Yes, I said they were terrorists, although it took American officials several days to come to the conclusion that two Muslims with roots in the Middle East, wearing tactical clothing and killing innocent people with assault rifles, were, in fact, terrorists.
Even after the FBI stated it was treating the bloodbath as an “act of terrorism,” U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch “urged the public not to jump to conclusions about the motive for the attack or the couple’s ties to ISIS,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
So Loretta, were Tashfeen and Syed just a young married couple having a bad day?
What the neighbors saw
And then there are the neighbors who saw suspicious activity but didn’t report it because they didn’t want to be accused of “racial profiling.”
One woman saw a lot of packages arriving at the couple’s townhouse, and noticed they were working in their garage late at night. She didn’t call authorities.
A man saw a half-dozen Middle Eastern men in the neighborhood before the shooting, and wondered what they were doing there. He also said nothing.
Why is there hesitation about naming this senseless killing as “terrorism”? Why were people more concerned about being called a “racist” than protecting community security?
Some have labeled it an overabundance of political correctness. I actually think the issue is bigger than that.
Evil exists
I think we don’t want to admit to ourselves that evil exists.
Government, churches, schools and advertising agencies always tell us that “we’re all created equal” and “everyone deserves a chance.” This is absolutely true for about 88% of the population.
But nobody tells us that there are exceptions. Nobody tells us about the 12% of people who are sociopaths. They live in our communities and look just like us, but have totally different life agendas.
These exceptions are not motivated by love or a desire to “live and let live.” They are motivated by power and control.
Were Tashfeen Malik and Syed Rizwan Farook sociopaths? I don’t know. But if they themselves weren’t sociopaths, they were certainly influenced by sociopaths.
ISIS is a cult, its leaders are cult leaders, and cult leaders are sociopaths on steroids.
So how do we tell the difference between someone who truly wants the same things we do, but is simply from a different culture, and someone who looks like us but has evil intentions? Our instincts have the answers.
Our instincts are our built-in early-warning systems. Our instincts are designed to notice something out of the ordinary and alert us to danger. The best thing we can do is learn to trust them.
The instincts of Syed Rizwan Farook’s neighbors were working. Unfortunately, because we are not taught to listen to our instincts, the neighbors ignored what their guts were telling them. I’m sure they now regret not contacting the authorities.
If your instincts ever trigger an alarm about someone whether it’s a possibly sociopathic romantic partner or terroristic neighbor pay attention. Even more importantly, act on your internal warning.
Your instincts are the best tool you have for staying safe and protecting others.
Donna, thank you for calling this out. It’s easy to suppress one’s gut instinct in a culture where political correctness has run amok.
I think part of the reason we don’t listen to our instincts, gut feelings, etc..is because they are not always right. In situations like this case, it is such an anomaly that a person would encounter someone, first hand, who would even think about doing something like this or 9-11 or any horrific act of terrorism, murder, murder of any kind, let alone DO it, that it would be natural to doubt a suspicion.
Even though we know these things are real and really do and have happened, it’s not REAL for us until it happens to us and we have first hand experience.
Realativly speaking, in this country, this is a VERY rare occurrence. Depending on where you live, things would seem out of the ordinary, or not, or only slightly. Seeing what these witnesses saw would cause SERRIOUS concern where I live but not as much where I used to live.
The Oklahoma City bombing was perpetrated by ordinary looking white Americans usin very easy to obtain materials. It human nature to want to see the good and we all interpret life through our own experience colored lenses.
Ask yourself how many times your gut feelings have been wrong. Even wild animals can not fully rely on their instincts to protect them. Do you think a deer walks into an open field, in the rifle sights of a hunter, because it’s instincts told it something was wrong but it said….. Nah, I’m sure it’s fine.
I don’t think there is anything you can do to prevent a determined predator like this from doing what it wants to do.
I would also like to encourage people to read the book “Dangerous Instincts”.
These are good points. Mary Ellen O’Toole’s book Dangerous Instincts is an excellent read, especially for those of us who sadly have first hand experience dealing with a sociopath.
We try to balance being aware and protecting ourselves and not going overboard by being too complacent nor too paranoid.
