Double-Tap
Games Fascists Play: The Psychology of Supremacy
**In game analysis, “White” opens with a “con,” which is the first move in a game. White is the initiator or agent of the game, who invites “Black” or “Dr. Black” (therapist) to join. The “gimmick” is the weakness in “Black,” which leads Black to respond to White’s con.**
DOUBLE-TAP
Set up: Persecuting and rescuing at the same time.
Clinical explanation: Therapy requires a contract between the patient and the therapist. Specifically, a change contract, which is a mutual agreement for a course of action in psychotherapy. The therapist and patient have formulated a clearly defined goal: what they want to change today, tomorrow, in a month, etc. Otherwise, Dr. Black will place the patient in a victim position from both the rescuer and persecutor roles.
For example, Miss Black may describe her relationship with her father and various symptoms. If the arrogant Dr. Black does not obtain a therapeutic change contract he could start an analytic war. In essence, the Double-Tap game involves simultaneous violence and aid.1 Dr. Black strikes the patient with a diagnosis such as “anxiety” or “depression.” Minutes later, he comes to the rescue with a plan of attack. However, the aid strips down Miss Black by analyzing the source of her pathology, e.g., neurotransmitters, “trauma,” or “attachment issues.” A targeted strike.
Dr. Black’s initial diagnosis is a violation. This is followed by a brief delay before offering clinical aid. However, there is no reason for Miss Black to be psychiatrically disrobed for Dr. Black’s clinical assault. Dr. Black is operating without informed consent of the patient. He is no longer a therapist and instead becomes a rapist. Next, the “tissue damage” comes not from a literal cut, but instead from the second strike in the form of a referral to a psychiatrist. A Double-Tap. The psychiatric referral given to Miss Black is suggestion to put some ice on the wound (diagnosis). Colloquially speaking, Dr. Black fucks the patient and offers analytical aid. Double-Tap. The finality of this rescue-persecutor game is when the patient is referred out (“She’s a Borderline”) to get rid of them.
The everyday variant of Double-Tap is clear in relationships between anxious controlling parents and their adolescent children. AI-assisted apps such as Life360 provide a roaming GPS “target” of the young Black. The over-involving White observes Black’s location on the app. The first strike is a friendly text (“What are you doing?”) with an ulterior motive. Minutes later, the second strike comes in the form of a phone call to ensure Black’s safety (aid).
Original games: Double-Tap is based on what Eric Berne called the Rapo game. For example, a woman interacts with a man while leading him on in a seductive manner. The man might follow her around at a cocktail party. When Black has taken the bait and responds to her advances and tries to steal a kiss, she turns away “in righteous indignation.”2 The childhood variant of Rapo has White sweetly calling to a neighbor boy, “Why don’t you come over and play with me?” When he falls for the trap, “she looks down her nose at him and sneers, “Oh, you’re too dirty, my mama wouldn’t want me to play with you”.”3 Getting even is the theme of Rapo as opposed to the Double-Tap game’s themes of domination and the maintenance of power.
A rape is a form of torture that is enjoyed by the perpetrator. According to Eric Berne, the criminal rapist does not care much for the other person, and they use Black for fun to play the chase version of Cops & Robbers (C&R).4 In the third-degree form of Double-Tap, blood is drawn from the victim by the aggressor, and this is especially true in anal rape.5
For White, the torture of Black has an effect at the biological level: excitement and sexual pleasure. Berne describes how the little fascist in White probes and torments the victim for, ironically, emotional indulgence:
Torture brings about a peculiar intimacy between the torturer and the victim, and a profound insight into each other’s souls, an intimacy and insight which is often otherwise lacking in both their lives. The other by-product is a purely commercial one. The victim always has valuables which can yield a profit.6
Double-Tap (DT) is a profitable form of a War game, which bridges the first section of the book with the section on Capitalism games. A “double-tap” is a strike (e.g., predator drone7) on a suspected military target that involves bombing a target and then waiting a for a brief time.8 When the first responders arrive, the target is struck for a second time.
