George W. Bush looked into Putin's eyes and said he believed Putin had a soul; Biden looked into those same snake-like eyes and saw no soul; Trump has been with Putin and has seen those same eyes. Trump recently mistakenly said to a reporter after his recent phone call with Putin that he trusted Putin. I think Putin has a cold, dark, untrustworthy soul that can be understood in terms of what psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts call a Malignant Narcissistic Personality.
There are three key aspects of such an ominous personality.
- The presence of paranoid micro-psychotic episodes that involve narcissistic rage and result in actions to punish external enemies in order to avoid inner psychological pain.
- Major dishonesty (Ruthless Psychopathy and sociopathy) as they manipulate and exploit others for their own profit, sadistic satisfaction, and glory.
- Malignant grandiosity with overt sadistic actions to secure their triumphant authority and dominance.
Basic rational diplomatic negotiations or Trumpian charisma and non-ideological artful deals in my opinion have no effective impact on Putin's cold and dark soul steeped in a powerful malignant narcissistic fusion with his motherland. Putin's Russia is like a large group cult captive to his malignant narcissism and so far has found no one strong enough to depose or assassinate him. Sadly, no recent Gorbachevs have come forth.
Rational diplomacy, especially now that three years of vicious, sadistic, undeserved horror has been unleashed by Putin, it is unlikely to succeed. Trump's tendency to seem harder on Zelenskyy than Putin is understandable with hope for positive negotiations but heavily and appropriately criticized by many Democrats and Republicans.
Trump was correct when he observed recently that there is much bitterness and rage behind the negotiators trying to deal with Putin. Trump hopes that Pope Leo and Rome might be a place to soften the bitterness, rage, and anger that Ukrainians feel. I think Putin scoffs at such conceptions with sadistic pleasure. If a pseudo ceasefire and "peace" is arrived at, Putin's efforts to dominate Ukraine will persist and fester. As will Ukrainian’s longing for revenge and to be free… especially of Putin.
Putin might be impacted by brutally punishing economic sanctions along with moves to limit China, Iran, and North Korea from negating any such sanctions. In the meantime, we had best pass legislation to build our defenses and the Golden Dome. The EU and NATO would be well advised to do the same.
Image: AT via Magic Studio