During a string of thefts in our neighborhood, including my home, the police told us to call them if we saw anything at all that looked out of place. The police told us not to be afraid of racial profiling, etc, but to let the police decide whether someone walking through the neighborhood for example could be a threat or not. They said that it hinders their ability to apprehend criminals because people are reluctant to call when something doesn’t look right.
In my experience, and that of many of us victims of sociopaths in interpersonal relationships, society in general does not believe that anyone can be this cruel and conscience free, and that there are always two sides to every story, etc. I believed that whole heartedly until I was in my late 40’s and my spath experience opened my eyes.
There ARE always two (or more) sides to every story, but the sociopath/psychopath is particularly adept at using that little bit of conventional wisdom as cover while they continue plundering someone’s life. I wish people understood that it CAN be all about one person victimizing another, that in some cases both parties are NOT to blame.
My ex was a saleswoman – charming, funny and cute – and told so many lies about me that people were reluctant to get involved, or they didn’t know me and decided to believe her. So I had to deal with things mostly alone, and suffer personal and business relationship repercussions that continue to this day, three years after she deserted me when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (and dealing with my parents’ estate).
Here I was, paralyzed on one side, hospitalized for two weeks and taking massive doses of steroids through an IV… but telling no one, because I knew people would ask where she was and I wouldn’t be able to keep my heartbreak inside. Worse: I assumed she’d had a momentary lapse of good character and didn’t want HER reputation to be damaged by people knowing she had deserted me as soon as I got sick. At that time I didn’t know about the financial fraud, the lies, the backstabbing. I’d supported her throughout our 13-year relationship, while she finished her degree and jumped into real estate just as the market crashed. When I needed help – when it looked like I might not be able to earn a good living for us – she bailed. She filed for divorce while I was still partially paralyzed, forcing me to drag my mouse hand around with my left hand to fill out the paperwork on time, and to spend money I didn’t have. I’m still paying off the credit cards.
It was awful, but I survived. Still not thriving – which may have more to do with the MS than her campaign to turn people against me – but I’m on my way. And most important to me: I never stooped to her level. Never once used underhanded tactics or even told people what she’d done, except for a very few close friends.
I’m still not sure if she’s a sociopath or narcissist or a simple parasite.
So sorry what your ex did to you, and your health problems.
Whatever her psychiatric diagnosis is, the behaviors that matter are lying, breaking promises; and her underlying motivations behind her behaviors that do not include concern for others’ well being.
Thank you, Annette. I agree with you. Still haven’t decided if she’s a sociopath, though it doesn’t really matter.
dorothy2, lots of good points. We need to get to a point that we are comfortable enough with ourselves that we look beyond superficial appearances and get in touch with our own, deep, personal intuition that something isn’t right. Nasty people are nasty and give off bad vibes, or if they are really clever, just a feeling something isn’t right. Just as all Middle Eastern people aren’t terrorists, this doesn’t automatically translate that none of them are (obviously).
There’s a very good reason not to call them terrorists – unduly alarming others if they hadn’t been. The USA gets plenty of random mass shootings and just because two people wear tactical gear and are from an ethnic minority doesn’t mean they’re terrorists.
Why this article is on a sociopath blog I don’t know. I doubt very much if they were sociopaths, just as I doubt very much that the 9/11 bombers were sociopaths. I bet they were just very, very angry people.
You suggest that ISIS is run by sociopaths – that wouldn’t surprise me. But there’s a huge amount of injustice in the region and the USA along with the West has played a huge part in that injustice and by extension the creation of the Tablian, Al Quaeda and ISIS.
Just for starters the 9/11 bombers came from the (dictatorship of) Saudi Arabia, which also finances the promulgation of the extremist Wahhabi strain of Islam, notably in the Madrasses of Pakistan, where many of the Taliban were educated. Who cosies up to Saudia Arabia for its oil? The West and the USA.
The history is very messy but the USA also poured hundred of millions into Islamic militants such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who would later work with Bin Laden.
In short the West, particularly the USA, has played a BIG role in creating the problems of Islamic terrorists – and that’s even before we get into the incredibly dodgy foreign policies that the USA and the West have played at and continue to play at, always looking a few inches in front of their nose for the next tactical advantage and very rarely doing ‘the right thing’. We of all people should know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of people without conscience.
