Why Trump Licks Putin's Boots

Donald Trump is a bully.  I take it that there is nothing controversial about that statement.  Trump  brags about how his wealth allows him to molest women.  He mocks and threatens those he perceives to be weaker than him.  If anyone calls him on his behavior, he just puffs out his chest and behaves even worse.  (Jane Goodall got it right when she said he is acting like a male chimp trying to establish dominance; this is often an apt characterization of bullies.)  He even made a reality TV show about what a bully he is.

     I know a bit about bullies.  I grew up so cross-eyed I could barely see, with a crooked leg and, consequently, a love for books rather than sports.  And along the way, I learned a couple of things about bullies.

     First, they are generally cowards.  They don’t want to get hit.  They don’t want to prove themselves against someone who might actually beat them.  They pick on people whom they see as so weak that they won’t fight back.  If you fight back, even if you lose, they will generally look elsewhere for ego support in the future.  

     Second, bullies generally only know two ways of dealing with other people.  If a bully perceives someone to be weaker, they attempt to establish and maintain dominance by forcing the other to accept mistreatment.  But if a bully perceives someone to be stronger, they show their submission through fawning and subservience.

     Now, Donald Trump is a wimp.  He is a spoiled rich kid who has never had to face any serious adversity.  When others show themselves not to be intimidated, and even go so far as to criticize him, his outrage is palpable.  His frustration at not being able to retaliate effectively against the Hamilton cast or SNL reveals him as the whining crybaby that most bullies are in their hearts.  

     Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, is not a wimp.  Whatever may be the truth about his time in the KGB, we can be pretty sure that he did not rise through the ranks because he was a whiny brat like Trump.  And Trump really only knows one way to deal with someone stronger than he is—bootlicking.

     I think people ought to be more worried than they are about Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin.