As a malignant narcissist on steroids, Donald Trump is severely mentally deranged. The apocalypse that LA is now experiencing will be exponentially intensified and worsened by the anti-life, anti-science, sociopathic hubris and machinations of America’s viral pandemic of mental pathology that constitutes, both metaphorically and literally, a symbiotic conflagration of the American soul by the diminutive hand of an incurable and untreatable psychotic right out of a classical Greek tragedy.
This goes beyond any single horrifying political movement, which Maga certainly is.Since the beginning of the industrial revolution developed nations have careened towards the abyss, creating an unsustainable economy, acting like mother nature is a vault of resources with no bottom; the externalities associated with industrial production and the use of fossil fuels were ignored; we are approaching the edge of the cliff over which lies human extinction.
It's that simple. Forget Maga. Forget Trump. Party while you can. It will all soon end.
When I think of American history, I prefer the observations of Charles Dickens, who knew this country well enough from two extended visits. He thought Thomas Jefferson was a world class hypocrite with a pen because he had the gall to write all men are created equal while owning hundreds of men, women, and children.
Dickens also cited what he called “universal distrust.” Which he believed was uniquely American and is defined as extreme individualism that leads people to suspect others and to seek advantage over them. Still accurate, for sure, and thus what we have now.
Although more flattering, and therefore probably less accurate, I prefer de Tocqueville's general take on America. I gives me a little more hope... which I am in desperate need of right now.
I have been reading Dickens for 50 years now, and before MAGA ever existed I took some of his observations with a little salt. But now I understand better why he wrote what he wrote.
As a clarification, when I say prefer it is not meant to imply a preference over Steve’s histories, which I enjoy reading. It is just a general overall preference.
I was 2 miles south of ground zero when the Eaton fire started. We watched the orange glow start up and increase exponentially. The winds from the East were the worst I’ve ever experienced with gusts well above 75 MPH. I live in Las Vegas and left to go home. The I210 hugs the San Gabriel mountains for 60 miles before crossing the I15 north into the Cajón Pass. It was commute time for those who live east of the LA Basin so the traffic was heavy; tree branches blew into the freeway as well as a location where blowing dust was so thick that visibility was less than 200 feet. I’ve lived in 5 states as an adult, driving in all kinds of weather but I had never seen winds as bad as Tuesday night. I have friends in Pasadena, Altadena, Santa Monica, San Fernando Valley, and Ventura — they are all at risk, every moment this week and beyond. So for the Alex Jones and Trumps of the world, I think that they should be on the fire fighting lines to see what real red hell looks like. And Steve, your comments about the state where I was born and love dearly were spot on. I pray for those who lost everything and for all of us to be strong for our democracy.
Yes that's a great idea. Send DJTJ, Eric, DT, Musk, Vance -- all those "super macho" REAL men -- to the front line of the fires. They won't need protective gear or masks or hoses, can just put it out with their testosterone.
Trump is a two dimensional man. Win, lose. That's it. CA burning gives him a chance to "win" by blaming Newsom and the "Libs" who dominate the states government. For Trump, the suffering of the masses is of ZERO importance as long as he, in his lizard-like mind, comes out on top. Four years of governance by that guy and his MAGA henchmen could do a lot of damage. Way to go, America.
Narcissists have no empathy, are often cruel and cannot change. They hate anything that takes the spotlight from them, (like an astoundingly beautiful state that has given so much to our country and to the world), and they hate anything that demands attention/help because the narcissist is the ONLY one who deserves attention and help, the only one who has been wronged.
Trump will become the first narcissistic "father of our country". Read up on that personality disorder to prepare yourself for what is about to come.
I have indeed been learning all I can about narcissism to understand both it familiar and very strange dynamics. Sam Vaknin is a great resource. He says that narcissists do have one aspect of empathy, which he calls “cold empathy”. This is the ability to tune into other people to use them, as in “reading the room”.” It is not the usual kind of empathy which he calls “warm empathy”. Such empathy comes out of the capacity to love and it is the basis for real rapport and caring which we so need as human beings.
