I would not call Trump a "genius" of anything. I do think his proclivity toward cruelty as a method of control is more than slightly troubling. Trump revels in the suffering of others, basks in it when he is the cause of the suffering, and looks to inflict this suffering as often as he can. Like all people that take joy in the pain of others he is a weak and cowardly individual that hides behind phony tough talk from his bully pulpit. The truth is the man has a spine of wet toilet paper.

Sadly, there is a section of our populace that also revels in the suffering of others and finds joy in doling out punishment and hardship on others.

Simply put...this is a sickness that is greatly responsible for the presidency of Donald Trump. It is not all that led to his presidency but it is the primary aspect of his support.

The aspect of this that is most dangerous is this is a man that is severely mentally ill and unstable whose go to response will be based upon his love of cruelty.

That's not a minor problem.

He likes people like Putin and Kim Jong-un because of their ability to openly inflict cruelty on others without fear of reprisal in their countries. Trump's simplistic mind sees this as strength and he desperately envies these men. He often lovingly and with great respect refers to them as "strong leaders" and the glow this gives him is horrifically obvious.

Combine this with his attempts to turn our world order upside down and align the United States with Russia, China, and North Korea while turning against all of our allies that oppose this sort of behavior and dictatorial rule as well as the bizarre efforts of Republicans like Jim Jordan and Trey Gowdy among others to help in this effort and we are on a bad path.