The director of the National Security Agency under Ronald Reagan ”“ Lt. General William Odom – noted:
‘Because the United States itself has a long record of supporting terrorists and using terrorist tactics, the slogans of today’s war on terrorism merely make the United States look hypocritical to the rest of the world.’
(middlebury.edu/media/view/214721/original/OdomPaper.pdf)
I appreciate your anger at the shooting but why pick on easy targets, who as individuals were very probably NOT sociopaths – how many sociopaths are driven by anger for a cause?
Instead of knee-jerk populist blog posts I I would suggest investing REAL time and effort into analysing whether or not Kennedy, Clinton and G.W.Bush were psychopaths. I don’t like Dutton’s self-aggrandising, his concept of the ‘wisdom’ of psychopaths or his pop-psychology (the Great British Psychopath Survey) BUT he has made the perfectly valid point that the three presidents mentioned abiove were all VERY high in psychopathic traits.
Good point that world politics and government is incredibly complicated, and people are raised and groomed to think in certain ways.
My personal Christian theology says this is Satan’s world (for now), and that explains a lot about worldly governments.
The USA has indeed poured money into some of these militants. Mostly with the flawed assumption that by pouring this money in, that we have “Purchased” their allegiance.
You should read about Thomas Jefferson’s experience with radical muslim’s.
The muslim’s were acting as pirates, and demanding a ransom from countries in order to allow safe passage through the seas that the muslim pirates patrolled.
The point is, this is not a problem that the USA caused originally. This mindset for radical muslims is something that has existed long before the modern US had tried to “buy” the allegiance of these groups.
Equally the mindset of radical Christians existed in the Crusades. And there have been plenty of recent radical Christian wars e.g Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Uganda. These different religious radical mindsets exist around the globe and throughout history. They’re potentially ready to be ignited at any time.
The history of the region is really complicated – the British in the 1800s invaded Afghanistan twice, they invaded Iraq and installed a monarchy, they invaded Iran in the 1940s and installed the Shah of Iran who used his secret services SAVAK to torture political prisoners – and not one other Western nation comes out of it well.
What SHOULD be happenning is that our ‘leaders’ behave with conscience. Which they never do. In the UK there seems to be a disconnect between the foreign policy decisions of our ‘leaders’ and the views of the general population. If our ‘leaders’ acted with conscience and did the right thing I think it would nip in the bud or greatly reduce these terrorist problems.
Instead, viewed from afar I personally see Western foreign policies as very akin to psychopath manipulation. Always blame somebody else, take great delight in being ‘clever’ and subtly manipulative, never express remorse, live in the present without too much thought for the long-term etc.
Given that Ps rise upwards to positions of power and have a disproportionate effect on the people around them I suspect there are higher than average concentrations of them in politics and civil services. 1% of the general population are Ps according to Hare (4% ASPD which includes a subset of 1% Ps to avoid confusion from those who quote a 4% figure), 4% are Ps in high ranking corporates – what percentage are Ps in politics? If it’s 4%, or 1 in 25, think what a devastating influence they could be having.
Spaths are everywhere – all cultures and nationalities.
Several experts in the field conclude that in certain professions, especially those that involve power and authority, including politics, have a much higher rate of psychopaths than the general population.
Few normal emphatic persons want to serve in public office especially beyond the local level, given the present political climate. Additionally, ethical people don’t generally do what it takes to get elected to most offices beyond the local government level.
I agree with a lot of what you have to say .. but I understand why this was placed on love fraud….. I think I can say that not every sociopath is a terrorist but I think I could also say that One of the main symptoms of a sociopath is someone who does not have a conscience and One of the main symptoms of a sociopath is someone who does not have a Conscience and Terrorists cannot have a Conscience to be able to do what they do.
Well, a lot of politicians are sociopaths themselves. They are drawn to power and have an inflated sense of self-worth and entitlement. But it is kind of naive to assume that all people are only reacting to US policy as if they don’t have an agenda of their own and also their own history of conquest and domination. They believe their way is the right way and the only way, just as many Westerners feel the same. Learn about the history of the Middle East and Europe. Arab culture is older European civilization and our own country is very young, and had a policy of isolationism for most of its history.. Did you know the U.S. Navy was formed to protect merchant ships in the Mediteranean from pirates from North Africa and Turkey rather than pay tribute to despotic rulers in the area?
