he is a dismal failure in this most important of human roles.

[coeur_de_lion]

46. I have yet

to see him truly succeed at anything. Unless it was ratings for that silly reality show of his.

You’re right Mom is never mentioned.

He actually has a percentage of Americans thinking he’s a successful businessman. Only because he keeps saying it.

Not because he ever succeeded at any of his many endeavors.

Makes me nuts that in NYC he is a very well known failure blow hard grifter. Hundreds of small businesses stiffed for the work they performed. Ex wife talking about how he beat her up and snatched her hair out of her head then raped her. In NYC he is universally despised. How on earth did no one know about his rep before the election? Or did they know and not care?

[True Blue American]

37. Low self esteem

Is at the bottom of most narcisstic natures. They think if they tell you often enough how great they are you will believe them.

Electing Trump to the WhiteHouse makes him think he is invincible but deep down inside he knows he is not.

The only reason he made it is his Fathers money. I would like to know more about his relationship with his Father, his Mother. I know they sent him away to Military School. Did his other siblings go too?

[H2O Man]

44. Great question!

I think it's worth looking at him and his siblings in the context of the roles children play in a dysfunctional family. The movie "The Breakfast Club" was based on this dynamic. His sister that is a judge is a "family hero," intent upon being righteous, including self-righteous. His brother was the "lost child," who drank himself to death, as "lost children" too frequently do. Donald was the one that acted out, and broke the rules. Hence, military school. Yet his father, being a creep, would come to favor Donald, because he was crooked. Roles in dysfunction families can be fluid!

[True Blue American]

45. Othey can, but the insecurity remains.

I have seen it in my own family. They may be the smartest, the prettiest, the most likeable, but somehing inside causes them not to be. It may be perceieved slights, jealousy, but it never goes away, only gets worse as in Trump’s case.

You have to wonder what happened, but it is deep rooted.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. excellent analogy.

His anger is a flashing neon sign.
Under anger there is always fear, and under fear there is always loss, real or imagined. Most people don't process anything but the surface feeling of anger.

The worse thing is that this guy is not capable of change, he is too profoundly ill. We will all suffer because of it.

Is it time yet to require physical AND mental health assessments of candidates for the highest office in this country?

[H2O Man]

35. I agree 100%.

The evolution of a person's being can only happen on a conscious level. It can never happen unconsciously. And Trump's being is a conflict between those two very diseased parts of himself. More, the organic decay of that organ -- his brain -- has rendered him incapable of any meaningful growth as a human being.

[watoos]

26. As Tolle put it in his book, "The Power of Now,"

Trump is being totally controlled by his ego, as Tolle describes it, his pain base. Trump's conscious mind is being totally controlled by his ego. Tolle leaves a glimmer of hope for people who have no conscious thought who are totally controlled by their ego. If their pain becomes so intense it can in some cases lead to enlightenment. I must admit though that it is quite a stretch for me to see Trump become enlightened.

[H2O Man]

34. Valid point.

I am reminded of the first Tadodaho, who was an evil man for much of his life. Yet, when he was enlightened, he became the leader of the Haudenosaunee. I remember Onondaga Chief Paul Waterman telling me that the Tadodaho had to be so bad, to become so good.

Yet when we compare him to Trump, there is an obvious distinction. Trumis a vain and cruel man, but he does his most hideous deeds from a distance. At rallies, he might say things like, "I'd like to punch him in the mouth," but his cowardly nature has prevented him from ever engaging in that type of onflict. He has others act out for him.

A coward is always more afraid of their good potential, than they are of their worst potential. Hence, while that worst potential is often displayed, they avoid coming anywhere near their best potential.

[malaise]

38. This

A coward is always more afraid of their good potential, than they are of their worst potential. Hence, while that worst potential is often displayed, they avoid coming anywhere near their best potential.

[H2O Man]

41. In a nutshell.

[malaise]

47. And this from edhopper

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211993954
Time again to post this quote about Rex Mottram from Brideshead Revisited.

It presciently describes Trump to a T.

He simply wasn’t all there. He wasn’t a complete human being at all. He was a tiny bit of one, unnaturally developed: something in a bottle, an organ kept alive in a laboratory. I thought he was a sort of primitive savage, but he was something absolutely modern and up-to-date that only this ghastly age could produce. A tiny bit of a man pretending he was whole.

[DeminPennswoods]

24. If only his father had said

"I love you"...

[coeur_de_lion]

25. Haha

You do have to wonder what was missing in his relationship with his parents to make him such a mad fucker.

He never got hugs. May Joe Biden should offer to come give him a bear hug.

[DeminPennswoods]

29. Fred Trump seems like one of those

fathers who was very demanding and not outwardly affectionate. I imagine he was verbally abusive toward his sons, too. The daughters appear to have done well enough outside the family business, one being a federal judge and the other having worked at Chase. Fred, jr was an alcoholic and died from that. The other brother seems relatively normal. Of the 5 kids, the two oldest sons were not mentally tough enough to cope with their demanding dad.

Maybe Dems should send Biden over to show him some physical affection. Who knows, we might even get to see Trump break down in tears on camera!

[True Blue American]

39. I think his older brother got the affection.

[malaise]

31. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

https://www.bustle.com/p/who-are-trumps-sisters-brothers-potus-doesnt-talk-about-them-often-13222783
He was number four of five - that could also be a factor re seeking attention

[DeminPennswoods]

50. DU needs a Trump psychoanalysis forum

[Wounded Bear]

30. "Being born..."

[NewJeffCT]

27. i think Charles Krauthammer nailed it 3 years back or so

This is beyond narcissism. I used to think Trump was an 11-year-old, an undeveloped schoolyard bully. I was off by about 10 years. His needs are more primitive, an infantile hunger for approval and praise, a craving that can never be satisfied. He lives in a cocoon of solipsism where the world outside himself has value — indeed exists — only insofar as it sustains and inflates him.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trump-and-the-fitness-threshold/2016/08/04/b06bae34-5a69-11e6-831d-0324760ca856_story.html?utm_term=.d10b36f85757

The late Krauthammer was a conservative, but one of the original Never Trumpers and also a Harvard PhD in Psychology

[malaise]

28. Gratuitous calls him

Needy Amin - clearly she's onto something.
Thanks for a good link

[Historic NY]

33. The key to cracking the nut....

[helpisontheway]

10. Boo hoo..He is one of the main reasons Kavanaugh is in..nt

[GoCubsGo]

11. Bed. Made. Lie.

[malaise]

13. ROFL

and yes!!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

22. Scariest part

McGahn said Trump's judges will spend 30–40 years unwinding the power of executive agencies

[gldstwmn]

23. He expected what exactly?

[Me.]

32. My Heart Bleeds

for the guy who made it his mission to get Gorsuch and Kavanagh on the court

[malaise]

42. I am hemorrhaging here for both

McGahn and Nielsen

[Me.]

43. ...

[Power 2 the People]

48. But he wasn't patriotic enough to go public with Trump's debauchery and treason.

Fuk him.