....and that none of this country's institutions (FBI/Intelligence/democracy/etc.) can be trusted, and therefore must be torn down. 2/
How did the Right come to hate this country so much?
Remember when (justifiably) criticizing the United States, even over minor flaws/errors, would cause the Right to seethe with contempt over your lack of Patriotism?
Yet now,….1/
....and that none of this country's institutions (FBI/Intelligence/democracy/etc.) can be trusted, and therefore must be torn down. 2/
https://t.co/UU0K7CYxrZ
Again, why does the Right hate America so much? 7/
Trump is handling the election like his bankruptcy proceedings:
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) November 19, 2020
-Disinformation/Lies
-Frivolous legal claims/lawsuits
-Screwing his partners
In the process, Trump is "bankrupting":
- Norms/Institutions/constitution
- Faith in democratic elections
- The country ("partners")
1/
When people no longer believe they can compete or \u201cwin\u201d within the context of a specific \u201cgame\u201d, they either choose to stop playing\u2026..or in extreme cases, may even "up-end the game board" and scatter playing pieces everywhere. This is what the GOP is doing to democracy. 1/ https://t.co/V1izQSsxRG
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) November 13, 2019
When supporting and defending the behavior of a pathologically disordered leader becomes the top priority, the "defense" (behavior) of the subordinates will invariably become pathologically disordered. This is the essence of \u201cTrickle Down Pathology: 10/ https://t.co/FO0STMN0jO
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) November 13, 2019
More from Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych
Relevant threads:https://t.co/6at83OnxpK
Yes, in the context of the Right's fetishizing "freedom", "patriot shaming", collective narcissism, cult membership purity tests, emasculinization, dopamine, confirmation bias, religion, gun control, etc. https://t.co/xGdmoSVykZ. I'll attach a few of the threads below: 1/ https://t.co/elQVWBVHXx
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) October 21, 2020
It's a perfect storm of emotional immaturity, arrested development, and the fetishization of "freedom" to the point where the *right to ignorance*....and the "freedom" to put others at risk...... is equated with "liberty".
Relevant
Yes, in the context of the Right's fetishizing "freedom", "patriot shaming", collective narcissism, cult membership purity tests, emasculinization, dopamine, confirmation bias, religion, gun control, etc. https://t.co/xGdmoSVykZ. I'll attach a few of the threads below: 1/ https://t.co/elQVWBVHXx
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) October 21, 2020
https://t.co/W78IMiOAmA
An addiction model may actually explain tribalism, confirmation bias, and even conspiracy theories/Qanon. Let\u2019s unpack\u2026.
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) June 13, 2021
Several years ago I started observing the parallels between addiction and political tribalism as marriages/friendships/families imploded over politics\u2026.1/ https://t.co/jCNGeN42l2
https://t.co/UDgKTmjHOG
This is the game the GOP plays:
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) August 9, 2021
When adults/experts/leaders take action, the Right engages in sabotaging performative obstinance & demonize the actions as government overreach.
If the Right successfully sabotages the actions, the Right claims Biden failed & blame immigrants. 1/ https://t.co/qP1kG2s1b5
Great analysis. Now, what do we do about it. Do we need to \u2018reprogram\u2019 minds of those who\u2019ve fallen into a veil of deception? Do we treat these folks as cult victims? When it is a group narcissism, folks have to \u2018kill off\u2019 a part of themselves to escape, not easy recovery.
— Ponder (@Washyourowndish) April 23, 2021
No one is receptive to finding “common ground” when the starting point of the person who claims to desire common ground is telling them they’ve been brainwashed, and that they need to be “deprogrammed”. 2/
This plays into the “Totalitarian” narrative that Tucker Carlson is propagating, even going so far as using the “don’t believe your own eyes” to reinforce the narrative. 3/

Of course, this is exactly what occurred during Trump’s presidency. Basically, it’s another attempt to confuse and distract with moral/false equivalency. 4/
In the past, the Right attempted to excuse Trump’s pathological dishonesty with allegations of the Left lying: if everyone is lying, then no one is lying……because lying is normalized.