Great points NLS.
I always go back the the extermination of this continents native populace in order to TAKE IT AWAY because the early white “settlers” felt ENTITLED to. Exterminated the people of this land and exterminated their sacred way of life.
Re: mountains of buffalo skulls that were senselessly and wastefully slaughtered to cripple the people who thrived on them.
There are so many contributing factors to so many issues that are SCAPEGOATED onto “them” while the average person, ruled by their own fears fed on propaganda, does not fully understand the reality of the whole truth.
As a friend of mine says, follow the money. That trail leads to a whole heap of hypocracy.
People who lack conscience are sociopaths. It’s that simple.
People who can walk into a crowd and randomly unleash a barrage of bullets have no conscience. It’s irrelevant how they got that way. That’s what they’ve become.
The destruction of conscience can take place over time or in a heartbeat. It can result from nature, from nurture, or the combination of both. Regardless of the cause, the outcome is callous behavior toward society. The quicker we recognize that sociopaths exist, the quicker we can deal with the issue.
As a society we don’t react because of the cognitive illusion that is the normal process in a human brain. Without the experience of a mass shooting, we don’t even know we’re in the midst of one until the bullet hits us, or the person next to us falls over. Even when it hits the person next to us, we still can deny the issue by thinking the problem was all about them. They stood up. We’ll lay down and be okay.
Holocost victims marched to their deaths without panic thinking that a reprieve would come. Some simply could not fathom the utter cruelty of their captors. They trecked naked through rough terrain in the cold, thinking if they did what they were asked, they would be okay.
People walk to the electric chair or get strapped into a gurney for a lethal injection thinking the phone will ring and they’ll receive clemency.
Cognitive illusion is a normal way of being. As social animals, we could not exist without it. It is what we do instinctually. The trick is to override instinct by understanding that sociopaths really do exist.
People who are empathetic are instinctually kind, forgiving and tolerant.
We need to overcome our instincts in order to protect ourselves and others in society in the face of danger. We must adopt the mentality that its better to be seen as incorrect than to be a dead fool or watch as others die because we failed to speak up.
@jim_short
I agree with quite a lot of that BUT every one of us can be radicalised or brainwashed. Going through army boot-camp is an effective and quick way of being brainwashed – the military in the UK boasts about breaking people down to rebuild them. Slower brainwashing happens via the media promoting an ‘us or them’ mentality, or feeding us lies about the atrocities that ‘others’ do or hiding the atrocities that ‘our side’ commits. Sooner or later every one of us will pick up a gun and shoot ‘them’ if we believe strongly enough that ‘they’ threaten us. That doesn’t make us psychopaths. It just means we’ve switched off our conscience or (more likely) we’ve resolved cognitive dissonance about what we’re doing by justifying it in ways our minds find acceptable.
I’m sure there have been plenty of special forces operations by the UK involving dangerous killings. We choose to label the people who do such things as ‘brave’. We don’t call them psychopaths. For readers in the US the following might be a bit raw but do you REALLY think the 9/11 bombers were psychopaths? Don’t you think that those on ‘their’ side see them as just incredibly brave?
NLS-
Sorry but I have to differ with you. Suspending your conscience makes you a sociopath. And no, I don’t think that the people on their side see them as “brave.” I think the people on their side are brainwashed to see them going to a higher place, and therefore, deriving a tremendous reward for their misdeeds.
I agree with you Jim.
NoLongerShocked
I am all for people to share their opinion. But I do have to take a strong stand of disagreement with how you lump everyone into a group and then speak for us. You don’t speak for me, nor for a whole bunch of us that I do know personally. “every one of us can be radicalized or brainwashed.”
Nope. Not true. Not even close.
I was harmed b/c I FAILED to fall into the narrative of my sociopath husband and his sociopath family.
As a mother of an American soldier, I know that one small part of boot camp is to humble people and rebuild them as a team, but that’s not brainwashing. They retain their values and their character.
