Gaetz has gotten away with misdeeds and officious conduct since his days at Florida State when a roommate turned up dead, the body was moved and Senate prez Daddy Gaetz was called in for the consult. Likewise woe to the poor cop who stopped Sonny Snotnose while he was driving under the influence.
How he tap-danced his way into Florida Bar membership Remains a mystery. Candidates are held up for teenage driving records, visits with mental health professionals and suspected drug and alcohol issues. (But it is never too late for the public to contact the bar and demand an emergency suspension. Just saying.)
When sociopaths don’t suffer consequences of their bad acts, they go on to do more and better. Dr. Martha Stout warned us about this ilk in her 2006 tone, The Sociopath Next Door. It is chilling. It is my playbook, the one I go to when I don’t understand what I’m seeing. It provides the answer nearly every time.
This thug plays from the Stone playbook. And he plays with Stone. Rewatch Stone’s movie opus to Stone and force yourself to watch and comprehend his cute boy gatherings. The cycle never ends. If Gaetz finally hits a wall, as sometimes happens to sociopaths when the trespass is so illegal and so outrageous that the cookie jar lid slams down or the rat trap grabs their most sensitive body part, there’s another one waiting in line.
Gaetz was ass-slapping pals with former GOP elected official Joel Greenberg. Disgusting Florida gov Ron DeSantis
is amigo number 3.
Gaetz is a slimy charmer, master manipulator and assuaging wordsmith. He, like Stone, can be downright enchanting. Even former California rep Katie Hill, who was chased from Congress over nude pictures, was lured into a measure of complacency by his apparent support and compassion. He had an ulterior motive. They always do.
It was all a ruse, Miss Katie. He has none. He learned to fake compassion by watching empathy in real people and trying it on for show. Then he, like every sociopath of his ilk, targets those folks (ones like Hill, Schiff, Kerry, Pelosi) and directs their zealot advocates to attack the ones who have a soul.
Why do they get away with it? And how? Martha Stout developed answers to help hundreds of her therapy patients who were targets of sociopaths. Like psychiatrist Banfy Lee, her brilliance was never fully appreciated and concerted efforts were made to discredit her work.
This is done, incidentally, by sociopath who don’t want to be outed and expended. We don’t need them. They really are human trash. Worse than trash. Trash litters the landscape. Sociopaths suck souls.
Your first paragraph is exactly what I remember reading about way back when. Then, apparently, he and big daddy started threatening litigation for anyone who dared to bring up the subject(s). So, the sociopath's questionable deeds were shoved under the rug and now even MSM seems to shy away.
This is just brilliant, Karen. I'm going to track down Dr. Stout's book - thank you for the recommendation and the brilliant take on this disgusting and twisted person.
Brilliant history & assessment. Dr. Bandy Lee has been warning us since 2016 about this pathology and the contagion effect. What Gaetz has done is not new. BUT, the fact that he & Stone, Bannon, DJT, Jason Miller, Stephen Miller, the entire RQP’s either say nothing or blow past this behavior overtly & enmasse is. They are giving a huge middle finger to the women they abuse, basking in the glory of their behavior, daring anyone to CONTAIN them & mocking the laws that should protect the women & institutions they abuse!
First, I think Matt Gaetz is an entitled, immature jerk, & worse.
Before Trump, McConnell’s speech that corporations should stay out of politics was the threat, with no specific retaliation, just vague implications. Now politicians feel emboldened to financially threaten companies for speaking up. I always knew there was some corruption in government, but when Trump was elected, he & his gang boasted & bragged about how they were fleecing the citizens, & didn’t even pretend to serve. My eyes have been opened. Sad. I hope it won’t be long before they pay a price for their misdeeds.
Knocked it out of the park once again......thanks, Greg Olear. This would surely be one of those days that I'd throw an extra donation your way, if only Substack allowed that option.