I’m not sure I would describe being able to read a room as some form of empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feeling of others. Reading the room is a narcissist looking for their next meal.
While "reading the room" can mean a myriad of things, some even good (like taking the emotional temperature of a gathering before diving in with your thoughts), when it comes to a narcissist, "reading the room" becomes something far more predatory. It reveals them as sociopaths, meaning they can often perfectly mimic human emotions without feeling them in order to get what they want. If a narcissist is at a memorial service, for example, he or she will say condolences in a way that the grieving might never forget, yet not a word of it was sincere. For many narcissists, that kind of adoration is enough.
Of course, in the case of Donald Trump, him winning that kind of love means he has something to exploit in the future, and the memorial service was just the beginning of something transactional.
I am a native Californian who has experienced the earthquakes, fires and flash floods. From Northern California and the San Joaquin Delta, and having lived in San Diego, Long Beach and the San Fernando Valley, I understand the state quite well, and its importance to our country in so many ways. It’s political mess needs reform, but Trump is now hoping to destroy California by any means that he can through propaganda, lies, and refusal to help in times of disaster created by climate change and human hubris. The Titanic is a great metaphor, not only for the current California crisis, but for the U.S. as Captain Trump sails our Titanic into an iceberg.
I pray for my friends, family, and fellow Californians even though the military took me far away from home. I know at least two friends, one from high school and one from a Marine Tour who have lost everything in the fires and many others in danger. They need our help, not Trump and MAGAs derision.
You're writing today is a prose skat that weaves between poetry and polemy -- couldn't agree more that California is heaven and hell, a microcosm of our adapting earth, which will adapt to climate change with or without us. As the country's crucible, perhaps the resistance and reaction that rises from the literal ashes will rise for the rest of our 49. Can't happen soon enough, because the iceberg takes the oath and looms large in 10 days time.
I so agree and appreciate your skill in expression too. Beauty in language has a great power and ability to lead people, due to the quality of understanding it conveys. There is a multi-dimensionality to it which appeals to the soul as well as the mind.
Who but Trump lies outright while thousands suffer? Who but Trump casts blame without offering solace, support or solution? We Californians have seen firsthand his cruel game before. Had we only swept the forests…
Steve, while there are clear parallels to the Titanic, one huge difference exists: We have not sunk. We live. And we will be back.
Who but Trump .......? Not many as publicly before now; but since Trump, fully 1/3 of the US's population. I watched President Carter's funeral service yesterday on the internet. I was appalled and disgusted by many of the comments/commenters. People are so proud of their ignorance and hate.
"Donald Trump has offered snarling insults, veiled threats, misinformation and unrestrained malice."
Trump is cloaked with the darkest of evil. He is at his core a punisher who surrounds himself with personalties who thrive on punishment, arrogant degradation of others and malice. The prevailing winds of darkness may be on the horizon across the land.
A year ago my wife and I moved from the capital city of deep-red Texas to the capital city of deep-blue California. I just couldn’t stand another day being governed by Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick, Ken Paxton, Republican super-majorities in both chambers, and an all-Republican Texas Supreme Court. Although California has its problems, I see them as fixable in my lifetime (I am 71), unlike those of Texas.
Oh, and Adam “Shifty” Schiff as my senator is such an improvement over Ted Cruz!
I was born in California and raised in the South. When we left Tennessee to move back to California, my father said to me: "In California, no one asks who your daddy is." His point is that California, with all its faults and nuts and cranks, is still the land of opportunity. It's still a place that you can prosper if you work hard enough; not what your family lineage is. Yes, there are problems. Yes, the Democratic Party does stupid things (like a certain Mayor who goes to Ghana (of all places) during the annual wind & fire season.) Compared to every other state -- every other one -- we prosper in large part because we reward initiative, innovation and immigrants. Remember that America.
Steve, I too have studied the Titanic disaster and my son was a Titanic fanatic. I bought him every book I could find on the Titanic and then read them after he did. As a scientist for the past 45 years, I was interested in how one mistake or overlooked error compounded itself to where ultimate disaster was inevitable. The Titanic was built possibly with inferior steel and since the ship builder never considered it would sink there were not enough lifeboats placed aboard it. Then, the White Star line wanted to set a speed record between Liverpool and NYC so even though the Titanic was warned of icebergs they were moving the ship as fast as it could travel and so on! The ultimate end was over 1,000 lives were lost with the Titanic disaster!
