Louisiana Voice

By Stephen Winham, Guest Columnist

I have, for quite some time now, and in many different places, seen evidence that my reality is significantly different from that of people who support President Trump and his Republican Party.  I could tell myself these were just very large differences of opinion until a recent incident.

A woman in the neighborhood with whom I visit several times a week during morning walks is, unabashedly, very conservative politically.  We both know better than to ever discuss politics on these walks. We love our pets and our conversations usually revolve around them and neighborhood goings-on. Our visits are always pleasant and fun – She is vivacious and has a great sense of humor.

 One day last week I mentioned in a Facebook post that I consider the President of the United States to be a psychopath.  She responded that she is positive he is not a psychopath and pointed out that her studies are in that field. She followed through with a list of traits of psychopaths in support of her position.  I looked at the list and found it very much confirmed my position.  Here are 7 traits of a (modern) psychopath from a 2018 piece in Psychology Today.  They are consistent with her list:

1. Pathological Lying and Manipulation

2. Lack of Morality and Rule Breaking

3. Lack of Empathy and Cold-Heartedness

4. Narcissism and False Superiority Complex

5. Gaslighting and Psychological Bullying

6. Lack of Contrition and Self-Serving Victimhood

7. Situational” Psychopathy – the individual extends cordiality, respect, and regard towards some, but exhibits inhumanity, harshness, and cruelty towards others.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/communication-success/201810/7-characteristics-the-modern-psychopath

It turns out we both have master’s degrees in psychology and even attended the same university, though at different times.  Her Master’s Degree is from Texas A & M.  Mine is from Louisiana Tech. We grew up in the same part of Louisiana. We live in the same relatively small neighborhood. She is younger than me, but by less than 15 years so we have had some of the same experiences as adults.  To my mind, the only explanation for our total difference on this is that we really do see the sitting President in completely opposite ways.  She presented this list to support her position that he is not a psychopath, yet it confirms my position he is.

The reason this is so important is that I often hear supporters of Donald J. Trump say things like, “He’s a scoundrel, but I support his and his party’s policies so I am able to overlook his boorish behavior and bad personality.”  Being a psychopath is a far cry from just being a scoundrel or boor.  Psychopaths are actually and truly dangerous.  It is often said they lack what we call a conscience. This is a HUGE difference.

The thing that makes Donald Trump a little less dangerous than other psychopaths is that he is also essentially unlikeable. Some would use this distinction to define him as a sociopath rather than a psychopath, but that is hardly something to claim as a bragging right. The most dangerous psychopaths are charming and able to get away with more. 

Despite his dour and bullying personality, Donald Trump has wide personal appeal.  It is seen by his admirers as refreshing candor, toughness and, of all things, honesty – despite the fact he lies daily, sometimes repeatedly in the same day.  Do some people like this, or do they actively ignore it? 

What is there to admire in a person with any of the 7 traits listed above?  How can anybody observe him and not see him exhibit each one of them? I submit any person with normal intelligence can see them in him quite easily.  No degrees or diplomas are required.  To his credit, he does nothing to cover them up and they are on display constantly, but even when people of ostensibly similar backgrounds see him do and say precisely the same things, we really do not. 

How is this complete dissonance of perception possible?  I frankly do not know, but it is the most frightening thing about Donald John Trump as President of the United States of America.  How can we possibly unite as a people to create a better country and world if we are unable to experience the same reality and see the same clear and present danger he presents?

I know many of you reading this will pass it off as meaningless in the face of the looming socialism, nay communism, you see in the Democratic Party and its candidate.  Many of you have closely held religious beliefs that justify your support despite your dislike of President Trump’s personal behavior and a lack of concrete evidence he supports your views.  I can only stress, again, that his are not just character flaws. President Trump’s psychopathy should set off alarms so loud that you could never vote for him, just as you believe you could never vote for Joe Biden.  Please re-think your position.  This is not just about you or me – it is about our collective survival.

(Stephen Winham is a retired State Budget Director for the State of Louisiana. He resides in St. Francisville.)

“These accusations were so deranged. I always knew it would get to the point where people would ask: How did it get to this point? How did it get so bad?”

—Researcher Travis View, on QAnon, which the FBI calls a domestic terrorism threat.

“QAnon represents a public security threat with the potential in the future to become a more impactful domestic terror threat.”

—Warning from the U.S. Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center.

“That line between incitement of violence versus legitimate political speech gets really, really fine under Trump.”

—Ethan Zuckerman, director of the MIT Center for Civic Media, on Donald Trump’s rhetoric in support of several QAnon-affiliated political candidates.

“Study Finds More COVID-19 Cases Among Viewers of Fox News Host Who Downplayed Pandemic.”

—National Public Radio headline story last May. [A story I would file under “K,” for “Karma.”

“Rest assured I expect the President to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering, and I will keep you updated on any future developments.”

