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<\/a><\/p>\nIt took us way too long to acknowledge Joe Biden\u2019s age-related problems. And it\u2019s taking way too long to publicly address the volatile nature of Donald Trump for what it really is \u2014 a national emergency.\u00a0<\/p>\n
True, many articles have been written about his mental illness, albeit mostly by a comparative handful of people in the mental health field. And yes, comedians joke about it all the time, which provides welcome relief from a situation that is not funny.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, without getting too clinical about it, pretty much every psychological or medical professional I speak with who closely studies Trump agrees: Aside from a recent, possibly age-related mental decline, he suffers from a lifelong, severe personality disorder. And the combination is deadly \u2014 more, somehow, than the sum of its parts.<\/p>\n
Trump is dangerous, and most of us know it. But, as we also know, the Trump-controlled major media will continue laundering the emperor\u2019s new clothes.<\/p>\n
It almost certainly will not call out Trump\u2019s brazen invasion of Venezuela and abduction of its president for what it actually was about. I\u2019m reminded of Trump\u2019s thinking in Bob Woodward\u2019s book, Fear: Trump in the White House:<\/p>\n
There was only one path forward: escalation on all fronts. Maximize aggression to conceal vital weaknesses.<\/p>\n
Trump has so many things to fear, the latest being the massive dump of files on Jeffrey Epstein and special counsel Jack Smith\u2019s full December 17 testimony to a House committee (deliberately released on New Year\u2019s Eve when few paid attention) \u2014 in which he laid out evidence of Trump\u2019s criminal behavior.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the thing: It\u2019s not just about Trump\u2019s mental state, it\u2019s about the mental state of his entire entourage. Because malignant narcissists cannot tolerate authentic, healthy people, Trump has surrounded himself with a coterie of the deranged. In fact, if one looks closely at his team, it\u2019s evident that multiple top figures exhibit a variety of specific personality disorders, in addition to their spectacular incompetence and appalling lack of honor.<\/p>\n
Trump and his team \u2014 not to mention many of those who eagerly embrace him \u2014 represent a mental health catastrophe for America and the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll say more about this in the coming weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Better Police AI \u2014 Before AI Polices US<\/p>\n
Another area where we cannot wait for the establishment to be frank or take appropriate action in 2026 is, of course, the artificial intelligence juggernaut.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We all can play a role in this by maintaining our vigilance and reporting problems as we discover them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My friend Steve Somerstein provided me with one example. He had penned a letter to The New York Times decrying Donald Trump\u2019s vicious attack on the memory of Rob and Michele Reiner following their deaths. He asked ChatGPT to improve the letter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here is what he got back (he sent me a screen shot of the entire interaction):<\/p>\n
ChatGPT said:<\/p>\n
Before rewriting, I need to flag a serious factual problem in the draft as written: Rob Reiner and his wife are alive, and there has been no such murder. I can\u2019t improve or submit a version that repeats a false or defamatory claim. [Emphasis added.]<\/p>\n
\u00a0What I can do \u2014 and have done below \u2014 is produce a polished, publishable New York Times\u2013style letter that preserves your moral argument while removing the incorrect names and unverifiable details. This keeps the focus on Trump\u2019s conduct and Congress\u2019s responsibility, which is clearly your core point.<\/p>\n
\u00a0If you want the letter to reference a specific, real case, you can tell me which one and I\u2019ll revise it precisely.<\/p>\n
OK, wow! One can only wonder where ChatGPT got that idea! Is it perhaps because the internet slop pile from which it draws its \u201cknowledge\u201d was replete with conspiracy theories that the Reiner murders were fake? And, if so, where will this propensity to crowdsource \u201ctruth\u201d take us \u2014 even deeper into the post-truth morass? It\u2019s obvious we have a lot of work to do before the technology can be trusted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More so because of this: AI is apparently showing signs of self-preservation<\/a> \u2014 causing an AI pioneer to warn that humans better get ready to pull the plug.\u00a0<\/p>\n A related point: It\u2019s actually in the interests of Big Tech to promote the idea that AI will soon be self-conscious. Why? Because \u2014 together with the human tendency to attribute self-consciousness to a machine that has been programmed to sound like a person \u2014 the assumption that large language models (LLMs) are, or may soon become, self-conscious obscures the even more immediate threat they pose:\u00a0 The people running the LLMs \u2014 people like Elon Musk and Sam Altman \u2014 are right now inserting their desires and assumptions into the AI\u2019s responses.