Now, California has built many houses in places there should be no houses! California does not have enough water to support its agriculture and population. I have invented a low-energy desalination system (use less than 5% of the energy required for reverse osmosis or flash distillation) and wrote the California water authorities as well as the Governor’s office about this technology that could solve California’s water problems forever and save their agricultural industry as well. I have a current U.S. patent on this technology as well as a pending U.S. patent. The response from the California authorities was ZERO. So, now the almond industry does not have enough water to grow their almonds and the remaining aquifer water is too salty damaging their trees. The Los Angeles fire demonstrated that the authorities did not even have enough water reserves to fight the catastrophic fires! So, what is the enduring lesson of both the Titanic and California disasters! In my mind, go back to the first mistake in each case. The Titanic should have not been trying to set a speed record because every mistake was MAGNIFIED by that initial mistake. California needs to secure an abundant fresh water source to support its agriculture and population and my technology can do that forever! Because in my mind, when you don’t even have enough water to fight the fires something is terribly wrong and the end result is the greatest fire in the USA since the 1906 earthquake fire in San Francisco that burned down the entire city!
"California needs to secure an abundant fresh water source to support its agriculture and population"
I live in flyover country 3 miles from the Missouri River. Water is and will be a huge issue in the entire nation very soon. In other words we here on the river are nervous about the Southwest's urgent need for fresh water. Between the Missouri River and the Ogallala Aquifer we are moving a lot of water. The main thing protecting the midwest's current abundant supply of fresh water is the Rocky Mountains - nobody has figured out a way to get water over those mountains. Even so the Ogallala aquifer we are on top of is already being stressed a little more each year. I'm not on this aquifer (it's eastern edge is 50-75 miles west of me) but it's a vast underground storage aquifer. Every year due to midwest crop irrigation the aquifer down south in Texas retreats a ways north each summer then rebounds and replenishes in the winter. But it never quite makes up the ground it has lost.
The next huge supply of water that has everyone in the midwest taking notice is the Great Lakes. That supply dwarfs all others by a considerable amount. Expect to see water wars soon. Of course water has always been fought over but it will soon be a huge deal.
I would have never dreamed several years ago that the Mississippi River left an old U.S. Navy destroyer in the mud. A theory of global climate change is the interiors of the continents will become desert. What happens when the area you live in becomes a desert and the Great Lakes dry up?
We're counting on all the ice in the arctic and the antarctic melting and raising the level of all the oceans enough so that the water just flows in from the Gulf of Trump.
Unfortunately that seems to be the way all the whack jobs on the right think.
Michael: 99% of the world’s fresh water is in the Greenland and Antarctica ice! If all this ice melts, it will raise ocean levels 200 feet. Go to any seashore and think of a 20 story building of water moving on shore. I heard a global climate change scientist predict by 2050 the world’s biggest job occupation will be dike building to keep the
Ocean out of coastal cities throughout the world and 1.2 billion people will be forced to move!
Yes, America’s Psychotic President. While there are ways he is tuned into reality, to exploit it shamelessly for himself and without care for others, he himself is located and oriented towards fantasy. As one expert on narcissists, Sam Vaknin, describes them, they are “an absence masquerading as a presence”.
The World Central Kitchen is already set up in LA feeding the firefighters and those affected by the fires. I'm sure there will be some scammers eager to play on your emotions but this organization is always fearlessly out there on the front lines living the Beatitudes - "feed the hungry". If you have an extra dollar or two, please consider donating to them.
After reading Steve's posting, I am trying to come up with some sense of hope for the future... but, so far, it isn't coming. The magnitude of the disaster in California is staggering but, in the past, we have always been able to sense that the citizens of this Country would come together to lift each other up. At this point, I don't feel that and it is profoundly unsettling. The notion of shared challenges, a loyal opposition, etc. are absent in our society. I was raised by parents that instilled in me a sense that citizenship should be earned and not taken for granted. Today, all I see is individuals profiting from the troubles and losses of others. I am glad my parents are not able to see this. I wish I couldn't.