—Presidential physician Dr. Sean Conley, on announcing that Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus. [To paraphrase the late Earl Long: I hope he’s okay. If something happens to him, they might put a good person in there who’ll win. On a more serious note, I personally know victims of coronavirus and it’s not something I would wish on anyone.]

“We need politicians…to take this seriously and to support their scientists and clinicians in leading the outbreak management, rather than have political influence in trying to deny that this virus is in circulation and drag your feet around control measures because it suited your agenda.”

— Dr. Bharat Pankhania, who advises British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on communicable disease control, in saying he hopes that Trump’s positive test sends a message to him and other world leaders.

So, how did a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) come to have a stake in the casino gambling business?

And why doesn’t his 2019 personal financial disclosure statement, required of all public officials by the Louisiana Board of Ethics, make no mention of his involvement in gaming operations in Mississippi?

Eric Skrmetta of New Orleans is being opposed by six challengers as he seeks reelection to the District 1 PSC seat in the Nov. 3 election. District 1 is comprised of all or parts of Orleans, Jefferson, Ascension, St. Bernard, Plaquemine, St. Charles, and the Florida parishes of Livingston, Tangipahoa, Washington, St. Helena and St. Tammany.

By way of bringing you up to date, this is the same Eric Skrmetta who has accepted some $47,500 in campaign contributions since 2011 from executives and their companies that provide prison telephone services at outrageous rates – rates that are charged to inmates’ families for collect calls.

Yeah, that Eric Skrmetta, who fought EFFORTS  by the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops to reduce those exorbitant rates six years ago and got really pissy with LCCB Executive Director Robert Tasman a-la Donald Trump debate style when Tasman attempted to read a statement on behalf of the LCCB.

Skrmetta barely squeaked by in his 2014 reelection bid, actually trailing by nearly 4,000 votes in the first primary before finally prevailing in a runoff.

But back to our story. Eric Skrmetta began looking into the development of the gaming industry in Mississippi in 1992 after gaming was passed in Louisiana and Mississippi. Eric Skrmetta, an attorney, was acting in his own interest and that of his father, Ray Skrmetta, according to a six-page ruling of the MISSISSIPPI SURPREME COURT on Feb. 28, 2002 affirming the findings of the Harrison County Circuit Court.

He began negotiating with several different gaming operators about the possibility of developing a casino on his father’s property. Eric, in his negotiations with Boomtown, Inc., made it clear that he wanted to be a partner in the proposed casino but Robert List, representing Boomtown, told Eric that he could not participate as a partner unless he had money to contribute.

In an attempt to work around that requirement, Eric suggested to his father that Ray Skrmetta waive two years’ rent in exchange for Boomtown’s granting Eric a 15 percent partnership interest. Boomtown agreed and on March 26, 1993, a letter of intent was executed that transferred to Ray “or his designee” a 15 percent partnership interest in lieu of paying the base rent to Ray Skrmetta for the first two years of the lease of the land. A couple of weeks after the letter of intent was signed, Eric signed a lease agreement. The actual partnership admission agreement which formally admitted Eric as a 15 percent limited partner in Boomtown was executed by Ray and Eric Skrmetta on July 7, 1995.

Like so many such agreements, it didn’t take long for things to veer off on a southward trajectory. Somehow, Eric had the impression that Boomtown would build a hotel on the property which would have enhanced its value. But the letter of intent signed by all parties made no reference to the future construction of a hotel, nor did the lease agreement or the amended lease agreement signed in September 1993 stipulate that a hotel would ever be constructed, though Boomtown CEO Tim Parrot did testify before the Mississippi Gaming Commission in June 1994 that there were plans to build a 150-room Days Inn hotel.

Boomtown asked to buy out Eric’s partnership interest in August 1997. Eric would admit during arbitration that he may have raised the issue of fraudulent misrepresentation, an echo of the allegation made by his father in his lawsuit against Boomtown. Eric Skrmetta eventually received $400,000 from Boomtown for his partnership interest.

But rather than fully divesting himself of all interests in Boomtown, he simply converted his ownership stake and the profits it would pay him into a lease agreement which pays 5 percent of Boomtown’s profits to his real estate holding company, Skrmetta MS, LLC, of Pass Christian, Mississippi.

MINUTES from the March 20, 2008 meeting of the Mississippi Gaming Commission reflect that an application for findings of suitability for Dennis Skrmetta and Eric Skrmetta was approved for a period of nine years. Minutes from the commission’s April 20, 2017, MEETING indicate an application for finding of suitability for Eric Skrmetta was again approved.

Both actions mean that Skrmetta was found suitable to be associated with a gaming license granted by the State of Mississippi under that state’s Gaming Control Act.

