Long before November 8, 2016, there were voices shouting out warnings about Donald Trump's mental fitness for the Oval Office. At a minimum, we heard warnings that he was a malignant narcissist who would endanger the nation and damage the nation domestically and in the international realm. Despite these warnings and a 3 million vote loss in the popular vote, the Electoral College certified Trump as the winner of the election in dereliction of its duty as envisioned by the Founding Fathers who had feared the rise of someone like Trump. The fact that the 70,000 votes in three states that tipped the scales were likely motivated by the efforts of a hostile foreign nation make the situation all the more disturbing. If Vladimir Putin sought to weaken the United States, he has achieved far more than he could have dreamed as Trump has shredded treaty negotiations and frayed international alliances. Meanwhile, his white supremacist and Christofascists core of supporters remain so blinded by their hatred of minorities and desire to trample on the religious freedom of other citizens that they turn a blind eye to how they have endangered to nation. A column in the Washington Post looks at Trump's seeming mental deterioration. When will Congressional Republicans put the country ahead of partisan ship and robbing the working and middle classes to lavish tax cuts on the already wealthy? Here are column highlights:
Donald Trump spent much of 2016 questioning his opponent’s stamina to be president of the United States. But it is now Trump’s own fitness that is being scrutinized by friends and foes alike. After Trump spent recent weeks creating a level of chaos unseen around the White House since Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974, Capitol Hill politicians and media outlets are quietly questioning whether Trump is fit for the highest office in the land. That the commander in chief slurred his way through the end of a speech on Jerusalem Wednesday was just the latest in a string of unsettling incidents. Many who move through his orbit believe Trump is not well. That is a verdict that was reached long ago by many of the president’s own staff. More than a few politicians and reporters across Washington have shared similar fears.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) openly questioned Trump’s competence and suggested that administration officials are doing little more than running “an adult day care center.” The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also expressed fear that the president’s erratic behavior is putting the United States “on the path to World War III.”
The secretary of state reportedly called the president a “moron.” The national security adviser allegedly said Trump has the mind of a “kindergartner.”
White House insiders tell Vanity Fair that Trump is “unraveling” mentally.
One of the president’s regular early-morning reads, the New York Daily News, editorialized last week that “the President of the United States is profoundly unstable. He is mad. He is, by any honest layman’s definition, mentally unwell and viciously lashing out.”
The president has spent the past few weeks insulting the United States’ closest allies, retweeting anti-Muslim videos from far-right British activists, spitting out racist slurs at a ceremony honoring Native American veterans, privately embracing conspiracy theories related to his “Access Hollywood” tape and Barack Obama’s birthplace, slandering CNN International, and, yes, pushing a bizarre conspiracy theory in my direction.
Any Fortune 500 company would have fired a chief executive exhibiting similarly erratic behavior long ago. Unfortunately, the Washington leaders most strategically positioned to limit the damage seem to be frozen by fear.
For months now, national security insiders have been fretting about the possibility of war on the Korean Peninsula. But administration sources admit their greatest fear is their own commander in chief’s instability.Trump has dragged America’s values and reputation to their lowest point in years. If Republicans don’t find their bearings soon, it may be America’s safety and security that are next to go.
It is frightening that each morning I wake up and hope that Trump has not unleashed some catastrophe during the night. The fact that millions around the globe likely have a similar experience is not comforting.
No comments:
Post a Comment