Trump’s “Motiveless Malignancy”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge coined the phrase "motiveless malignity" (around 1818-1819) while preparing for a Shakespeare lecture concerning Iago's soliloquies in Othello. Coleridge believed that Iago's malicious treatment of Othello was not driven by any specific, justifiable motive, but rather by a fundamental, inexplicable evil.
The typical villain from a James Bond movie rings that bell. In Goldfinger, for example, Auric Goldfinger engages in all sorts of perfidy -- murder, thievery, terrorism, a quest for global power, gilding a dead woman. And why? Did he grow up poor and neglected? Did he have his lunch money stolen by bullies? Did they mock his flimsy hair, or his pale skin?
No. He did all his dirty deeds because he loved gold and power. His adoring Korean man servant, Oddjob, similarly lacked motive. When Goldfinger told Oddjob to decapitate an enemy, that’s exactly what he did -- frisbee like, with his razor-edged bowler hat.
Cue Trump. I find it fascinating and infuriating that journalists continue to pose questions to this pathological liar, this certifiable narcissist, this convicted felon, and yet somehow expect a thoughtful, honest, or even sane answer. Why say “Why” to a person with a serious personality disorder when you know his answer will either be a lie, an evasion, or some bogus justification of an unconstitutional act?
For example, “Mr. President, why are you sending people to prisons in El Salvador without due process? Why are you raising tariffs willy nilly and destroying our nation’s, and the globe’s, economic stability? Why are you dismantling our governmental infrastructure and firing thousands of productive workers? Why are you threatening Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security – entitlements to millions of needy people – while promising tax cuts to billionaires? Why do you pander to a murderous dictator while threatening and betraying our friends?”
Trump obviously gives little thought to the implications and eventual repercussions of these decisions. He doesn’t care. He does not care. His Project 2025 team did the fascist workshopping. Trump just signs the stuff Stephen Miller writes, while he is getting his hair confected and his face sprayed. If our democracy collapses, he believes he will inherit more power. He doesn’t care how many lives he ruins.
If he cared about lives, he would not have “deliberately downplayed” his response to COVID, as he told Bob Woodward, thereby making him personally responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans.
[Memory Lane: On March 4, 2020, the U.S. had 217 COVID cases. By March 24, less than three weeks later, the U.S. had 24,800 cases, and we were off and running. Yet on this very day, Trump declared at a FOX town hall, that churches would be packed by Easter Sunday — 19 days later! He also discouraged people from wearing masks or getting vaccinated. It was a bad “optic,” and he was, after all, running for President. Not surprisingly, MAGA people who listened to him died at a much higher rate than Democrats – 43% more Republicans died than Democrats.[i] He allowed thousands of his own supporters to die.]
He didn’t care then. He doesn’t care now.
Some matters, however, truly engage him -- the scariness of sharks, the bird-killing power of windmills, the wonder of the word “groceries,” his odd bromance with “the late great Hannibal Lecter,” his treasonous bromance with Vlady Putin, his frustration with toilets and showers whose low pressure disappoints him, his penchant for concocting schoolyard nicknames, his “golf championships,” and his love of dance – especially, his arm-pumping-whale-waddling polka.
At the very least, legitimate journalists should no longer attend Trump’s press conferences. Nor should they attend daily White House press briefings. Let Lyin’ Barbie and the MAGA press corps chat amongst themselves. Additionally, reporters should not question and televise him informally, say, at airport stops. It just gives him oxygen. Ignore him. Shun him.
Unlike Biden, who was a decent man dealing with dementia, Trump is pure evil. He is malignant, and it is a “motiveless malignancy.”
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Dedicated to my friend, Pat Keane. He knows Coleridge.
[i] “Republicans’ excess death rate spiked after COVIV-19 vaccines arrived, a study says.” npr.org [July 25, 2023]. And: “Political party affiliation linked to excess COVID deaths.” cidrap.umn.edu [July 24, 2023].
Yes ,, "Cue!" Thanks Freddie, I'll make the change.
Bill: thespians would say "Cue Trump."
Save the tail for a sentence like, "Trump, four queue."