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PRESENT DAY 76: Donald Trump’s Seven Deadly “Virtues”
In Trump MAGA world good is bad, bad is good. Right is wrong, wrong is right. Patriotism is treason, treason patriotism. The truth is the lie and the lie is the truth. So it should come as no surprise that for Trump a virtue is a vice and vice versa. Which brings me to the old idea of the seven deadly sins. The origin of the seven deadly sins goes back beyond the early days of Christianity to the Greeks and Romans. But since Christianity was founded on the idea of original sin, the sins have stuck around over the past 2,000 years to be enjoyed by all of those devout practitioners who in all three western monotheistic religions believe themselves to be irrevocably morally corrupted (by that woman in that garden) and thus in need of salvation. The seven infamous sins are, in no particular order, greed, lust, pride, envy, wrath, gluttony and sloth. But in Trump world, of course, these aren’t sins. They’re virtues and you don’t have to look too hard at Trump to see that he practices each and every one of them fervently. Let’s start with greed.
SIN / VIRTUE 1: Trump Greed: Trump Tower
For sin / virtue #1 I could mention the fact that The Donald refused to recuse himself from his business empire when he took office, as ethics, honesty and morality dictated and as he swore he would do and had done. Trump saw a term in the Oval Office primarily as an opportunity to get rich. One of the schemes involved forcing foreign leaders and dignitaries to spend millions in Trump hotels and properties in order to “gain access” to the American president. It will be a long time before we have a final tally of the amount of money Trump scammed / stole / siphoned off as president but as for sin / virtue #1 let’s look no further than his golden apartment in Trump Tower NYC to illustrate his fervent practice of the deadly sin / virtue of greed. The greed was there long before the run for the presidency. It maybe he his reason for being.
SIN / VIRTUE 2: Trump Lust: Stormy Daniels
For sin / virtue #2 I could mention the dozens of women who have accused Trump of groping or otherwise sexually assaulting him. I could mention the affairs he had while married to all three wives. I could mention the three wives. I could mention the hundreds of millions of dollars he’s been fined for his sexual assault (adjudicated rape) of E. Jean Carroll. I could mention his bragging on the Access Hollywood tape of sexually assaulting anyone he likes because of his celebrity status. But let’s just stick with the most famous case. Stormy Daniels should suffice to demonstrate Trump’s fervent practice of the vice of lust.
SIN / VIRTUE 3: Trump Pride: Jimmy Kimmel Compilation Video
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
For sin / virtue #3 we need merely turn to some of the grandiose statements Trump has made about himself over the years. I could mention the “big brain” he bragged about having. He’s famous for bragging about crowd, audience and hand sizes. No doubt he has bragged about being the most humble person ever born to woman on Earth. However, we’ll leave it to Jimmy Kimmel to illustrate The Donald’s fervent practice of this third deadly sin but, of course, keep in mind that in Trump world this isn't a sin. It’s a virtue.
SIN / VIRTUE 4: Trump Envy: Vladimir Putin
Sin / Virtue #4 is on display daily with Trump. Since he considers himself to be the richest person alive, he won’t admit to envying those who are actual billionaires (though he certainly does) but he lets it be known frequently that what he would really love to have is the power that corrupt strongmen like Putin and Kim have. Trump never loses an opportunity to praise Putin as he did in this instance (as reported by CNN):
“The smartest one gets to the top,” Trump told the crowd. “That didn’t work so well recently in our country. But they ask me, ‘Is Putin smart?’ Yes, Putin was smart. And I actually thought he was going to be negotiating. I said, ‘That’s a hell of a way to negotiate, put 200,000 soldiers on the border.’”
It’s the military power and parades that Trump truly envies and that makes his devotion to this sin / virtue probably the most dangerous of the seven in The Donald’s case.
SIN / VIRTUE 5: Trump Wrath: The Mad Donald / Cassidy Hutchinson
Anyone who has spent time in Trump’s presence has experienced his temper tantrums and many have reported on them. Given Trump’s adolescent mindset and personality, a temper tantrum is as close to wrath as Trump can get but given the power that Republicans have put into Trump’s hands, his tantrums are enough to strike fear into his MAGA disciples. One of the most reliable reports of the Trump tantrum came from Cassidy Hutchinson, who witnessed them first hand and recounted in her book Enough Trump’s throwing plates of food against the wall when things weren’t going his way. It’s easy to imagine other tyrannical personalities doing the same from Genghis Khan to Hitler to Idi Amin to Vladimir Putin to Kim Jong Un to the schoolyard bully or any other unchecked toxic narcissist.
Hutchinson’s book, by the way, is highly recommended both for her insights into the toxic Trump personality as well as for an example of how honesty and compassion, given a chance and with enough courage, can override cult brainwashing.
SIN / VIRTUE 6: Trump Gluttony: The Fat Donald
SIN / VIRTUE 6: Trump Gluttony: Trump Food
For sin / virtue #6 there are many reports of Trump’s love for fast food and for food of all kinds, for that matter. Though he supposedly forgoes alcohol, there’s no telling what prescription dugs he might be abusing. Some say …. Mostly famously he presented the Clemson Tigers with a banquet of fast food and I don’t know if that’s pride he’s exhibiting in showing it off but it certainly is possible to commit more than one sin / virtue at the same time. Having been unfortunate enough to have lived in the New York City area during the 80s and 90s, I remember seeing The Donald frequently in the tabloid gossip columns and I specifically remember him talking about how he didn’t allow anyone fat to work for him. You had to be fit and good looking, at least a nine and a half, no doubt, to work for The Donald. This was back in his pre-fat days. I guess you don’t hear so much about that now that he’s fat himself, which was inevitable given his delight in sin / virtue #6.
SIN / VIRTUE 7: Trump Sloth: Lazy Boy
The Donald loves to brag about being the hardest working man in show business but given that the truth is the lie and vice versa with him, what that means is that he’s the most slothful man every to occupy the White House. He spent more time out of the office (mostly on the golf course) than any previous president by far and given the amount of time in the office spent counting the money he was illegally and unconstitutionally collecting and coming up with schemes for how to subvert the 2020 election, there was little time for actual work anyway. This was so frequently observed and reported that the Trump sloth was actually pointed out on the cover of Newsweek, mainstream media, to be sure, but accurate nevertheless.
Lest you think that it’s just the seven dead sins that Trump considers to be virtues, there is also that other famous list of “don’t’s” to consider, namely the Ten Commandments. In Trump / MAGA world the commandments, too, are turned upside down. A “don’t” is a “do” for The Donald but we’ll leave that discussion for another day.