Axar.az presents an article “The Morals Of An Alley Cat” by John Samuel Tieman.

I've been in denial. I have to admit it. After the recent “State Of The Union” speech, I simply dismissed anyone who said Pres. Biden was too old for office. Then there was his debate performance. Sorry.

What hasn't changed is this. I'll still vote for Joe Biden. In 2000, Mel Carnahan ran for the U. S. senate seat from Missouri, my state. During the last days of the race, Carnahan was killed in a plane crash. His name still appeared on the ballot, however. So I voted for him. Why? Because his opponent was John Ashcroft. My point is that I'm a guy who voted for a corpse. And the corpse won! So, yeah, I'll vote for Biden.

For all of Pres. Biden's faults, it is worth considering his most notable zinger of the evening. Joe Biden said to Donald Trump. “You have the morals of an alley cat.”

As bad as Pres. Biden's performance was, CNN found that Trump made more than thirty false claims during the debate. Donald Trump's former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, estimated that the former president lied “every 100 seconds”. Biden may be frail. But Trump is the same old Trump.

I've asked this question before. It's time to ask it once more. What is wrong with Donald Trump? He clearly suffers from a disorder of such magnitude that it makes a person dangerous. In this case, that person wants to be the President Of The United States. What is wrong with Trump? My best guess is malignant narcissism.

Malignant narcissism is a theoretical category. There is debate about whether it exists at all. Is it plain old narcissism with some characteristics of other disorders, that ever popular combination of sociopathy and narcissism for example? Is Trump a sociopath, what we used to call a psychopath? Malignant narcissism is not listed in the “Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders”. In 1964, it was first discussed by the social psychologist Erich Fromm, and in 1968 described by Otto Kernberg in the “Journal Of The American Psychoanalytic Association”. It is the subject of papers and panels too numerous to list here. In sum, malignant narcissism may be, as Kernberg thinks, an extreme on the narcissism spectrum. Or it may be a thing unto itself. Call it what you will. In any case, such people exist, and it is often painful, even dangerous, to be around them. The name of the thing is secondary to what folks experience. Thus the expressions of the disorder, listed below. These we experience.

What follows is a list, a compendium of symptoms. I make no claims of originality. In some cases, I have taken one characteristic mentioned by theorists, and listed it as two or three characteristics for the sake of the lay reader. There is no particular order to the list.

Briefly, people with malignant narcissism may exhibit many of the following symptoms:

They lack sympathy;

There is an exaggerated sense of entitlement and self-importance;

There is a vacuum where there should be an inner core;

They have fantasies of power, and a chronic need for power;

They have fantasies of self-control;

They exhibit cruelty and even sadism;

People are seen as objects to be manipulated;

They project their own personal qualities, positive and negative, upon others;

They bully;

They blame others;

They shame others;

Envy is a constant;

They elevate people, then lash out at them;

They are deceitful;

Paranoid traits are common;

An absence of a conscience is common;

They are aggressive;

They display grandiosity;

They have a chronic need to be viewed positively by others;

There is an indifference to social norms;

There is little introspection;

They have insecure social attachments;

They often suffer from low self-esteem;

They may on occasion be charming;

And, lastly, they are often rather successful in their chosen field.

Of these symptoms, the most disturbing are summarized by G. H. Pollock, who said in the “International Journal Of Psychoanalysis”, "The malignant narcissist is presented as pathologically grandiose, lacking in conscience and behavioral regulation with characteristic demonstrations of joyful cruelty and sadism.”

What is wrong with Trump? We can put a check next to every characteristic. So I'm going with malignant narcissist, check. And I'm going with Joe Biden.

Narcissism is a rather permanent state. But the characteristics that make it malignant are, in my opinion, floating traits, traits which on occasion can manifest themselves in sufficient enough quantity so as to make a person dangerous. That same person may also, on another occasion, be a charming dinner companion. Good luck with that.

I have said all this before. Now I say it again. What is under consideration here is a disorder of such magnitude that it makes a person dangerous. In this case, that person wants to be the President Of The United States.

So, yeah, I'll vote for Joe Biden. Or Kamala Harris. Or Gretchen Whitmer. Or Gavin Newsom. Anyone. Let's start with someone who can go for an hour and not lie. Or someone who doesn't have “the morals of an alley cat.”