So here I am Counting those who are not able to be brainwashed:
me, the people I know, soldiers, cousins, friends… That list goes on and on. But if that’s your experience, that all around you are able to be brainwashed, maybe you should take care and find a different set to hang out with, or at least hang a sign on you “able to be radicalized” so the rest of us can ran away. (not really, just taking your point to one end of processing the meaning of what you wrote.)
My observation? Sociopaths can be singular beings or found in NESTS of sociopaths, egging each other on, mafia or gangland style, complete with minions and wannabees. And YES, Those who murder innocents and the vulnerable as a act of entitlement demonstrate NO conscience… including yes, 9/11 hijackers and Malik/Farook, all are def sociopath/psychopaths.
@NotWhatHeSaidofMe
I apologise for using the term ‘brainwashed’. I should have used ‘indoctrinated and manipulated’ – and I certainly think that every one of us can be indoctrinated and manipulated. We’re indoctrinated to believe that our country is the best, that our ‘leaders’ know best, that our way of life is the best etc. Here in the UK we were indoctrinated to believe that we had ‘the best police force in the world’, and every time this was mentioned on the radio there would be a big cheer from the audience. Many blatant miscarriages of justice such as ‘The Guildford 4’ changed all that. We never, ever hear that phrase now. And as for manipulation – it’s constant. It’s in adverts, it’s in the media, it’s even in the body language of our ‘top’ politicians (apparently they take lessons in such things).
That’s not to say that we can’t ‘wake up’ and realise that we’re being indoctrinated and manipulated. Every year I perceive some new angles which I’ve unthinkingly accepted up to then. My P experience has also RADICALLy changed the way I look at those in positions of power now.
I like the idea of ‘nests of sociopaths’ – I totally agree with that. I’ve read that they seem to recognise each other. There’s a book called ‘Political Ponerology’ (ponerology = study of evil) which I haven’t read yet but which apparently was written during Soviet times and deconstructs the way groups of psychopaths controlled the USSR.
I disagree that terrorists exhibit a lack of conscience. They have – rightly or wrongly – subscribed to a certain world view that says that their actions are ok. Did you know that Nelson Mandela founded the MK, the military wing of the ANC, and that this was later classified as a terrorist organization?
And how are we to look at the actions of the early Americans who from the POV of the Native Americans were treacherous, genocidal terrorists. Were they all psychopaths?
And what about Saudi Arabia publicly beheading people? Is that rule by terror? Sending a message, crushing dissent? Is the executioner a psychopath? Are the people who ordered the execution psychopaths? Is the regime psychopathic (very probably, actually but I’m trying to make the point that there are also a lot of relatively normal people caught up in such a process.)
What about Rwanda, and the genocide there? Were ALL the participants psychopaths? There are SO many horrible atrocities that have gone on in the world – Idi Amin’s Uganda, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, Serbia … and various death squads in dictatorships etc. etc. … all the rule of terror. Are ALL the participants psychopaths? Plenty will be, but others will be criminals, or dirt poor and seeking employment, or weak-minded, or very angry, pr very idealistic or indoctrinated or manipulated etc. etc.
Gavin DeBecker in his book, The Gift of Fear goes into great lengths about how we train ourselves to ignore some of our gut feelings in the interests of being nice, being polite, and not wanting to rock the boat.
He also gives some concrete examples of how to combat that so that we are more in tune with our gut feelings. It’s particularly important for those who are coming out of abusive childhoods or relationships because a person’s inner compass becomes skewed when what is in fact abusive has been defined as loving or safe or comfortable or justified or whatever.
I found it an enormously helpful book.
GentlePath – I agree with you – “The Gift of Fear” is excellent, and it is the full explanation of what I am talking about.
DeBecker points out that if we are riddled with anxiety, our instincts don’t function well because we are afraid of everything. We need to get to a point of equilibrium so that we can discern real danger from imagined danger. That’s when our instincts can warn us when we are capable of noticing that something is abnormal.
Well said Donna!
Constant anxiety and the fear instilled by the disordered ones can prevent one from recognizing our natural instincts.
That’s why we must stay away, no contact.
SITC
“There Are Two Sides to Every Story” is one of those dangerous ‘platitudes’ that should be debunked. I hate Old Wives’ Tales too.
Just as ‘well meaning’ people can be dangerous if you are naive enough to heed their words, many ‘truisms’ are outdated and totally untrue.
