The profile of a sociopath can be reduced to three categories: conscience, empathy, and honor. The sociopath has none of these things — though he may either emulate them in a way which fools and disarms people, or he may project them on himself with words, or he may project the absence of them onto another in order to destroy someone else with words.
One cannot defeat a sociopath by entering into his game.
The first mistake people make in dealing with a sociopath is in failing to recognize what they are dealing with — which, of course, is part of the sociopath’s game. Some people never recognize it.
One cannot deal with a sociopath like one would deal with a normal person. A normal person still has conscience, empathy, and honor — though he may suppress, subvert, or pervert them. Nevertheless, those categories are still there, so there is something to work with. Not so with the sociopath.
A big target for the sociopath is the person with higher levels of conscience, empathy, and honor. The presence of such a person is a threat to the sociopath. Ted Cruz is a big target.
The sociopath wins by getting your attention and consuming your time by keeping you engaged in his game. That describes the campaign of Donald Trump.
Harvey Bluedorn
Really?? Why did you feel the need to send this? I have followed you for YEARS as I homeschool, but am unsubscribing as of today.
Thank you so much for all the encouragement you have provided for me and my family.
I have to agree with the sentiments of the commenter, Yvette. She said it very well. I do not understand your reasoning in posting this. Are you suggesting to not vote for who (Trump) will, I assume by the results to date, will become the Republican candidate and just turn the election over to Hillary?!
Respectfully,
A long time follower of you
I’m disappointed in these responses. We still support other believers rather than turning our backs on them at the hint of opposing opinions that have no negative impact on the basic tenets of the Christian faith.
I do submit that a much more logical and biblically supported arguments t could have been presented in your opposition to trump.
Wow. I agree with the two previous posters. This post is VERY disappointing. And calling someone a sociopath is a very serious charge. Is this a medical opinion? Or perhaps this is just a personal rant — in which case why have you posted this on your website and not just told your best friend over a cup of coffee. Are you going to offer psychological evaluations for all the candidates, or just one?
Thank you for posting. I am closely and irrevocably associated with someone who looks like a socipoath in certain ways. (In his case, it’s difficult to tell what might in fact be sociopathic and what is attributable to autism). The thing I have observed with him, and that I seem to see in Trump, is a miind-blowing ability to convince nvincing that something they said is true, even if there is incontrovertible evidence to the contrary
I have no doubt Trump is a sociopath. Bravo, Bluedorns for calling a spade a spade. And a very obvious spade at that.
While I’m in agreement with your train of thought in this article, I wish you had not supplied names. This way those of us who can clearly see what is going on can repost this to see if anyone else can see what is going on. I read it to my husband without the sentences mentioning any political name and he wondered out loud if that was about them.
I also am disappointed in some of the comments. If Mr. Bluedorn has helped you gain solid critical thinking skills, then why not employ them in gently outlining where his reasoning is flawed?
For example:
– Was his approach an ad hominem? (IMO it was not: he only pointed to Donald Trump’s *campaign*, which could include other people as well as his methods.)
– Did Mr. Bluedorn say he would not use his vote strategically to prevent Mrs. Clinton from winning? Not that I can tell, at least from this article.
I am not a fan of Mr. Trump, but I am even less a fan of unsubstantiated reactions, either against him or against those who are against him. If you are able to defend your position, please do so. But in all humility, remember that your opponent may well have a few points you have not considered.
As they say in Peanuts, “THAT’S IT!!!”
I have always been made uncomfortable by Trump, but couldn’t put my finger on why — I have always said that IF he’d do all he’s saying, he’d be GREAT — I just have no confidence he’ll do it. THIS makes perfect sense!
However, that leaves Bernie & Hil. She’s in Trump’s boat. Bernie’s not — but he IS an incipient Communist.
What a lousy set of choices.
However, think of THIS: the downballot conservatives need our support more than EVER. Out currently conflicted Congress has been helpless before Obama’s overreach, but a truly conservative Congress could put the brakes on and make waiting for 2020 (if the Lord tarries) not so hard.
I totally agree with this article, and I don’t understand all my fellow Christians who are duped by Donald Trump. He has stated that he is a Christian, but his life shows differently. I was deeply disappointed when Ted Cruz dropped out of the race.