Rocket Man: Nuclear Madness and the Mind of Donald Trump

This outstanding collection of essays puts a laser-like focus on the alarming character traits and malignant personality disorders of the current White House occupant. The blue-ribbon panel of expert contributors speak with a common voice, but with many threads that detail the alarming implications of these traits - for our nation and for the world at large.The focus of many chapters, and properly so, is the threat of nuclear holocaust from a malignant narcissist with unfettered access to the nuclear codes. But the potentials for destruction in other policy venues, and their everyday reality, are played out as a daily horror show - with families separated at the border, travel bans imposed for religious groups, cuts to budget items that provide lifelines to many millions of Americans, and trade wars started on specious grounds, threatening both the domestic and global economy. All of these actions serve the narcissistic needs of their promulgator, and are delivered with an unending stream of lies, misrepresentations and outright fabrications.As a neuroscientist, I have insights on the brain circuitry and abnormal brain functions that underlie these pathological behavior patterns. That said, there is much here that is familiar to the average American, or at least to those who have paid attention to relevant media reporting. But the sheer force of accumulated facts, and expert warnings, is not just chilling to consider. It is a five-alarm fire that threatens us all - in every walk of life, and across multiple spheres of policy and prospective outcomes.A few sample quotes and chapter titles will provide specific context for the messages from the experts.“A leader who is so grossly ill that he represents a mortal threat to life, liberty, and the American way of life” (Gartner, “Introduction: Everyone on Planet Earth is Trump’s Hostage”).“By having no moral compass, no consistency of values, an inability to defer immediate gratification, or to regulate his emotions and reflect on them, he is always at the mercy of his aggressive impulses and his appetites” (Segal, Chapter 1).Chapter 3 (Buser) expertly details the assertion that Trump would not be certified (as an Airman) psychologically fit to handle nuclear weapons. Chapter 4 (Reiss) documents that as a Policeman, he would have his gun taken away; and Chapter 5 (Enyart) shows that if entering the military, he would not receive a security clearance. These discussions highlight the absurdity of the current situation as a clear and present danger, one that could lead to catastrophic outcomes at any time.(Chapter 8, West): “Facing the Truth: Trump wields the power of a predatory narcissist and may destroy us all”.“Perhaps the most difficult feat…is facing, fully and honestly, just how deeply destructive and dangerous he is at his core…our survival as a species may depend on facing this reality head on”.(Chapter 10, Painter and Watt): “The gospel of war presidency”“With the president’s pronounced instability and bellicose rhetoric on a sharp incline, his appointment of John Bolton as his national security adviser is tantamount to adding a boatload of gasoline to an already raging fire”.Chapter 10 also highlights other key White House advisers who amplify his worst tendencies, and/or recommend policies that play directly to cruelty implicit in his pathologies. As one key example, Trump's zero-tolerance BORDER POLICY hails from Rev. Ralph Drollinger, and his extremist sway over 8 cabinet members who attend his weekly prayer meetings. Drollinger teaches that "separation from their children" is the biblical consequence for parents crossing the U.S. border. Similar accounts of White House and Cabinet enablers are chillingly presented in other chapters.The bottom line that emerges from this stunning collection of expert accounts: we are in a position of extreme and ever-present danger in this country, and the danger threatens everyone in the world. The guardrails of our democracy have failed us to this point - we have gone off the rails and into a very deep ditch. This book is a clear warning that we must take steps to regain control of our political system, before it is too late.

"Rocket Man: Nuclear Madness and the Mind of Donald Trump" arrives at a moment in history that is filled with anxiety and doubt about the stability of the American government, and the future of peaceful co-existence. Our president has rattled the public in America and abroad, and professionals in many fields; a recent poll has 66% of Americans believing that President Trump is mentally unfit for the office he holds.Following the best-selling "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 psychiatrists and mental health experts assess a president" (Bandy X Lee, ed.), this newly-published compact paperback contains 25 essays by psychologists and doctors, distinguished professors of history, government, foreign relations and global policy, and specialists in the behavioral sciences, human rights, non-proliferation and democratic erosion, among other disciplines. Together they paint a picture of a president sorely lacking in the knowledge, skills, and especially temperament required to lead his country at a time of increasing global tensions.Beginning with recitations of the apparent symptoms of mental illness and instability observed both by the lay public and by professionals, and discussions of what these may indicate as to the readiness of the president to deal with a possible national or international emergency, the book deals at length, from various perspectives, with the president's health on the one hand, and the world situation as it is unfolding now, on the other.One of the subjects raised is the nature of the people President Trump has surrounded himself with. At a time when calm hands and sober counsel is more important than ever as advisors to the president, war hawks have replaced his earlier Secretaries of State and Defense. Moreover, some of those people are in turn being influenced by "outside counsel" in the form of a pro-war preacher of Dominionism, a radical ideology that holds that fundamentalist Christians should seize earthly power and use it forcibly to fulfill biblical prophesy.Rev Ralph Drollinger has said that the government's "God-given responsibility" and "primary calling is to moralize a fallen world through the use of force." "I think the best president is the one who is going to use government as an adjudicator of wrongdoing. And I always thought that Trump would be the best at that." This man meets weekly in the West Wing of the White House with the top members of the administration and eight or more Cabinet members, including the vice president, the attorney general, and the secretary of state. Drollinger is in frequent touch with the president, describing Trump as his "pen pal." Do we really need someone goading the president and the chiefs toward unprovoked armed conflict, when those leaders have already indicated their willingness (if not eagerness) to wage war ?

ROCKET MAN is one of those books that warns us of the peril and must be read and discussed. We would not think twice if Donald Trump suffered a heart attack. He would be hospitalized and his tasks would be given to someone capable ofrunning the government. In the case of a rich and well dressed man walking around with a mental status that is truly dangerous we are hoping for the best, knowing this will not turn out well. We have psychiatrist and lawyers all over the country sounding the alarm. You hear "May Day" from Sully Sulllenberger and from clinicians from the most prestigious academic institutions. The Duty to Warn arises out of the Goldwater Rule that prohibits professionals from makingpsychiatric diagnoses without meeting the client personally. With the creation of the DMS-5 we now have objective criteria to make assessments. The problem with assessing Donald Trump is that he has been on television for a long time and his viewers have come to accept him. He rarely laughs or smiles. He doesn't exhibit any of the signs of normal mental functioning and looking at clips from his past one can easily the marked deterioration of his mental status. There is also the Stockholm Effect. We have people who have been downtrodden by our government for so long that they will believe a good con artist. Would you want to leave your children alone with Trump? Would you trust him to be with your wife? You have to read this book and give it as a holiday gift to at least 10 people. Your attitude will change and you will join us in warning the rest of the world.

I liked that each chapter was authored by a different subject matter expert. In the end they all came to the same conclusion by viewing from individual experiences and perceptions.

Really heart stopping, America! A must read!