Posted on 02/18/2016 10:23:44 AM PST by Bill Russell
Since candidates first started throwing their hats in the ring for the Republican Presidential nomination, I have been cheering for Ted Cruz as my first choice. There were also a number of candidates whom I would gladly support against the Democratic challengers. I really liked the way Donald Trump was electrifying the electorate and he was near the top of my list.
But that has changed. Trump is now at the bottom of my list.
As I have watched Donald Trump's attacks on Ted Cruz in recent weeks, and especially those in the last few days leading up to the South Carolina Primary, he has reminded me of the actions taken by the sociopath who stalked me and my family during and after my congressional campaigns in Pennsylvania in 2008 and 2010. What I now see occurring on the national level is a magnified reflection of what I experienced in my dealings with a petty grifter in a rural congressional district.
The last few weeks have seen a variety of vicious personal attacks with Trump calling Cruz a liar, accusing him of committing fraud in the Iowa Caucuses, stating that he is an "unstable" person, and threatening him with lawsuits over his eligibility. Trump's angry delivery of his denunciations of Cruz, his constant portrayal of himself as savoir of the republic and victim of Cruz's "lying" campaign ads (the ones using Trumps own statements and records against him), and his constant use of threats to attempt to intimidate Cruz, is reminiscent of my stalker's sociopathic behavior.
During the course of my dealings with my stalker, Larry (his real name), I had to do some quick research on sociopaths and their characteristics. Anyone can find a multitude of mental health websites that will explain that sociopaths are experts at appealing to our sympathies and convincing us that they really well meaning. They can be highly seductive and even have a special charisma. They usually blame others for their situations to maintain their charade of innocence and victimhood. They have defective consciences with an inability to feel empathy and lack remorse for wrongdoing. They are often inappropriate and give excessive attention to the objects of their sexual attraction. While usually smart, they often overestimate their own intelligence, are often unethical and immoral, but manage to avoid major run-ins with the law. They exhibit deceitfulness by lying and conning others with enough truth mixed in to make their stories plausible. But their downfall is their impulsiveness, irritability and aggressiveness - especially when their "mask of kindness" comes off. Unfortunately, they often wind up in positions of authority, because they crave power over others.
I first met Larry in late October of 2007 when he volunteered to join my campaign against the infamous King of Pork, John Murtha. He touted himself as combat Marine who was ticked off at Murtha's betrayal of the Haditha Marines and undermining of the troops in Iraq. He said he had decades of campaign experience and was the ideal person to be my campaign manager. I decided to give him a try on a volunteer basis. By late November it was clear that he was the wrong person to lead the campaign as his lack of organizational skills and attempts to intimidate people I wanted to win over were the absolute wrong fit for my campaign. We parted ways permanently on January 3, 2008 after Larry grew unhinged and threatening.
Immediately following our parting, Larry undertook a campaign of harassment which lasted beyond the course of my political runs against Mr Murtha and ended in late 2010. On a personal level, I received a constant barrage of threatening emails and harassing letters and phone calls threatening lawsuits, smears, and collections actions by Coastal Asset Recovery (Larry's collection agency). On the public level, Larry threatened to run against me in the 2008 primary, issued a false statement through a fake public relations firm stating that I had fired him for being a "disabled Vietnam Veteran with Agent Orange diabetes." He entered every possible online forum under false names to accuse me of slander/theft/lying and say he was suing me in federal court. He took the smallest of issues and extrapolated them into accusations of theft, fraud, and discrimination by me. He even went to work in a paid status for John Murtha, and created multiple websites to attack me including one fake website using my name to do personal attacks on the family of my primary opponent in 2010.
Fortunately for me, Larry did not have Mr Trumps billions of dollars, nor his bully pulpit with which to conduct his harassment of me. We were able to largely mitigate his attacks by ignoring him. But the parallels in Larry's and Mr Trump's behaviors are astounding. When I listen to Mr Trump's vicious and unfounded accusations against Ted Cruz, I am reminded of Larry's attempts to intimidate and threaten me on the night we parted company. As I listen to Trump's repeated threats of lawsuits, and his renewed threats to run as third party candidate, I cannot help but compare his behavior to Larry's continuous letters and emails threatening to sue me.
Mr Trump's repeated accusations over the Iowa Caucuses remind me of the false accusations Larry made against me and which were repeated by the Murtha Campaign. On the night of the Iowa Caucuses, CNN broadcast a story stating that Ben Carson was leaving Iowa just after the caucuses and not going immediately to New Hampshire as almost all of the other candidates were. CNN speculated that it could mean that Carson was leaving the race. The story became catnip thrown into the rough and tumble process of herding cats and votes in the open forums that are the Iowa Caucuses. All of the campaigns had access to the story and there were multiple reports that the story was used to persuade Carson voters to switch to other candidates, including Cruz. Mr Trump continues to tout the incident as if it was a massive and underhanded conspiracy on the part of Mr Cruz to steal votes from Ben Carson. Mr Trump's accusations appear to be no truer than when Larry took an unspecified expenditure line for $187,000 from one of my campaign's FEC reports to falsely accuse me of stealing that money from my campaign. Like Larry, Mr Trump appears to believe if he repeats a lie often enough, people will believe it.
Just this week, we have watched the story of a false Facebook page claiming to be Congressman Trey Gowdy denouncing Senator Marco Rubio and endorsing Ted Cruz. I cannot help but think of Larry's use of the false website using my name to conduct a dirty personal attack. The Rubio camp immediately responded by denouncing the post as a dirty trick from the Cruz campaign. The final truth on who was behind it may never be known, but I cannot help but think that it came from Trump or one of his supporters to try to bolster the Trump and Rubio mantras accusing Ted Cruz of lying.