Sorry, pay…I do not believe ‘there are two sides to every story’. And I have witnessed that there are not.
I just reported my own comment. I stand by it.
Here is what my report is: “Think a narcissist has a story to tell? It would be an irrational and schizophrenic story…”
Shakespeare wrote: “a song of sound and fury…signifying nothing.”
Close enough.
Donna I agree with you that these two murderers where TERRORIST!!
And like you Donna it was obvious right from the get go because they left PIPE BOMBS with a remote detonator (same detonator time as the Boston bombers used) in the building that they murdered so many and they had pipe bombs in their car and 19 other pipe bombs in the making at their home.
Before my comments below are read I want to first let you know that since divorcing my ex h & educating myself on truth that he is a sociopaths I see the world much more differently. I am more clued into the games people play especially our politicians on both sides. If you take your relationship with your ex sociopath and apply the games he/she played on you to how politicians manipulate our citizens it’s quite shocking to say the least that they use the same manipulative games.
Politicians are using the same brain washing, pity play, gas lighting abuse, reward & punishment, sociopath smear campaign etc etc manipulation techniques as your ex!! And because of this I stopped picking a side to be on politically i.e. Democrats or Republican. Now I just watch all the manipulative games being played out & wait to see if the press will pick up on the politicians lies or not.
What I see with this terrorist act in California is our President manipulating the press by spoon feeding information to the press to purposely manipulate our citizens exactly like your ex spoon feed you info when you called them out on a lie, or if you caught them cheating or steeling etc.
Why do sociopaths spoon feed info? to control you & to have power over you. Sociopaths do not want to loose power & control over their victims.
I am not saying that Obama is a sociopath i am just merely pointing out that he/his staff are use sociopath manipulative mind games to control our citizens. I know this might seem far fetched but just start watching and every move these politicians from the President to Senators to Congressman to Secretary of States all use words but do not follow through with actions. It does not matter if they are Republican or Democrats they ALL use sociopath manipulation mind games.
The Presidents Press Spokesman down played this terrorist act right from the get go and then the WH turned this Terrorist Act into a simple “work place gun violence” act by feeding this to the press. The the press from CNN to Fox etc were discussing Gun Laws and not the fact that we were ATTACKED right here on our own soil by ISIS!! Then slowly the FBI (Im sure with Obama’s permission) finally started to share the truth of these two ISIS followers but by then the American People were either tired of the story, disinterested in the story any longer or they believe that it was a “work place violence” act not a Terrorist act.
What I see in how the White House handled this is gas lighting abuse…they were/are trying to change our prospective on this terrorist murder…did your ex do this to you? Did your ex try to spin your head away from the fact you were realizing he was lying or cheating or both? Did he try to deflect your attention to something else like this President has done from Terrorist act to work place violence to gun laws need to change? Our gut instinct from the beginning when learning of these two murderers was telling us they were terrorist!!
Always Always stay with your first gut instinct don’t let someone try to manipulate your gut reaction even if it is someone with authority like the White House.
The White House does not want a terrorist attack on US Soil AGAIN (Boston Bombers) to be highlighted for many reasons one being it is an election year. But the most interesting aspect that the Press has forgotten was it was less then a week before this attack on US soil that the White House released a statement that a “Lone Wolf terrorist attack on US soil was highly probable” …then this Lone Wolf attack happened days later and immediately the White House is spoon feeding the press & deflecting the facts to gun laws not a lone wolf terror attack.
Did you know the day after this attack Obama went across the street and lite the National Christmas tree with his Family…he was all smiles. I was just shocked to see him do this. There were no Flags at half staff for these California Victims no world coming together to support this victims or their families like in the French Terror attack the month before. Why because Obama deflected our citizens.
For those that do not think that these two murderers could be sociopaths I think you are half correct…ISIS is a cult…and all cult leaders are sociopath/psychopaths who suck in either other sociopaths/psychopaths into their cult (birds of a feather flock together) or they are none sociopath victims being love bombed, gas lightened, brain washed & mind controlled into a cult exactly like you were sucked into the con game of your ex sociopaths.
The games I see politicians use in the press:
Triangulation…they triangulate our country against each other i.e. you are a democrats they will tell you that the republicans are going to destroy your life and vise versa.
