MORNING THOUGHTS OVER COFFEE

MORNING THOUGHTS OVER COFFEE

     It’s been a hell of a month here at “The Hermitage on ‘Walden,’” as well as for America and the world in general…all thanks to Donald Trump, who cannot seem to follow protocol or control himself either verbally or in his “tweets.” First of all, who in their right mind, what President and supposed “leader of the free world” conducts foreign and domestic policy on “Twitter?” I would suppose it is the “Twit-in-Chief” and as he referred to himself a few days ago in a tweet, “your favorite President.” Not mine!

     At the beginning of the month EPA Administer Scott Pruitt resigned as directed by Trump amid some fifteen federal investigations for various ethics violations and scandals. The next day Trump appointed Andrew Wheeler, Pruitt’s right-hand henchman to Pruitt’s vacant post.

Then there were the various attacks on NATO and numerous of its members, followed by denials, followed by various “asides” by Trump of the back-stabbing kind. Then there was the Helsinki debacle where he kowtowed to Vladimir Putin and was otherwise played by the former KGB agent turned despot, and God only knows what was said between the two men that compromised Trump and/or the country. This was followed up, in a joint press conference, by Trump “throwing the U.S. Intelligence Community under the bus” saying clearly, without equivocation, that he could not see why it would have been Russia meddling in the U.S. elections of 2016.

     Later, for several days, Trump and the White House tried to walk this back, but only slightly, changing back to the original statement the next day with the proviso that it could have been “other people.” Indeed, it’s been a series of “yes they did” and “no they didn’t” almost daily; culminating in one of yesterday’s “presidential” tweets, “I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election {sic]. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump!” Now that sounds very paranoid to me.

     Then there is the announcement, via America’s favorite propaganda minister, Sarah Sanders, that Trump is considering revoking the security clearances of several former law enforcement and intelligence leaders (two of whom don’t have security clearances anyway) on the pretext that they have  “politicized and in some cases monetized their public service,”  Now to me, that sounds very “Nixonian” and cannot help but to make one wonder if there also exists a “Nixonian” enemies list somewhere in Trump’s desk drawer?

     And less we forget, there was the bellicose tweet threatening war with Iran (reminiscent of threats to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un). Oh and then there was the claim that we have many foes, including the EU. Note that Russia is not a foe but a “competitor” while Germany (under Russian control) and France are. And there are tariffs, instigated by Trump that threaten the American economy – a trade war – and that he will now pay 12 billion American taxpayer dollars to bail out American farmers from the effects of his tariff war. A case of the tail wagging the dog perhaps? All this was accentuated by another tweet from yesterday, “Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade [sic] negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs [sic]. It’s as simple as that - and everybody’s talking! Remember, we are the “piggy bank” that’s being robbed. All will be Great [sic]!”

     One has to wonder about the mental stability of the present as his mercurial moods, and attitudes change at least daily if not even quicker. We know he is narcissistic – regard that as his “default setting.” But one cannot help but to wonder what “reality” he operates in. Is he delusional? Unhinged? Psychotic? Manic? Or is he just plain bat shit crazy! It is not unlike the old menus one found in Chinese restaurants, urging patrons to choose “one from column A and one from column B.” Please feel free to pick and choose yourself, although right now I’m tending toward delusional with a healthy helping of mania. My overall point is that Trump is not mentally fit/competent for the office he occupies, rightly or wrongly. It really is time for someone to intervene and at least for now remove Trump from office. Of course that would be regarded as a coup d’etat and thus potentially undemocratic and un-American. Yet, one has to wonder if that is not, for now, the right solution?

     Oh there is one more possible reason for the current manic behavior of Trump, one which I base largely on his love of and almost exclusive diet of fast food. That he is a fast food lover (burgers, fries, etc.) is established fact. Such a diet is very likely to cause anything from irregularity to downright constipation and/or bowel obstruction –painful and likely to affect one’s ability to even think clearly or rationally. We’ve all been there! If that is the case, perhaps John Kelly could run out and get something to help the situation along so we can all bet back to some semblance of normalcy.