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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMen crying.
President Obama publicly cried at least 7 times during his administration. Most notable during a gun violence speech. Also, when speaking about his wife and daughters.
I know of at least one time when president Biden cried. It was at a DNC speech.
I respect men who can cry without embarrassment.
Both of these men also have a great sense of humor, which is sometimes self-deprecating.
Can you imagine Trump shedding a tear? I can't.
I can't even imagine him having a *genuine* laugh about *anything*, let alone himself.
And this is something I noticed about him apx. 10 years ago.
He's empty. There's nothing there.
I only have an undergrad minor in psychology, so I'm not anything near an expert.
But I noticed this long ago, and it was then I knew how fucked up he was. It was apparent. It wasn't hard to figure this out.
Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can weigh in on this.
Why don't others see this noticeable trait that he has? A man that is not moved to either tears or laughter.
Like a lizard. Or a snake.
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Dan
(4,568 posts)Doing his first term, the lack of any humanity.
allegorical oracle
(4,617 posts)children to become. He needs to be impeached and deported. Problem is, no other country would want him, either.
leftieNanner
(15,930 posts)Will take him
Cherokee100
(378 posts)Maybe Russia?
He wouldn't be a useful idiot to Putin anymore. He'd only fall out of a window.
mokeyz
(71 posts)will take him?😂
yardwork
(66,217 posts)
Jean Genie
(464 posts)17 year locusts
...kind of like what my little girl used to call them, when they hatched, and then their spent shells stuck to the trees in our yard:
GROSS BUGGIES!
Yep, Trump is a definite gross buggie! Except even locusts have some redeeming qualities. Trump DOES NOT!
Hekate
(97,244 posts)D_Master81
(2,012 posts)You have to have emotions and empathy to cry. He has neither. He is nothing but a robot that sees the world in black and white, winners and losers. Nothing more
Irish_Dem
(68,195 posts)For example if he was jailed or lost all of his money.
In fact he might cry like a baby in these cases.
He cannot cry for anyone else because he is a psychopath and has no empathy for anyone else.
Harker
(16,078 posts)He can laugh alone or with others so long as he/they are laughing AT someone.
Irish_Dem
(68,195 posts)They think they are perfect and that people are jealous of them.
Yes they can make vicious "jokes" about others which they think are hilarious.
There is a sadistic element.
Harker
(16,078 posts)Everything you said applied to him.
Irish_Dem
(68,195 posts)These people never get into therapy but all the people around them are traumatized.
Harker
(16,078 posts)I only wish I'd figured it out sooner.
Irish_Dem
(68,195 posts)And that you are a terrible person who deserves the wrath of God for minor infractions or made up wrongs.
They pull you right into their insanity, you ride on the crazy train and it is hard to get off.
Until you finally realize how very sick they are.
I don't know if Americans will ever realize how mentally ill Trump is.
yardwork
(66,217 posts)The other half includes people who know how bad he is, but they're hoping to make money off his presidency.
Irish_Dem
(68,195 posts)
pansypoo53219
(22,104 posts)and soooooo needy.
Irish_Dem
(68,195 posts)Nothing will work. He will just get worse.
buzzycrumbhunger
(1,081 posts)Took me 23 years to realize what he’d been doing and then figure out how to get out. I’m still working on the damage he caused me (jettisoned him in fkg 2003!)
The DSM-5 actually lists this as one of the truly incurable mental illnesses. There is no treatment and you can only educate yourself to recognize and avoid these people.
Or put them in prison and throw away the key—hopefully before he dies of something too fast to impart a lesson to the bastard.
Irish_Dem
(68,195 posts)It takes a while to understand what is happening and by then a lot of damage has been done. They are good at keeping others in stunned disbelief.
Yes take care of yourself and repair as much as you can.
Never let any one take your power again, never.
buzzycrumbhunger
(1,081 posts)💖
Escape
(168 posts)If he EVER was held responsible for his actions, he would cry, slobber, beg, shit his pants and collapse.
Irish_Dem
(68,195 posts)Walking out of a private meeting.
Putin has a smiling smirk on his face.
Trump is looking at the ground like he is about to cry.
We can well imagine what must have happened for Trump to look like this.