Just like Larry, Mr Trump continues to pose as the victim of lies and mistreatment and threatens lawsuits for defamation or to challenge Cruz's Natural Born Citizenship. If Mr Trump does sue Ted Cruz, he will discover the truth is an absolute defense in a court of law, and the truth is on Cruz’s side. He will lose a defamation lawsuit because he actually said the words that Cruz is using against him in interviews and he supported and donated to the Democratic candidates he now says he is against. He will lose a challenge to Cruz's Natural Born Citizenship, because Cruz is a Natural Born Citizen in accordance with the Constitution and legal precedent. (If Trump really believed Ted Cruz to be ineligible, he would have already challenged him in court.)
If Mr Trump continues in his bombastic folly, he will face a very bright spotlight of public scrutiny which he has managed to avoid to this point. Ted Cruz's legal and Supreme Court credentials are far beyond any legal skill I could bring to the arena. But when Larry finally did get around to suing me through his collection agency in small claims court, he lost. Over the course of my dealings with him, I managed to find out enough about Larry to publicly expose his lies in the press, reveal his history of criminal investigations, bankruptcies, warrants, and lawsuits as well as his desertion from the Marine Corps. Three weeks after my fraud complaint to the District Attorney against Larry for his lawsuit, his collection agency was out of business.
In given circumstances, anyone is capable of cruelty, lying and extreme selfishness. But the sociopath makes a lifestyle of these traits. The best method of dealing with sociopaths is to recognize them early and avoid them. If you are already entangled with them, do whatever you can to protect yourself from further harm. I can only urge Republican voters to go with anyone but Trump. For even if Ted Cruz does not highlight the episodes of Mr Trump's life where he exhibited these traits on a grand scale, it is a sure bet the Democrats will if he is the nominee.
The DNC and media have plenty of Trump brand catnip to throw into that cat fight.
Projecting your personal trauma onto the wrong person. Get help.
But I didn't read it...what did he say?
Thank you. It is obvious the MSM is holding its powder to enable him to win the nomination before unloading on him. He lost me when he mocked the disabled and lied about it but by then I was already tired of his bashing. Still haven’t heard him bash a dem other than sex scandal about Hill and Bill.
Ref: “... the last debate scene by Trump sounds just like what is described in this article. Then there are all the people he has alienated....”
Actually, it was his last debate and his recent interviews which moved me in this direction.....Thanks!
You are incorrect. While Larry was a pain in my rear end, I was certainly never traumatized by him. If anything, he was afraid of me, as there is certain confidence one gains in in earning a black belt, a Ranger tab, and expert qualifications with assorted weapons in order spend time in dangerous parts of the world. Larry knew about my background and what it would have cost him if he ever presented a physical threat to me or my family.
That said, his bluster was very much in line with the conduct displayed by Mr Trump as he threatened me with lawsuits and smears. My article details the parallel behaviors I observed in the two men.
Thanks libbylu. I have been slow to write him off as I really did like what he was doing for the national debate. But behavior is a real indicator of character and he has definitely reached that point for me.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Mine, while a royal pain in the rear, was nowhere near as traumatic as yours. I had the advantage as far as how any physical threats would have gone with my stalker. But the total self-centeredness and loss of self control in response to losing or a perceived slight is significant.
” but Trump using the bully pulpit”
I can agree with you on part of your statement, Trump is a bully!
Thanks, caww. ....I missed your comment earlier.
It’s the first time I have had one of my articles pulled from the News/Activism thread. Sorry if I can’t help but feel it was due to the content. ... Oh, well. Life goes on.
I thought we over came the blog pimp issue as long as the entire article was published. At least that is the way it has worked out in the four- five years I have been publishing here.
“As far as I’m concerned, the last debate scene by Trump sounds just like what is described in this article. “
The incessant interruptions were over the top and so rude. He can’t even follow the rules of the debate, because that would give control to someone else. The guy needs a shock collar. If someone played a drinking game and had to drink a shot every time Trump interrupted, they would go through 1.5 liters of booze.
I’m on my second day of going back through gg188’s posts (as was suggested by him/her) to find referenced threads against Cruz. so far only blogs. But I will continue (I’m a Marine mom).
However, I did click on your thread and I, having been married to one, know that DT is a con man and sociopath. Classic. He’s also adhd and the lack of sleep is truly detrimental to brain function, hence the lack of detail in his speeches.
He’s going to get chewed up and spit out by the hildabeast. America loses if DT or she are elected.
Thanks for the response on this “old” thread. I am constantly amazed at how many sociopaths I did not recognize before I became sensitized to the symptoms/ signs I learned in dealing with my stalker. Like most people who try to live honestly, I tended to attribute honesty (and still do) to most of the people I deal with. This is a key area that sociopaths exploit. Then you look back and recognize how many lies they actually told you....
no one has vetted DT’s dad. There are major issues that are deep and being manifested. Why hasn’t that been investigated? the freeper that I am building Cruz’s defense against has brought up his father’s religion so all is fair in love and war. :)
I’m looking for info on DT’s dad...
“Trump suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for six years. He became sick with pneumonia in June 1999[2] and was admitted to Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park where he died a few weeks later.[18]”
It’s hereditary from stress (my theory—correlated with Rheumatoid Arthritis—it runs in my family, my dad’s mom and his sister—I have RA)...could explain additional lapses of “I don’t know”.
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