To Larry Eisenberg: Please give us lyrics to killer song "I am a Stable Genius".
To be sung to Sullivan's immortal "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General."
If you don't do it I'd have to, which would not be good.
36
Trump's mental and emotional volatility are well-known. What's not definitively known are details in his recent tax returns that may show serious conflicts of interest. I'm surprised that the outcry over his refusal to release the returns seems to have receded. Any assessment of Trump's fitness to be president must include a scrupulous and full look at his financial entanglements and manipulation of the tax code to his benefit, particularly in light of the recent tax reform bill. Those are the fact about him that will speak unambiguously for themselves.
44
Trump is stress-testing this country. Preliminary results point to an immediate need for fundamental changes incorporating proactive systems.
Why do we casually give a President nuclear capability without physical and psychological fitness tests? Why do we not test the fitness of judges and members of Congress to whom we've given the power to take away our freedom?
Why have we allowed our lives to depend on the judgement and competence of a President?
Why do we not use metrics to monitor the results of political parties and government managers and politicians against best practices? Why does every agency and department and political party not have an online dashboard? Are we living in the 1800's?
Where is our adaptive governance system with error-checking capability to maximize good as it minimizes danger regardless of the political party running the system? Our current system does the opposite - it magnifies error.
We need to rethink and purpose-engineer governance from the Constitution on up. It must be bulletproof and incorporate positive train control first, then require extensive testing and real time monitoring of the system operators.
An upgraded government designed for performance will automatically self-correct from errors like Trump.
35
Twenty-first century America is struggling under the strictures of a document designed to serve a new democracy founded in the eighteenth century. Many of The Constitution's concepts, the Electoral College, a prime example, are worse than obsolete. They distort campaigning, give rise to factional politics, and fracture us.
32
Agree. And the Supreme Court's Citizens United poorly thought-out decision fully destroyed our democracy. A divided Supreme Court claimed the American people are totally powerless to stop corporations from using their wealth of corporate funds to influence our state + federal elections.
42
Rock and a hard place: Impeach the orange one and you get Pence. Great trade-off. If Pence is the Evangelical he says he is, no way of knowing. But if he is, we get a person looking forward to "THE RAPTURE" with the nuclear codes. This is hard to conceive, but Trump may be safer.
21
If Trump is a self-defined "very stable genius" maybe he should
do us all a favor and go back to the stable.
21
Every single denial Trump claims is a Shakespearean venue of "Me thinks thou dost protest too much."
Classic psychological projection.
The "very stable genius" comment is pathological.
Hopefully, during his physical exam at Walter Reed on January 12th, physicians will check for more than (an obviously absent) pedal pulse.
What about the slurred speech with repetition, word finding difficultes, continually bizarre daily tweeting--- and the obsession with his news coverage. He also had a strange presentation at Camp David, sniffing as he did at the debate, and unblinking.
15
In some ways Trump is a modern day Nero where his once loyal supporters in the Roman Senate turned on him and declared him Public Enemy Number 1. The question is what will be the tipping point to cause the GOP to turn on Trump? Will Trump continue to Twitter as America is burning? http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/nero
12
The hook: something to do with petticoats, though the Wilson-Trump situational similarities are tenuous. The angle: there were other presidents that had aides/relatives make decisions for them. The book: grist for the argument. Conclusion: he's nuttier than a bag of quality trail mix, please take away his button and while you're at it, please remove the disaster from public office. Place in the pantheon of hand-wringing over Trump's imbecility: middling.
6
President Donald Trump's behavior in the last week contributes enough tangible evidence that he is absolutely is UNFIT and INCAPABLE of serving as President of the United States. (When you add the many examples of deplorable behavior he has exhibited from the moment he began residency in the White House, the situation becomes frightening.) AND I hope and pray the American Public, people of ALL Political Parties clearly realize that Trump's irresponsible and despicable behavior has crossed a line. NONE of our political allies throughout the world trust the United States. Frankly, I am certain there are new stories involving urination emanating from Russia. Putin has been laughing so hard and such glee, I am certain that he is depending on Depends (The Soviet Version) to maintain his spartan regale. This is NUTS folks. Our nation is in deep trouble. I want to know why both Republican and Democratic Senators and Congressional Representatives are not screaming and insisting that Trump be removed from office. It appears to me that VERY FEW Political Representatives are serving the American People. This whole episode makes Watergate seem like Romper Room.
12
There you go again creating false equivalence between former president's who became ill after years of at least a modicum of public service not daily attacks on the our institutions and the rule of law, self serving everything, collusion, obstruction of justice, racism, money laundering, treason, xenophobia, sexism. Unbelievable conservatives at one time stood for something with dare I say good intentions, now their stance is only corrupt.
17
Yes, from time to time we elect people who are completely unqualified and incompetent to handle the rigors of the job. Because you can run for president and win doesn't mean one should. Unlike being ungodly wealthy one has to make decisions on a day to day basis that effects the lives and livelihood of millions of American citizens here and abroad. The only reason Trump is in power is that by and large he is viewed as an empty brooks brothers suit that will sign anything put in front of him. The loyal lapdogs in the GOP controlled congress and senate will not turn on Trump unless its in their best interest to do so. Hopefully come the end of 2018 and 2020 we can sweep out the enablers known as the GOP and bring in a wave of democrats that will hold this criminally inept president accountable for his actions.
15
However true Mr. Douthat's column may be, it is also a blistering indictment of the broad system of government that brought us to this reality. If people who are as obviously unfit for the Office Of President as Donald Trump can nonetheless accede to it, even having lost in terms of votes cast, something is dreadfully wrong. Wrong to the point that it makes a mockery of any accusation of some other country's "democracy" deserving quotation marks.
Having foisted Trump upon the world, with his "big red button" and his "stable genius", how can the US defend democracy as a system? Having acquiesced in Trump's appointment of equally venal and unfit persons to lead the Agencies of the State, agencies that have the power to do damage beyond belief, all within the formal boundaries of legality, you have given free reign to any tinpot dictator who organizes carnival elections at regular intervals to claim that he, too, is a democrat. I don't think you quite understand how bad this is... or how much worse it can yet get!
North Korea is an obvious hot spot, but here are many more, all needing careful diplomacy and patience.
I'm not sanguine about this ending well. Or, indeed, of this not being continued beyond 2020, if nothing is done to fix the system!
15
I am in the midst of Sunday dinner preparation and naturally my thoughts turn toward serving up the GOP a la carpaccio. But that dish requires extremely lean meat, that should not, really SHOULD not, be cat.
5
Really, Trump should have been dismissed immediately as presidential material via a quick assessment of his "birther" psychosis or whatever it was; the "birther" business was axiomatically disqualifying of Trump regardless of the motivation or liability behind it.
Trump complains that he's been treated unfairly, but in reality we have bent over backward and even distorted ourselves in trying to accept him.
Enough is enough.
15
Dear Ross, When the United States of America can figure out how to elect the person in charge of the country with a majority vote, then maybe we can call this a democracy. Otherwise, it will be the same old same old. When a candidate can win the popular vote and still lose an election, how can we point fingers at other nations that are doing the same or worse? RAW
25
At Camp David, President Trump again claimed Mexico will pay for the border wall --one day after requesting $18 billion from Congress to fund the wall. This sounded quite impaired.
He seems to be stuck in a repetitive slogan rut. And distracted by focusing on himself. The real damage is coming from his ideological policies.
Particularly his stance of being anti-science, anti-research, anti-intellectual. And, anti-health maintenance--- even for himself, as he gorges himself on fast food + watches hours of television while stressing himself out to the max in residual anger. The bizarre tweets at all hours, and making so light of hitting that "nuclear button."
Former President Carter set up a Working Group on Presidential Disability, proposing a non-partisan panel of doctors to monitor the president’s health.
It wasn't created any time since, and we need it now. Right Now.
16
Sadly, the Islamic State is not defeated. You are confusing obliterating a city with erasing a mental state.
32
This silly MSM "guard rails" meme needs to stop.
The MSM told us candidate Trump would evolve once he became Nominee Trump.
Nope.
Then the MSM said nNominee Trump would cut out the nonsense once he became President-elect Trump.
Nope.
Then the MSM insisted President-elect Trump would understand the enormity of his office when he became President Trump.
Uh-uh.
Then the MSM assured us, as did Paul Ryan, that he is learning on the job.
And where did that bring us to: Right back to candidate Trump:
Investigating Hillary
Investigating the Clinton Foundation
Railing against the media.
Insisting he is not Putin's puppet.
Thanks, MSM, for getting it wrong for going on THREE years now since that descent down the escalator (what a metaphor!)
30
Just an aside on the legitimacy of Mr. Trump's presidency. George W won only because of the electoral college. So did Trump. The last two Republicans to hold the office, for Pete's sake, got less votes than their opponents. As long as the candidate with the second most votes can be declared the winner, I don't want to hear about legitimacy.
48
Think of these 4 years as "Hurricane Trump" bringing devastation to the executive branch of the Federal Government, America's position in the world, human rights, civil rights, healthcare, education, environmental protection, etc. etc. As painful as it is to watch and live through, this category 5 storm ought to give the Democrats a moment of pause to reflect on the excesses created by their own caprice, hubris, and coercive enforcement of progressive policies during the 8 years prior to Trump. Based on his enduring poll numbers, and with the exception of a heightened probability for global thermonuclear war, Trump's performance to date seems to be exactly what his base was hoping for.
4
Exactly what did Democrats do in the eight years that so caused Trump? Healthcare for 23 million? Winding down nation-building wars? Getting Bin Laden? Having no one indicted or convicted for the first time in decades? Or having the gall to elect a black man?
Caprice, Hubris, selective enforcement? Trump is all that in spades and the courts seem to agree, stopping his Muslim ban. He has sent thoroughly unqualified judges to be confirmed (forced to withdraw by Republican Senators) and already has 2 convictions under his belt (the 'lock her up" General and the Coffee boy). Plus, we stand on the precipice of nuclear war.
20
"It's the Democrat's fault" is a lame and implausible excuse. Donald Trump is the Republican President - nominated and enabled by the Republican Party. Further, he is the apotheosis of persistent trends and deliberate stategies that have reverberated through the Republican echo chamber for decades. The difference with Trump is that he eschewed the dog whistle and picked up a bullhorn.
26
"Trump’s authoritarian impulses, while genuine, seem unlikely to produce even aggrandizement on the scale of past presidents from F.D.R. to Nixon, because he has no competence to execute on them."
Do not underestimate GOP's lust for power. Let's see if they start imprisoning their political rivals in 2018, after firing Muller.
17
Could an ad hoc Citizen's Commission help? Different areas, such as education, the clergy, medicine, science, commerece, could organize to choose a representative. The Commission could hear witnesses and render suggestions. Pwer? no? influence? maybe a lot.
2
When will we hear any semblance of an apology coming from Douthat, Parker, Brooks and the rest of the gang who pushed and prodded the Republican party into its current form? The ones who eagerly labelled those who bucked the increasingly dictatorial party as RINO's. The ones who were happy to declare that dissent against the erosion of civil rights mean one "didn't love America". The ones who cried "Socialism" at any attempt to erode the upward transfer of wealth creating our plutocracy. YOU are directly responsible for the political climate that brought us not only Trump, but the erosion of Rule of Law in favor of Rule of Money. Where is the introspection? Where is the love for the Constitution?
30
In addition to the not-so-subtle sexism of the article's set-up and headline, Mr. Douthat's thinking here is illogical. (And, the Islamic State has not been defeated. Has he read nothing of its spread through Africa?)
If we have mechanisms in the constitution to protect the country and world from dangerous and/or law-breaking sitting presidents, but that are not used, what's the point of having them? (Similarly, if we citizens have constitutional rights that are ignored when inconvenient, as has happened repeatedly, do they exist?) History over the time of the last several presidents provides all the evidence necessary that we must curb presidential power, not allow it to expand and diminish democracy. But the current Congress is disinterested in both their responsibilities and democracy. When an amoral, unstable president is allowed to maintain power in the face of multiple potential international or domestic disasters, those who sidestep the problem are culpable.
14
The defeat of the Islamic State? Exactly when did that happen? When were religious extremists eliminated, anywhere, by this administration? Rather, they have been promoted, by impulsive recklessness of the nominal leader and cold calculation by those who put money over country.
9
Not only is the Islamic State not eliminated, al-Qaeda has reformed in 2017 and Assad has stepped up his human rights abuses in the last year.
As for us, we're killing more civilians and the press is forced not to report it.
Funny Ross "forgot" to mention it.
4
It is easy for us #NeverTrump voters and critics to find fault with Donald Trump.
We don't like the man even if we like a lot of what his administration is doing.
What the media and Michael Wolff are missing is that underlings, especially in the media, quickly and emotionally lose faith in their bosses and leaders. Anyone who's been in media a year lives with peers' carping, complaining and doomsaying. It's just what we media people do at the water cooler, over beers and on the phone and social media.
So I'm thinking a lot of the people Michael Wolff talked to were in the WH media and speech writing offices. They were flacks and wannabes who think only readers and writers are fit to be presidents. I feel that way myself. But lots of leaders don't read or write. They talk, listen, question and sell. And they lie to themselves and everyone else, just like Trump, Nixon, Clintons, Obama and even the Bushes.
To me, Democrats and the media (same people) are creating hysteria in their disingenuous drives to win 2018 and 2020 elections. They're having quite a bit of success with the help of Bannon and Trump. I doubt that Trump can or will save himself. He doesn't have it in him.
2
Mr. Douthat is remiss in not mentioning the Republican's knowledge that Trump is unfit for the job. They could have real investigations like Watergate and not these faux meetings where they try to subvert the truth by calling out Mueller and investigating Hillary's email's. The Republicans are in charge. They will carry the blame for whatever comes to pass unless, they step up to the plate and earn their very inflated salary by moving towards impeachment before it is too late.
15
CNN is advertising a David Axelrod special featuring Condi Rice. Outside of America Condi, GW and Cheney are recognized as war criminals.They broke Geneva conventions by legitimizing torture and by starting an illegal war with Iraq. In true American tradition all is forgiven. No Presidents or staff have been held accountable for their actions. Trump too will survive despite his quaint idiosyncracies.
10
CNN is a bait and switch scheme.
They have a thin center-left shell, but after watching for 10 minutes, you can see they are pushing a hard right agenda.
2
So, can anyone point to specific evidence that Trump finished off ISIS? Wasn't their demise as a "caliphate" well under way by Jan.2017? Just wondering. Trump's incredible capacity for truth often hides his true accomplishments.
1
For perhaps the first time since I have been reading Douthat, I pretty much agree with him.
The real questions and challenges still lay ahead. Assuming those in the West Wing and a small cadre of retired generals Trump seems to at least respect are able to keep the lid on our international challenges, 2018 becomes the most crucial election in modern times, for the sake of our future. And even if the Congress goes Dem, removal of Trump from office before 2020 may not be a viable option unless Mueller proves collusion or treason.
But at least Trump will be held more accountable and the deconstruction of this once great nation minimized.
The bottom line is that it is up to the American People to do what needs to be done. Lets hope Churchill's insight still applies: after trying everything else, the Americans will do the right thing, ...hopefully before it is too late.
4
Obviously the author knows nothing about the 25th amendment. You can’t invoke it just because you don’t like his politics. But I guess liberals think it’s okay to ignore half the country that voted for him. If he’s so demented, how did he ever collude with Russia?