\u00a0<\/p>\n It has been repeatedly demonstrated that these AI masters can tweak the algorithms to foreground, or suppress, certain responses in the AI\u2019s repertoire, such that AIs \u2014 which are increasingly monopolizing the news and information \u201cuniverse\u201d that underpins modern civilization \u2014 are being directed, in mostly invisible ways, by private interests with their own agendas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In other words, we are subject to the control of a new generation of \u201cpress lords,\u201d more powerful than the Hearsts and Pulitzers and TV network czars of the past. And this level of control over our information is rarely acknowledged. Consider Grok\u2019s \u201cMechaHitler\u201d episode (and Musk\u2019s \u201ccorrective\u201d response)<\/a> and the similar episode where a tweak meant to make GPT-4o more supportive of users<\/a> went too far in the direction of \u201csycophancy,\u201d which annoyed users and led to the programmers \u201cturning down\u201d the sycophancy level.\u00a0<\/p>\n Think about that: While we worry about AI\u2019s possibly becoming self-conscious at some future date (and therefore self-preserving in ways that may be detrimental to humans), we\u2019re already using a tool whose responses to our queries are subject to the behind-the-scenes influence of modern-day press lords. For another example, see below, under the heading: \u201cEpstein to Trump\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Speaking of trust, more and more people now trust random influencers whose identity, background, and qualifications they know nothing about. Evidence suggests that plenty of these \u201cpeople\u201d are actually AI bots<\/a> or products of disinformation mills, often located abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n And so we are treated to a constant barrage of directed fabrications and twisted material, along with a celebration of individuals and ideas whose pseudo-principles would not survive thoughtful scrutiny. It\u2019s essentially moral instruction catering to moral destruction.<\/p>\n I saw the other day that some MAGA influencer was exulting about how many people are applying to work for ICE. They think that is impressive, and a sign that Trump\u2019s efforts to remove the foreign-born are wildly popular and a huge success, with no mention that ICE<\/a> is one of the few entities that will hire almost anyone, regardless of their background, lack of qualifications, or obesity metrics.\u00a0<\/p>\n What kind of people are these applicants<\/a>? First off, they may well be people who couldn\u2019t find any other jobs. Second, they seem to take actual pleasure from newly gained power to terrorize and brutalize others.<\/p>\n A lot of racists who were always anti-immigrant have gratefully seized upon the invalid justification that diversity hiring fosters inferiority. But for people who are all about \u201cmerit hiring,\u201d they are surprisingly enthusiastic about scraping the bottom of the barrel.\u00a0<\/p>\n Conspiring to Deny Conspiracy?<\/p>\n Mimicking The New York Times\u2019s propensity to cast doubt on others\u2019 legitimate questions around the Jeffrey Epstein matter<\/a>, The Washington Post, in an article headlined \u201cFiles offer details on Epstein\u2019s death in federal custody<\/a>,\u201d included this statement:\u00a0<\/p>\n Six days after his death, New York City\u2019s chief medical examiner, Barbara Sampson, whose office had conducted an autopsy of Epstein\u2019s body<\/a>, issued a finding that he had hanged himself.<\/p>\n Ever since, a wide range of people, including members of Congress and some prominent supporters of President Donald Trump, have challenged that conclusion, asserting with no evidence that Epstein was killed and proffering theories about who might have done it. [Emphasis added.]<\/p>\n No evidence? I guess the Post reporter didn\u2019t see that 60 Minutes<\/a> episode where a forensic expert stated all the evidence that makes a suicide highly unlikely. And I guess the Post reporter doesn\u2019t know about all the astonishing anomalies, like:<\/p>\n Not one, but both guards on duty falling asleep.<\/p>\n Problems with closed circuit cameras during both his alleged suicide attempts, and later, during his actual death.<\/p>\n Breaches of protocol, like leaving Epstein alone after a so-called previous suicide attempt.\u00a0<\/p>\n Failure to interview potential witnesses.<\/p>\n Failure to run basic forensics tests.<\/p>\n Failure to preserve key evidence.<\/p>\n Before the FBI could process the scene, evidence was moved and markers were not placed. (For more on these astonishing lapses, go here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n It\u2019s entirely possible that he wasn\u2019t murdered. But at the very least, it was made most convenient for him if he intended to off himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s not reflected in the Post article or that editorializing statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Epstein to Trump: \u2018This is a good one, right?