For example, thousands of drone and “double-tap” strikes by the CIA in Pakistan9; the Bush and Obama administration “kill list,” whereby every target was personally approved by Obama; Israel’s targeted killing program; Hamas setting off a device and waiting for responders to arrive before setting off a larger device10; U.S. attacks on Venezuelan fishing boats; Russian attacks in Syria and Ukraine, etc.
It suffices to say that double-tap drone strikes are not accidents nor are they isolated incidents, a mere bout of negligence. They are part of a broader [U.S.] policy of blatant disengagement with the requirements of international law.11
Like another “DT,” delirium tremors (DTs) is caused by a form of double-tap. The withdrawal from alcohol is after the initial strike (bombing the liver). The return of booze and then subsequent withdrawal causes profound global confusion. This confusion is evident for the bystanders and emergency personnel arriving at military double-tap drone strikes.
Thesis: The commercial and interpersonal meet in violent exploitation and faux rescuing. On the television show Shark Tank, the investors (sharks) will fuck the person by devaluing their business and their methods, while offering aid in the form of capital investment. As Kevin O’Leary states, he acts with impunity “because I’m Mr. Wonderful.” (see BMW).
The third-degree Double-Tap game leads to blood and potentially death. For example, in 1978, Miss Black saw Bill Clinton as someone to be very fond of. Later, he became a detestable foe.12 Miss Black claims that Bill Clinton raped her while he was the then state attorney general.13 According to Miss Black, Clinton forced himself onto and inside of her (initial strike) and then violently bit her on the lip (second strike).14 Years later, Clinton shapeshifted from a foe to a friend again. He asked for forgiveness from Miss Black. Clinton offered a faux apology right before he launched his 1992 presidential campaign:
“[Miss Black], I’m so sorry for what I did.” He would say things like “I’m not the man that I used to be. Can you ever forgive me? What can I do to make things up to you?” And I’m standing there in absolute shock and I told him to go to hell and I walked off.15
The Rapo game offers deliberate seduction (friend) and a false cry of rape (foe). The underlying friend-foe theory is the same in Double-Tap. Clinton’s insincere apology was part of the game Sorry About That.16 Here White maintains power over the victim by speaking down to them with a fake apology. Psychologically, one can imagine Bill Clinton’s motives in 1992: “I’m running for president, and no one will get in my way.”
When everything was over with and he got up and straightened himself, and I was crying at the moment, and he walks to the door and calmly puts on his sunglasses. And before he goes out the door he says, “You’d better get some ice on that.” And he turned and went out the door.17
Double-Tap ends when Clinton puts on his aviator sunglasses and exits the hotel room. Before he leaves, the persecuting Clinton switches back to the rescuer role by saying, “You’d better get some ice on that.” This is in reference to the tissue damage (split lip) based on the supremacist act of violence. This is the final persecutor to rescuer role switch: Clinton bites and simultaneously offers a first aid for some sense of security.
In nation-state War games, the Double-Tap is followed by a faux apology based on a technical error. For example, the U.S. military utilized AI-assisted (metadata18) missile strikes on February 28th, 2026 at the start of the US-Israel war of aggression on Iran. Witnesses claim that the Iranian Minab school was “triple tapped.” The Sorry About That “apology” comes from a place of supremacy (“self-defense,” “intelligence failure” or the “fog of war”).
Aim: The Double-Tap game is based on commercial forms of yielding profits through power (war) and misdirection (propaganda). The Nazis implemented a friend-foe theory to exploit political situations. The Nazis declared anyone a friend or foe depending on political needs.19
Commercially, these interpersonal manipulations of Double-Tap are used by large banks and financial institutions (“data breach”). White, Inc. violates and manipulates the consumer. The consumer Black is subjugated to a victim or bystander role in the game. The friendly White, Inc. is a foe who exploits the consumer Black. For example, White, Inc. accidentally releases Black’s sensitive private information in the form of data (initial strike). A letter is delivered to Black several months after the cyberattack: “We are sorry to tell you about a privacy event.” On the psychological level, the message is “We fucked you; Sorry About That.” In contrast with the Rapo game, it is customer Black—and not White—who is indignant based on the “double-tap” strike.