5
He still is not aware he colluded with Russia. He thinks it's business-as-usual.
Mueller will disabuse him of that notion.
1
Collusion does not require intelligence. Covering it up does. Like many of his completely unqualified advisors, he violates laws out of ignorance and a narcissistic belief that whatever he does is brilliant. The man is a fool and the half of the country that voted for him are unhappy with their lives but unwilling to take any responsibility for their own condition. While Trump is congenitally ignorant, his supporters are willfully so out of pride, which is all they feel they have left. Sad.
10
Hello John,
Ross is no liberal, although I will give him credit for being an intellectually honest conservative/libertarian.
Besides, he essentially reaches the same conclusion that you do, so what's your beef?
1
How do you think Republicans will ever do the right thing during this presidency when you have Senators Grassley and Graham skipping the investigation into why a foreign power hacked our election in 21 states, but instead want criminal charges on the hero that told us what happened. Republicans will never do the right thing during this administration because they too are taking Russian money.
Donald Trump and the political action committees for Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich and John McCain accepted $7.35 million in contributions from a Ukrainian-born oligarch who is the business partner of two of Russian president Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs and a Russian government bank.
Marco Rubio's Conservative Solutions PAC and his Florida First Project received $1.5 million through Blavatnik's two holding companies. Other high dollar recipients of funding from Blavatnik were PACS representing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker at $1.1 million, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham at $800,000, Ohio Governor John Kasich at $250,000 and Arizona Senator John McCain at $200,000.
29
Ross, If this column was meant to provide a bit of solace that, in effect, we've sort of been here before and somehow muddled through, it doesn't. The Trump imprint on what it means to be president may in many ways have been changed forever, and not for the better. That the GOP almost certainly won't lift a finger to move to install VP Pence into the presidency is true. That the Democrats need to take back at least one of the chambers of congress is, however, paramount if any check at all will occur during Trump's final two years in office. And creeping fascism does not require a high degree of competence in the Chief Executive as much as it requires a relentless propaganda campaign coupled with underlings willing to play sycophant to the daily rages of a mentally deteriorating authoritarian-inclined narcissist.
31
the emperor's new clothes.
1
I can't imagine this Cabinet will justify use of the 25th Amendment unless his health and mental ability drops sharply.
However, get a Democratic led House and Senate and a get stronger whiff of the money laundering that many think was a regular occurrence at nearly all of his properties and maybe he will ousted before his first term is complete.
13
So let me get this right, we wait for some horrific crisis to unfold capable of so unhinging our already unhinged, supposed closet genius, President to falter so badly that there is no other alternative but to Constitutionally remove him from office?
This has all the ear marks of an iron clad guarantee for a plethora of truly dyer complications and outcomes at the absolute worst possible time — even by present Washington standards.
10
Trump was elected to do exactly what he is doing.
The losers - having lost - are now whining.
Next time, don’t nominate the only candidate capable of losing to Trump.
5
You left out the important mechanism for his being elected: the Electoral College. At least, three million more voted for Hillary.
7
So, Trump was elected to use the office of the presidency to enrich himself and his family? He was elected to attack the First Amendment? He was elected to suppress any investigations of wrong-doing his presidential campaign may have committed? He was elected to make the rich a great deal richer at the expense of our children and grandchildren? He was elected to undermine our long-term alliances with our strategic partners around the globe, while providing cover and comfort to Russia? He was elected to attack the independence of the federal judiciary? He was elected to undermine the credibility our own federal law enforcement agencies? That you choose not to see what is happening to our country so that you can continue to gloat about 2016 is juvenile and short-sighted.
6
I do not believe any Trump fan thought she or he was voting for Trump to put a mentally ill manchild in charge of the country.
As for your "loser" comment, you might want to come to grips with the fact that 67% of the country does NOT want Trump in office.
2
"So unless Robert Mueller has more goods than I expect, we are going to live for the next few years . . ." Douthat's use of the word "live" in his oh-so-rational opinion piece begs one to point out that there are people who will "die" as a result of Trump and his Gang of 51+ having stolen power from the people and then using/abusing said power. Die, death, loss of life! When - in Douthat's slow progression from (so-called) compassionate conservatism to truly independent political thought - are these words going to kick in?
7
Isn’t it past time to relabel “conservatives” as 1) corporatists, 2) pray in public hypocrits, or 3) Burke-ian’s like Ross Douthat and Jennifer Rubin?
If we had conservative candidates like the third group, I would easily vote for another John Anderson or Arne Carlson (former governor of Minnesota).
5
Hopefully his chaotic mind will be going somewhere, anywhere, outside the Whitehouse.
5
This country's future depends on eliminating Republican control of Congress this autumn. If that happens, then Democratic legislators must move to impeach Trump or to remove him for incapacity. It is that clear and that straightforward. The man is insane. He cannot make rational decisions, he risks the national security every day, and he is almost certainly a repeat criminal - both financially and sexually.
If Republicans remain in control on Capitol Hill, then our institutions and our form of government are at risk. More ominously, a needless and dangerous war is virtually inevitable.
This is a crossroads year for the country - the most crucial since the Civil War.
23
If the Democrats gain some control I do not believe they should waste the opportunity on impeachment proceedings. If they do, that is all they will achieve. They should keep Trump in check, and at the same time try to get some things accomplished. Use the same tactics that the Republicans did when Obama was president. Let Trump continue to destroy himself and the Republican Party while being the voice of reason. Only if the Republican agree that impeachment proceedings should take place should the Democrats move to impeach. Others it will not be affective and they will take the blame, even though Republicans will secretly be relieved.
6
Maybe it's best to think of this as a de facto constitutional monarchy with a very impulsive and erratic king. Madness of King George didn't do that much harm. It's true that the President has immense powers but wise and patriotic advisers can continue to limit the damage. At the end of the day, Trump wants 'wins' and doesn't give a hoot about the actual substance of policies. The danger is that he may lash out and defy advisers (as seemingly happened with the Comey firing) before a strong Democrat or a much better Republican can defeat any re-election bid. Article 25 is out there only if/when he becomes completely and obviously disabled such that even the most conservative member of Congress can't deny it...
2
I don't see how Mr. Douthat can even hint that Donald Trump was "legitimately elected" when we are still not aware of the extent of Russian "medding" into the election and his campaign's collaboration or lack thereof with them. Not to mention the Comey meddling which 538. com has already shown tilted the election to him when they reopened the Hillary "investigation" just before the election, in direct contravention of FBI/justice department guidelines. Morever the piling up of miscro aggressions and political disasters for which the 25th is NOT really drawn up to deal with, is also going take a huge toll on our country.
The man who ran on putting America First is likely to leave most of America wondering if what we know of America will last through his presidency.
8
Trump defeated ISIS in much the same way he defeated Hillary Clinton:
ISIS, though under severe and debilitating attack, eventually collapsed on its own because it was unsustainably crazy.
and Hillary lost the election (well, in the Electoral College anyhow) much more than Trump won it.
7
Trump did not defeat ISIS. The Coalition did. Trump's only contribution was to stay away from the generals' plans. Remember when he said he knew more than all the generals? That has always been laughable.
4
We don't have a "petticoat government," exactly, but we do have a "Pentagon government." I suppose we should be thankful. The President's continuing mental decline is apparent to all but his most ardent followers. Barring some unlikely event, we are all in for three more years that will be both dangerous and long. We must all work to ensure that Trump's growing mental incapacity does not paralyze the country as a whole.
10
To remove someone from the Presidency for mental health is really a case of are we willing to commit them to medical care. Are they so far gone that they are an immediate danger to themselves or others or that they are no longer in a capacity to take care of themselves.
It should be an incredibly high bar to meet, and actually much higher than that of impeachment.
Trump won the Presidency by the system that was agreed upon before hand. Voters can be assumed to know their choice regardless of how poor a choice many of us think it is. Baring a complete mental breakdown or psychotic episode mental health is a claim for the next election.
Now lying to the FBI, selling the US out to a foreign power, using the Presidency for personal gain... that should be enough for impeachment.
15
Among other considerations of Trump's fitness for duty is his chronic sleep deprivation. While some have speculated that he is among the genetically lucky who can seemingly function perfectly well on less sleep, by his own account he doesn't sleep as much as he would like. Studies have shown that even moderate sleep deprivation reduces performance to the level of one who is legally drunk. I don't think Trump's performance even reaches that high a level. His erratic and thin-skinned behavior, along with an apparent lack of a sense of humor, may have to do with an abusive childhood or some other cause, but the lack of sleep alone could produce that effect. If he had any semblance of a conscience, it would be easy to understand why he doesn't sleep like a normal person, but apparently it's due to something else.
9
Even his parents did not like him. At age 13 they sent him away! They admitted they could not control him and sent him away like a puppy they didn't like.
3
I believe we’re about to lose our democracy. Let’s call it the Republican Party Government. Congressional Republicans still refuse to pass legislation to protect Robert Mueller from being fired. This weekend, Trump invited Republican congressional leaders, and all members of Trump’s Cabinet, to meet at Camp David. Everybody except Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
I fully expect the Camp David discussion was about firing Jeff Sessions; putting someone else in his place, then, rather than firing Robert Muller, which would not stop the FBI investigation; they will shut down Muller’s FBI investigation altogether. The Republican lead house and senate investigations are already stonewalling important information and testimony, and now say they need a criminal investigation into Christopher Steel, the author of the Russian dossier. And they are already re-opening investigations of Hillary Clinton, again. There is an urgency to all this because the 2018 elections would probably swing the House, Senate, or both to Democrat control.
The Wall Street Journal is already suggesting there be full and complete blanket presidential pardons to anyone involved in any aspect of this Russian Investigation, including the president himself. With Republican gerrymandering, a packed U.S. Congress, Senate and Supreme Court. It appears we’re just about to lose our democracy.
21
Your comparison of the administration of Donald Trump to Wilson's "Petticoat Presidency" brings to mind, for me at least, the dance in the Nutcracker ballet in which the children hide and run about under Mother Ginger's voluminous skirts. But instead of put-upon pleasure, her face in this case resembles an ashen Uncle Sam and shows agitation and attempts to smile. Everything's normal here! Meanwhile, the skirts thrash like a 10 freshly caught trout in a burlap sack.
I don't think anyone's really fooled. We've just moved in the stages of grief from anger, to sadness, to a kind of grim acceptance. Britain should be proud: we've finally learned to have a stiff upper lip under a mad king. Some of us, anyway. In public.
Nice to know that the ship's sails still function even if the figurehead's rotting and gone cross-eyed.
7
Funny Mr. Douthat, now that the Trump Administration has it's own version of Joe Klein's revealing and controversial book about Bill Clinton's first campaign for the Presidency, 'The Color of Money' one can only wonder when equally this equally revealing and controversial book about the ascent of the Trumpians, 'Fire and Fury' will also be turned into a movie or HBO type special?
We can only hope that Hollywood hasn't been beaten down to the point of obsequiousness by the bully boys who currently serve the Trump family, like the GOP Praetorian guard and the their lead velociraptors in Fox News, that Hollywood passes-up this golden opportunity to make the story of Trump's mental back flips-and the rolling clown circus that has been DJT's Administration- more widely available to a general audience.
2
Someone needs to the "stable genius" the role of the adverb. "I do everything proper." Yikes.
2
Retired Latin teacher that I am. . . . .
. .. my mind runs back to the Roman Empire. Which (by the way) lasted a long long time. . . .
. . .and, from time to time, was ruled by crazy people. Or tyrants. People like Caligula (dreamed of making his horse consul). Or.. .well . . .Caligula ("Oh that the Roman people had but head among them! I'd CUT IT OFF!")
Or Domitian. Or Commodus. Or Elagabulus.
Get my drift?
My point is: that Empire was staffed with hundreds and hundred of decent, self-effacing public servants. Don't laugh! It really was. They lived unknown. Died that way too.
I am willing to believe, Mr. Douthat, that even those politicos in the West Wing really DESIRE--to serve their country, to do good to the people and government of these United States--and to stand in the breach between that country .. .
. . .and the semi-crazy man that sits at the helm. Scowling and gibbering to himself, springing up from time to time, flailing his arms, yelling stuff, subsiding, still scowling--muttering .. . .
I am willing to believe, Mr. Douthat, that SOME servants of our federal government. . . .
. . UNLIKE THE SPANIELS AND POODLES IN CONGRESS . . .
. ..really desire the same. To serve the United States of America.
Talk about the "thin red line"! These men, these women really MAY stand between our country and "some inconceivable calamity."
Well, sir--I pray they do. I expect you do too.
Thanks. Fine column.
10
took four years of Latin in high school. : )
tempus fugit.
One gift suggestion for thoughtful Americans:
Ten inch high doll wearing a suit and bearing the face of McConnell, Grassley, Graham, Ryan, Nunes, Gowdy, ... . The battery-operated head swivels 360 degrees. As it swivels, the doll says “Okay, okay, okay, ...” There is a doll for any elected representative who readily finds a way to excuse whatever Trump does or threatens to do, no matter how egregious. You can collect several of the dolls and seat them in the pews of the free all-plastic Evangelical Church of Trump, pastored by a Pence doll that comes free whenever you buy more than three dolls. The Pence doll’s head does not swivel. It just stares straight ahead, saying, “Praise God, Love Donald”. The Trump doll seated at the altar comes bald with attachable orange hair. The dolls are Russian-made, selling for 120 rubles ($2.16) each. Batteries not included. Available on President’s Day, in time for 2018 mid-term elections.
9
Your point is well made, but in 2018 such a historically misogynist insult as "petticoat government" stands out like a sore thumb and needs to go the way of other woman-shaming phrases like "throw like a girl." Check yourself for such not-so-subtle forms of sexism, Mr. Douthat.
14
So it's not Trump's policies and his despicable appointees which appall Ross Douthat, it's just the embarrassments of the man himself.
If only the well-behaved Mitt or Marco were doing it, the Douthat celestial chorus would be rejoicing.... Trumpism without Trump, as it were.
Could there be a more damning commentary on modern mainstream American Republicanism?
9
Trump's government is swaddled in something far more toxic and malignant than a petticoat.
I'm sure Mr. Douhat fancies himself to be a pious practitioner of that Good Old-Time Religion and a clear-eyed Conservative of Edmund Burke's erstwhile ilk.
He is, unfortunately the poster boy of the apothegm "The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is that good men do nothing." In the face of catastrophe, he offers us a shrug.
8
I may have to adopt another New Years revolution; to stop reading the drivel from this man's pen.
We do not know that he was elected legitimately and that is a big part of the problem that our democracy faces. It is obvious that Russian hackers had some outsized influence on the election and it might have been enough to swing some of those districts that did indeed effect the election.
Douthat's chosen party has decided it doesn't matter if the election was stolen since it was stolen for them. The fascist party that used to be the GOP doesn't care about stolen election because they don't believe in elections anyway. They did everything they could to negate 4 recent elections that sent Democrats to the White House.
The republican/fascist party doesn't believe in democracy so little things like elections just don't matter.
If a democrat were in office doing what t rump is doing to our norms, our society, our Nation we would be witnessing at break neck speed whether the Nation could handle an impeachment or the 25th Amendment being called on.
Right now the U.S.A. is a fascist state with one party rule. Whether that lasts beyond this year is still anyone's guess.
If Douthat doubts that statement I would have him read the definition of fascist.
12
A fascist state with an illegitimately elected President? Enough of this Left wing drivel -- that's where the real treason is, this constant sniping since HRC would not concede her defeat to undermine the President of the United States.