Ocelot II
(124,252 posts)of disdain and mockery. He's hostile all the way to his otherwise empty core. He jokes, but his jokes are cruel. He smiles, but only when he's bragging or putting someone down. His laugh is a sneer. I can't imagine what it's like to be him - always desperately seeking attention and praise, angry when he doesn't get it, unable to express kindness or appreciate beauty for its own sake. He doesn't love anybody and nobody loves him. His "friends" are parasites, just like he's a parasite; all his relationships are transactional. I doubt he's ever done a kind thing, selflessly and without the expectation of something in return, for anyone. Did he grieve when either of his parents died, or did he just hang around like a vulture waiting for the estate to pay out? I suppose he's a textbook example of a psychopath.
ariadne0614
(1,941 posts)“Dr. John Gartner and Dr. Harry Segel take listeners on a tour of the unsettling psychological and political landscape of Donald Trump’s second term.”
I haven’t missed an episode. Bottom line, *Rump is certifiably sick.
ShazzieB
(20,218 posts)I'm definitely going to gove it a listen!
MadameButterfly
(2,806 posts)Somehow this kind of thing is cathartic for me
3catwoman3
(26,509 posts)And for someone who claims, "I know words. I have the best words," he doesn't even know the real meaning of being sarcastic. He misuses that word al the time.
OAITW r.2.0
(29,983 posts)I'm betting Trump is doing fantastic financially, so we can expect more of the same for the next 4 years.
chouchou
(1,758 posts)I believe that within a not-long-time, something HAS to be done. We can't go on this way.
birdographer
(2,937 posts)Could bode well for us...
milestogo
(20,276 posts)He is cold as ice, totally devoid of empathy.
allegorical oracle
(4,617 posts)It worked with his first two wives -- they rarely said anything negative about him. Same with his children.
MLWR
(275 posts)
stillcool
(33,635 posts)that's my diagnosis. I saw a video of him when he was younger at a volley ball game on the beach, and he looked so out of place and awkward like the kid that never gets picked for the team. Always a bridesmaid never the bride.
nolabear
(43,661 posts)stillcool
(33,635 posts)but not the pic that I referred to. I grew up out there, so the scene was familiar. Can't believe this was so easy to find.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8565707/Never-seen-photos-Trump-playing-volleyball-Hamptons-Marla-Maples-1996-emerge.html
allegorical oracle
(4,617 posts)if a parent drives them hard enough, they learn to pose as superior beings -- and continue bullying others.
stillcool
(33,635 posts)manifests in different ways, but holes in the soul can't hide.
StarryNite
(11,498 posts)
SammyWinstonJack
(44,285 posts)StarryNite
(11,498 posts)Buddyzbuddy
(704 posts)Now that's as elusive as winning the lottery.
Grim Chieftain
(82 posts)but it seems he exhibits sociopathic behaviors.
Trueblue Texan
(3,282 posts)And she is trained in psychology.
Martin Eden
(14,142 posts)That reminds me of the best description of Trump, by British writer Nate White back in 2021:
link
A few things spring to mind.
Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.
For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.
So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump's limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.
Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever.
I don't say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.
But with Trump, it's a fact. He doesn't even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.
Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.
And scarily, he doesn't just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.
There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It's all surface.
Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.
Well, we don't. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.
And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.
Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.
He's not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat.
He's more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.
And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.
That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.
There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.
So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy' is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
• You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.
This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.
After all, it's impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.
God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.
He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.
In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.
And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish:
'My God... what... have... I... created?
If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.
allegorical oracle
(4,617 posts)association with Karoline Leavitt, but was too cowardly.)
raccoon
(31,766 posts)
Cha
(309,685 posts)And Souls 💜🕯️🕊️.
Mump and puppets are empty zombies. 
JMCKUSICK
(1,925 posts)Legendary.
Really one of the most despicable human beings ever to walk the Earth.
Meowmee
(8,596 posts)They can't feel empathy, remorse etc. or compassion. They learn to pretend to feel those things so as not to stand out. He also has sociopathic tendencies imo- sociopaths can feel empathy and remorse in a limited way, mostly for themselves.
It is a mystery how more don't notice it because the behaviors seem obvious to me, but I think many still do.
A good example of not noticing or enabling etc. is the media and how they speak about him. They never mention this and say what he really is. This has been going on for 10 years now and it is getting old to keep listening to people talking about him like he isn't the above and is normal. I don't watch it for the most part anymore.