Arrogantly, White, Inc. does not take accountability for the release or theft of the customer’s sensitive information: they fuck you. In the letter or e-mail sent to Black, White, Inc. states that they noticed illegal activity on their computer systems, they began investigating with a special hired team, and they called law enforcement. There are elements of Hide & Seek as the con is an “intelligence failure” that led to an attack. However, in Double-Tap, White, Inc. never moves into a victim role. It is a persecutor to rescuer switch. After the damage is done by the “cybercriminal” strike and the pain has been inflicted, White, Inc. rescues Black with the second strike: “We’d like to offer you free credit monitoring and identity protection services.”
The “rape” (data breach) is washed over with a reference guide (first aid): “Order a free credit report today!”20 Metaphorically, White, Inc. throws on aviator sunglasses and offers customer Black unsolicited advice: “You’d better get some ice on that.” White, Inc. extends an updated security measure and a free subscription to a company that is Happy To Help! safeguard Black’s personal data. On the psychological level, White, Inc. is conveying, I’m Only Trying To Help You!
Interestingly, the Media game version of Double-Tap game is monetized via Cancelled. With the Cancelled game, experiential and exchange value is extracted from the made-public histories of people who have behaved badly. Ain’t P. Diddy Awful? The abhorrent behavior of White is the initial strike. This is then “tapped” by the Media for exploitation.
Antithesis: Ethics and the rule of law. Interpersonally, the suspension of ego for social justice (e.g., prosecution of rapists and war criminals):
…a system that fails to hold leaders responsible for violations of international and domestic criminal law is not a “government of laws” but is rather a “government of men,” in which the powerful are free to break the law without fear of repercussion. A government of laws thus requires that even the highest leaders, perhaps especially the highest leaders, face repercussions for violating the law.21
U.S. wars of aggression are not meant to be won; they are meant to be permanent forms of economic exploitation by the military-industrial complex. The Double-Tap merging of War and Capitalism games offer ascendance and the maintenance of a supreme status (ego-power). The maintenance of superiority comes with the process of being a somebody. One must either Be Mr. Wonderful (Musk, Trump) or, specifically not-be Mr. Wonderful (Genocide Joe Biden). In contrast, being a nobody who knows they do not “know” anything, is very close to Zen:
To know that there is nothing to know, and to grieve that it is so difficult to communicate this “nothing to know” to others—this is the life of Zen, this is the deepest thing in the world.22
Despite this sentiment, the Capitalism games are making windfalls off Eastern philosophies and religions promoted by “somebody’s.” For example, the mindfulness movement and Buddhism in the U.S. (see See how-hard I’ve Tried).
ANALYSIS
Thesis: I’m going to fuck you and protect you at the same time.
Antithesis: Social justice via the nationalization of the monetary system to eliminate making money from money (i.e., Western financial system).
Aim: Conceit, self-branding, wealth, torture, immortality.
Roles: Persecutor and Rescuer at the same time.
Dynamics: Be Mr. Wonderful (capitalist, Bill Clinton) takes on the dictator role (becomes a little fascist, rapist).
Examples: (1) Psychotherapy without informed consent (2) Rape (3) Corporate / financial irresponsibility and deception.
Moves: (1) Degradation-Violation (2) Humiliation (3) Faux forgiveness.
References
Double-Tap was initially titled “Ice-Man,” which can be found here:
p. 37, James, M. (1978). Born to win: Transactional analysis and gestalt experiments. Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
p. 189, James, M. (1978). Born to win: Transactional analysis and gestalt experiments. Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
p. 160, Berne, E. (1971). Sex in human loving. New York: Simon & Schuster.