Nonsense. Hillary conceded. It's Trump and his sycophantic followers that refuse to concede:
1) He did not win the popular vote, and
2) Russia did interfere in the election.
5
Michael Wolff's book does not tell us anymore than what we already know. Right off the bat as a Candidate he displayed his temper, ignorance, personality, age, his viciousness, lies and sleaze. But we have to give even the Devil his due. Yet we gave him the Prize, the Presidency. Trump never kept it a secret of whatever or whoever he was. He was and remains the delusional lying, narcissist. As James Fallows put it," Trump was an open secret." Yet we all enabled him. I remember one of your earlier op-ed after the Inauguration saying now more than ever, as patriots, we should fill the ranks of Government to prevent this President from damaging our Country. It was like asking us to be a nanny for a nasty, sulky 5 yr. old bully. Ask Rex Tillerson, Gary Cohn, Steve Mnuchin, John Kelly, giants all of them and even Sessions, how that advice has worked out. As I see it Mr. Mueller, Nov.18 and the 25th amendment seem to be the only remedies to put an end to this madness. Hopefully there are some real, decent Republicans, (not the likes of Mitches and Pauls) who'll endeavor to save our Country and our People, not to mention our world.
3
what frightens me just as much, is what would follow an impeachment.
5
If this president is so mentally stable and a genius as he so publicly claimed was the truth, why are articles such as this being written about his failings and comment writers hoping that he will be impeached at best and quit at worse.
1
It’s not just Trump’s “personality and temperament and age” that leave him “undone” and obviously unfit for office, it is his serial failure as a casino capitalist (literally) that rendered him unfit for high office since the 90s and, as a human being, since birth.
But, as I remember Ross, (give us a Paul Ryan smile here) you were more than willing to “roll the dice” on him and give him a pass…to join in the media wall of Fox and Breitbart related fabrications that could, with Russian help, it turns out, bring this miscreant to office.
I’m glad that you are kind of getting it now and distancing yourself from what will be the disaster you helped create.
Finally, lets make words matter, as they should, in good journalism.
Trump is not "populist" unless you consider the billionaire funded media wall of fabrication (created by the Mercers and Kochs and Bannon and their psyops tools like Cambridge Anaytica), which elected Trump, populism. That is, unless you consider populism something that has nothing to do with the interests of the populace and does not arise from us. The words you are searching for, to be accurate, in describing Trump and his supporters (many of whom he desribes as “losers”) are not populist but:
Billionairist
Nativist (would Facsist be better here?)
Racist
Sexist
Classist
6
Good try, Ross, but you won't get the stench of moral decay off the GOP so easily. Claiming that Trump's groupies in the white house feel "a responsibililty to the country" is absurd. Those treasonous flunkies care only about thier brand and their bottom line. They are only concerned with being able to make a profit when this nightmare is over. And avoid jail time. Another useless fluff piece from this paper's "conservative" voice.
4
The majority of the US voters elected a petticoat President; she was not allowed to take office because of a slavery-era mechanism that has forced upon us an immature, willfully ignorant child. Let’s give the Petticoats a try.
8
So: We (the USA) critically need to do something, but, eh, we really can't do anything. This is not exactly some new revelation on your part, just a repeat of your longstanding columns. Can you provide a *new* insight that just might lead us out of this very dangerous morass? We can recover from a lot, but not from, say, going to war with North Korea. Can that be prevented when he is so very much in love with himself?
3
Trump is a lying thief he made the wall that he out & out said Mexico would pay for the main part of his campaign. He never had an understanding with the Gov. of Mexico and won the Presidency on 100% complete lies. Now he is using 700,000 infants (all older now) as hostages in his quest to get Americans to pay for his lies. Anyone who supports this plan is saying to American children lies are the way to get what you want. The press should just keep pointing out he cannot be trusted at all and is extremely dangerous. 100% of his platform was a lie.
3
After the last few days of mildly alarming news, and in the face of Douthat's analysis, I’ve attempted to calm myself by returning to the big-picture wisdom of our “very stable genius” - President Donald Trump - and some of his notable statements:
About Women:
“I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
“You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything….”
About Barack Obama:
“President Obama claims to know our enemy, and yet he continues to prioritize our enemy over our allies, and for that matter, the American people…”
About John McCain:
“He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
About the New York Times:
“They have people over there, like Maggie Haberman and others, they don’t – they don’t write good…”
And finally, Donald Trump about Donald Trump:
“I think I am actually humble. I think I’m much more humble than you would understand.”
“My IQ is one of the highest — and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure; it’s not your fault.”
I feel so much better now.
9
"while I blame Republicans for a thousand things that brought us to this pass, it’s too extreme to blame them..." Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
It is not too extreme to blame them. And it is high time to remove the entire stinking rotten lot of them from office. The rest of this article similarly fetid.
3
no competence to execute on them
I've seen some version of this twice in today's paper. Why egg him on?
And it very well might not be true. He does have the "competence" to blow up all of Korea and everything in the vicinity (chief enabler Lindsey Graham: Don't worry the carnage will happen there not here.
He can get another hideous logic chopping, Supreme Court judge with a stone cold heart like Neil Gorsuch seated with the support of a misogynist congress and misogynist columnists--their life long goal of driving women into back alleys within reach-- celebrating him to the skies. Let alone a Justice Dept and military doing their thing to destroy as many lives as possible.
Hopefully they all won't be able to pull off much of what they are aiming to. I never laugh at their failures. They are relentless, determined and often successful. And they unlike many who laugh at them don't know what the joke is.
4
It took awhile, but Bannon finally said something many of us can agree with. That president Trumps meeting (present or not, he ok'd and encouraged these meetings) with known Russians was treasonous. Trump vilified and continues to vilify an American, Hillary Clinton, wether you like, hate, or despise her. That's the truth. Shame on him, and shame on his voters. Vote America first.
4
My question: What good people around Trump? While "draining the swamp" he invited all the bottom dwellers into the White House with him, except for the person who quit rather than become part of his obstruction of justice when writing the memo/school excuse for Junior's treasonous meeting in Trump Tower with the Russians.
7
Excuse me, "too extreme?" Because it has "never been tried?" But...it's in the Constitution!!!! that's what they are there for...they are the Government!
this is Conservative thinking at it's finest -- the man is insane, the man's policies are ruinous, the entire mess is wildly out of control...
but! we must stick with what we imagine once was, even if it really wasn't!
go back go back go way back --
meanwhile the current situation is totally wrong and should be stopped.
Paul? Mitch? Chuck?
6
When this is all over someone needs to sculpt a statue of Huckabee-Sanders scowling as she does acting gob-smacked when some reporter asks her about the latest idiotic illegal thing her boss, whom she knows is the smartest most and most morally centered human in at least the Northern Hemisphere.
It needs to sit somewhere every member of every future congress must pass every day.
If we are not all dead, of course.
12
The Global Petticoat Media has been very afraid for quite a while now.
This will not last three more years even without a toppling shove from the Mueller investigation or the fantasy pursuit of the Amendment that Douhat correctly dismisses. The PINO is in the latter throes of a irreversible mental breakdown, fueled by a horrendous diet and lifestyle and exhibits all the symptoms of early onset dementia. His random and repetitive fulminations are nothing but classic perseveration. At this point it is not if, but when.
5
How can you assume incompetence on basis of a book written by a known lier? How can you judge mental health on basis of a long distance, impersonal diagnosis. This is just an other hit job.
It seems to me that the supposedly brilliant Obama was the one who gave us the Iran deal,allowed North Korea to develop missiles that can now reach us, made the Taliban stronger etc,
If you think that was done by a smart sane man I must question your competence
2
1) The Iranian deal bought us at least ten years to solve this problem, without resorting to war. Trump's people have understood that in large part, this is the best we can expect at this time, which is why they have not yet completely pulled out of the deal.
2) Trump's been in office for a year, and has done nothing but bluster about N. Korea. He has no solution to this problem except further bluster, or perhaps WWIII.
3) The Taliban are in no position to threaten the U.S. And once again, does the Trump Administration even have an Afghanistan policy?
4) Obama was certainly both smart and sane, which is not to say altogether perfect. But his mistakes were the more or less normal failures of any president who faces mostly bad options around the globe. That he didn't simply tweet "FAKE NEWS!" everyday was indicative that at least he took his job more seriously than does Donald Trump.
8
The patriotic military men/marines surrounding him know what must be done if his finger is ever found hovering over the 'button'.
And Congress knows what must be done to overturn his most egregious acts... including waiting him out and/or waiting for 2108 to correct this travesty/error.
We are in a dire emergency, Wall Street notwithstanding.
We need to suffer watching him march around with his tin hat and toot-toot.... But the ship of state has an inner strength buoyancy, and will right itself after this storm passes.... damaged but salvageable. And with lessons, hopefully, learned
3
What is it that the political establishment fears most after the fear of being cut from the sources of tax payers money?
They fear that a clear and necessary cut of one of their own from power may lead to questions like "So we got rid of this one, why stop there, why not get rid of other idiots as well?"
Which may jeopardize their own power status, which they had so much work establishing in the first place.
Now, there is morbus trump (ICD-10-GM-2018 F22.0) and no, there is no question any more that Trump is unfit for office.
But if the public handles this conditions, who will stop them from getting rid of Pence or any other deemed unfit for office?
Some who drink too much, have lost their minds in a cloud of "religious awakening" or have problems understanding which country they should work for.
Bring one of them down and others may fall into the spotlight of public scrutiny.
And as the political class does not want to become a target for elimination from the job for whatever reason, they sit still and hope that nothing more worse will happen than has already happened.
After all, there is always the hope that Trump will lose the next election and the "Emperor's new psyche" will go away when Trump leaves office and right afterwards the lives of these poor politicians will get back to its normal ways.
So the politicians will do what they do best, try to sit out this storm.
3
Except, after 4 years we are going to be a 4th world country!
9
Let's all register as Republicans. Then we can infect the GOP with reason and patriotism from within.
5
Sorry Rossy, but I think the people of Puerto Rico (and many decent fellow US citizens) would call Hurricane Maria and Trump’s response a catastrophe, not the type of cute hijinks you paint it as.
5
Isn't a "petticoat government" supposed to have a few powerful women in it?
7
You don't need to be a psychiatrist to see mental illness in the head of state.
5
The silence of the Deplorables is deafening
7
Actually, the President’s mind IS going somewhere- into a neuro- psychiatric meltdown.
3
There already has been a calamity. In your haste to place a zealot in the Supreme Court and tax cuts for GOP donors, you are too blind to realize it. The rage over a black President will never abate within GOP circles. It is a fundamental bedrock principle of the party.
7
Look......
A minority of the voters approved of the overt narcissism,
the pathological lying,
the vindictiveness,
the impulsive behavior,
the sexual molesting,
the money laundering,
therefore it has been vetted and approved.
there is no basis or reason to continue to raise any concerns
or
contemplate any actions concerning the clear deep incapacity of Tsar Donnie.
5
Is it really Donald Trump who runs the country? I would argue otherwise.
Trump receives and incorporates his intel from mainly once source, FOX news. He openly accepts their views, especially since they are endlessly flattering and sycophantic. Fox, like the congressional republicans, know the secret to Trump is not to attack him but rather kiss the ring and then push whatever agenda they wish, since Trump does not care about issues. One could easily make an argument that Rupert Murdoch, who also helped DJT get elected, is the most powerful person in the world since he controls the information flow.
Accordingly, the democrats are falling into the trap of simply impugning Trump, which is futile given his executive position and support by the legislative branch, which has their useful idiot in place. A better play based on his personality would be for dems to play the game in the opposite way but with more prowess. Specifically, feed DJT's ego, invite him to parties with high power celebrities/wealthy (british wedding), etc and then turn him towards their agenda. There is seemingly nothing more he wants than to be loved, especially by the rich and famous, and the left has many of those. Trump was a democrat previously and can be turned back on issues with changes in strategy.
Lastly, hiring several professional internet commenters for fox news and breitbart can shift sentiment.
2
As an apologist for the Roman Catholic Church, please explain how this is so completely different is this from the numerous times when the actions of corrupt, licentious, incompetent popes were sheltered by the doctrine of papal immunity?
2
Mr. Douthat: the conversion of the NYT’s GOP columnists—yourself and Mr. Brooks—is difficult to applaud. The deep concern you (finally) have for our country must be viewed through the lens of your own personal enabling of a tide that started rolling decades ago.
The GOP chose to lie down with dogs. The fleas the party has risen with infect us all—our entire beloved country—and puts the experiment of democracy at the greatest risk we’ve seen since the Civil War.
You have been part and parcel of this, sir. One can only hope that your attempts to undo the horrendous mess you and your contemporaries have gotten us into do not fall on deaf ears.
7
Trump is a dead man walking and he and his family know it. Once Mueller presents his findings Trump will be face 2 options one is to resign for health reasons or 2 face impeachment and jail time for washing billions of Russian cash through his various businesses .. Want to guess which one he does ??
5
Wake up Ross. Traitors control our government and the Trump-Fascist coup d'etat is proceeding apace as the end result of replacing the AG and replacing him with a Trump puppet will result in a police state enforced by remade FBI loyal to Trump. The rule of law and the Constitution will be forgotten.
4
“...a late-in-the-presidency crisis?”
I know you’re young, but the underlying crime in Watergate happened almost five months before the 1972 election, and the coverup commenced almost immediately. Nixon stonewalled it for 19 months after his second inauguration, 26 months after the Watergate break in.
Please stop writing things that show an utter disregard for history. Thanks, Ross.
4
Trump is a lying theif he made the wall that he out & out said Mexico would pay for the main part of his campaign. He never had an understanding with the Gov. of Mexico and won the Presidency on 100% complete lies. Now he is using 700,000 infants (all older now) as hostages in his quest to get Americans to pay for his lies. Anyone who supports this plan is saying to American children lies are the way to get what you want. The press should just keep pointing out he cannot be trusted at all and is extremely dangerous. 100% of his platform was a lie.
1
For this Trump Resister Michael Wolff's book looks like a fun read. I've been a member in good standing of the choir of those who detest Trump for decades. As someone who has had first-hand experience with this dolt what Michael Wolff writes about the Trump personality is nothing new. Wolff's book merely confirms what anyone who has known Trump for years. He is an absolute blowhard and bully. He has a mind like a sieve. Decades ago I thought he may have actually had the capacity to learn, to grow, to increase his intellectual heft. I felt back then that Trump was simply too lazy to be bothered. He didn't care to know more because he never has a reason to. Trump was a spoiled child who never was disciplined, or never could be disciplined, to act in a mature way. Trump always did what he wanted. Why should he change? His entire life has taught him, the little that he was taught, he did not need to bow down to anyone. Over the course of his adult life, Trump's self-confidence became so distorted he actually might believe the accolades he lays upon himself. That is how bad things are. Trump has morphed into a delusional demagogic chief executive who thinks being president is akin to being a dictator. So many millions who voted Trump were wrong. Those who continue to defend him are lost souls. They will never see the light. It is up to the rest of us to turn this ship of state around, beginning this November.
DD
Manhattan
13
even sending adolescent Donald to military reform school upstate instead of Jamaica High School a short walk from his home (and my own alma mater) arguably did more harm than good.
2
There are 30-35% of American’s who are Trump core voters and believe in Don-Don.
A goal is to convince them of the altered states so glaringly obvious detachment of Dear Leader.
