Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Tuesday, December 22, 2020

The Madness of President Trump

“The problem is that we need a party that’s going to fight. And we have some great congressmen and women that are doing it. And we have others, some great fighters. But we won this in a landslide. They know it, and we need backing from — like the Justice Department and other people have to finally step up.” --Donald J. Trump, Dec. 21, 2020

"There is no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of an American election." — Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy

The above is somewhat comforting, but the fact that the Army secretary would need to make such a public statement has to be a first in American history.


It is increasingly obvious that Donald J. Trump is losing his mind. He has given up any pretense of governing and is spending what is left of his time in office in seditious plans to overthrow the free and fair election that he lost.              

And where is the Republican Party as Trump and his Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight conspire to shred our Constitution in order to keep this American despot in power?

I'm tired of Republicans declaring their adherence to "Constitutionalism." The past four years have made plain that the GOP doesn't care a whit what the Constitution actually says. I think it would be helpful if everyone stopped calling Trump and Trumpists "Conservatives." Whatever these people are, conservative isn't it. 

At this point the label is more propaganda then anything else. Trump is, strangely enough, apolitical, in that his politics (as in everything else) is entirely self-interested. If it helps him, makes him money, makes the base love him, or "owns the libs" he's for it. His continued fight to tear down American democracy demonstrates this. He would rather destroy the American system of government than lose; and if he is going to lose, he's going to do as much damage (and make as much money) as he can before he gets the boot. 

Those who follow him are more Stalinist/bolshevik than anything else--party above all, and leader above party. They are completely on board with overturning an election because they don't like the outcome. And I don't believe for a second more than a handful actually believe Trump won. They don't care. They're more than happy to tear down everything in order to keep Trump in power. They will call whatever is left "America"--because for them America is only them and Trump. 

Trump is the Republican Party and the Republican Party is Trump. The GOP has surrendered whatever was left of its principles to a liar, a cheat, and a fraud. 

And that, my friends, will forever be the GOP's legacy.







Please read this:






"In the past two days, stories in major papers have focused on the president’s deteriorating mental state. The Atlantic ran a story by Peter Wehner titled “Trump is Losing His Mind.” It describes “Trump’s descent into madness.” Politico ran Michael Kruse’s story titled “Is Trump Cracking Under the Weight of Losing?”

”[T]he actual fact of the matter,” it said, is that “Trump is a loser.” Kruse points to Trump’s uncharacteristic absence from the public eye to wonder if he is breaking down mentally. “His fragile ego has never been tested to this extent,” Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen told Kruse. “While he’s creating a false pretense of strength and fortitude, internally he is angry, depressed and manic. As each day ends, Trump knows he’s one day closer to legal and financial troubles. Accordingly, we will all see his behavior deteriorate until it progresses into a full mental breakdown.” 

[skip]


 Yesterday, Erica Newland, a former lawyer for the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice, published an op-ed in the New York Times saying she is “Haunted by What I Did as a Lawyer in the Trump Justice Department.” Lawyers like her, she said, hoped they were limiting the damage Trump could do but were instead, she concluded, finding ways to make his demands legal. Represented by the caliber of lawyers who are currently at his side—Giuliani and Powell, for example—Newland argues, he could never have made anything stick. Newland resigned from her post in 2018 and now says, “No matter our intentions, we were complicit.” They helped enable Trump’s assault on our democracy, and on reality. She offered her apology to the nation. 

Meanwhile, right-wing media outlets Fox News Channel, Newsmax, and One America News are also concerned with the law. They are madly backpedaling as they face the consequences of their baseless accusations against election software company Smartmatic. Although that company was involved in the 2020 election only in Los Angeles County, right-wing media personalities have accused it of altering votes in several states in the 2020 presidential contest. The lawyer for the company’s founder, Antonio Mugica, has sent letters to the FNC, Newsmax, and OAN demanding that they retract their stories and warning them to keep documents for a forthcoming defamation suit. Voting machine manufacturer Dominion Voting Systems, also included in the news stories, has also hired legal counsel. The threat of lawsuits has prompted the FNC and Newsmax to “clarify” at some length that they had no evidence of any of the improprieties they alleged. On Newsmax, John Tabacco also had to clarify that there was no relationship between Dominion Voting Systems and Dianne Feinstein, the Clintons, Nancy Pelosi, George Soros, Hugo Chavez, or the government of Venezuela. 

As he descends into the fever swamps, Trump has largely given up any pretense of governing. His public schedule remains empty, and his private meetings appear to focus on how he can stay in office. 

Today [12/21] we learned that Russian hackers broke into the email system used by the leadership of the Treasury Department, but the cyberattack from Russia has gone unaddressed except to the extent the president tried to blame the attack on China (although he has made no move to retaliate against China for the attack). He has made little attempt to shepherd any sort of an economic relief bill through Congress. And, most crucially, he is silent about the epidemic that is killing us. As of this evening, more than 18 million Americans have been infected with the coronavirus, and at least 319,000 have died."

