Trump's mental decline is perfectly clear for those with eyes to see and ears to hear

[jpljr77]

Opinion piece in The Hill. There's a lot about the recent hurricane/sharpie stuff, but also other things: https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/460245-trumps-mental-decline-is-perfectly-clear-for-those-with-eyes-to-see-and-ears

Trump's mental decline is perfectly clear for those with eyes to see and ears to hear
BY MARIA CARDONA, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR

There are so many things that President Trump does on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis to demonstrate his unfitness for office that the country’s head is spinning. His latest fiasco led many – including his former friend and communications director, Anthony Scaramucci – to suggest he might be mentally unwell.

I am speaking about the moment Trump stood in the Oval Office, showing a clearly doctored version of Hurricane Dorian’s track on which a Sharpie-drawn expanded circle included Alabama in the possible path of the storm. When asked who drew the black mark that was clearly not part of the official map, Trump said “I don’t know, I don’t know.” We have since learned, according to a close adviser, that it was Trump himself who drew the mark.

The problem with that map is that it was never the official prediction or estimate of where Hurricane Dorian would head. Trump felt obliged to go on national television to double and triple down on a tweet he had posted earlier, proclaiming Alabama was possibly in the path of Dorian and causing panic in a state that was never in real danger.


Trump’s tweet was so egregiously false that the National Weather Service felt obligated to tweet out a correction immediately afterward, stating that Alabama was not in the hurricane’s path and no one in that state had anything to fear from the storm.

Yes, mistakes can happen. Yes, Trump is only human — though don’t tell him that. But a sane human would acknowledge his mistake and apologize.

[unblock]

1. "decline"?

i'll grant that donnie was more lucid and fluent in his speech decades ago, but there's been no particularly great mental decline in the last four years or so. he's got the same toxic psychological issues he had when he campaigned, when he lied about everything, offended nearly everyone, and refused to apologize for anything.

[ismnotwasm]

2. I agree

Blaming mental illness or some sort of psychological decline ignores his history. He’s always been this way. The difference is he is under certain constraints as president, which he obviously is not doing well with.

He does not care

He is a master at calling attention to himself, to avoid, deflect and manipulate. What is going on while the media is laughing at him for Alabama?

I personally believe it will all catch up to him, one way or another but in the meantime he’s doing incredible harm.

[jpljr77]

3. I agree here. I think that many in the press and the D.C. swamposphere incorrectly assume that he is

just another President. And they have expectations for how a president acts. They forget that he's a born-rich, never independently successful polemicist (at best). They haven't learned how to adjust for that.

[unblock]

5. the real problem lies in those around him

the sycophants and the enablers and the media. collectively, they lack the wherewithal or the motivation to stop him.

the media, which is capable of crushing the careers of democrats in a matter of a few weeks or even days is somehow incapable of doing much damage to republicans in general and donnie in particular.

how many democrats could survive the number of sexual harassment accusations donnie has survived? the media had a brief interest in that whole topic when the billy bush tapes came out during the campaign, but they've largely dropped it even as the number of accusations has grown.

they let him get away with murder.

[ismnotwasm]

11. It might have to do with the nature of conservatism

Static, unchanging and no matter how heinous, many people take comfort in predictability. Trump is deliberately trying to represent a USA that never existed outside of propaganda.

Whereas Liberalism offers change and forward progress, with all the uncertainty that implies. We get attacked for being “snowflakes” when we represent political bravery. It’s not brave to be a bigot. It’s not brave to deny others their humanity. It’s not brave to refuse to grow.

[volstork]

21. "We get attacked for being "snowflakes" when we represent political bravery."

Very well said! Thank you!

[maddiemom]

20. Three words, "the Dean Scream," immediately come to mind.

Howard Dean had a B.A. in Political Science from Yale prior to earning his M.D., and was not even close to the age where senility could become a concern. Trump spent two years at Penn and earned a bachelors in economics, famously from their business school, Wharton; and he usually claims a "business" degree. His transcripts and grades are a closely held secret,although he falsely claimed to be "first in his class," at one time. That lie alone should be disqualifying for anyone else in business and so obvious to disprove. He obviously felt no need to continue to a prestigious M.B.A. from Wharton. Why not, except that he didn't "need" it? His disinterest in really LEARNING anything was a great start to his career.

[MyOwnPeace]

8. Yes, he has "always been this way"......

but he is "not under certain constraints" now - just the opposite. His "Alaska-sized" ego (somebody show him where that is on a map, please) is empowered by the office - he's the "Master-of-the-World!"
Look at his recent proclamations:
*He's the chosen one
*He's the "King of Israel"

He's F**KING LOONEY!!!!!!

[ismnotwasm]

9. Yeah, I mean he can't stage a fight on some wrestling show.

He is a weirdo, but he’s not doing anything another Republican wouldn’t do. That’s why they support him.

[olegramps]

12. Agreed. He is the same nincompoop that he has always been. Damaged goods at best.

Those who knew him when he was growing up have said that he would never admit that he was wrong. He was a little monster that stoned the next door baby when the child was in a playpen in their backyard. The neighbors avoided the Trumps since they were afraid of them. His father had enough of the little bastard and shipped him off to military school where he could associated with kids of the same ilk. He thrived on that environment where he could boss others around. His higher education was a total fraud. His prof at Warton said he was outright plain right stupid.