To wit, maybe they do and appreciate the comedy relief as an escape clause or wear the same rose colored VR goggles.
2
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
8
but a little gerrymandering and a mountain of dark money doesn't hurt, either.
6
Oh boy, do I take issue with this op-ed.
First, it's absurd to say that "a right-populist agenda died with Bannon's exit from the White House". The threat of white supremacists and neo-Nazis is just as strong with or without Bannon. Trump gave credence to these horrific movement both before and after Bannon. To say that the right-wing populist agenda left with Bannon is not only wrong, it's dangerous. It lures your readers into a false sense of security regarding the real dangers of neo-fascist politics.
Then, you have an even more ridiculous statement: "the standard-issue G.O.P. agenda has little left after the tax cuts". Ryan and McConnell will continue to introduce legislation that takes away Medicare, Health Care, and other services from the American public. They don't care if it's Trump or a smurf in the White House, so long as they can continue their agenda.
Also, I don't consider a US president to be "(yes) legitimately" elected if a foreign power swayed the election. True, he was elected by the Electorate College, but it was far from 'legitimate'.
Finally, you suggest that Trump's team has generally worked around him to prevent "a historic calamity". I don't think abandoning a US territory in its time of need, attempting to take Health Care away from millions, taunting a nuclear power, signing a devastating tax bill, endangering immigrant families, and ignoring climate change are signs of an administration that has avoided "a historic calamity".
10
Anyone who expected Trump to be different should be on Sessions pot head most wanted list. Those who voted for him got what they wanted. Too bad for the Republican establishment that would settle on anyone who could deliver the White House.
During the primary and election campaigns, Trump showed clearly what sort of person he is and what could be expected of him as POTUS. Similarly, so did H-Rod. What a choice! Poor Hobson; in retrospect, he would have been happy with his choice.
Let's face it: the American people were confronted with two candidates that were palpably unfit for the highest office. H-Rod should have been indicted for gross negligence in the handling of confidential data, and Trump is a Tin Pot Dictator at heart.
Do you really want Pence to be POTUS? See the dictionary definition for "funda" (Latin) before you consider "mental."
4
Wishful neo thinking. It’s going to get worse.
5
I see that you are coming around to seeing Trump as acceptable, as Lindsay Graham, John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Bob Corker and their ilk have done by voting for the reprehensible tax bill.
We, the readers of the NYT, hold you to a higher standard, Ross. This presidency is not acceptable in ANY way, and you did a great disservice to your readers and to the country by writing this article. You are clearly tiptoeing back into the fold. It is nauseating.
10
The gullible, ignorant 40% Americans sound like really smart guys to me....well maybe not.....
1
Of course all these character and mental defects weren't (and likely still aren't) "obvious" to consumers of right wing media. It's disingenuous for Douthat to pretend otherwise.
4
And yet, the "president" proclaimed on twitter (of course) that he is a mentally stable genius.
Well, if that is what defines a genius in our White House, it would be interesting to see how a low-intellect and low energy president would act.
Oops, we have one. His name is Trump, with his very own petticoat assistant.
2
Trump is crazy. He recognized jerusalam as israel’s capital turning the remaining muslims in the world against him after his other islamophobic actions including barring muslims from several countries from entering the US. He accused pakistan of lies and deceit, destabilizing the US pakistan alliance in afghanistan. Will he recognize indian administered kashmir as part of india, the reality for 70 years now ? That prospect terrifies the pakistanis who sponsor the lashkar and 2008 mumbai terrorists. He said he had the bigger nuclear button. What will he do next after turning all domestic and international policies topsy turvy ?
2
based on past performance, his MO is a three step plan:
1. demolish
2. replace with gaudy monstrosity
3. declare bankruptcy and stick others for the bill
3
The Islamic State has been defeated?
I sadly submit that the celebration is premature...
6
There is no way we can live through another 3 years of this insanity.
3
"I am a very stable genius". Incoherent, incurious, 'many colleges' ?, inept and delusions of grandeur.
2
How does one describe a book that is pure fiction invented to keep the faithful believing that Hillary really should have won the Presidency?
The claims in the book “ring unambiguously true.”
Sure, the claims are made up, but if you squint your eyes just right and have a couple of drinks, you can engage in the fantasy that the Democrats were cheated by Russia and Trump.
The Democrats must disassociate themselves with reality in order to pretend the American people love them.
1
Yes, it appears that Trump is very useful to the GOP and it's donors. A 'useful' idiot is a treasure to those who value control and power over all. Or should I say 'uber alles'?
The crowed below though shows early signs of waking up to this nightmare. Promising but not yet successful. The mid-terms have become too crucial to be left to the ineffective piddling around of Pelosi and Shumer. We need strength at the top and it may be surfacing. Striking at both the national and local governments is the broad response we need.
In the meantime, Ryan and McConnell are just the sharp end of the stick today. The broad based long con has been going on for decades, supported by the likes of the Koch Bros. Today it is bearing fruit for them.
2
Hmm, I think not. In light of the fact that he has already thrown Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric under the bus, vis a vis their mothers; I think he'd be willing to do that again. He's scapegoat his kids to escape blame.
2
An overweight man who is 70+. Think his medical exam will include cognitive functions?
Sorry, Donald who is not my President, but you can't make a deal with failing faculties the way you did with banks when the you were bankrupt. A bankrupt brain is what it is. No number of people lined up behind you when you answered questions about your stability will help you. That group standing behind you should have the courage to ask questions.
3
If it was simply "living with it" as Ross says, we could all bear the boorish nincompoop. But this presidency is giving the most insidious part of the US population—top Republicans (and sadly a ton of Democrats) in cahoots with ultra-conservative mega-corporatists—a total run on ALL aspects of government policy.
That is NOT going to work out well once the other half gets motivated to go "non-conventional" in response.
How long can the country continue to run on the fumes of the Obama Administration with President Rain Man at the helm, No collusion, no collusion, no collusion, no collusion, oh-oh, oh-oh , Fox news gotta watch Fox news, 5:30, Sean Hannity, gotta watch Fox news. I'm a very stable genius, a very stable genius and a very good driver. Yikes!
4
Calling Trump an idiot or insane or whatever does not change what is happening in the US. Charlotesville did happen, the rich have benefited from the tax changes , the judiciary have been appointed, people's health insurance is under attack and the environment is under threat etc. It may make the press feel good to make fun of the president but it is not changing anything.
7
Legitimately elected? Ha! And that Supreme Court seat was legitimately awarded, and wasn’t stolen.
7
Donald Trump is clearly unfit for the office of the President; for that matter, he is unfit for any public office on a national level, and believe me; I am being kind. Most of the people who live in NYC know this, and have (known it) for decades.
Unfortunately, the rest of the United States hasn't been exposed to Trump the way NYC residents have. I lived in there from 1988 to 2016. I don't know him personally, but I do, as as well as the other 8+ million people in the city possibly can.
Ever since the day I moved there, he seemed to be endlessly embroiled in one scheme or another; always in the butt of jokes and ridiculed by most people there.
It was not until he became the star of a very successful "Reality Television" show that he became known by most people on a national level.
He doesn't have the credentials to hold this office; more importantly, he doesn't have the psychological mindset to do so. The man behaves like a small child; needing instant gratification (which he is used to); also in need of constant strokes to feed his ego. He is a sick man. He should be removed from office (legally) under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. That says it all. I am sick of him and his entire entourage of buffoonery.
3
just because you - or I - am sick of Trump is no justification to get rid of him under the 25th.
Trump provides that all by himself, almost hourly, except for the very few hours he appears to sleep at night.
Whoever, however must remove T's capability of pushing that big, red button on his desk. Give him a dummy one from Staples. Seriously.
5
Reporters say staffers have told them he's failing intellectually.
Tweets/public speeches show it. His last press conference 2/16/17, rambling topic to topic: 102 times he used such as "thing" and 20 times used "very, very." .........Incomplete sentences. Fillers. Repetition.
A scary passage:
“You know what uranium is, right? It's this thing called nuclear weapons and other things. Like, lots of things are done with uranium, including some bad things. Nobody talks about that. I didn't do anything for Russia. I've done nothing for Russia.”
Or this, in May… "there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but I can always speak for myself — and the Russians, zero.”
Or in April: “People want the border wall. My base definitely wants the border wall, my base really wants it — you’ve been to many of the rallies. OK, the thing they want more than anything is the wall. My base, which is a big base; I think my base is 45 percent. You know, it’s funny. The Democrats, they have a big advantage in the Electoral College. Big, big, big advantage. … The Electoral College is very difficult for a Republican to win, and I will tell you, the people want to see it. They want to see the wall.”
In decline:
Other clues: 1)Hasn't had a TV interview in 2 months. 2)Last formal press conference almost a year ago. 3)His staffers voiced alarm & horror he did the recent NYT interview when they learned he did it.
3
Only solution: MASSIVE VOTING
5
Republicans thrust the Trump monstrosity on us, yet refuse to acknowledge that there is anything wrong with him. Sufficient to kicking him out of the White House on his fat back side, that is.
After all, he single handedly got rid of ISIS. All by himself. On his first try, too. He made sure there were no commercial aviation deaths, wiped out Zika, whatever that is, and mopped up Puerto Rico with a couple of rolls of the quicker picker upper.
The GOP has a lot to answer for, throughout time probably, but especially since Nixon. They have never missed a chance to trash and loot the country. Or go to war, preferably a quick, little one, mission accomplished. Now they have put a crazy bozo in power and cow tow to everything he wants and, apparently, says.
They stand aside while Trump tries to suppress votes, trashes the national monuments, the oceans. They were silent when he repeatedly insulted and denigrated Obama. They are dead quiet while he repeatedly insults our friends and allies. They don't move a muscle while he threatens nuclear war.
Yes, they will keep their mouths shut and "work around him".
Martin Luther King, Jr. said that in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. This feels like the end.
6
Hurra for the American system! It is able to limp along with a totally rabid president without (until now) provoking a nuclear catastrophe.
Meanwhile, climate change is denied,
environmental protection is bring revoked, inequality and cronyism are rampant, and the nation's diplomatic and scientific expertise is being decimated.
MAGA!
As everyone who’s ever worked in a big organization knows, it takes time for incompetence at the top to cause damage. The place runs on the good graces of the next few layers for awhile and then on momentum for a bit.
The answer to your big question whether those who surround Trump can work around his incapacity enough "to keep his unfitness from producing a historic calamity" depends on how stable those who surround him are themselves. An Opinion article by Katherine Stewart published in your paper on the same day as your Op-Ed offers a troubling scene. It tells us that many in Trump's Cabinet and Administration (Pence, Session, DeVos, Pompeo, Carson, Perry, etc.) attend Bible studies by Ralph Dollinger, the founder of Capitol Ministries, who has said: “‘The institution of the state’ is ‘an avenger of wrath’ and its ‘God-given responsibility’ is ‘to moralize a fallen world through the use of force’”. Another prominent "faith" leader with influence on some of those who surround Trump, Cindy Jacobs, goes even further to say: "'The army of the heavens marches into Washington, D.C., and marches out of Washington, D.C.' Soon enough, 'they go into North Korea.'... According to Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Trump 'will be seated and mantled with the power of God.'"
The problem is that Trump surrounds himself with people who, for ideological reasons, keep seeing him as capable even when he is not. They believe that the Emperor wears new clothes even when everyone else can see he is naked.
That is the real danger that can get us into "a historic calamity": a President emboldened to such omnipotent thinking could indeed think of the "nuclear button" in as impulsive a way as he thinks of his twitter feed.
5
Its fascinating when discussing Presidential mental fitness...no one is mentioning Reagan. ???
Where's the mention of the very probable incapacity of Reagan in his waning days?
Seems that its typically Repub-Prez's questionable mental capacity we've been dealing with over the post WW2 era.
1
If anyone needs more info of how corrupt and unfit this specimen of a man is, all you have to do is just follow these links from his business connection with the foreign countries who have the least transparency with financial transactions, countries that are rated highest on a money laundering activity and if there's minimum regulation that the countries where he choses to do business...so attributing to him his savvy in business dealings is just laughable... it's like saying the best mafia person is the one with most targeted killings. If you look at licensing deals in foreign countries, all the properties were sold to Russians with mafia ties or convicted drug dealers from South America, Philippines, Azerbaijan etc. Kaspersky Labs his Russian digital arm is under FBI investigation and this "stable genius" is pushing to investigate Christopher Steele's dossier that most of the intelligence agencies find very credible. No decent people left in this government. Just follow the links I submitted moments ago.
3
If Ayn Rand were here, she would be screaming bloody murder about Russia meddling in our elections. So would Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and for that matter, J. Edgar Hoover. "None Dare Call It Treason"? Okay, I'll say it. IT'S TREASON!
3
Didn’t Mr Douthat say, “A Romney-Bannon alliance against Trump in 2020 is what America needs, but does not deserve.”
Really, bruh?
2
You were doing really well, Mr. Douthat, until you got to the "defeat of the Islamic State," which is a) not defeated, because it never was a State; b) pruned back because of Obama's policies, which at most were accelated; c) has as yet had no real account of costs, including increased civilian deaths.
Other than that, yeah, Trump was elected fairly, he's unlkely to be removed, and we're stuck with a nutjob.
Oh, we're stuck because Republicans are a) greedy, b) completely cynical, and c) gutless, points you singularly failed to mention.
4
Wow. That is about the most sober and depressing Ross column I have ever read. The emperor has no clothes. It's time for his keepers to lock him outside on the patio for ten minutes when it's zero outside so he can center his chakras, and then resign. If you read across the spectrum of the legitimate press, you will see a consensus emerging. If he resigns now, he MIGHT be able to keep Jared and Don Jr. out of the clink, anyhow.
Nothing about this dreadful passage will change as long as Republicans control congress. We all knew from the start that Paul Ryan is less than a man, and that Mitch McConnel is less than an American, and that both together are less than either, but that said, where in the name of all that is good, decent and sane are the Barry Goldwaters, the Howard Bakers? John McCain is sadly attending more infinite concerns, but the others now, who know that we face Nero, keep silent while he plays. Shame!!!
3
A petticoated president wouldn't be a bad thing, as his feminization would cause him to stop spoiling his 'plate'...and 'toilet'. Trouble with the vulgar bully (a coward in disguise) in the WH is that he is unable to exercise self-control, a compulsive liar and exaggerator seeking self-congratulatory adulation, while finding scapegoats to escape responsibility for his twittering stupid comments... confirming his mental shortcomings. The 25th Amendment is applicable here, if it weren't for the complicity of the republican party, power-hungry, while derelict of their responsibility to safeguard this democracy. Trump's malaise is hopelessly intractable, a 'bull in the china shop' requiring being corralled, once and for all. Although the market is celebrating it's rise, it may be misguided by ignoring the damage of the tax cuts (rising our debt by ~2 trillion dollars) and the harm to the environment (clean air and water) by de-regulating dangerously the pollution greedy corporations may be able to cause, unimpeded, and rising disease and premature death as a result. Trump's dumb negation of science and climate change is an insult to reason and to Earth's health.
1
My guess is, shortly after November 6.
Ross, there is always a first time for the 25th Amendment, and now is it. Trump is an unambiguous danger, mentally unfit and absolutely inept. He is Danger as in “power to harm”. It’s obvious to the entire world. As president he is happy to stab the backs of anyone or everyone to save his facade, and money. He cares not a wits-worth about the people of this country while he insanely opines about being a genius. Trump wears a tin foil hat and believes it’s a crown. If Trump doesn’t implode soon there’s every reason to implement the 25th Amendment.