My god! How can any country that has spawned and sustained a thinker and writer of such scope and elegance as Steve Schmidt be in peril ? I don't think Steve is our savior, but I do know he is an unassailable vault of America's intelligence, strength and faith.
The style, and content of his writings are unique in my experience. (Maybe I should get out more....?). I prefer it to Hemingway's because it has better rhythm, yet is less somnambulistic and actually has content that elicits thinking. Some of his turns of phrase are a truthful relief, a joy for the sensibilities, like removing a splinter from under the fingernails we use to hold on until Trump passes.
While I happily agree with your comment in general, I think it is safe to say Steve is exceptional at being Steve. I think that's not a casual or easy pursuit, ie. giving your best EVERY DAY, and being good at it. He knows the importance of being a touch stone, something solid and consistent. I don't mean to overly flatter Steve, I think it just points out some of the things we need from our leaders.
Very salient and deep thinking by Steve. Unfortunately, the ascending lunatic to the presidency has no moral compass, no empathy for his fellow man and will destroy just about anything and anyone he can as "retribution". Batten down the hatches for it will be a rough ride!
As a malignant narcissist on steroids, Donald Trump is severely mentally deranged. The apocalypse that LA is now experiencing will be exponentially intensified and worsened by the anti-life, anti-science, sociopathic hubris and machinations of America’s viral pandemic of mental pathology that constitutes, both metaphorically and literally, a symbiotic conflagration of the American soul by the diminutive hand of an incurable and untreatable psychotic right out of a classical Greek tragedy.
Well written, of great substance.
Thank you, Sandra. We all need to support each other in order to better confront the reality of the multi-dimensional horror that we face.
In other words TFG is crazier than a $hithouse rat and we are about to pay the price for not taking him seriously. Consequences abound.
Agree Michael.
This goes beyond any single horrifying political movement, which Maga certainly is.Since the beginning of the industrial revolution developed nations have careened towards the abyss, creating an unsustainable economy, acting like mother nature is a vault of resources with no bottom; the externalities associated with industrial production and the use of fossil fuels were ignored; we are approaching the edge of the cliff over which lies human extinction.
It's that simple. Forget Maga. Forget Trump. Party while you can. It will all soon end.
Become a Number 24.
It's too late to resist. We have made war against the environment; a war impossible to win.
I wish it weren't so.
Stunning film recommended by Steve… a must-watch
Integrating self and society is a symbiotic process.
When I think of American history, I prefer the observations of Charles Dickens, who knew this country well enough from two extended visits. He thought Thomas Jefferson was a world class hypocrite with a pen because he had the gall to write all men are created equal while owning hundreds of men, women, and children.
Dickens also cited what he called “universal distrust.” Which he believed was uniquely American and is defined as extreme individualism that leads people to suspect others and to seek advantage over them. Still accurate, for sure, and thus what we have now.
Although more flattering, and therefore probably less accurate, I prefer de Tocqueville's general take on America. I gives me a little more hope... which I am in desperate need of right now.
I have been reading Dickens for 50 years now, and before MAGA ever existed I took some of his observations with a little salt. But now I understand better why he wrote what he wrote.
Dickens understood tyrants.
As a clarification, when I say prefer it is not meant to imply a preference over Steve’s histories, which I enjoy reading. It is just a general overall preference.
Take your observations and become a “Number 24.”
J Fender, what's a "Number 24"?
Steve Schmidt recommended this new movie on Netflix about the resistance during nazi occupation. It is a code name.