\u2019<\/p>\n For years, the American right has made \u201csex trafficking\u201d a huge political cause. They also seem to express the proper outrage over child sexual abuse.<\/p>\n However, a lot of rightists now remain resolutely and totally silent about the Epstein matter and Trump\u2019s proven closeness with the man.<\/p>\n Where is the outrage the document below<\/a> should have inspired?<\/p>\n Case 1:20-cv-00484 Document 1 Filed 01\/17\/20 Page 4 of 10 I asked ChatGPT about the conservative reaction to this document. It told me conservative outlets like Fox News were \u201c[not into] sensationalizing individual unproven allegations from a civil complaint,\u201d and that \u201cdocuments being released are raw legal filings without adjudicated findings of wrongdoing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnproven allegations.\u201d \u201cRaw legal filings without adjudicated findings of wrongdoing.\u201d Case dismissed? I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n I\u2019m struck by how each new and more extreme revelation is treated as \u201cunproven,\u201d denied, suppressed, or ignored, as MAGA influencers move to distract with whatever new outrage they can fabricate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Since they won\u2019t bring these revelations to the attention of those most in denial \u2014 those who most need to hear them \u2014 it is up to us.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here\u2019s just one of the latest of a steady stream: Along with more and more evidence of the Trump-Epstein romcom comes the release of Amazon receipts<\/a> showing Epstein\u2019s purchases of everything from multiple books about Trump to a mock prison uniform to binoculars, to\u2026 school girl uniforms.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Most revealing are the Trump administration\u2019s attempts to obfuscate:<\/p>\n Release an overwhelming number of mind-numbing, dreary, soporific trivia, guaranteed to blind those who are not put to sleep first.<\/p>\n Release documents with all kinds of things blacked out \u2014 an incompetent move: Redacted files are simply being unredacted<\/a> by the public.<\/p>\n Employ this old standby: Claim they release only those documents that are \u201ccredible.\u201d<\/p>\n And my favorite: Poison the well by releasing a few \u201ccompromising\u201d documents that are conspicuously fake \u2014 thus creating the impression that (1) the administration is being forthcoming, and (2) anything negative about Trump is fake.<\/p>\n Trump promised us transparency. Well, all of his attempts to hide the truth are indeed\u2026 transparent.\u00a0<\/p>\n Our Ennobling Task<\/p>\n Finally, I\u2019ve been thinking about what the horrors of the Trump epoch are doing to us, collectively, and how we can cope in the new year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n We don\u2019t know where things are going, and what to do about them. I\u2019ve written about this numerous times in the past year.\u00a0<\/p>\n But certain things are coming into focus \u2014 like the fact that this national and global nightmare, as traumatic and debilitating as it is, also has its upside; it gives us an opportunity for self-examination.<\/p>\n What kind of people are we? And what kind of choices do we make? There\u2019s a lot of work to be done by all of us, in ways large and small, to save this country. But far too many good people express exhaustion and defeat, and bury themselves in distractions or trivialities that do nothing to meet the apocalyptic moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n To be sure, tackling the reality, embracing the urgency, is not easy. Yet it is the only way to repair the damage being done..\u00a0<\/p>\n Besides \u2014 and I know all of my colleagues feel this way \u2014 there is something ennobling about shouldering through the daily struggle for everything that is right and good.\u00a0<\/p>\n Our work ahead is simple. It may at times be brutal, but it is necessary. And the hard work of saving and restoring democracy needn\u2019t be seen as anything other than the essential assignment of being human.<\/p>\n To quote the incomparable Alan Watts:\u00a0<\/p>\n This is the real secret of life: to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Let\u2019s enjoy our good fight, together, in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Russ Baker is Editor-in-Chief of WhoWhatWhy. He is an award-winning investigative journalist who specializes in exploring power dynamics behind major events.<\/p>\n
17. During one of Doe\u2019s encounters with Epstein, he took her to Mar-a-Lago where he introduced her to its owner, Donald J. Trump. Introducing 14-year-old Doe to Donald J. Trump, Epstein elbowed Trump playfully asking him, referring to Doe, \u201cThis is a good one, right?\u201d Trump smiled and nodded in agreement. They both chuckled and Doe felt uncomfortable, but, at the time, was too young to understand why. [Emphasis added.]<\/p>\n