Yesterday we witnessed a real meltdown by Donald Trump. It reminded me of the scene from the movie The Caine Mutiny when under cross-examination in court, Capt. Queeg crumbled exposing his mental instability. Of course, yesterday's events provoked an immediate firestorm reaction." Is Donald Trump a racist? Does Donald Trump think that anti-Nazis and Nazis are morally equivalent? Will Donald Trump abdicate his moral responsibilities as President?" And on and on.
This was of course entirely predictable but these subsidiary questions ignore the main problem. Donald Trump's remarks yesterday were occasioned by events in Charlottesville but they were entirely about himself, not what happened there or the participants. Donald Trump could not abide the notion that he was criticized for his remarks on Saturday. As usual, he cannot stand criticism because it suggests that he is not the abnormally brilliant and wise person he believes himself to be. It has become more and more apparent that he is totally delusional. He believes himself to be nearly if not totally omniscient and it is unimaginable to him that everyone does not share this view. No matter is too petty to provoke these reactions. He still maintains the crowd at his inauguration was larger then that at Pres. Obama's. When he says this he is not, apparently, lying. He really believes it. This is a man who at the national prayer breakfast wanted to talk about his ratings on the apprentice being higher than those of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Everything is about him.
This is a very dangerous man. He is demonstrably ignorant and incompetent. When you couple this with his delusional view of himself you have a real problem. He has no core beliefs or ideology. He is totally about self-aggrandizement and other than that let the chips fall where they may. As has been noted by many, he is a petulant spoiled child who has tantrums. There can be no question but that right now he is going to listen to whoever tells him he was right Saturday and yesterday. That is likely to be Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka who constitute a malignancy on the administration.
Some have suggested that what is needed with Trump is some kind of program of containment. The question is are there enough adults in the administration and congress willing to do something? At present it does not seem to be the case. All of the careful and thoughtful analysis that may appear in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, MSNBC, And even yesterday FOXNews is going to have no effect on Donald Trump other than to make him retreat further into his delusions. We are in serious trouble.
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