Keepthesoulalive
(1,172 posts)A lizard and a snake.hopefully he meets a hawk.
Javaman
(63,605 posts)He doesn’t cry he doesn’t genuinely laugh and owns no pets
He’s incapable of empathy
allegorical oracle
(4,617 posts)his parents knew he was cruel -- or if they forbade him to have a pet -- or if he never wanted one.
Having some cuddly being to love and care for that returns affection can make-or-break some people.
He's a broken person.
MadameButterfly
(2,806 posts)and it occurred to some of us that we couldn't imagine Trump doing that
ChazInAz
(2,886 posts)Was the ill conceived one of him posing with an eagle on his desk.
The bird was having none of it and tried to savage the twat. His cowardly, cringing reaction brought joy to my heart.
sop
(13,735 posts)allegorical oracle
(4,617 posts)Javaman
(63,605 posts)We are all broken people to some extant, but it’s what we choose to do with the pieces that matters
He doesn’t do anything at all
True Dough
(22,712 posts)by introducing him to my big, beautiful heavy dtuy wrench!
tavernier
(13,629 posts)and develop a bond with their owners.
I’d rather befriend an iguana than a trump.
MadameButterfly
(2,806 posts)who roamed the house. She would half close her eyes if we stroked her. She liked to hang out on the hearth when we were all sitting around.
Demovictory9
(35,369 posts)
iluvtennis
(21,138 posts)Some talking head on MSNBC this afternoon had the nerve to say that trump won in 2024 because of his empathy for his supporters. WTF - he has no empathy for anyone.
usregimechange
(18,545 posts)
Emile
(34,076 posts)
tclambert
(11,161 posts). . .
MrsCheaplaugh
(211 posts)Donald Trump is a psychopath. Just like Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gary, he feels nothing, ever.
MadameButterfly
(2,806 posts)over the Canuck Letter that unfairly smeared his wife.
We have come a long way. Men are allowed to cry now. We are even seeing it as a sign of humanity.
Too late for Muskie, we got Nixon.
Figarosmom
(5,212 posts)That's how he's always been.
Waywardpedestrian
(2 posts)The fact is that the worst humans our country has to offer are in charge of everything. I don’t say this lightly as I have thought deeply about our situation and society. It will be extremely difficult to resurrect what we accepted and mostly were able to survive as a way of life in our economic system. There are fundamental changes to our federal government occurring right now that will take years to overcome, adjust and adapt to the immediate destruction of whole federal agencies that are in process now. We will succeed eventually but I believe we have a long road ahead to recover what our Feds provided for so many years. Change is good but that is not what is happening right now. It’s called demolition.
paulrevere2018
(56 posts)“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:
A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.
Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.
Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.
There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.
And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.
So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.
This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.
And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.
Danascot
(5,009 posts)Canada Kid
(82 posts)His belligerent and brash persona is an internal coverup of his own sense of inadequacy and lack of self worth. His shithole father was tough on him, and it caused him a lifetime of feeling useless. This is a mental condition worthy of psychiatric help, which will never happen. This crap has dumped onto his son's mental sobriety, as you can only see is a very sullen, nervous, unsmiling and uncomfortable Barron Trump. Daddy's bullshit has destroyed his son...and his cunthole mother seems to be okay with that.
cab67
(3,317 posts)He's a small, spiteful shell.
(Herpetologist here, by the way. I know what you meant with your references to lizards and snakes, but I find these to be noble creatures. Way more dignified than the self-propelled action figure living in the White House.)
enigmania
(283 posts)You can't fix it. ( John Douglas, I think).
lildDemz
(74 posts)between Trump and his replacement if impeached. Vance is not the same, Regardless of shortcomings.
dflprincess
(28,760 posts)"A man with no tears is a man with no heart."
I think this was after someone got snarky about him getting emotional in public.
homegirl
(1,703 posts)a certified psychologist knows him well, she recently declared her uncle has not a single redeeming character trait. So, you called it!
soldierant
(8,378 posts)Oh, they notic it all right. But they admire it. they think it is masculinity. "Real men don't show emption." "Real men don't cry." Because that's what they - including the women - have been brought up to believe.
That's also why at least some of them say that we - liberals - think that all masculinity is toxic. Pretty much everything they know, or think they know, about masculinity is toxic. But it isn't actual masculinity.