Moreover, DOCUMENTS filed with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 23, 2007, by Penn National Gaming, Boomtown’s owner, say that Skrmetta MS, LLC would receive “rent equal to 5% of adjusted gaming win after gaming taxes have been deducted” on its 100-year lease agreement with Boomtown, and that “the landlord (Skrmetta MS, LLC) will subsequently purchase property owned by BTN (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Penn National Gaming) and certain other wholly-owned subsidiaries of the company in the vicinity of Boomtown Biloxi Casino for $12.8 million.

On March 23, 2007, BTN entered into an amended and RESTATED GROUND LEASE with Skrmetta MS, LLC. The lease amends the prior ground lease, dated October 19, 1993. The Amended Lease requires BTN to maintain a minimum gaming operation on the leased premises and to pay rent equal to 5% of adjusted gaming win after gaming taxes have been deducted. The term of the Amended Lease expires on January 1, 2093.

Boomtown is projected to pay nearly $51.4 million over the 100-year life of the lease to Skrmetta’s company – an average of a little more than $500,000 per year. And that does not include his 5 percent cut of gaming revenue from casino operations – amounts that never appear in Skrmetta’s FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORM.

In Louisiana, incredibly, there are no prohibitions to elected officials holding an interest in gaming enterprises but Skrmetta’s silent stake in Boomtown casino should certainly raise a few eyebrows.

“My reaction is, he’s sick. You know, he does this over and over again. He will play the race card, because he’s a racist. But he plays the race card when he’s stumped, and he’d rather people call him a racist than incompetent.”

—Rep. Cedric Richmond, Louisiana’s only Democratic congressman, of Trump’s debate performance.

“Trump is just outrageous. It’s like trying to debate a drunk gorilla that’s just going crazy.”

—Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio). [Not to belabor the point, but considering the hair and that spray-on tan, wouldn’t orangutan be more appropriate than gorilla?]

“You’re essentially telling a paramilitary force to ‘stand by.’ I think at this point, the biggest thing to worry about is Election Day. . . . It’d be pretty scary to try and go vote and have hundreds of people screaming at you about these ideas.”

—Heidi Beirich, founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

“Tom, the debate was last night. I emailed you. The Vice President emailed you. My sons, Don Jr. and Eric, both emailed you. Lara emailed you. Diamond and Silk emailed you. Mike Lindell emailed you. The Trump Finance Team emailed you. And now, I’m emailing you. Again. Each day, my team has given me a list of Patriots who have stepped up to help us reach our critical End-of-Quarter Goal, and each day, I’ve noticed YOUR NAME is STILL MISSING.”

—Email from Trump’s campaign on Wednesday. {The word idiot doesn’t even do him justice.]

“Kushner Companies received unusually favorable loan terms for the 18 mortgages it obtained with Freddie Mac’s backing. The loans allowed the Kushner family company to make lower monthly payments and borrow more money than was typical for similar loans, 2019 Freddie Mac data shows. The terms increase the risk to the agency and to investors who buy bonds with the Kushner mortgages in them.”

—Analysis by ProPublica of loan packages of nearly $850 million that U.S. taxpayers could find themselves on the hook for if Kushner Companies defaults. [Remember the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $190 billion bailouts and the crash of 2008? Keep an eye on this transaction. Just sayin’.]

In one of his recent TV ads, Louisiana’s senior U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy pitches “more options” for medical care for America’s veterans and active military personnel.

Too bad he doesn’t feel the same way about the rest of America’s citizens.

Of course, going to bat for the military has that patriotic feel that gives us all a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I mean, who wouldn’t want the best for Americans in uniform (well, other than someone with chronic bone spurs who would call them losers and suckers)?

But while Cassidy, who is up for reelection on Nov. 3, is touting “more options” for medical care for our military, he’s in a back room somewhere with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to gut the Affordable Care Act which would STRIP HEALTH CARE from tens of millions of Americans, including half-a-million in Louisiana.

Nationally, it would strip more than 22 million Americans of their health care coverage, including those who survived COVID-19 who would suddenly find themselves classified as having preexisting conditions.

In Louisiana, more than 160,000 COVID-19 survivors would be considered as having preexisting conditions.

It is ironic that the bill being put forward by Cassidy-Graham would punish Louisiana citizens in other ways, as well.

For example, their proposed bill would take money from states like Louisiana that EXPANDED Medicaid and obtained coverage for more than 500,000 Louisiana citizens after his predecessor, Bobby Jindal, stubbornly refused to make coverage available and give it to states that FAILED to expand coverage.

What’s more, states would not be required to use that extra money to obtain coverage for its citizens or to help subsidize low- and middle-income citizens as Obamacare does.

Edwin Park, a policy analyst for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the bill is “more disruptive” than any other Republican-sponsored bill to repeal Obamacare.

But hey, Cassidy is right there to fight for expanded medical options for veterans and active military personnel.

But will he go public with an ad campaign promoting his plan to jerk medical care from more than half-a-million Louisianans?

I think you can check that box No.