Thursday, August 17, 2023

Chauncey Devega in Salon.com

 


While reading the Georgia indictment, I was reminded of my July 2022 conversation with retired U.S. Army Gen. Russel Honoré, who told me that he saw Trump as "a political thug who basically said, 'Hey, I'm the president. I'm empowered to do anything I want to do'…. Had Donald Trump not been president he probably would have been arrested on Jan. 6 for his role in what happened with the coup and the attack on the Capitol."

Only one outcome is likely: Trump will escalate his behavior all the way to a final act of personal and collective destruction.

Now that that is actually happening — Trump has until Aug. 25 to surrender in Atlanta for arraignment — how will the twice-impeached, four-times-indicted former president respond? First of all, Trump has shown himself through his public and private behavior to be a sociopath, if not a full-on psychopath. He is also a white supremacist, a woman-hater, a confirmed sexual predator, a megalomaniac and various other bad things. That's who the man is; he will not and cannot change, and it's foolish to suggest otherwise. As he faces the increasing pressure of multiple prosecutions and the 2024 presidential campaign, only one outcome is likely: He will escalate the worst of his behavior, perhaps all the way to a final act of personal and collective destruction for himself and his followers.

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