Oh yeah, I remember now. Thanks. Too bad I don't have Netflix; I'd be on media all day long if I had it. lol
I was 2 miles south of ground zero when the Eaton fire started. We watched the orange glow start up and increase exponentially. The winds from the East were the worst I’ve ever experienced with gusts well above 75 MPH. I live in Las Vegas and left to go home. The I210 hugs the San Gabriel mountains for 60 miles before crossing the I15 north into the Cajón Pass. It was commute time for those who live east of the LA Basin so the traffic was heavy; tree branches blew into the freeway as well as a location where blowing dust was so thick that visibility was less than 200 feet. I’ve lived in 5 states as an adult, driving in all kinds of weather but I had never seen winds as bad as Tuesday night. I have friends in Pasadena, Altadena, Santa Monica, San Fernando Valley, and Ventura — they are all at risk, every moment this week and beyond. So for the Alex Jones and Trumps of the world, I think that they should be on the fire fighting lines to see what real red hell looks like. And Steve, your comments about the state where I was born and love dearly were spot on. I pray for those who lost everything and for all of us to be strong for our democracy.
Yes that's a great idea. Send DJTJ, Eric, DT, Musk, Vance -- all those "super macho" REAL men -- to the front line of the fires. They won't need protective gear or masks or hoses, can just put it out with their testosterone.
They are about as macho as Donald Duck. Quack, Quack.
Trump is a two dimensional man. Win, lose. That's it. CA burning gives him a chance to "win" by blaming Newsom and the "Libs" who dominate the states government. For Trump, the suffering of the masses is of ZERO importance as long as he, in his lizard-like mind, comes out on top. Four years of governance by that guy and his MAGA henchmen could do a lot of damage. Way to go, America.
Narcissists have no empathy, are often cruel and cannot change. They hate anything that takes the spotlight from them, (like an astoundingly beautiful state that has given so much to our country and to the world), and they hate anything that demands attention/help because the narcissist is the ONLY one who deserves attention and help, the only one who has been wronged.
Trump will become the first narcissistic "father of our country". Read up on that personality disorder to prepare yourself for what is about to come.
I have indeed been learning all I can about narcissism to understand both it familiar and very strange dynamics. Sam Vaknin is a great resource. He says that narcissists do have one aspect of empathy, which he calls “cold empathy”. This is the ability to tune into other people to use them, as in “reading the room”.” It is not the usual kind of empathy which he calls “warm empathy”. Such empathy comes out of the capacity to love and it is the basis for real rapport and caring which we so need as human beings.
I’m not sure I would describe being able to read a room as some form of empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feeling of others. Reading the room is a narcissist looking for their next meal.
While "reading the room" can mean a myriad of things, some even good (like taking the emotional temperature of a gathering before diving in with your thoughts), when it comes to a narcissist, "reading the room" becomes something far more predatory. It reveals them as sociopaths, meaning they can often perfectly mimic human emotions without feeling them in order to get what they want. If a narcissist is at a memorial service, for example, he or she will say condolences in a way that the grieving might never forget, yet not a word of it was sincere. For many narcissists, that kind of adoration is enough.
Of course, in the case of Donald Trump, him winning that kind of love means he has something to exploit in the future, and the memorial service was just the beginning of something transactional.
interesting
Steve,
I am a native Californian who has experienced the earthquakes, fires and flash floods. From Northern California and the San Joaquin Delta, and having lived in San Diego, Long Beach and the San Fernando Valley, I understand the state quite well, and its importance to our country in so many ways. It’s political mess needs reform, but Trump is now hoping to destroy California by any means that he can through propaganda, lies, and refusal to help in times of disaster created by climate change and human hubris. The Titanic is a great metaphor, not only for the current California crisis, but for the U.S. as Captain Trump sails our Titanic into an iceberg.
I pray for my friends, family, and fellow Californians even though the military took me far away from home. I know at least two friends, one from high school and one from a Marine Tour who have lost everything in the fires and many others in danger. They need our help, not Trump and MAGAs derision.
All the best, stay safe and watch your six.
Steve Dundas
You're writing today is a prose skat that weaves between poetry and polemy -- couldn't agree more that California is heaven and hell, a microcosm of our adapting earth, which will adapt to climate change with or without us. As the country's crucible, perhaps the resistance and reaction that rises from the literal ashes will rise for the rest of our 49. Can't happen soon enough, because the iceberg takes the oath and looms large in 10 days time.