3
The Republican Party is hoping Ruth Bader Ginsburg will croak first and be replaced by a Robert Bork clone before they will remove Trump from office.
An insane person would be removed from their job as a hotel bellhop, dental hygienist, or line cook at McDonalds. In any workplace in this country, a person mentally unfit would be forced to get treatment or would lose their job. Why on earth do the American people have to keep a mentally unstable a President? Not only is there so much more at stake here, but instead of abusing only the people e would come in contact with on a daily basis, this mentally ill person is abusing world leaders, nations, ethnic groups. The only ethical solution is to force an evaluation by professionals. If Trump was declared unfit, he should be forced to seek treatment, or face removal.
1
It is still unbelievable that the US has no respectable right wing. Where are the conservatives who still care about values? Where are the conservatives with a sense of decency? Of honor? Of respectability and reliability and above all of duty? There must be some left somewhere! Why are they allowing the extremist lunatic wing of the GOP to ruin the United States of America?
2
An English King went mad while in power. We seem to have a Shakespearian court tragedy with twisted family relations, corrupt and treasonous members of the Court, bumbling incompetent moves by leaders. Where? Oh, Where? is the Jester? With the hidden wisdom we need so much.
Ross, you were born in 1979, so what do you know about the waning days of the Nixon presidency since it ended with Nixon’s resignation in August 1974?
I had just headed off to college that August. My recollection is that while there was an investigation going on in D.C., whose denizens no doubt saw Watergate as a crisis, the rest of the nation muddled on. I had to go to classes, study to make the grades to go on to law school, and accomplish a certain amount of partying and socializing.
We had just gone through Vietnam (well, Saigon was standing by to be overrun in April 1975) and the attendant generational civil war here at home, the revelations of the Pentagon Papers and the FBI’s illegal COINTELPRO program, an oil embargo, the end of the draft, etc. We had, in other words, already gone a long way down the road of being soured on national government in just a few short years. And we haven’t really looked in the rear-view mirror since.
At least with Trump the people who voted for him—and those that didn’t—knew what they were getting. You can’t say he hid his true personality until after the election. Trump owns his crazy.
Honestly, I have seen too much in my 61 years to be worried about Donald Trump. I wasn’t scared when, as a grade schooler, teachers I trusted more than any authority figures since told us Comrade Khrushchev was going to nuke us and the neighbors had a bomb shelter built in their backyard—and I’m not scared now.
1
You all to briefly mention the republican party's culpability in this embarrassing fiasco. EVERYONE KNEW what a disgraceful character DJT was and continues to be, and yet..........you shamelessly covered for him, rationalized his numerous indiscretions, and fought against anyone who called him out on who he was. Bottom line is the republican party, their billionaire donors, and right wing media are wholly responsible for this blot on our country's pride and reputation. Own it, and now fix it!
1
James Buchanan and Donald Trump. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
The premise of this column appears to be that if you put an unstable, dangerous and brazenly corrupt nincompoop in the White House and we somehow manage to avoid total disaster this constitutes "a genuine service to the United States." Puh-lease. Just how low are we setting the bar these days? Pretty low, apparently, if Republicans are involved. Oh, and funny how that vaunted rightwing populism hasn't amounted to much beyond the usual xenophobia, racism and rote denunciations of the coastal "elites." The whole rotten concept was exposed as bogus after the GOP managed to pass a massive country club tax cut and blow up healthcare for the poor, even while foisting the cost of it all onto the nation's credit card. The best we can hope for now is for Democrats to take control of Congress, or at least a part of it, and put a straightjacket on this delusional clown. Maybe we'll get lucky and the republic will actually survive, if much tarnished in the wake of this spectacular misadventure.
2
“Can the people who surround Donald Trump work around his incapacity successfully enough to keep his unfitness from producing a historic calamity?”
How’s that control of Trumps unfitness going so far? 1,000 character tweets. Claiming to be a stable genius, which is the opposite of what both a genius and a stable person would claim.
Good luck with your delusion Ross.;
"The idea of a right-populist agenda died with Bannon’s exit from the White House,..."
Nonsense.
Neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Bannon are/were perfect models of right wing populist leaders. Any RWP agenda is not dead. It is waiting for a capable leader for 2020. Perhaps you might ask Ms. Mercer which person she is baking in her kitchen as successor for Mr. Bannon right now or Mr. Koch or somebody else you don´t know yet.
When it comes to Mr. Trump:
If there WAS a petticoat...
After Mr. Trump has implemented tax cut by using all drafts well kept in all drawers of GOP lobby organisations and think tanks from the East to the West for 10 years without allowing him to change one single word - you will never know what he might "tweet in" next - he will be allowed by GOP majorities to lead Golf pants - or even a swim suit - government until 2020.
So the - crucial - question in this Op-Ed
"Can the people who surround Donald Trump work around his incapacity successfully enough to keep his unfitness from producing a historic calamity?"
is asked all around the world from the far left to the far right and not only in regard of some minor troubles like Puerto Rico but in regard of "Global economy", "local wars" and the problem known as "the red buttom issue".
It´s obvious that asking a lot of "Can..." questions can only but the first step.
Applying the 25th Amendment to remove Trump would be an order of magnitude more difficult than impeachment. First, the Vice-President would have to find a majority of Cabinet Secretaries to affirm the President's inability to serve. Very unlikely. Then, the President could undo the action by merely sending a letter to the Speaker of the House and the President Pro-Tem of the Senate that no inability exists. He's back in charge. The VP and Cabinet could then send a letter back to the same two leaders challenging the President's fitness, again. At that time, a two-thirds vote of BOTH Houses of Congress would be need to re-remove the President. Sound likely?
1
Is Mr. Douthat saying that it doesn’t matter who or what is the president of the United States? That no matter how incompetent or stupid or ill, the ship that is the US government won’t sink? Maybe not in 4 years...but then Trump had to work at going bankrupt too; it didn’t happen overnight.
Governance at every level, from nations to local charitable societies, has checks and balances. You shouldn’t have to engage them all every day to function.
Having watched Stephen Miller on CNN, I fear that the idea that the people surrounding Trump will get us through this real crisis is not possible. The staff is mainly as crazy, incompetent, and ignorant as Trump.
2
As a geriatric nurse, Trump's words about being a "stable genius" made me laugh. Trump may have been a really intelligent guy once BUT let's face he is old and his very words above and his twitters tell us he is not anything like a genius anymore. In the first place, like all oldsters he suffers memory loss. Like many oldsters he repeats himself, says outlandish tactless things. Worse still, like those suffering from early dementia he has a raging temper and resists help. he could become physically violent eventually. His administration cannot help him---some medications might help for awhile. But he is a pitiable figure and does need help that his Congress has decided to deny him, seeking to wet-nurse him along when he should resign from a job he is not well-enough to do.
2
This article is nothing but more of the smoke-screen Republicans are creating to cover up the effects of the dumpster fire that began when Trump paraded himself down that staircase to declare his candidacy for president. Republicans are used to underhanded election tactics since the days of Nixon - they keep claiming they are justified because they say the Democrats did them wrong in the 1960 election, and they've been 'getting even' ever since.
But Trump poses an existential problem. With a nut-job in the White House, all the other nut-jobs feel empowered, and that means ignore the rules you don't like, push the limits on others, shove other people out of the way, and generally grab all the gold you can while you can. It won't take long for things to descend into chaos and even the dimmest Republican mind understands there are a lot of unstable, angry people out there with a lot of guns and piles of ammo.
So Ross Douhat is telling us, stay calm and carry on. We got our big tax cut and we're going to eliminate the regulations we don't like, and we're going to save a lot of money when we close down those expensive social programs we don't want to pay for.
Well maybe he's right. Or maybe the Republicans have created - allowed to exist- a monster in the person of an authoritarian ego-maniac they really can't control. Maybe they have miscalculated their ability to neutralize the other nut-jobs out there, the aspiring Trumps.
Either way it’s all a Republican problem.
1
Is it really such a surprise that our fractious national politics elevated a bloviating showman with no moral core and zero understanding of the complexities of the office of the Presidency? I fear it is very late in the day of the American Empire. Read the article in today's 'Review' section on ascendant China. American society has been bled dry by corporate interests, by culture wars, by resurgent anti-intellectualism, endless and unwinnable wars, and by taking our precious freedoms dangerously close to the guardrails laid down by rule of law. Meanwhile, the Chinese have been steadily consolidating global leadership with their autocratic model of governance. While we all pin-ball around in horror at our Presidency and at the utter lack of concern for a broadly healthy society evidenced by political leadership, ven worse, our world is changing precipitously around us. Trump would probably love to 'rule' like Ji does. He is not smart or disciplined enough and thankfully our public institutions still hold. But this is NOT the battle we should be fighting as a society. America needs leadership with a strong dose of humility that informs our strength. Otherwise it seems that the bullies and the authoritarians always win.
I agree with Ross. Those that keep drumming on the 25th Amendment enactment are wasting valuable human resources. The focus must be on identifying candidates that can win congressional elections, as well as governorships, across the land. The brakes on the Trump's presidency can be applied by the legislative and judicial branches of government.
For now, Trump will complete his term in office. Chasing after a far fetched enactment of the 25th Amendment is a waste of time, energy and other resources. Granted, every new day brings its own surprises. We need to reassess every day.
1
Perhaps Mr. Douthat is correct that we cannot hold the Republicans responsible to pursue the thus far never-invoked 25th Amendment. But that is not the end of their responsibility—or complicity. One cannot attribute ideas and intent to Trump. He has never shown that capacity for intellect. He is a member of a classic American genre, the con man, and he is a wonderful distraction at the Republican circus--a shell game. He is indeed a president in petticoats. However, the radical destruction of the American government, proceeds a pace and is managed, not by Donald Trump, but by Republican legislators who have become the wholly owned subsidiaries of a minority of billionaires and do their bidding. Mr. Douthat’s analysis is too facile and he lets them off far too easily.
1
"Can the people who surround Donald Trump work around his incapacity successfully enough to keep his unfitness from producing a historic calamity?"
Of course, this question rests on the hope that these people are of the mindset that the country needs to be protected from the President. There is no evidence to substantiate that. What we have seen is the Vice President and Cabinet members offering effusive praise and quasi-prayers of thanksgiving to Trump that Kim Jong Un would find embarrassing.
The critical danger Trump presents rests with the idea that he is so fundamentally impaired that he can be "handled". He can not. Constitutional norms are flouted, institutions are attacked as never before, Republicans in Congress refuse to do their duty. The country is imperiled.
1
While the left is celebrating victories in AL and VA as a sign of what is to come in 2018, it is both worthwhile and sobering to remember that those victories were by a thin margin, more so than should have been suspected. Indeed I believe that the GOP has converted many of their supporters in to followers. I am left leaning I would admit, there were actions taken by the Obama administration that I didn't care for and clearly thought and would say that he was wrong on.
I am unsure if anyone in the GOP feel the same way, I don't know if there is anything this President could do to make them embrace impeachment. This fact makes me worry about our country more than anything.
The scariest thing I heard all year even though the "Big Button" thing came close was a Trump follower on national television saying that if Jesus came down off the cross and told him there was Russian collusion with the campaign, he would have to defer to Trumo first. That is how we lose our country, that is how we lose our freedom.
While identifying the issues with the current administration are valuable, strategies in a democratic civilization are critical, especially since the republicans control all levels of the government.
If the 2018 elections are to turn favorable to the left, impugning Trump alone will not be adequate to draw the moderates needed to win. Changing the narrative to the increased annual deficits, increasing gas prices, increasing healthcare premiums, and worst job annual growth in several years is what resonates with voters. While environmental issues and immigration may be endearing to many on the left, it doesnt win elections, and sometimes loses them (specifically open borders)
Trump still has his signature issue which he holds over the democrats and have been his key to victory, his strong stance on illegal immigration espoused by Bannon. With Bannon gone and moderation by the left on illegal immigration, they can win back the house and possibly senate in 2018. Moreover, a moderate candidate such as Sherrod Brown without baggage would be able to defeat Trump in 2020. Otherwise,the comments here are just an echo chamber without solutions
1
Ross, it is not the President's mental incapacity, it is his moral incapacity, and the complicity of the Republican leadership that imperils America.
WE the people, do not have to put up with 3 years of a degenerate and morally bankrupt leader. The time is coming for an overthrow. And where will this come from? Mueller.
I believe that Mueller has all the evidence needed to prove that our morally unfit President has obstructed justice and has not been faithful in his duty to uphold the Constitution.
Trump is gone the minute his Republican Congressional collaborators decide to be loyal Americans.
Finally, it is a disgrace to the mentally ill to attempt to define Trump's morally bankrupt character as a mental incapacity. Is Trump going to declare that he was mentally incompetent when it comes time to stand trial? Seriously?
3
There is evidence enough to impeach this fool. However, as long as his pen will sign anything his Republican congress presents him he will remain in office. The responsibility for whatever befalls this democracy lies with this Party seemingly bent on destroying our democracy.
Criticizing Trump is becoming fashionable among conservatives now, as they smell blood in the water. But the county should not let Republicans off the hook for the disaster in the Oval Office. Ryan, McConnell, Grassley, Rubio, Graham, Cruz and all the rest are accountable, and should pay with their jobs and their reputations.
Trump's pathology was apparent throughout the campaign. During the campaign, Graham called Trump a "kook," but now defends him. Cruz called him an "utterly amoral" "serial philanderer" and a "pathological liar." This was typical. But the whole GOP fell in line when he won the nomination.
Douthat acknowledges this where he says: Donald Trump’s “inability to handle the weight and responsibility of his office is not something that crept up gradually... it’s been a defining feature of his administration from Day 1 — and indeed was obvious during the campaign that elected him.”
The GOP needs to pay and pay dearly for prioritizing tax cuts over country. The GOP should be allowed to burn to the ground and we should warm ourselves in the afterglow.
1
I'm sick of the GOP's repeated response....The people knew what they were getting with Trump and elected him anyway.
So a year later, the vast majority of Americans, 60+% and growing, have witnessed what a national embarrassment this man is and do NOT approve of him.
But somehow the press keeps focusing on the measly 30% who are diehard Trump supporters. Who cares about them?
Last time I checked 60% was far greater than 30%.
Let the majority be heard loud and clear!
1
Mr. Douthat, here's a scenario for you to contemplate: Mueller issues his damning report mid-year; Republicans lose the mid-terms big-time; Trump and Pence are removed from office because Trump's crimes are egregious and Pence perjured himself; Nancy Pelosi, as newly-installed Speaker of the House, becomes President. Finally, massive numbers of (mostly religious) conservatives commit suicide with guns they bought to protect themselves. The U.S. becomes permanently progressive, and the perversion that has become conservatism is consigned to the dustbin of history.
2
If the petticoats know that Trump is truly unfit for the office, their duty is not to protect Trump, and they are certainly NOT responsible for running our country. For goodness sake, they weren't elected for for that job. Their obvious duty is to alert the country about the state of this president.
19
Douthat is making a mole hill out of a Mountain.
Trump and his administration is a clear and present danger to USA. Defeating our enemies including Isys should be a top priority of America. The Republican party makes Isys look better to many. Their insanity is matched by Republican insanity. If America isn’t the fountain of truth and sanity, the poisoned water leaves an opening for all.
13
MICK
What about the decrease of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, to the point where right now there is no danger of a caliphate?