Gas lighting abuse….they attempt to change your prospective of what you actually are seeing happening this terror attack being a perfect example!
Pity Play…now the White house is attempting to make you feel sorry for the terrorist or the refuges coming in. Trump says stop letting muslims into the USA until we can have the systems in place to separate the good people from the bad. But have you noticed that the press is waging a huge smear campaign against Trump? Do I feel great sadness for the bulk of the Refuges from Syria YES…I see the pictures of them & hear their stories of the war torn country they were just trying to survive in (because their President is a sociopath) it’s heart wrenching to say the least. But we need to protect our citizens and come up with a new system so that ISIS does not find a loop hole into our country like this Terrorist woman did by obtaining a “Fiancé visa” into the USA with a fake address!!
Political Smear Campaign….election year the sociopaths smear campaigns are in full force. Just listen to every politician who is running for the WH.
Watch Putin and his moves they are classic Sociopath…I laugh when he releases photos of him topless on a horse…only a sociopath would do that!! He was also land grabbing & recently he was shunned by the Nato countries now he is right in the middle of the war with Syria/ISIS and you have to ask why?
Also the french President ex?? he had a long term girlfriend living in the Presidential home then he had a mistress on the side…next thing you read that the long term girlfriend is out and in the hospital with an emotional break down…this was a red flag to me that he is a sociopath.
Keep an eye out and you will see all the mental games your ex played on you with our politicians they are doing the same things!!
@....... Jan7
‘… or they are none sociopath victims being love bombed, gas lightened, brain washed & mind controlled into a cult exactly like you were sucked into the con game of your ex sociopaths. ‘
I totally go with that interpretation – being radicalized is probably very similar to being sucked into a cult.
I think your list of the games we see politicians playing (it starts after the line ‘The games I see politicians use in the press:’) is absolutely brilliant and very thought-provoking. It never occured to me about Putin’s grandiosity = him on horseback without a shirt on. I thought he came across a bit psychopathic but he seems nervous (from an interview I remember reading) and totally charmless. I wonder what he would get on the PCL-R?
Jan7,
I too have observed the same bag of tricks that my ex used being played on the larger stage.
There’s that old “Jedi mind trick”, telling someone what they think and then encouraging others to condemn them for what the sociopath characterized them to be, classic smear tactic!
The triangulation is so awful, pitting demographics against each other while it’s clear there is no respect or regard for any, it’s just a means (divide and conquer) to and end (dominance and control).
The news media is complicit, dancing between roles of enabler, minion, dupe, useful idiot, and openly sociopathic. I know better than to get my news from the “NEWS Media”. The don’t report the news, they interpret and that interpretation ALWAYS has an agenda, political or social control.
It’s the same sociopathic story, the small scale one-on-one is seen being played out on the grand scale. The only difference is that I escaped from my ex, but where is that safe recovery place of no contact when the scale is so encompassing?
I think the most effective tactic I’ve seen used by the general, severely disordered, narcs, ppaths, sociopaths, etc, is creating a fuster cluck of confusion, so tangled up that it’s impossible to figure out, retell and thereby get anyone to help you tread the water you are drowning in mentally and emotionally.
I’ve seen this with Spathtard, in retrospect in my past encounters ( that I now see for what they are since Spathtard ) and in several situations since Spathtard.
I get to a point of total exhaustion with it, have to keep functioning in spite of it, flail, stumble, fall, then gather myself up and get hit again.
Add to that, multiple simultaneous assaults and life’s normal problems to deal with, the death of a sibling, a 90 yr old father’s care and health issues, I could go on and on. It’s just no wonder someone who gets targeted by a ppath, or several, comes out looking like the crazy one and not them.
Back to my point, my most recent incident is with an attorney and the writing is on the wall. So many games, batting me around like a cat playing with a mouse. But to try to explain the many many things that have happened is an exercise in futility and the only person I could explain it to, trying to seek help, is another attorney who I think is the first attorney in drag!
It’s been a rough three plus years. Really amazing that I’ve been entirely away from that POS for almost three years but the encounters with spaths have been numerous. There literally has not been a break from it, one right after the other, no time to even get my feet back under me since I shed Spathtard.
I can barely explain it to people who DO “get it”!