STICKS & STONES CAN BREAK MY BONES BUT NAMES CAN NEVER HURT ME…NOT! by Art Smukler

Remember the old cliche’ used by parents and teachers to “train” a child to control his anger? “Sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never hurt me.”

Well, the theory goes that name calling can’t physically hurt you. But is that really true? Ask Jeb Bush if being called “low energy” by Trump doesn’t make him feel physically ill. I heard Jeb speak a year before the Republican primary, and thought he’d make a great president. I wish he’d appropriately retaliated to Trump’s obnoxious words and didn’t let him get away with it. I assume that the entire Bush family will never forgive Trump. I wouldn’t.

How about John McCain? Trump, who never served in the military, likes people who weren’t captured, negating all that McCain suffered and gave to our country. Do you think that the anger inside McCain doesn’t still hurt? Here’s another family who will probably never forgive Trump.

Name calling and devaluing trigger our autonomic nervous system, the place in the brain where Fight or Flight is regulated. Think of the times you were enraged — the burning in your stomach, jaw clenching, sweating, trouble catching your breath… All physical symptoms.

I could go on and on, but let’s consider what this man is now doing to ALL OF US! He names the Russia investigation, Spygate and a Witch Hunt. He’s a genius at name-calling.

What he is not a genius at is being a good human being. If someone disagrees with him, he attacks. He calls himself a counter puncher. I call him a brilliant name caller who hurts a lot of people and is hurting our country.

What is also OBNOXIOUS is that Republicans are afraid. Some heroes scale walls, like in France, to save a child, others can stand up and call Trump out. That hero can save our country.

If you enjoyed reading, Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist, you might also enjoy Dr. Smukler’s novels, Chasing Backwards, a psychological murder mystery, Skin Dance, a mystery, and The Man with a Microphone in his Ear. All are available as paperbacks and eBooks.

ARE THERE ANY ETHICAL LAWYERS OUT THERE? by Art Smukler MD, author & psychiatrist

Harvard Law professor emeritus, Alan Dershowitz, just stated on Meet the Press that the Trump team is playing into the hands of Mueller’s team. By not speaking in a single narrative they are hurting themselves and Trump’s defense.

That’s all probably true. After all, who would challenge a man of Dershowitz’s stature?

What I’m challenging is how Dershowitz and so many of the erudite legal minds are so readily agreeing with this approach. I know that everyone is entitled to the best defense they can get, with or without money, but does anyone care about the truth?

Trump overtly lies and the great legal minds figure out more ways for him to get away with it!

Something is terribly wrong with our system! Something is terribly wrong with how our law schools are turning out thousands of new lawyers every year who support this twisted and damaged approach to justice. Lying and manipulation are everyday occurrences especially from places as erudite as Harvard. If you are the smartest and the best trained, you can learn even better ways to dupe others.

Trump lied and manipulated for years, in many aspects of his business. His mantra, while he was running for president, was that he didn’t settle cases. Sue me! Then he would turn his legal minions into torturing people who honestly and honorably wanted to get paid or be treated justly.

If Trump is being supported by great legal minds and great institutions, what hope does a normal, average person have to be treated with justice? What hope do we have unless men and women of Dershowitz’s stature come forward and change the culture by which lawyers and educators are taught?

If you enjoyed reading, Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist, you might also enjoy Dr. Smukler’s novels, Chasing Backwards, a psychological murder mystery, Skin Dance, a mystery, and The Man with a Microphone in his Ear. All are available as paperbacks and eBooks.