I so agree and appreciate your skill in expression too. Beauty in language has a great power and ability to lead people, due to the quality of understanding it conveys. There is a multi-dimensionality to it which appeals to the soul as well as the mind.
Who but Trump lies outright while thousands suffer? Who but Trump casts blame without offering solace, support or solution? We Californians have seen firsthand his cruel game before. Had we only swept the forests…
Steve, while there are clear parallels to the Titanic, one huge difference exists: We have not sunk. We live. And we will be back.
Q: "Who but Trump lies outright while thousands suffer?"
A: Every single one of his ass-kissing sycophants and followers.
Including FoxNews.
Who but Trump .......? Not many as publicly before now; but since Trump, fully 1/3 of the US's population. I watched President Carter's funeral service yesterday on the internet. I was appalled and disgusted by many of the comments/commenters. People are so proud of their ignorance and hate.
"Donald Trump has offered snarling insults, veiled threats, misinformation and unrestrained malice."
Trump is cloaked with the darkest of evil. He is at his core a punisher who surrounds himself with personalties who thrive on punishment, arrogant degradation of others and malice. The prevailing winds of darkness may be on the horizon across the land.
For once, I agree completely, Steve.
A year ago my wife and I moved from the capital city of deep-red Texas to the capital city of deep-blue California. I just couldn’t stand another day being governed by Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick, Ken Paxton, Republican super-majorities in both chambers, and an all-Republican Texas Supreme Court. Although California has its problems, I see them as fixable in my lifetime (I am 71), unlike those of Texas.
Oh, and Adam “Shifty” Schiff as my senator is such an improvement over Ted Cruz!
I was born in California and raised in the South. When we left Tennessee to move back to California, my father said to me: "In California, no one asks who your daddy is." His point is that California, with all its faults and nuts and cranks, is still the land of opportunity. It's still a place that you can prosper if you work hard enough; not what your family lineage is. Yes, there are problems. Yes, the Democratic Party does stupid things (like a certain Mayor who goes to Ghana (of all places) during the annual wind & fire season.) Compared to every other state -- every other one -- we prosper in large part because we reward initiative, innovation and immigrants. Remember that America.
Steve, I too have studied the Titanic disaster and my son was a Titanic fanatic. I bought him every book I could find on the Titanic and then read them after he did. As a scientist for the past 45 years, I was interested in how one mistake or overlooked error compounded itself to where ultimate disaster was inevitable. The Titanic was built possibly with inferior steel and since the ship builder never considered it would sink there were not enough lifeboats placed aboard it. Then, the White Star line wanted to set a speed record between Liverpool and NYC so even though the Titanic was warned of icebergs they were moving the ship as fast as it could travel and so on! The ultimate end was over 1,000 lives were lost with the Titanic disaster!
Now, California has built many houses in places there should be no houses! California does not have enough water to support its agriculture and population. I have invented a low-energy desalination system (use less than 5% of the energy required for reverse osmosis or flash distillation) and wrote the California water authorities as well as the Governor’s office about this technology that could solve California’s water problems forever and save their agricultural industry as well. I have a current U.S. patent on this technology as well as a pending U.S. patent. The response from the California authorities was ZERO. So, now the almond industry does not have enough water to grow their almonds and the remaining aquifer water is too salty damaging their trees. The Los Angeles fire demonstrated that the authorities did not even have enough water reserves to fight the catastrophic fires! So, what is the enduring lesson of both the Titanic and California disasters! In my mind, go back to the first mistake in each case. The Titanic should have not been trying to set a speed record because every mistake was MAGNIFIED by that initial mistake. California needs to secure an abundant fresh water source to support its agriculture and population and my technology can do that forever! Because in my mind, when you don’t even have enough water to fight the fires something is terribly wrong and the end result is the greatest fire in the USA since the 1906 earthquake fire in San Francisco that burned down the entire city!