[stopdiggin]

18. agree. the sharpie affair is about his ego

and that has always been a feature. This is the man that rode down the elevator. There MIGHT be places to legitimately point to decline (rambling, incoherent word salad, butchered pronunciation, absent words and vocabulary, physical cues ..) But THIS, with the sharpie .. this was pure Donald doubling down on a lie. Regardless of exposure or the consequences. And that's Donnie since he's been a child.

[bdamomma]

4. a sane human being would

but tRump is not human he is just an empty shell.

[jpljr77]

6. Just imagine what would have happened if Obama would have said the exact same thing.

Hell, even W.

They mention Alabama in a press conference or whatever. People start noting that Alabama is not in harm's way.

"Oh, I was going off old information. I see that now. I am very busy after all. It just underscores the importance of listening to local officials." AND IT'S OVER. No controversy. And the above isn't even really admitting a mistake. You can always blame it on aides giving you old information.

It's. So. Easy.

[Brainfodder]

7. DOLT, DOLT, DOLT!

They elected a dolt to serve as our top representative to the world, what could go wrong?

O, yeah everything and probably a level of evil by the looks of it, that we didn't know existed, remains to be seen still is all.

I'm loving all this exposure of corruption, the Epstein whatever, and more showing the need to rewrite the Constitution in crystal clear 2019 English this time please!

Example:
Rule #1 Don't be a dick
Rule #2 See #1

I'm not afraid to execute worthless humans who commit atrocities either, I'd execute every creep convicted of certain crimes.

The end of caught red handed child rapists would be incredibly swift and in a town square for transparency!

Bring back transparency, I miss you!

At this point I am tired of knowing of all the crimes and seeing no consequences!



This post, I honor Moscow Mitch, keeper of the grimm!

[SleeplessinSoCal]

10. wonder if the pile up of failures is hurting his - uh-brain.

Trump sees his North Korea talks as a success. Analysts see ‘a lot of frustration.’
https://wapo.st/30VRoPm

No way is this not eating at him since Obama told him it would be his most difficult challenge. China trade war comes in 2nd, obvious climate crisis and Dorisn was breathing down his neck. So he throws a fit about a misreading of early data and can't escape his mishaps. Making them worse is his habitual choice.

[patphil]

13. Eyes to see, and ears to hear.

Yeah, I guess Republicans do have a set of eyes and ears, but they don't seem to be using them all that much...sort of selective usage.
There is an old saying that "none are so blind as those who will not see". You could extend that to also say, "none are so deaf as those who will not hear".

Anyone should have been able to see that Trump has serious psychological and mental problems back during the 2016 campaign. The past 3 years have only seen these problems become more obvious and more severe.

Patrick Phillips

[gratuitous]

14. Which is why . . .

For people of good will who honestly and truly want to see Trump come into the presidency at last, Sharpiegate is a near-perfect example of Trump's inability to own up to his humanity as could be arranged. Anyone with a lick of sense would have put this behind him with a simple "My bad." Trump, however, can't do that. Not won't, can't. He is incapable of acknowledging a mistake, and he's furiously trying to rewrite the facts (sometimes literally so) to make his mistake not be a mistake. Right now, he's trying to telescope the timeline so that his Sunday morning tweet is magically transported back 100 hours earlier.

The only people buying it are folks like Sean Hannity, who are so personally invested in Trump as the second coming of God or the King of Israel or the chosen one that any trace of doubt will be seen as utter betrayal and consign them to the outer darkness for the requisite wailing and gnashing of teeth. It's instructive to see who isn't saying anything about this episode, lest they be seen as unfaithful to Trump.

[Texin]

15. tRump didn't make a 'mistake'. It was deliberate. Why was that?

Everything he does is for two purposes: to further enrich himself and his family; and, for political expediency. Why did he feel he needed to include Alabama in that hurricane threat? There must be a reason (even if it's only in the fevered mind of DJT). What was or might be going on in Alabama that he needed to get the citizens of Alabama - reliably retrumplican or all other versions of republicanism - that make up the electorate of that state?

[stopdiggin]

17. think you're attributing rational motive where there IS none

no it wasn't a mistake. and there WAS no point or agenda. it was pure ego.

[dlk]

16. Trump is Incompetent and Has Been Unfit From Day One

And, yes, he’s seriously declined since then. Republicans who turn a blind eye to this crisis and have enabled this train wreck are also completely unfit to govern.

[lpbk2713]

19. A part of Trump's problem is he doesn't eat well or sleep well.

And that can have a noticeable effect on someone his age.

He is partial to fast food and he tweets at 3 AM. So it's no secret.

[maddiemom]

22. Plus, any sort of physical exercise beyond swinging a golf club...

would exceed the amount of energy that he was allotted for his lifetime (his love of golf accounts for this dangerous drain on his energy: he's living on the edge). Seriously, they (not me) put our nation in his tiny hands. WTF?