The demise of Isys if there is one was started by the Obama administration and just continued by this one.
And the Republican administration is of much more danger to America than Isys could ever be .
With tongue in cheek I say perhaps we don't need leadership at all. lah dee dah. Perhaps we in Douthat's vision should just watch our country and ship slip off of the edge of the world or vanish into the vortex of Trump's insanity.
But do we have a choice? Chaos or sanity? Republicans are forcing us to find some sanity in where we live if possible unless you live in a marijuana choice state where Sessions will use the power of the feds to run you down or climate change or nuclear war may interrupt the stock market party that may lead to oblivion as it did in the Republican salad days of 1929.
7
Sadly, Trump is not surrounded by competent people. The Republican Senate destroyed made sure that didn't happen when they approved a set of Cabinet members totally unsuited for their jobs. We have Perry, who had no idea what the Dept. of Energy was supposed to do. We have Betsy De Vos, who in Senate hearings displayed total ignorance of Federal laws pertaining to education, not to mention pedagogy. Then there's Ben Carson. In the best of circumstances, a president needs knowledgable, independent and thoughtful advisors to do his job. By choosing to placate and feed Trump's ego (in order to push forward an agenda designed to placate their millionaire donors) Republicans have risked the welfare and possible existence of our country and democracy. It is THEIR complicity we will remember in years to come- when others ask, "How could they have allowed this to happen? Why didn't people stop this mad man?" Sound familiar?
17
Ross how can you speak of relative stability in the WH. We have Kushner lying to congress and colluding with Russinas. We have a president who fired Comey and is trying to do the same with Mueller. We have Press secretaries that are an embarrassment to the office, the country and themselves. The entire administration is stocked with liars. We have a president that never passes up an opportunity to insult nearly anyone. The real culprits here are in congress. They value power over decency, the rule of law and the best interests of the nation. They need to be removed in the midterms.
19
Spot on!
The 25th Amendment will never be evoked with the cabinet of enablers Trump has assembled. While Douthat fears Mueller does not have enough to remove Trump; I believe he has already enough confirmation of Obstruction, he could pull that trigger at anytime. Mueller continues to investigate Trump, Trump Jr., Kershner and others, because he is thorough.
Trump's behaviors will not get better, nor will they stay the same as they have been to date. Each month, with each new attack, his behaviors will further deteriorate to a point that by the mid-terms, Americans will be ready to replace the impotent Republicans to remove a clearly unstable, dangerous man from our highest office.
8
He was legitimately elected. This fact alone is the single biggest problem the USA has. The fact that someone like him he had enough support to win. The problem runs so much deeper than this monstrosity of a human being being our President, so much deeper that I wouldn’t know where to start.
19
The place to start is with the Electoral College! Everyone's vote should get equal weight in the election. Then get rid of corporations are people concept that allows dark money in campaigns (citizens united). I agree, no idea of what to do about willfully ignorant people, though.
1
wait. we have a political party that underfunds public education -- now in 34 states -- and restricts critical thinking about science, history and civics.
three generations of this have created an ill-prepared electorate that can't match policy to public effect, rhetoric to job loss, or taxes to campaign donations.
The party system and the electoral college were presumed to protect us from a candidate like Donald Trump precisely because we fear the tyranny of the majority (or minority, in this case.)
Trump is a failure of public education and of party politics. Now... what were we saying?
7
As far as I am concerned, there is no way you can unequivocally say Trump was legitimately elected. We don’t know the extent of Russian meddling in our election, and we may never know.
If we are able to ascertain that Russian interference did indeed affect the outcome of our election, then Trump is illegimate, and since we would then be in uncharted waters, wouldn’t it then be imperative that all of the appointments, bills signed and executive orders made by Trump be overturned. When everything has been restored to a pre-Trump order, the country can start over.
6
Watching the Republicans defending the president, is the same as watching the dutiful wife defend the unfaithful (and unremorseful) husband. Both situations are unseemly. That our government and governing institutions have been co opted to degrade itself for corporate tax cuts, land grabs for resource pillaging and sale, and evangelical dominance is sad. This sadness will last a while as it cannot be forgiven. I believe in Karma.
6
Has there been, in effect, a coup of our government where the “competent” but unelected generals, family members and billionaires have taken over for an overmatched individual? If this is what has occurred, of course they will defend the status quo and the man they have usurped. As long as those in power can benefit from the current arrangement, it will persist, unless some disaster either national or international ruins the whole charade.
7
It requires obliviousness to the news each day to contend, as Douthat does, that the problem here is just a "managerial" one. It is actually an ideological one, which Douthat is papering over. It's patently untrue that " "idea of a right-populist agenda died with Bannon’s exit from the White House, the standard-issue G.O.P. agenda has little left after the tax cuts, and Trump’s authoritarian impulses, while genuine, seem unlikely to produce even aggrandizement on the scale of past presidents from F.D.R. to Nixon, because he has no competence to execute on them." The Republicans have big plans for us: the wholesale repeal of regulations protecting the public and the environment, the undermining of Obamacare, the further enriching the rich, enfeebling the federal government and dismantling federal social programs. This is the agenda that Trump, Ryan and Bannon all have in common. The fact that Trump doesn't understand most of it is frightening, but his defenders and cronies in Congress are happy to aggressively market and push it. The answer is flipping the House, and if possible the Senate, in ten months.
10
Thank you Ross Douthat for discussing the topic of competency. Although your article discusses focuses on Trump. His presidency confirms several misconceptions held in our society:
1. You should run government as a business. Government, academia and private industry have (or should have) completely different goals and required skills.
2. Just because you have a lot of money does not mean you have the skills and temperament to be president. In fact there are thousands of billionaires, hedge fund managers, real estate moguls, etc who have no particular or worthy skills. They simply know how to use fraud, money laundering, bribes and a host of other methods to basically steal money. This category does not include the millions of people who had honest skills and worked to build small businesses, farms, companies and other enterprises.
3. In the case of Trump: he inherited millions and used bankruptcy, tax evasion and money laundering to make billions. He has no real "skills" and is morally and intellectually about as low on the scale you can go. The one thing he does have and I grant him "genius status" on this: he is a "genius" at manipulating the media.
6
Correcting for my typos: It requires obliviousness to the news each day to contend, as Douthat does, that the problem here is just a "managerial" one. It is actually an ideological one, which Douthat is papering over. It's patently untrue that the "idea of a right-populist agenda died with Bannon’s exit from the White House, the standard-issue G.O.P. agenda has little left after the tax cuts, and Trump’s authoritarian impulses, while genuine, seem unlikely to produce even aggrandizement on the scale of past presidents from F.D.R. to Nixon, because he has no competence to execute on them." The Republicans have big plans for us: the wholesale repeal of regulations protecting the public and the environment, the undermining of Obamacare, further enriching the rich, enfeebling the federal government and dismantling federal social programs. This is the agenda that Trump, Ryan and Bannon all have in common. The fact that Trump doesn't understand most of it is frightening, but his defenders and cronies in Congress are happy to aggressively market and push it. The answer is flipping the House, and if possible the Senate, in ten months.
4
This seems to beg the questions of: How probable is it that a cabinet assembled by the president, and whose members he can replace at will, might collude with Mike Pence to send to both houses of Congress a statement of incapacity that both of them might pass with absolute majorities? If an effort failed to remove the president via the 25th Amendment, how might the wounded president retaliate? How would foreign nations --- friend or foe -- react in the event of a wounded president?
I see that many commentators are relying on the 2018 election to turn things around. I'm afraid that won't happen, because the tax plan puts a token few dollars in the pockets of most people, and that's what they'll remember when the go into the polls to vote. Most of the people I talk to think that Trump is doing a great job, especially for the working man! I couldn't disagree more.
9
Your pessimism is unwarranted albeit understandable given where you live. We certainly shouldn't be complacent about the November elections but if we put some effort into said election there are very good reasons to be cautiously optimistic.
I do believe we will take the House from Trump's enablers and we actually have a shot at the Senate, which is amazing given which seats are up for election.
Don't give up!
1
M
It is not only your country which is being driven crazy by the insanity of the modern world.
This morning's political discussion on our CBC started off with the statement that 75% of our economy is dependent on our relationship with the USA. That was all that needed to be said.
The rest of the show was about how our government was upsetting Japan, China and Europe because it couldn't make up its mind on the new trade agreements being formulated in Trump World.
We are incredibly rich, very egalitarian and incredibly successful. Seventy five per cent of our economy is very important to our well being and Donald Trump's hand on the nuclear code is very frightening but losing 75% of our economy is far more existential.
Canada is the USA's most important ally not Britain and the Trump and GOP administration has immersed us over our heads in toxic doo-doo.
Jack,
Frankly I don't believe center right Democrats have the slightest clue of our problems and how to solve them. I like Krugman but he is another neoliberal and growing an already too large economy will solve nothing. We need fundamental change and electing a party that is not nearly as destructive just kicks the can down the road.
1
Nothing but irrational optimism from Ross. Advocating we wait for a major crisis before anything is done is beyond folly. Let's wait until San Fracisco is nuked.
11
"So unless Robert Mueller has more goods than I expect, we are going to live for the next few years in the way that America lived during the waning days of Nixon...." Mr. Douthat, even if Mr. Mueller has "the goods", this Republican Congress will do nothing. And we WILL live in an America far worse than the waning days of the Nixon administration -- years I remember well.
We will continue to see our civil rights under assault, ethnic minorities being targeted (as our "president" says neo-Nazis and KKK are some very fine people), and the Constitutionally protected right of women to control their own bodies in serious jeopardy.
Our nation is now led by a man who is mentally ill. He is enabled by a toadying Republican Congress who are too terrified to counter him. He is on the verge of causing a Constitutional crisis as he casts about for a way to shut down Mr. Mueller's investigation. We are literally a coin toss away from nuclear war, as this dangerous, unhinged man continues his childish taunts of Kim Jong-un. Every sane, decent American knows this, and yet, the Republican leadership does nothing, as they cower before Trump's rabid supporters, who will never leave him. Is it their guns that make these Republicans that fearful? There is no other reason to continue to kowtow to them while a dangerous mad man sits in our nation's highest office.
This era will end, but not peacefully. In the meantime, we will be living in an America that is increasingly unrecognizable.
36
I wonder if Mr. Douthat has actually spent any time looking up where the phrase "petticoat government" or to be precise "The nation is under petticoat government" comes from. If not, I suggest he needs to familiarize himself with Woodrow Wilson's presidency and the role of his wife, Edith, in running the country after he suffered a major stroke.
I also wonder if NYT Editors do their jobs as well as they are supposed to. The article's title clearly implies that the country is now run by either Melina Trump or Ivanka Trump or possibly both. But, the article's body reveals that that is not what Mr. Douthat has in mind.
10
I suspect that what Mr. Douthat and the Times had in mind with "petticoat government" was not literal, but rather that our government is being run by surrogates, not by the person occupying the office.
You follow the analogy further than was intended. I never got the implications you squeezed out of it.
This worldwide embarrassment of an administration will continue because there is too much money at stake for too many wealthy people for it to end prematurely. Just ask AT&T and Verizon.
13
The big victory you tout was mostly Obama's victory, the victory over ISIS. All Trump's military advisers did was follow the Obama gameplan.
24
It is more like a turncoat government that has turned on America.
16
I am so grateful for your column. It is good to read a conservative's voice questioning the leadership of trump and the republican congress. thank you.
4
very well written and makes excellent points
1
Thank your lucky stars Douthat, that the Bannon agenda wasn't fully implemented or you'd find yourself banished to the hinterlands for not silently complying with the Trump mandate.
In 4th century BC China, Lord Shang's program scapegoating the aged, music lovers & the filial pious, among others, seemingly the blueprint for the alt right, would have you equivocators rocked back onto your heels.
Sophistry & intelligence have no place in this world you helped to create, since the enemy is at the gates. You were supposed to get tough, remember?
9
I am shocked at the concept in this article. How derisive is the term petticoat government? harking back as it does to a time when women did not play prominent public roles that were respected and accepted by men, it is an affront and completely out of sync with the #MeToOmDays we live in.
10
Chill. You might notice that women no longer wear petticoats. It's a historical reference and it has no power in today's world.
We have real issues to deal with. Bad idea to waste time & energy on nonsense.
2
We all do respect to the intelligent comments to the unpredictable, deplorable, threatening conditions existing in the nations leadership presently and accompanying solutions; it appears the final solution will be in the hands of the public, those disgusted and threatened enough to physically march in protest in the streets and be there to cast a vote of defiance against this kind of governing.
7
Why use this headline? It was a sexist insult 100 years ago and isn’t remotely related to the problem we face with Trump.
Our country would be in much better hands if any random caretaker woman in petticoats could step in and handle things, instead of him.
13
I would suggest Mr. Trump is a "slow genius" as opposed to a "very stable genius.:
1
Good to see correct use of ‘hoi polloi’ - very rare.
1
After reading the excerpts from Wolff's book, I'm beginning to think Melania would be a better president than one who calls himself a "stable genius." And I really want a mental acuity test to be included in Trump's upcoming physical, not by the whacko doctor who used to be Trump's personal physician -- and who sounded as if he needed a mental acuity test himself -- but by mental health professionals at Walter Reed Hospital.
10
You mention several previous crises and then "perhaps at other moments known only to presidential inner circles." I think we do know of another previous case of an incompetent president--Reagan in his latter years as president was in early to mid stages of Alzheimer's. Who was covering for him?
7
Of all of the conservative sycophants, who will declare Empire? No one? Really? Is the end of our Republic already over? “The last year has given us some reason to think the answer to the last question might be “yes.” ”If nothing else happens? If Republicans continued to parasitize the remaining scraps of Kabuki for a few more weeks or hours before something very real happens?
Americans are confronted with Wolff’s Narrative in all of it’s sloppiness wherein many of the most serious revelations are OLD news wrapped up in validation by it’s subject Donald Trump. Trump’s response to the Wolff book proves his unfitness and incompetence and stupidity. Trump’s actions that compel the JD and FBI to investigate Clinton again? Is there anyone outside of the Republican Party and the FOX propaganda machine who believes that this is and additional crime: abuse of power. Trump is far too flawed to hope that he will change, will follow the advice of anyone or that some secret group will restore responsible governance. Douthat is scraping the propaganda mill bottom to defend Trump suggesting that “some genuine successes(defeat of the Islamic State)” where evidence tells us that Russia and Iran had far more to do with it than Trump did and that our ally, the Kurds, have been betrayed by Trump. Foolishness spun by FOX? “Men and women in the West Wing” like Sessions reigniting the racist war on pot, DeVos, Perry, Pruit. Price, Mnuchin, Zinke wrecking the country? Putin is laughing.
10
Somehow all that stuff about Clinton's "flaws" and "e-mails" seems so trivial now, compared to the howling mad lunacy that is going on in the White House today.
Maybe we could all take a lesson from this, the next time we vote for a president.
I didn't vote for Trump and dislike many things about him. However, he has some accomplishments. Those are always minimized by NYT and other MSM. I don't recall any criticism of Obama about his analysis paralysis about Bin Laden, Afghanistan, Syria, etc. nor, his naivety about “the arc of history bends towards...” platitudes. And don't get me started on his obliviousness about the folly of the Iran deal and how the money would go to domestic spending in Iran.
Be honest, Trump and Obama were/are flawed and potentially dangerous.
I've yet to see a NYT article on the risks of Obama as President and don't think I ever will.
