IS THE “TRUMP ERA” THE END OF THE “GREAT AMERICAN DEMOCRACY?”

…Is the connection between Trump and Mika Brzezinski, what will be remembered about the big-mouth Trump era?

 

There is no reason to believe that this president can make serious decisions during his tenure.

 

One thing that we can say about Trump that will “live on in infamy” isn't about an attack on Pearl Harbor.  It is, that the term for describing the Trump presidency that will live on forever will be referred to as: “Donald Trump’s unhinged presidency”.

 

Some reporters complain that too little time is spent by Trump on real issues, such as North Korea, the Russian involvement in our elections and dealing with Russia and the war in Syria.

 

But what is becoming even more insightful about this president, is in dealing with the Tweets from this compulsive leader.  That tells us more about what he is thinking, than in dealing with those serious issues.  Every president has those speeches or statements for which he is remembered.  Lincoln had his Gettysburg Address, Franklin had his announcement of declaring war on Japan, and Kennedy had his Cuban Missile Crisis.

 

Unfortunately, for our children and grandchildren, will Trump’s reason to be remembered be his tweet about MSNBC’s Morning Joe host and Trump’s statement regarding Mika Brzezinski’s bloody face-lift?

 

As a Post opinion writer wrote, “What we are witnessing is not a new age in presidential communications. [The tweets] are an ongoing public breakdown. And the question naturally arises: Is this the result of Trump’s mental dysfunction?”

 

Trump’s tweets reveal a leader who is compulsive, abusive and so easily played.  Trump say he is a “counter-puncher”, you know “hits back twice as hard”.  But most of his punches are at unreal, non-issues.

Even though, most professional psychiatrists are not very comfortable at making a diagnosis from any distance.  This particular diagnosis at a distance is of a serious narcissistic personality disorder that shows signs of someone with a significant impairment.

 

There are required judgments that must be made about the fitness of our leaders. Citizens are under no ethical obligation to be silent when they see serious dysfunction like this. The challenge here is not merely that Trump is trashing political norms. The main problem is that America has an unbalanced president during a period of high-stakes global issues. No, this is not a clinical diagnosis. It is a civic and political judgment, made necessary by the president’s own questionable acts and words.

 

Trump holds a position that requires, above all else, the ability to unite the nation in a time of crisis.  Serious decisions may need to be made during his tenure.  But there is no reason to believe that this president can seriously play that role.

 

The resolve and courage required to confront this problem will need to come from the Republicans and the conservatives, not the Democrats and the liberals. But will the conservatives take on that role…?  If so, where do they start? 

 

How about if they decided to stop playing down the president’s current level of crazy? 

 

Here is just a small number of “Trumpisms” that need to be dealt with:

 

·       A US president should not use the tremendous power of the presidency to target individual American citizens who oppose him, such as Trump has displayed.  That is a total abuse of power.

 

·       The American public should not tolerate, or even hint at supporting a president that verbally threatens violence against his political opponents: (“I’d like to punch him in the face”). It creates an atmosphere of dictatorial intimidation.

 

·       Referring to a lying president’s statements as only being “exaggerations” for issuing a series of extensive out-and-out lies, including that his predecessor spied on him, and that a “popular-vote” victory was denied to him by widespread electoral election fraud, this is well beyond just being "unacceptable".

·       Psychologically, acting this way indicates either deep cynicism or a lack of connection to reality.

 

·       Being verbally “coarse” as Trump is toward women, and for a president to engage in consistent misogyny, this is a sign of a disturbing and deep-seated hate of strong females.

 

These are not my words, but the words of a group of professional psychologists.

Many conservatives today do respond to this by saying, “At least he fights!”.  But the question is: “For what?”   Trump offers no strong or consistent policy views on anything. And any of his statements can be reversed at the drop of a hat.  Trump only fights for admiration and adulation toward him, which is another example of his extreme narcissism.

 

Many conservatives would also say, “At least he does conservative things!”  But if the current health care bills from both Houses of Congress are any indication, Trump totally lacks any conviction, or any real knowledge of the issues and the ability to persuade. He is anything but a Ronald Reagan incarnate.

Trump’s conservative defenders are attempting an extraordinary political normalizing of extreme abnormal behavior. The psychology suggests it is the enabling of a serious sickness.  Once again, those are not my words.

 

So, what should we expect next?

 

Using the 25th Amendment as the procedure to remove an unfit president from office is an impossibility, since it involves his own Cabinet turning against the president.

 

The House and Senate Republicans should be prepared to aggressively challenge an unbalanced or unhinged president’s language and decisions, rather than trying to dismiss them as simply a “distraction or exaggeration”.

Responsible officials in the executive branch, particularly at the State, Defense and Justice departments, and in the various intelligence services, they may also need to provide an internal check on foolish, precipitous presidential orders.

 

The option here for officials is to refuse, defy, resign, or be fired, and then these former officials need to make the reasons for this reaction to be very public.  (Yes, go on CNN or NBC. Trump’s so called “Fake News” outlets )

 

The reality is that no one really knows how to deal with this situation, which still feels more like an unnerving political novel or cartoon than our political reality.

 

Trump has led our country into unexplored territory. If this is “modern day presidential era going forward” then the era of the great American democracy may have just come to an abrupt and very ugly end.

Copyright G.Ater  2017