For example, Muammar Gaddafi being sodomized to death by a bayonet (p. 269, Blumenthal, M. (2019). The management of savagery: How America’s national security state fueled the rise of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Donald Trump. Verso: New York).
p. 269, Berne, E. (1972). What do you say after you say hello?: The psychology of human destiny. New York: Grove Press, Inc.
“The U.S. military had less than 200 drones in 2001, 7000 in 2011, [24] and nearly 11,000 by 2013.[25] (p. 267, Samuel Alexander, Double-Tap Warfare: Should President Obama Be Investigated for War Crimes?, 69 Fla. L. Rev. 261 (2017). Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol69/iss1/7)
p. 262, Samuel Alexander, Double-Tap Warfare: Should President Obama Be Investigated for War Crimes?, 69 Fla. L. Rev. 261 (2017). Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol69/iss1/7
“For perspective, the total number of drone strikes in Pakistan as of August 19, 2016, is 424, causing between 2,499 and 4,001 deaths.[46]” (p. 269, Samuel Alexander, Double-Tap Warfare: Should President Obama Be Investigated for War Crimes?, 69 Fla. L. Rev. 261 (2017). Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol69/iss1/7)
Samuel Alexander, Double-Tap Warfare: Should President Obama Be Investigated for War Crimes?, 69 Fla. L. Rev. 261 (2017). Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol69/iss1/7
p. 291, Samuel Alexander, Double-Tap Warfare: Should President Obama Be Investigated for War Crimes?, 69 Fla. L. Rev. 261 (2017). Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol69/iss1/7
From Ego, Hunger and Aggression, Fritz Perls describes the attitude of the Nazi’s was based on a “friend-foe theory.” The friend-foe attitude became their principle: “They might declare anybody friend or foe at will, depending merely on the needs of the political situation.” (p. 60, Perls).
In Christopher Hitchens’s book No One Left To Lie To: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton, he interviews Juanita Broaddrick. This third-degree version of Double-Tap reveals the sadism of the game. Written at the end of Bill Clinton’s presidential term, the chapter is titled, “Is There a Rapist In the Oval Office?” The title itself bares Hitchen’s provocational style. If the allegations are true, this encounter illustrates the difference between the games Rapo and Double-Tap.
Recall, the Rapo game has White bait Black into a potential sexual act before rebutting them with the slogan “You Dirty Boy.” Juanita did not go public with these allegations for many years, and she never confronted Clinton about that sick day in 1978. Therefore, this example is antithetical to Rapo.
p. 111-112, Hitchens, C. (2000). No one left to lie to: The values of the worst family. Verso: New York.
p. 161, Berne, E. (1971). Sex in human loving. New York: Simon & Schuster.
p. 110, Hitchens, C. (2000). No one left to lie to: The values of the worst family. Verso: New York.
“We kill people based on metadata.” [173] (p. 286, Samuel Alexander, Double-Tap Warfare: Should President Obama Be Investigated for War Crimes?, 69 Fla. L. Rev. 261 (2017). Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol69/iss1/7)
Ego, Hunger and Aggression, Fritz Perls
The global capitalist system is increasingly virtualized. Data is the engine of the system to produce and reproduce capital with less and less of the profit-sucking human labor variable. With devices such as wearables, the extraction of data includes information regarding the inside of the body. Therefore, a data breach of the person’s identity is, in a sense, to “break the skin.” A digital form of tissue damage. Governments will no doubt use a cyber “attack” as a pretext for more security and overreach as the individual loses anonymity (the elimination of cash). Colloquially, these entities will fuck us using the implementation of “digital ID” to protect us (Double-Tap). The same could be said about “smart meters,” 5G, and 6G wireless technology: these innovations “save” while fucking the person with increased bills and radiation.
p. 294, Samuel Alexander, Double-Tap Warfare: Should President Obama Be Investigated for War Crimes?, 69 Fla. L. Rev. 261 (2017). Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol69/iss1/7)
p. 95, Blyth, R. H., Sohl, R. and Carr, A., editors (1976). Games Zen masters play: Writings of R.H. Blyth. The New American Library: New York.