"California needs to secure an abundant fresh water source to support its agriculture and population"
I live in flyover country 3 miles from the Missouri River. Water is and will be a huge issue in the entire nation very soon. In other words we here on the river are nervous about the Southwest's urgent need for fresh water. Between the Missouri River and the Ogallala Aquifer we are moving a lot of water. The main thing protecting the midwest's current abundant supply of fresh water is the Rocky Mountains - nobody has figured out a way to get water over those mountains. Even so the Ogallala aquifer we are on top of is already being stressed a little more each year. I'm not on this aquifer (it's eastern edge is 50-75 miles west of me) but it's a vast underground storage aquifer. Every year due to midwest crop irrigation the aquifer down south in Texas retreats a ways north each summer then rebounds and replenishes in the winter. But it never quite makes up the ground it has lost.
The next huge supply of water that has everyone in the midwest taking notice is the Great Lakes. That supply dwarfs all others by a considerable amount. Expect to see water wars soon. Of course water has always been fought over but it will soon be a huge deal.
I would have never dreamed several years ago that the Mississippi River left an old U.S. Navy destroyer in the mud. A theory of global climate change is the interiors of the continents will become desert. What happens when the area you live in becomes a desert and the Great Lakes dry up?
We're counting on all the ice in the arctic and the antarctic melting and raising the level of all the oceans enough so that the water just flows in from the Gulf of Trump.
Unfortunately that seems to be the way all the whack jobs on the right think.
Michael: 99% of the world’s fresh water is in the Greenland and Antarctica ice! If all this ice melts, it will raise ocean levels 200 feet. Go to any seashore and think of a 20 story building of water moving on shore. I heard a global climate change scientist predict by 2050 the world’s biggest job occupation will be dike building to keep the
Ocean out of coastal cities throughout the world and 1.2 billion people will be forced to move!
Minor correction from a San Francisco native- The Great SF earthquake and fire was in 1906. 😉
Corrected, thanks!
In ten days, Trump must start being called America’s Illegitimate, Psychotic and Felonious President Trump.
Yes, America’s Psychotic President. While there are ways he is tuned into reality, to exploit it shamelessly for himself and without care for others, he himself is located and oriented towards fantasy. As one expert on narcissists, Sam Vaknin, describes them, they are “an absence masquerading as a presence”.
Sam Vaknin is exceptionally perceptive and enlightening.
Insert between Illegitimate and psychotic: "sexual predator."
The World Central Kitchen is already set up in LA feeding the firefighters and those affected by the fires. I'm sure there will be some scammers eager to play on your emotions but this organization is always fearlessly out there on the front lines living the Beatitudes - "feed the hungry". If you have an extra dollar or two, please consider donating to them.
After reading Steve's posting, I am trying to come up with some sense of hope for the future... but, so far, it isn't coming. The magnitude of the disaster in California is staggering but, in the past, we have always been able to sense that the citizens of this Country would come together to lift each other up. At this point, I don't feel that and it is profoundly unsettling. The notion of shared challenges, a loyal opposition, etc. are absent in our society. I was raised by parents that instilled in me a sense that citizenship should be earned and not taken for granted. Today, all I see is individuals profiting from the troubles and losses of others. I am glad my parents are not able to see this. I wish I couldn't.
My god! How can any country that has spawned and sustained a thinker and writer of such scope and elegance as Steve Schmidt be in peril ? I don't think Steve is our savior, but I do know he is an unassailable vault of America's intelligence, strength and faith.
The style, and content of his writings are unique in my experience. (Maybe I should get out more....?). I prefer it to Hemingway's because it has better rhythm, yet is less somnambulistic and actually has content that elicits thinking. Some of his turns of phrase are a truthful relief, a joy for the sensibilities, like removing a splinter from under the fingernails we use to hold on until Trump passes.
As in everyone who speaks out clearly and is unassailably grounded and oriented by truth.
While I happily agree with your comment in general, I think it is safe to say Steve is exceptional at being Steve. I think that's not a casual or easy pursuit, ie. giving your best EVERY DAY, and being good at it. He knows the importance of being a touch stone, something solid and consistent. I don't mean to overly flatter Steve, I think it just points out some of the things we need from our leaders.
Very salient and deep thinking by Steve. Unfortunately, the ascending lunatic to the presidency has no moral compass, no empathy for his fellow man and will destroy just about anything and anyone he can as "retribution". Batten down the hatches for it will be a rough ride!