TRUMP: CONNECTING THE DOTS #03
by Tom Panzone jr – tompanzone@gmail.com
The Art of the Lie – How to get away with anything .
The 2016 USA electoral campaign is teaching us a lot about people, especially about lying and getting away with it. Clever politicians have developed a skill that lets them say anything they want and have people believe it. I guess Americans have always had a propensity for being taken-in by hype. Just think back to the traveling medicine men peddling their elixir from town to town or the travelling circuses with their unbelievable creatures. Barnum & Bailey perfected their technique to the point of confidently exclaiming that “A sucker is born every minute!” Modern technology has enabled Donald Trump to take his art to the Masterpiece level.
Trump, the person: First you start with a Devil Seed, a petulant, clever and possibly autistic child who always expected to satisfy his every whim. One who refused to put in the effort to learn anything in depth. It’s like my friend who always wanted to be a pilot and thought he just needed to sit in the cockpit and go, without taking lessons. There are some things you can fake and some you can’t. For others there is always acting. So, Mr. Trump learned at a very early age that he’d have to fake his way through life. Even his father recognized this, that his personality disorders would be a hindrance and trained him “mano a mano” so that he would be able to navigate life safely and successfully. His formal education focused on perfecting the art of survival in the business jungle of Queens and later Manhattan. Although tall and handsome as a young man, he was insecure. His narcissism always controlled him. He’s the one who would walk into a room and introduce himself as “Hi, I’m Donald Trump. How do you like me, so far?” Getting dates was difficult, at first, but he soon figured out that flashing his money always attracted women, especially that he could buy just the ones that suited his fancy. We know the rest of that story.
Trump, the technique: An extreme narcissist like Mr. Trump does not accept any criticism, at all. So, Mr. Trump developed a technique to protect himself. When accused, he immediately deflects the attack onto another person(s), accusing the other of doing the same thing. He has perfected the art of the “pivot”. For example, in reply to an accusation about not releasing his taxes, he’ll point to Hillary’s destroyed 33,000 emails. When cornered on some point, he’ll reply that he was being smart or instantly denies that he ever said that or replies with a lie or an exaggeration. He gets himself in real trouble when he responds with a counter accusation because his accusations usually reflect his own failings. For example, he makes his biggest noise about “Crooked Hillary” to deflect the fact that he is the biggest crook of them all. He accuses Hillary of infidelity when he is so well known for his own infidelity. He accuses Hillary of ill health and lack of stamina, when he suffers from multiple ailments. He could never testify for eleven consecutive hours in front of a congressional committee. He probably takes some “meds” to keep himself awake.
The trick to his technique is that he always speaks in a matter of fact tone, giving the impression that he really knows his stuff. A lie delivered in this fashion and with a straight face creates confidence in the observer that he must be right. Good actors do it all the time. This is why nothing sticks. He’s Teflon-coated. To re-enforce his message, Mr. Trump has surrounded himself with a number of key cronies who reflect his own weaknesses, such as the unhinged former N.Y. mayor Juliani, disgraced philanderer and former speaker of the house Gingrich and, soon to be disgraced, the lying Governor of New Jersey, Christie. To make matters worse, Mr. Trump has taught this technique to a number of campaign spokespersons who are so well prepared that reporters can’t keep up with them, thus reinforcing Mr. Trump’s competence among his hard core supporters.
Trump, the results: As a result, this technique has made Mr. Trump very popular among his poorly educated supporters, the ill-informed and those who have not yet been cheated by a charlatan. Unfortunately, “a sucker” has been born every minute since Mr., Barnum uttered those words. And, now we have, at least, 40,000,000 of them. It’s going to be a tall order to reprogram them all. ###
The Panzone Report 