...or 2), a combination of: everything is a lie, therefore nothing is a lie\u2026.that lying is a necessary tactic to win or to compete against evil enemies (Libs/media) who are lying,\u2026or that they\u2019re in a Darwinian fight for survival where lying is a law of the political jungle.13/
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) July 6, 2019
Details/competency are boring, and expertise causes people to feel ignorant. So they choose reality TV stars over competent leaders, or actual mental health professionals.
Thank you. This is what happens when the press (all do this) serves some other interest than the public. A self-governing people should not tolerate this, or we get Donald Trump. https://t.co/UKfjcAypYE
— Bandy X Lee, MD, MDiv (@BandyXLee1) December 28, 2020
https://t.co/uMufgDNlaO
There's an interplay between "collective narcissism" & "American Exceptionalism" that creates resistance to learning. Learning requires voluntary intellectual subordination: an admission the "teacher" knows more than you. This triggers our narcissistic sense of exceptionalism..1/ https://t.co/DrmW7AXB6l
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) May 15, 2020

\u201cIn one of the only original passages in his Ohio speech, he criticized \u2018woke generals\u2019 and claimed that \u2018our military will be incapable of fighting and incapable of taking orders.\u2019 America\u2019s \u2018military brass have become weak and ineffective leaders.\u2019\u201d https://t.co/IHqNTcgILg
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) June 27, 2021
....to remember that 53 of the 500 people arrested for the Jan. 6th insurrection were former/current military. The Right knows the military has a potential extremist problem, except that rather than attempt to understand and solve the problem,...2/
Wow. Great speech by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Milley:
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) June 24, 2021
"I want to understand white rage....I want to understand what caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the constitution of the United States." 1/
pic.twitter.com/lxVpPO9BHE
...Trump, and the Right Wing Media Echo Chamber are attempting to exacerbate and inflame the problem.
The Echo Chamber knows that FOX is on nearly every TV in and around military bases, so when Ted Cruz talks about the military being emasculated....3/
Holy crap.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 20, 2021
Perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea.... https://t.co/8aVFMW98NM
......and when Matt Gaetz and J.D. Vance talk about the military losing
With Generals like this it\u2019s no wonder we\u2019ve fought considerably more wars than we\u2019ve won. https://t.co/wt43YAs6cU
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) June 23, 2021
...5/....https://t.co/23iwQikwgH
I personally would like American generals to read less about \u201cwhite rage\u201d (whatever that is) and more about \u201cnot losing wars.\u201d
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) June 25, 2021
When disinformation causes otherwise irrational behavior to appear rational.
Let's unpack.....1/
In the video above, @rubinreport uses Johnathon Isaac’s response about being unvaccinated to correctly encourage people to
- avoid summarily demonizing people
- have a measured, good-faith interpretation of other people's potentially good-faith “rational” motivations/actions
2/
I agree. Jonathon Isaac was very impressive in that interview.
We won’t make progress as a society by engaging in the same behavior that helped create the problem. And : 3/
Yes, fighting the temptation to name call (or "own the Cons"), rather than articulate the behavior is important. Calling them "Covidiots" is an indulgent lack of emotional discipline/maturity.
— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) September 4, 2021
It's difficult to solve the problem by engaging in the same problematic behavior. 1/ https://t.co/5FBK2jNI6f
Yet, just 12 seconds into the show, Rubin’s characterization of efforts to contain covid as attempts to “control”/tyrannize not only demonizes medical professionals (“elites”), but it’s also an implicit refusal to acknowledge ANY good faith motivation to protect public health: 4/
“[Covid is] going to be this constant cudgel that they can always use to control us and lock us down and put more rules on us, and all of the *stuff* that you all get since they’re always going to do that….. 5/