14 comments:

Paula said...

From the National Alliance on Mental Illness web site:

"Most people think of psychosis as a break with reality. In a way it is. Psychosis is characterized as disruptions to a person’s thoughts and perceptions that make it difficult for them to recognize what is real and what isn’t. These disruptions are often experienced as seeing, hearing and believing things that aren’t real or having strange, persistent thoughts, behaviors and emotions. While everyone’s experience is different, most people say psychosis is frightening and confusing"

And how does this not describe Trump's behavior?

The man is seriously ill, and no one will do anything about it.

skudrunner said...

14 days and counting to determine the next two years. 30 days to find out if trump is going to show up to pass the baton. This is an exciting time of year and when trump was elected I said we live in interesting times but I didn't know how interesting. I guess it is a good thing the inaugural celebrations will be muted because joey has to get to bed and cruella has a lot of planning to do.

Wishing him four years of good health and you a Merry Christmas or Bodhi Day even if you are not a believer.

Dave Miller said...

Shaw... a couple of thoughts.

First, Newland, speaking of those in the admin who kept their heads down and continued to work, said this... “No matter our intentions, we were complicit.” Truer words were never spoken.

McGahn, Kelly, Mattis, Tillerson, Bolton, Priebus, Newland and many more are indeed complicit in a four year assault continues, seemingly unabated today. As much as Trump has vacated his oath of office, these people have been worse because they had an ability while in office to expose the rot they experienced and saw.

And then, yes!

If the hack was indeed China, as Trump alleges, then you are exactly correct in saying, fine... where is the response to China? The US Departments of Energy, Treasury and Commerce were all breached in an attack the late John Le Carre would have loved. But to date, no response, no statement, nothing, except deflection.

All of this for a few judges.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Dave "All of this for a few judges."

A Faustian bargain* for the ages!

*Faustian bargain, a pact whereby a person trades something of supreme moral or spiritual importance, such as personal values or the soul, for some worldly or material benefit, such as knowledge, power, or riches.

This is the definition of what the Republican Party has done!

Shaw Kenawe said...

Paula

From David Gerson, conservative pundit:

"Looking on the bright side of a humiliating national disaster, the manner of President Trump’s departure from power has clarified why he must never hold power again," --Michael Gerson

Shaw Kenawe said...

skud, Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale, and Festivus for the rest of us!

Ray Cranston said...

American Fascists remained under the surface of politics and until Trump
started recognizing and encouraging their fascist behavior;
they were kept at bay by most responsible members of both partys
until then.

That changed and what we saw was how docile the Republican Party
elites when faced with power to rule would shove their agenda down
the throats of America.

Trump is a wannabe dictator as well as a dangerous and slothful human.
He, and no one like him, should ever get close to the White House again.

Les Carpenter said...

If America is lucky trump will keep losing his grip (and all sense of reality) and off himself like Hitler did.

Anonymous said...

The Republican party has been anti constitutional way before Trump was ever president. This character will not change. Best we keep them out of elective offices.

Anonymous said...

Shaw, I'm thinking....Trump's gonna rabbit. He's gonna run,
and, like all con men and grifters, he intends to leave Pence
holding the bag.

Now, would it not be something, if, and I do say if....
Trump fled to ..Russia?

And if Trump does indeed flee to Russia, does that not
place ALL his actions, as president, under the balance
of being a RUssian asset? A tool? A traitor?
And if that is so, then what of all those who aided
and abetted and supported a traitor to the United States
of America?
Talk about interesting times..........

We also have to realize that Mr Trump, at his best,
is a coward. When faced with hardship, cowards invariably
run. And run scared.

I know you've gotta be waiting for those headlines, Shaw....LOL

Dervish Sanders said...

"I don't believe for a second more than a handful actually believe Trump won".

Dotard won in a landslide. His victory was stolen by the massive voter fraud perpetrated by the corrupt Democrat machine. In 2016 Democrats were sure HRC would win and therefore didn't bother to ramp up the cheating.

I think way more than a handful of republican voters absolutely believe this to be the case. republican politicians? If that is the "handful" you're referring to, then YES, I agree (Dotard being in that handful).

Ray said...

Trump once said that he loves nothing more than "getting even" with those who have crossed him.

He is now in the process of "getting even" with the American people for voting him out of office.

Les Carpenter said...

If there ever was a greater bullshit artist, a greater con man, a more prolific liar, a more indecent person, a biglier narcissist, or a more inept and corrupt politician the name escapes me.

Infidel753 said...

RN: If there ever was a greater bullshit artist, a greater con man

Try St Paul and Muhammad. Those are the only ones I can think of.