This is really brilliant, Greg. Tu quoque is a logical fallacy that people without ideas or policies use to undermine their interlocutors. We've seen way too much of it, as you note, and the moment it begins happening, we should cut it off. And I think President Biden, VP Harris, and AG Garland might arrange to do a trio show every two weeks or so--talking about the events of the day, noting progress on goals, and answering questions they have received. This would be very reassuring to the American people, I think, and spread the responsibility across all three of them. KDH could moderate. Or something. Because you are right: we do need reassurance and THOSE THREE PEOPLE could provide it. Thanks for all you do here. "Prevail" means more than ever now.
Greg, as I applaud another brilliant piece by you I'd also like to thank you for the helpful links throughout. The fact I thought "tu quoque" was French is evidence that Miss Sutcliffe was justified in giving me straight D's through eight quarters of high school Latin.
"Macrocephalic." LMAO!! I had a sociopath in my life once. A friend recommended I read Without Conscience, by Robert Hare. My eyes were opened. One of the things I learned is when a sociopath finally realizes there's nothing left for them to take from you, they will most likely leave you alone. He took me to court, I humiliated him in front of the judge and spectators, he lost, and I never heard from him again. You have to go scorched earth with these people. It may be the only way to get them to leave you alone. He's dead now. I wish I knew the cause of death. I have to wonder if he didn't off himself.
A prelude to January 6th...Matt Gaetz and goons storm the SCIF. A breech in security. Why wasn't the CCTV reviewed and the guards and anyone else (Devil Nunes) who gave them access be prosecuted? Screw an 'investigative committee'. You break the laws, you get removed from Congress and go through the legal system like the rest of us. These elected representatives should be held to a higher standard. Especially when it comes to NatSec.
“I'm gathered here with dozens of my Congressional colleagues, underground in the basement of the Capitol, and behind those doors they intend to overturn the results of an American presidential election,” he said, in prepared remarks to the media that now read as eerie. “We want to know what is going on.”(article)Greg Olear
Gaetz has gotten away with misdeeds and officious conduct since his days at Florida State when a roommate turned up dead, the body was moved and Senate prez Daddy Gaetz was called in for the consult. Likewise woe to the poor cop who stopped Sonny Snotnose while he was driving under the influence.
How he tap-danced his way into Florida Bar membership Remains a mystery. Candidates are held up for teenage driving records, visits with mental health professionals and suspected drug and alcohol issues. (But it is never too late for the public to contact the bar and demand an emergency suspension. Just saying.)
When sociopaths don’t suffer consequences of their bad acts, they go on to do more and better. Dr. Martha Stout warned us about this ilk in her 2006 tone, The Sociopath Next Door. It is chilling. It is my playbook, the one I go to when I don’t understand what I’m seeing. It provides the answer nearly every time.
This thug plays from the Stone playbook. And he plays with Stone. Rewatch Stone’s movie opus to Stone and force yourself to watch and comprehend his cute boy gatherings. The cycle never ends. If Gaetz finally hits a wall, as sometimes happens to sociopaths when the trespass is so illegal and so outrageous that the cookie jar lid slams down or the rat trap grabs their most sensitive body part, there’s another one waiting in line.
Gaetz was ass-slapping pals with former GOP elected official Joel Greenberg. Disgusting Florida gov Ron DeSantis
is amigo number 3.
Gaetz is a slimy charmer, master manipulator and assuaging wordsmith. He, like Stone, can be downright enchanting. Even former California rep Katie Hill, who was chased from Congress over nude pictures, was lured into a measure of complacency by his apparent support and compassion. He had an ulterior motive. They always do.
It was all a ruse, Miss Katie. He has none. He learned to fake compassion by watching empathy in real people and trying it on for show. Then he, like every sociopath of his ilk, targets those folks (ones like Hill, Schiff, Kerry, Pelosi) and directs their zealot advocates to attack the ones who have a soul.
Why do they get away with it? And how? Martha Stout developed answers to help hundreds of her therapy patients who were targets of sociopaths. Like psychiatrist Banfy Lee, her brilliance was never fully appreciated and concerted efforts were made to discredit her work.
This is done, incidentally, by sociopath who don’t want to be outed and expended. We don’t need them. They really are human trash. Worse than trash. Trash litters the landscape. Sociopaths suck souls.