3
I certainly wouldn't minimize Trump's accomplishments.
Most of Trump's accomplishments are rolling back environmental and financial protections.
Coal companies can once again pollute our rivers.
Stock brokers don't need to put your interest first and predatory colleges can continue.
Etc.
And the new tax bill will add $1.5 Trillion to the deficit over the next ten years to be paid for by us, our children, and grandchildren, and also cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.
As far as the economy, the first year of job creation is less than 2016 for Obama.
And they talk about 2 quarters of 3% GDP growth in 2017. Obama had 8 quarters above 3% including one quarter at 5.2%.
Under Trump we have had a big increase in the stock market. Time will tell if that turns out to be a bubble. I hope not.
6
PS:
Hurt the ACA as much as possible so less poor people have health care when we are the richest industrialized country on the planet.
Get out of the Paris Climate accord.
Get out of the TPP to let China dominate the region.
Ignore alternative energy so China can dominate the world market for solar panels.
Trump has had an amazingly productive first year. Destructive is a more apt description.
And lets see what Betsy DeVos does to give us more religious schools.
3
If you ever live in America you’ll understand.
2
Let’s see:
President Obama was elected pursuant to law, implemented the agenda promised, and certain reactionary folks claimed he was destroying America and should be impeached.
That’s asserted to be a bad idea.
President was elected pursuant to law, implemented the agenda promised, and certain reactionary folks claimed he was destroying America and should be impeached.
That’s asserted to be a good idea.
Under President Obama the federal government enforces some laws and not others.
That’s asserted to be a good idea.
Under President Trump the federal government enforces some laws and not others.
That’s asserted to be a bad idea.
Gotta love inconsistence and hypocrisy.
2
Well may I remind you that Trump actually lost by 3 million votes, even though he got 100 percent of the white supremacy votes.
4
Douthat is apparently unable to appreciate the fact that America finally has a "stable genius" President, one who has the courage to tell it like it is, to cast himself in all honesty as having the same ability to lead our nation as three other truly great stable geniuses, Secretariat, Citation, and Seattle Slew.
5
This is an apt analogy in more ways that one. He won the race.
But I just wonder who is going to muck out the stables after he goes out to pasture.
Donald Trump has disgraced the Presidency for too long already. Mike Pence might not be my first (or hundredth) choice to be President, but by golly at least he's SANE.
5
Yes, legitimately elected. Yes, obviously totally unfit to be President. Yes, a failure as accountable moral agent. Douthat misses the point: this unstable creep is A DAILY DANGER TO US ALL. He's like a rogue Roman Emperor or Ottoman Sultan. Perhaps he will eat far far more than he's pushing down now and....
6
Time and again members of the press, including NYT columnists, continue to wrestle with their conscious about how this president came to sit in the oval office in an attempt to reconcile his behaviors as somehow tolerable. Time and again we discuss his appalling lack of competency and dignity.
But really, let's not continue to fool ourselves that the election was fair or the least bit representative. Do we really need to continue to justify his presence in our lives every day as the result of democracy at play?
Truly the entertainment value of his style is gone stale.
3
You may find this entertaining but most of us do not.
1
"So unless Robert Mueller has more goods than I expect."
I expect he does.
12
Donald Trump is the embodiment of those who voted for him and still support him. It is impossible, at least for me, why his base elected him in the first place and after a year of demonstrably infantile behavior, lowering the lowest common denominator, implementing policies that will almost certainly have a damaging impact on those very people who support him, still do so. I lay the blame for this national/ debacle and sustained danger at the feet of the millions of Americans who still support this darkening cloud. Trump is Trump, someone who is just not a president and who came and will go. But his base will remain and may find a smarter, more politically astute, more cunning and charismatic leader who will know how to create and sustain an authoritarian American Reich.
5
Mr. Trump's statement that he is a "stable genius" reveals more to us than I am sure he intended. He went to Wharton due to daddy who also left him some seed money for his empire. Real estate development was a field made to order for this self promoting, greed driven man where he could make money with little regard for ethical concerns, and not end up in jail. His vocabulary seems limited to a dozen or so words and catchphrases. He shows no ability or desire to learn anything especially history. We need to replace him and soon before he does more damage.
4
The Founders could never have foreseen the shameless criminality of Donald Trump. They introduced the Electoral College to overrule any foolish populist mistakes by the hoi polloi and choose the candidate with the integrity and respect for the Constitution to hold the office.
This time, the EC gave us a man of no integrity with a long history of scams and skirting the law, a seasoned confidence man so insecure he needs to assure us that he is "a stable genius". Daily he barrages us with non-stop lies and distortions via Twitter while justifying his self-dealing and disloyal schemes to undermine the independence and professionalism of the Justice Department, the FBI, and the CIA.
This is already a Constitutional crisis, and there are no suitable legal remedies.
8
They also introduced the Electoral College to ensure white men kept the vote, thereby eliminating both women and people of colour.
2
Correct. They liked the idea of democracy but were afraid of what might happen if it was fully implemented. The Electoral College is an anachronism and needs to go.
1
In terms of corruption, usury and treasonous intent, the GOP congress are the exact equivalent of #45, in just about every way imaginable. There's no getting around that.
5
Perhaps, but long after we are gone historians will look at DT’s tweets, exhume his body to analyze his brain and call 2016-2020, one of the darkest times of American history. We have all the evidence irrespective of a book and long before the election to understand that placing DT in office was a violation of our constitution and detrimental to, “All men are created equal.” DT is a divider, not a unifier and has surrounded himself with people who are pro hate, pro anti-Christ and pro greed. We know them by the fruit they bare so his words, the pictures his administration posts on their twitter pages reveals this administration is ANTI-American. Looking forward to the day when all Americans irrespective of race, economics, religion, gender are treated equally. Confusion begets confusion and this administration and sycophants are the epitome of enablers and divisiveness.
6
"So unless Robert Mueller has more goods than I expect . ." we are likely stuck with the Trump Presidency. Loath as I am to agree with Douthat, I believe that, bottom line, this comment rings true, but perhaps not for his reasons. Just exactly how many "high crimes and misdemeanors" could Mueller uncover and thereby force the Republican majorities to step up to defend our Country from Trump? Obstruction of justice? Sorry, look at all the ways Obama abused his powers. There are the real crimes! Gross financial misdeeds and self dealing as President and wire and bank fraud in his prior life? Russian collusion? Hey, just look at all the Clintons' shady dealings. Who paid for that fake news British report? Lock them up!
No, I'm afraid Trump and his family and minions could be caught in a looted bank vault with the proverbial "dead girl or live boy" chained at their feet, and the Republican response, from Ryan and McConnell on down would be "nothing to see here", and, anyhow, let me tell you about those Democrats! That's just the way Republicans roll, and don't say, but what about Corker, Flake, McCain, Sasse, Collins or Graham? To say they have feet of clay is to give them too much credit. Pull the mask from any of them and you see they are all Louie Gohmert or Jim Jordan!
2
Dear Russ,
Why do Republicans and conservatives continue to protect 'Saint Reagan"? You mentioned three Presidents Garfield, Nixon (in the his final days) and Wilson to back your story line. Why not include Reagan (in his final years)? You know he was suffering from Alzheimer's (or something much like it) but it was covered up by Reagan folks as well. Why not include him in your beginning?
7
The earliest principle that young physicians in training learn is FIRST DO NO HARM. Such should be the guiding principle for all government leaders, especially the POTUS. People have already died as a result of some of Trump's Twitter posts. The 25th Amendment may never be invoked because it scares the timid self-serving Republicans now in government. Unfortunately we may have to wait until the 2018 election yields a Democratic majority congress and impeachment proceedings can begin in order to remove this incompetent aging narcissistic adolescent from office on the grounds of malfeasance the likes of which the Oval office has never seen before.
3
Ok Ross, so maybe the folks in the West Wing can corral Trumpo from doing something really bad until we get rid of him in 20.
Meanwhile you got a Secy. of Interior and an EPA administrator doing every bidding of the carbon fuel dark lords. They can do a lot of damage in 4 years and Trumpo has given them free reign because he could care less about anything or anyone but his own political power.
7
I don't know about giving Trump credit for defeating ISIS, as it is unclear if they are defeated. They may be gone in Iraq, but they still exist in many other countries. I doubt one can bomb an ideology out of existence.
3
As much as I want to point my finger at Russian hackers, Trump voters, right-wing talk radio, the Koch brothers and so on, it's hard not to ask about my own contribution to this mess of a President.
Did I work as hard as I could to get Hillary elected? Did I contribute as much as I could to local Democratic candidates? Did I write letters and opinion pieces for our local newspaper, explaining the potentially horrible consequences of Republican governance?
Last, did I seriously take the concerns of my fellow citizens into account when they complained about burdensome regulations or "too many Mexicans?"
Democrats should be angry only of it moves them to action. Otherwise, it is a waste of emotion.
6
Democrats should make sure they vote in the 2018 mid-term elections.
Also, our intelligence services should be investigating the Russian hacking into our voter databases. This time around the Russians changed voter addresses and got Democratic voters dumped off the rolls before the 2016 election. Next time around in a presidential election they may directly flip votes in the vote-counting machines.
1
I'd tend to agree with the basic analysis of this op-ed, but not with the idea that Republicans wanted nothing more than tax cuts for their wealthiest donors.
They accepted Trump as presidential candidate and now president, and Trump's interpretation of "loyalty" now makes him sign no matter what they put on his desk, even if it's the exact opposite of what he campaigned on.
So they'll certainly try to dismantle Medicare and Medicaid and take further steps to dismantle Obamacare - no longer through one big/skinny bill, but adopting a piecemeal approach.
And then there's the fact that his cabinet members too are dismantling America and its greatness on a daily basis, selling out to the highest bidder. That may not lead to huge disasters during his first year, as most radical changes in regulations still have to be implemented, but while these are starting to slowly produce their effects, those cabinet members will certainly continue to further destroy other crucial rules of the game.
And then we're not even talking about the judiciary yet.
Conclusion: Trump's mental capacity is highly worrisome BUT might be held more or less in check thanks to his aides. Far more important though is the fact that the corrupt GOP establishment is now using a clown to implement its anti-US agenda at a speed that would have been unimaginable under no matter what mentally stable GOP president, and THAT's the scariest part of the situation we're saddled up with for at least one more year.
7
The problem few see with an invocation of the 25th Amendment, to get rid of an incapable but allegedly stable president is that once you do it, it may become habit forming. America might be left in a position of interminable civil wars over whether any person is fully rational enough at every second of a presidency, to not be overthrown by an ambitious or polarized congress.
Mr. Douthat seems to advocate acquiescence of the current administration and the chaotic behavior of this "President". We should advocate activism and an unwillingness to accept the current situation under any circumstances for the protection of our Democracy.
I agree that the 25th Amendment isn't happening. It would require courage and the Republicans are too busy feeding at the trough. This year they will be laser guided in their efforts to extract what they can before the 2018 election. Our best and only hope is to take back the House and the Senate and shut this farce down.
3
TV Trump knows he is unfit for both business and governing. He knows others will tend to details and clean up behind him. I guess his knowing that makes him a genius in our pop culture. More sadness.
2
We must focus on electing Democrats to take over. It is our only hope. California, like them or not, shows what a complete democratic congress and governor can do. Kansas and most others show what a Repub congress can do. Its a real world experiment that we can measure.
5
You ask how long can this administration continue to work around this president? -- when quite frankly, I wasn't even aware that they were doing that.
Woefully, he's doing nothing and they're doing less, and the country has been in a type of freefall for the past year.
And while Donald Trump's "inability to handle the weight and responsibility of his office" has been the defining feature of his administration since Day 1 -- it's too bad Americans didn't realize that before sending him to the White House.
The list of his bad decisions and the tempestuous tweets that preceeded them is long, and anyone who's been paying attention doesn't need the material in Mr. Wolff's book to provide more grist for the mill.
At this point, most of us already know what the problems are.
The only problem is -- how to survive them.
3
The Trump administration is enabled by a Republican house and senate that have become a millstone around the neck of workingclass Americans. If McConnell and Ryan cared about anyone other than their donors, the tax reform bill would have been defeated. It is time to send a message to the Republican Party by refusing to vote for any politician who runs as a Republican. Democrats and Independents can run the country without alienating two thirds of the population, as the Republicans are managing to do.
4
Nobody elected the "petticoat government". Nor did anyone elect Ivanka Trump or Kellyanne Conway. Donald Trump won the electoral vote, making him (for better or worse) president. If he can't or won't fulfill his duties Congress has a responsibility to remove him. Not to do so is an abdication of their responsibility. Douthat is wrong to assert that because Nixon, Wilson and Garfield continued in office while incapacitated it's acceptable to have Trump continue as well. Those presidents didn't endanger the nation by constantly taunting other, unstable foreign leaders. They didn't break long-standing treaties that could affect the nation economically. They didn't elevate other, equally unfit men and women to manage and ultimately dismantle government departments, resulting in long-term damage to the country's food, water, air, health and safety. This year Americans have the chance to show their preference in elections-- elect new leadership, or keep the unelected petticoat government. I know how I'll vote.
4
Why should we have to hold our breath (and our noses) for the next three years, hoping that Donald Trump's cabinet and other advisers can contain him, when there is another alternative? It is called impeachment. As most historians and legal scholars have noted, impeachment is more of a political than legal remedy. If Congressional leaders cared more about their country than their political futures, they would initiate impeachment proceedings immediately--without waiting for Robert Mueller to produce evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Yes, Mike Pence would be an awful president, but he would not pose the danger to America's long-term interests and to world order that Trump poses every day.
3
From what we've seen so far, very few leaders in the GOP are willing to publicly criticize Trump about anything. Would his Cabinet members, who are personally profiting from his policy positions, truly invoke the 25th Amendment and work to remove him from office? I don't see that happening unless he had a stroke or some other truly debilitating health problem. He is truly unfit for office, but enough voters supported his stand on various issues (as he presented them during the campaign) to elect him, so I don't think the GOP wants to rock the boat. Yes, they are a "petticoat government," but they seem to feel that they can tickle his ego, kiss up to him, and prop him up long enough to get what they want. And if you don't think Trump was duly elected, you're fooling yourself -- he was duly elected because lots of people in the South/Midwest/Southwest absolutely agree with all those opinions that people on the coasts and in big cities find abhorrent.
2
There is almost nothing negative left to be said about Trump. The shocking thing is that he no longer shocks. Like people, after their homes have been demolished, search among the ruins for something salvageable, almost anything left intact, takes on a greater value than it did before the storm.
Slowly, those who complained most about Trump are beginning to find salvable things. Republicans are coming back to the fold. I watched David Brooks—one of the more rational conservatives—starting to find accomplishments in the Trump administration. In normal times, the findings are not really note-worthy accomplishments but among the ruins of democracy they’re all that can be found.
Grosch’s appointment to the Court, done with total disregard for Constitutional responsibility, is seen as something good. The tax Bill isn’t judged for its total fiscal irresponsibility but judged as having gotten something done—anything—before the end of the year.
Trump is a liar, but people struggle, irrationally and somewhat successfully in finding something in him to believe.
7
I am sick of the absurd excuse that Trump apologists use that Trump’s erratic behavior, his inexperience, his narcissism were “clear” during the campaign and Americans elected him anyway. In the first place, he was rejected by a significant majority of Americans – an unprecedented 3 million fewer popular votes. In the second place, he eked his “win” through an Electoral College based on a mere 70,000 votes spread among 3 states, even after those EC voters were made aware of Russian intervention into the election; the EC basically abrogated their role under the Constitution. Secondly, people kept assuring Trump voters that he would “become” presidential and many of his voters said they were voting for him because they did not expect him to do the very things he was promising in the campaign.
