01 Aug Is Donald Trump a Victim of Gaslighting? UPDATED
UPDATE – With news of leaks of conversations occurring on Air Force One, and leaks of Jared Kushner speaking with interns…we think the case for all of this being deliberate ‘gaslighting’ (read the original post below, from three months ago) grows stronger every day.
Surely if we can suspect this, someone in the Trump inner circle can, too. The question is whether there is anyone strong enough, ethical enough, and loyal enough to America (never mind Trump) to out the intelligence agencies that are doing this. Maybe that’s the reason for the fire lit under Jeff Sessions….
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We’ve already raised the possibility that President Trump is being surveilled around the clock by ‘deep state’ intelligence agencies, and transcripts of every conversation he has are being scrutinized. Those with the highest negative spin potential are then being leaked to the media by ‘anonymous sources’ at these agencies.
It’s a perfect gaslighting strategy.
For those coming up the curve, gaslighting—according to Wikipedia–refers to a form of mental abuse by which false information is presented to a victim with the intent of making the victim doubt his or her own memory, perception or sanity.
As Wikipedia further explains:
“the term originates in the systematic psychological manipulation of a victim by the main character in the 1938 stage play Gas Light, known as Angel Street in the United States, and the film adaptations released in 1940 and 1944. In the story, a husband attempts to convince his wife and others that she is insane by manipulating small elements of their environment and insisting that she is mistaken, remembering things incorrectly, or delusional when she points out these changes. The original title stems from the dimming of the gas lights in the house that happened when the husband was using the gas lights in the attic while searching for hidden treasure. The wife accurately notices the dimming lights and discusses the phenomenon, but the husband insists that she just imagined a change in the level of illumination.”
So back to Donald Trump.
One meme of the month is that Trump is being ‘leaked’ to death by his own staff; that this shows his poor judgment in picking his staff, and even when he acts to replace staff—such as national security advisor Mike Flynn—the leaks of national security-related information continues (to wit: “Trump disclosed classified information to the Russians!”)
So long as Trump accepts the premise—that the leaks are coming from his staff—he will start doubting the loyalty of those closest to him. When leaks continue after adjustments to the staff, he will start doubting whether he has anyone he can trust. And then his judgement will come further unraveled, as he will suspect those who may not deserve suspicion, and trust some who deserve trust but end up appearing to be leakers only because they are being continuously surveilled. And all the while there may have been no material leaking by any staff; the perpetrators are intelligence eavesdroppers.
It’s gaslighting executed to perfection.
Most Americans would be staggered at the possibility that our intelligence agencies could be staffed by people who would abuse their power in this way.
Sorry for the cynicism, but we’re not staggered by the possibility. And given the pace and precision and constancy of the leaks, we’re pretty well on the way to believing that this is exactly what is happening.
If it is happening, it is in fact a staggering abuse of power, and it is a mortal threat to the stability and continuity of the United States of America. Which is another reason we suspect it is happening: because that is exactly the objective of radical leftist George Soros, his minion Barack Obama, and the legions of Obama holdovers who still populate key positions in the intelligence agencies.
We’ve never been big fans of Donald Trump, except as an infinitely better alternative to Hillary Clinton. But what is happening to him by the apparent operation of the Deep State is unconscionable and is itself treasonous.
We hope the perpetrators will be outed soon; they deserve the fate of traitors.
Paul Gable