Your first paragraph is exactly what I remember reading about way back when. Then, apparently, he and big daddy started threatening litigation for anyone who dared to bring up the subject(s). So, the sociopath's questionable deeds were shoved under the rug and now even MSM seems to shy away.
This is just brilliant, Karen. I'm going to track down Dr. Stout's book - thank you for the recommendation and the brilliant take on this disgusting and twisted person.
Well said!
Brilliant history & assessment. Dr. Bandy Lee has been warning us since 2016 about this pathology and the contagion effect. What Gaetz has done is not new. BUT, the fact that he & Stone, Bannon, DJT, Jason Miller, Stephen Miller, the entire RQP’s either say nothing or blow past this behavior overtly & enmasse is. They are giving a huge middle finger to the women they abuse, basking in the glory of their behavior, daring anyone to CONTAIN them & mocking the laws that should protect the women & institutions they abuse!
First, I think Matt Gaetz is an entitled, immature jerk, & worse.
Before Trump, McConnell’s speech that corporations should stay out of politics was the threat, with no specific retaliation, just vague implications. Now politicians feel emboldened to financially threaten companies for speaking up. I always knew there was some corruption in government, but when Trump was elected, he & his gang boasted & bragged about how they were fleecing the citizens, & didn’t even pretend to serve. My eyes have been opened. Sad. I hope it won’t be long before they pay a price for their misdeeds.
I wrote about this in the NYT comment section and the lack of accountability after the great pizza unrest.
I'm with you. What America needs most now is reassurances that we are a Nation of Laws, not Men (persons more properly)
Charging Matt Gaetz should be both easy & non-prurient
Knocked it out of the park once again......thanks, Greg Olear. This would surely be one of those days that I'd throw an extra donation your way, if only Substack allowed that option.
Thank you Greg. I almost forgot about this B.S. World class POS’s
This is really brilliant, Greg. Tu quoque is a logical fallacy that people without ideas or policies use to undermine their interlocutors. We've seen way too much of it, as you note, and the moment it begins happening, we should cut it off. And I think President Biden, VP Harris, and AG Garland might arrange to do a trio show every two weeks or so--talking about the events of the day, noting progress on goals, and answering questions they have received. This would be very reassuring to the American people, I think, and spread the responsibility across all three of them. KDH could moderate. Or something. Because you are right: we do need reassurance and THOSE THREE PEOPLE could provide it. Thanks for all you do here. "Prevail" means more than ever now.
Greg, as I applaud another brilliant piece by you I'd also like to thank you for the helpful links throughout. The fact I thought "tu quoque" was French is evidence that Miss Sutcliffe was justified in giving me straight D's through eight quarters of high school Latin.
"Macrocephalic." LMAO!! I had a sociopath in my life once. A friend recommended I read Without Conscience, by Robert Hare. My eyes were opened. One of the things I learned is when a sociopath finally realizes there's nothing left for them to take from you, they will most likely leave you alone. He took me to court, I humiliated him in front of the judge and spectators, he lost, and I never heard from him again. You have to go scorched earth with these people. It may be the only way to get them to leave you alone. He's dead now. I wish I knew the cause of death. I have to wonder if he didn't off himself.
You get it. By the way, schadenfreude is very pleasant but an indulgence. My advice -- dance on the grave even if it takes crawling to get there
Hear! Hear!
A prelude to January 6th...Matt Gaetz and goons storm the SCIF. A breech in security. Why wasn't the CCTV reviewed and the guards and anyone else (Devil Nunes) who gave them access be prosecuted? Screw an 'investigative committee'. You break the laws, you get removed from Congress and go through the legal system like the rest of us. These elected representatives should be held to a higher standard. Especially when it comes to NatSec.
I have no proof if was the Devil. But it seems like something he would do.
“I'm gathered here with dozens of my Congressional colleagues, underground in the basement of the Capitol, and behind those doors they intend to overturn the results of an American presidential election,” he said, in prepared remarks to the media that now read as eerie. “We want to know what is going on.”(article)Greg Olear