which he tells us is
Excerpted from “The Me-Driven Life: A Narcissist’s Guide to Helping Others Understand It Is All About You,” by John Barron.
Reprinted without permission.
If you don’t get how snarky that is, remember that Trump used to call up reporters and others pretending to be his own publicist with the name of John Barron, and was apparently so enamored and proud of what he had done that he named his son with Melania Barron.
(By the way, the Washington Post column in question is titled A Narcissist’s Guide to Helping Others Understand It Is All About You).
Ostensibly, the material in the column is from “Chapter 12, “Coping with Natural and Man-Made Disasters,” pp 269-277.”
Here is the beginning:
Natural disasters and their man-made counterparts (mass shootings, terrorist attacks) pose an obvious challenge for those living the Me-Driven Life. These events are frustrating, and inconvenient, because they tend to cause those people to think about their own problems: their injuries, the loss of loved ones, their hunger, thirst, discomfort, life-threatening cholera, what have you.
This is a common character flaw, and it is harmful because it distracts them from their more pressing obligation to think about you.
By now you should have a sense of how deliberately snarky and effective this take down will be.
But in case you don’t, consider this paragraph:
If somebody has praised you, you might even try to get that person to repeat the praise in front of an audience. Note that the person has said “such nice things” about you and suggest, “Jenniffer, do you think you can say a little bit of what you said about us today?” If Jenniffer does as requested, encourage others to do the same by saying, “I saw those comments, and everybody saw those comments, and we really appreciate it.”
You really should read it. I am sure you will “enjoy” it — after all, it is a spot-on explanation of what we should now expect from the self-inflating gas bag who occupies the Oval Office.
Milbank sets up his close with this paragraph:
Never forget that what should matter to them most is you: your role, your experience, your needs. If they have suffered loss, tell them that “it’s a very, very sad day for me, personally.” After consoling people, say that “it was really something that I enjoyed very much.” Try to mention some association you have with the place: a business transaction you made, something you own, a victory you won. Offer them what they want most — an invitation to visit you.
Now that should sound very familiar because it is something Trump does time after time.
So let me close as does Milbank, as I again urge you to go read the entire piece, then share it widely:
If you employ these techniques, you will find that you can successfully divert others’ attention from whatever “catastrophe” distracts them — and back where it belongs. When you depart the scene of tragedy, you will be able to say: “I think it means a lot to the people . . . that I was there.” And you will mean it.
Indeed!