Topic: WorldNetDaily
Questions about Donald Trump's mental health have gotten WorldNetDaily in a froth. Not that it's treating those questions seriously with sober examination, mind you -- far from it. WND knows that the questions are legitimate, so it must do everything it can to change the subject.
WND managing editor David Kupelian's outright denial of Trump's issues in furiously attempting to distract by focusing on President Obama and Democrats was only the tip of the iceberg, it turned out.
Trump-fluffer Kent Bailey -- last seen here cheering Trump's appeal to whites -- chimed in with an Aug. 4 column denouncing the people making armchair diagnoses while reminding his that he's "a retired professor of clinical psychology with 32 years of experience in teaching, research and writing, and in practicing and supervising students in personality assessment and psychotherapy." And his own armchair diagnosis finds Trump to be crazy ... about America!
There is no evidence whatsoever that Trump is suffering from any psychiatric disorder or pathology. However, as do most rich, powerful and influential persons, Trump has a number of personal quirks and eccentricities that sometimes get in the way of being “presidential” in the soft and sensitive girly world we live in. And to be truthful, even his closest and most loyal family and friends may, at times, recoil from his insensitivity, social missteps and unforced errors. Nevertheless, he is a bona fide member of the warrior class, and such alpha super-males often make waves in times of peace.
But in the “dark” kind of times outlined in the Republican convention, the sharp-edged warrior becomes a life-or-death necessity. In dark times, superficial things like the “first woman,” “I feel your pain” and high-sounding, socialist giveaway programs are literal threats to national survival. With terrorism rampaging in Europe and literally knocking at our door, I for one believe we are in dark times indeed – both domestically and internationally. Moreover, we need all the warriors we can get at every level of government – and that includes the president of the United States.
In a subtle way, we have implicit evidence that Donald Trump will bring fellowship and order to a world reeling from both domestic and worldwide violence and terrorism. Just look at the respectful, orderly and well-behaved masses of people at Trump’s meetings and the Republican Convention versus the hateful divisions, the need for massive police presence to maintain order and the overall chaos that defines the highly divisive Democratic/socialist way of life. At the Republican Convention talk was realistically harsh and critical, but people were exceptionally orderly and well-behaved. By contrast, the Democratic Convention was characterized by “talk sweet and then hit the streets and destroy cities if you do not get your way.” We already have ample evidence that Trump is truly the “law and order” candidate as advertised.
Gina Loudon -- another armchair-diagnoser -- also chimes in with her Aug. 7 column, and she goes the denial-and-distraction. She doesn't even mention Trump in her column, but she's quick to diagnose Hillary Clinton with a litany of mental illnesses:
Mental illness is nothing to ignore. It is dangerous to all involved. Hillary’s behavior might indicate a much deeper, darker mental condition that is flatly ominous. She has had visual, memory and reasoning issues in recent years following her head injury. She has endured many subsequent falls, which would be obvious indicators of traumatic head injury. Instead of running for president, Hillary could be seeking a medical battery of testing that could get to the heart of what may be a worsening mental disorder, as well as intense therapy and perhaps medication (if she isn’t already medicated), before more lives are lost at the hands of her incompetence.
Most devastatingly, the symptoms Hillary exhibits may be indicative of a deeper, progressive psychosis. A NIHMS study showed that pathological liars had increased white matter volumes in the orbitofrontal, inferior frontal and middle frontal cortices. Another theory said long-term use of lying may actually cause regional increase in white matter volume, and that repeated lying could cause permanent changes in brain chemistry. Whether the most caustic disease model of lying is caused by genetic factors or environmental influences is still up for major debate among experts.
If the condition of someone with such systemic mental conditions worsens, their decision-making capacity and overall ability to distinguish truth from fantasy could be impaired. This would be dangerous for the leader of a family, or a company, but it could be devastating for a national leader.
Only after making this declaration, though, does she concede that "Only testing and analysis by a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist could say for sure, and I am neither, nor have I ever examined Hillary in a clinical setting." Still, she goes on to declare that "it might be a healthy decision for Secretary Clinton to step back from the limelight, and instead seek some testing or therapy to determine her mental fitness before endangering more lives." She makes no such recommendation for Trump.
An Aug. 7 WND "news" article by Paul Bremmer also goes the distraction route, asking, "But while everyone is discussing Trump’s sanity, what about Hillary’s?" In addition to summarizing the attacks from Loudon and Kupelian, Bremmer calls in WND friend Michael Savage (conveniently, author of a book called "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder") and expertise-denying WND author Marc Fitch to denounce anyone who passes judgment on Trump's psyche as people who "are trying to give the impression that they are reasonable and rational – medical, if you will – thinkers, so the public will look up to them as the kings and queens of smart."
Fitch didn't mention Savage's book -- savage likes to present himself as an expert -- or a book sold at WND by Lyle Rossiter, who uses his psychiatric training to paint liberals as suffering from "psychopathology" that "threatens to destroy the West's greatest achievement: the American dream of civilized liberty."
Needless to say, at no point does Bremmer actually address the issue of Trump's mental health, merely serving as a stenographic gateway to attack anyone who actually does raise the issue.
Again, the fact that WND is hitting back so forcefully strongly suggests that it knows Trump has mental health issues and it could be a legitimate avenue of attack. So as committed Trump fans, WND must attack and deny. Which may be a mental illness in itself.
