This article is excellent and very telling, as is Bandy Lee's work:
“For Trump, the only reason not to do something—even something that is likely to harm others—is to avoid punishment. And since he has rarely been held accountable for any misdeeds, he has come to believe that he has a carte blanche to do whatever serves his immediate needs.”
I think that overlooks that #Trump has been actively *rewarded* for so much of the BS he does, which has conditioned him to do more of it. In particular, we reward him with attention.
He gained power based on popularity of his behavior, as frustrating as that is to watch.
The reason I think this is important is because if we highlight the role of society in pushing him to do this crap, we can work on cutting it off.
We need to stop feeding the troll. Accountability can play into his hands.