But campaigning – even though he did not actually “win” - is not governing: it does not show how an individual would lead after gun massacres, climate catastrophes, foreign aggression. Further, there was a certain expectation that regardless of Trump’s monumental inadequacies (which were not fully apparent in the course of a campaign), he would have competent people around him. Instead, he has installed a slew of incompetent, destructive, corrupt individuals more interested in keeping power than promoting the betterment of the nation.
2
Douthat cannot state categorically, as he does, that this president was elected "legitimately," as long as the Mueller investigation is still open and ongoing. To claim otherwise constitutes a Faustian bargain as odious, in its own way, as the collusion of Congressional Republicans who protect and enable Trump because he will, in McConnell's words, "sign anything we put in front of him."
6
Given the mounting evidence of voter suppression and vote tampering in swing states, the statement that Trump was legitimately elected is mind blowing in its naivety.
4
I don't have the foggiest notion of how one "proves" that one is a genius. But it is possible to offer evidence that one isn't. Say that your goal is to build a wall to keep out invaders from a neighbor to the south and claiming that you'll get the neighbor to pay for it is truly non-genius, as is threatening to shut down the government if the legislature balks at funding its construction when your neighbor laughs at the notion of footing the bill.
But what if you take a completely different tack. You offer a plan to build and operate a TVA-style photo-voltaic array stretching across the southern border, which would prove irresistible to your opponents who advocate breaking from fossil fuels. Of course, this installation would need to be secured along its total length to protect from those - foreign and domestic - who might wish to inflict harm on it. Voila - you get your "Wall" and you undermine your political opposition. It could even prove to be self-funding. Genius.
Dealing with that whole "balanced" thingy may prove a bit more difficult.
1
Extreme circumstances require extreme measures even those that have not yet been tried. We need to start a massive IT movement now (Impeach Trump). This improbable presidency is an historical stain which must not be allowed to continue. I cannot fathom three more years of this wonderfully stable genius in charge of our country! If we allow it to continue, we are all to blame.
1
Republicans have not been legitimately elected for decades. There is ample evidence that "W" stole his elections. The GOP has never looked back.
3
Mr. Douthat, President Trump is like a plaque and the cure of the disease comes directly from the Republican Party.
The Electoral College elected Donald Trump as President without knowing his true persona. During his Presidential campaign, he put on the perfect show; walk the walk and began attacking the news media with the intention of creating doubt to any revelations about Russia’s manipulation and involvement in his Presidential campaign. Fake news has worked so well, he continues with the same attacks on the new media and his only praise is FOX News, a Republican new media.
President Trump suffers from narcissism; he needs gratification at all times. His reactions to events and situations are unpredictable because he’s an unstable individual having trouble thinking in an organized manner. He’s an anarchist without scruples that wouldn’t hesitate to obtain what he wants through lies, force or violence. He won’t stop until he puts this country in bankruptcy. This is the President elected to safeguard the people of this nation. The 2018 midterm elections will define who we are as a free
Nation.
2
The argument here is more proof that the conservative mind is a lazy mind, which would rather assimilate new information than accommodate it. The idea that change is to be resisted until absolutely necessary is not only not desirable but, as in the case of this administration (as well as climate change) is potentially deadly.
1
Mr. Douthat wishes to thank Donald Trump’s babysitters, who have brought about “relative stability” in the US, performed a “genuine service,” and demonstrated the resilience of America’s government.
It doesn’t worry him that a number of Trump’s handlers are members of his own family, who have stayed in the game to lower the curtains and hide their own years of complicit money-laundering activities. Doesn’t bother him that this administration — Trump and his lieutenants — has erased regulations preserving the nations most striking and fragile wild regions, opened offshore sanctuaries to unregulated drilling for oil, cut regulations established to limit industrial pollution of the country’s air and water, wrecked our nation’s international credibility, which is quietly a source of great power, emptied our State Department, displayed no knowledge of or respect for diplomacy, licensed racists in this country to express their hatred loudly and proudly, passed legislation favoring the rich that will open up a gaping crater of deficits and make it necessary to dig into Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid to fill up that hole, terrified immigrant families with threats of arrest and deportation, won the allegiance of Christian fundamentalists by spotlighting Mike Pence and friends who oppose granting equal civil rights to LGBT citizens, demonized Muslims to delight those Christians and define an enemy, and ... the beat goes on.
So many great babysitters! Lucky us.
2
Let's say the White House staff can keep Trump from severely damaging our country by managing his ignorance, his short attention span, his anger and his need for endless fawning and praise. Let's say they can do all the hard work of the presidency (while he is golfing or watching cable TV) including studying all the reports from various agencies about important matters like national security, condensing it all down to index card size bullet points he can read in 60 seconds and handing him papers to sign, which he probably had little part in compiling or designing. Let's say that he can be, more or less, contained.
Problems:
- He is still the President. He can explode at any moment and has already demonstrated his refusal to follow advice from the best professionals. Since Kelly has come on board Trump's daily average number of tweets have actually increased. He may tolerate this coddling for stretches of time, but out of nowhere he can explode and cause great stress and actual damage to American Society.
-He refuses to address the meddling of a foreign enemy in our electoral process, one of the greatest threats ever to our democracy.
-He continues his horrific assaults on the free press and is stacking the judiciary with extremist young judges who will serve lifetime terms, both hallmarks of authoritarian governance.
-He is bending the DOJ to his will, very subtly. They are now investigating Clinton's foundation and emails yet again.
-And that button.
3
It seems as though everyone concerned with our "stable Genius" is reluctant to take action to remove or at least neutralize his effect. This is a sad state of affairs because it shows that we are ill-prepared for such an "incompetent" in our highest office. Now that he is in, we also realize that such a "mad genius" can get away with almost anything and we have no defense. It does not help that the GOP will not take any action and will maintain this reluctant behavior until their own peril is eminent. Perhaps we should be focusing on ways to prevent such a "Genius" from getting in in the first place.
This is a good post. Rather than be vague the biggest danger both to the world and to the Country is the ability of an unfit Trump to legally solely launch a nuclear strike. Perhaps James Mattis at some point needs to take Trump extralegally out of the nuclear chain of command like happened quietly in the Nixon administration. The situation where one leader in the U.S.A. can order a preemptive nuclear strike without check is absolutely outrageous even if other countries have similar rules. In retaliation for another countries first strike it could be warranted but there has been a history of non-response to false positives saving us from nuclear war both ours and Russia's. Bad laws and executive orders can usually be reversed later but a nuclear preemptive strike could easily lead to nuclear winter and the end of human life on the planet. This risk can be mitigated in the U.S. by for example, requiring a declaration of War from Congress before a preemptive nuclear strike but Congress does not have the stomach to pass such legislation. In this matter American Checks and Balances are woefully inadequate.
"Instead it’s been a defining feature of his administration from Day 1 — and indeed was obvious during the campaign that elected him."
No, Ross, his inability to handle the weight and responsibility of the office were and remain a defining feature of his personality since long before the election. Thanks to the press's fascination with him, however, the rest of us were simply unaware of that fact.
Unless a President is in an irreversible coma, the 25th Amendment will never be used since the President can simply dismiss any Cabinet member at any time for any or no reason. So if this were being plotted, Trump can simply pre-empt it. Ditto for the Mueller investigation. Even if indictments result, Trump can simply pardon all involved, including himself. Impeachment conviction with a 2/3rds majority in the Senate even if somehow the Democrats take the House is improbable. So we all have to root and hope the staff around Trump will keep the US from a calamity until his term ends.
Trump was legitimately elected, yes, but that doesn't let the Republican Party off the hook. Trump entered the running in 2015 with absolutely zero political experience. What are the necessary qualifications to run for the highest office of the land on the Republican ticket? Are there any standards other than an entrance fee? The Republican Party owes an explanation and an apology to the American people for taking on a candidate like Donald Trump. Until we receive it we should all resolve to boycott the party.
1
Remember when Eisenhower became president and was dismayed that the rest of the government didn't work like the military? He found that just ordering something didn't ensure that it would happen.
I think that's how our government works. The bureaucracy rolls on regardless of who occupies the Oval Office. At best an administration can make changes at the margins. (Has anyone seen the skies blacken since Scott Pruitt became head of the EPA?) We still don't have a border wall, and NAFTA is still in place.
So we're likely to see a little less regulation, an EPA that focuses on toxins rather than CO2, and maybe a little more money for the military, although that's likely more a result of the collisions in the Pacific showing how understaffed our Navy has been than any actions by Trump.
But the world isn't coming to end under Trump any more than we were going to become a socialist dictatorship under Obama.
I don't know why the NYT keeps censoring my comments about Trump's plans to start wars for electoral advantage, but I'm going to keep submitting them so I can publish them after I'm proved right.
Dubya only agreed to the invasion of Iraq because Karl Rove persuaded him that he would only win re-election if he campaigned as a "war president" and Afghanistan might not last long enough (that's also why they let bin Laden escape from Tora Bora). Bush Senior won his war too fast then lost re-election.
This is now standard GOP strategy. I've been predicting a war with Iran being started around August 2019. The growing likelihood of a massive defeat in the mid-terms might mean Trump goes early with a smaller war - say Venezuela in August this year. That's a maybe because Trump doesn't really care about the GOP or Congress or governing, so he might not bother.
These predictions of a cynical war launched as an election stunt are about Trump's lack of any morality or decency or concern for anybody but himself. Now my big worry is that Trump - faced with the prospect of a crushing defeat in 2020 - might decide to burn it all down out of spite.
That scenario is only more likely as Trump's mental state worsens and 2020 gets closer. It's one thing to get Trump out under the 25th now, it's another thing after he's started whipping up the moronic masses with torchlight rallies and Fox faux news reports. "Hey! Watch me nuke Little Rocket Man!"
Get him out now! By any means necessary.
5
It's worthwhile rereading Fletcher Knebel's 1965 novel, "Night of Camp David," in which an Iowa Senator, along with the Defense Secretary a few others, realizes the President is seriously mentally ill. The difference between that fictional President and Trump is that Knebel's somewhat paranoid President Hollenbach is both idealistic and seemingly competent except for momentary rages against his enemies and a couple of harmless delusions, like Democrats in Congress having their own scandals were doing it purposely to bring disrepute to the President's party.
What destroys him is a Captain Queeg "Caine Mutiny" moment before a group of officials in the White House. Confronted with his closest aides' judgment of his mental incapacity, he gracefully and very quickly agrees to resign.
As I said, that "crazy" fictional President was a lot more rational than the one we have in reality.
4
Maybe if the hosts of Fox and Friends said he was incompetent he'd believe it?
If the prez is, indeed, unfit, he wouldn't be the first. But alas, that "diagnosis" was never sufficient to trigger the 25th Amendment.
Because measuring presidential fitness is fraught with politics and other confounding variables, the direct measure—job performance—should be the measurement of choice.
By that measure, Trump has demonstrated in less than one year that he is more fit than, say, the prior three presidents. The job performance of first and third, Obama and Clinton, when viewed retrospectively through the lens of history, reveal catastrophic unfitness.
1
Really? And why don't you include Bush in your extraordinarily brilliant analysis? After all he started a catastrophic war on false pretenses and gave rise to the worst recession since the 30's. Clinton started no wars and brought the highest prosperity in years. Obama dealt with the consequences of Bush's wars about as well as anyone could, and took us out of the Bush recession. Making groundless statements such as yours prove nothing aside from your unfitness to make statements.
1
Let us know when they let you out of that institution
1
Unfortunately, the national interest and our common welfare depend on more than a few well-meaning individuals surrounding the president. The gutting of the State Department, the turmoil at EPA, the attrition of government scientists and professionals, and the wholesale liquidation of regulatory regimes - aided and abetted by the Republican-dominated legislative branch and their funders - adds to the risk that even small problems on any front could go widely out of control.
30
First, I want to complement Douthat for acknowledging that Trump was legitimately elected. That is a first in the NYTs. Krugman, a columnist I enjoy reading, regularly regales his readers that Trump's election is an illegitimate act of treason. A deal made with Putin for some nefarious not clearly specified reason. Second Hillary Clinton was going to pursue a dangerous foreign policy against Russia. One can see it in the last days of the Obama Administration when fifty State Department analysts insisted it was necessary for the US to militarily enter the Syrian Civil War. The USs interference in Ukrainian politics and the illegal right wing coup in 2014, which has led to pointless violence and the Russian absorption of Ukraine, can be laid at the feet of Victoria Nuland, the would be future Secretary of State under Clinton. Obama did his best to lead from behind to thwart Clinton in Syria and Ukraine. Clinton and her supporters demand that Obama do something against Russia for stealing the election from her just goes along the NYTs relentless fruitless effort to pin Putin as the source of Trump's victory. The country was destined for craziness whoever won the election.
Russia absorbed Crimea not Ukraine. Sorry for the error.
This isn't about Ms. Clinton.This is about the guy acting as the U.S. president.
This is about what he, and the party he belongs to are doing. Right now.
The election happened more than a year ago, and whatever took place then is done. Ms. Clinton has nothing to do with current affairs and the only people talking about her are people throwing sand into discussions of our current issues.
The question is about Russian hackers manipulating information during the U.S. election. We'd all like to know what happened.
2
To conclude that the election of Trump is a better choice just speaks volumes about the depth of knowledge the writer has, Trump as we speak is destroying Pax Americana and creating a vacuum that China and Russia are filling up. Pax Americana cost was many tarts and blood and here it comes an Apprentice in a chief to blow it out of the water. Shame shame.
I am done with this administration, their obstruction, their complicity, their greed, their self dealing...I am done.
Republicans are not patriotic, they do not love this country, they do not want to make America great. November cannot arrive soon enough for me.
111
Me too!
The sycophants keep reminding he was “elected” - but if a man is unable to function without a cabal of sycophants hiding the truth (that he is unfit) and working tirelessly to make him appear half-witted, then the voters did not elect that hypocritical pretense.
A non-functioning ‘resident’ is an unethical farce. An immoral fiction inflicted upon the citizenry. Allowing the GOP Congress and its greedy donors to use the Treasury like a cookie jar. Hobbling the ability of our Republic to attend to the business of governing in the service of We the People.
The despicable crimes occurring in full view deserve the severest sanctions. Or we are crippled as a nation going forward.
We know it. The conspirators know it. The world watching this knows it.
The dread and shame of it! Thugs and Mobsters have taken over the GOP and we, along with the entire world, cannot just stand - watching and worrying.
It may already be too late to stop this train headed for derailment.
1
Just like at the deli counter, take a number and stand in line! ...You're not alone!
Obstruction, complicity, greed, self dealing? Sounds to me that you are describing Hillary Clinton.
"legitimately elected,"? Oh really?
Last minute FBI meddling.
Russian hacking, social media mayhem and disinformation campaigns.
Refusal to release tax returns.
Absurd Hillary Clinton phobia.
Unregulated campaign contributions.
Legitimately elected indeed.
I'm not having it.
91
Watch "Hacking Democracy" on Netflix. I've not believed a Republican has been legitimately elected after "W".
I agree 100%. Thanks.
No it's not too extreme to use the 25th when this so called president is a clear and present danger. For how long will craven republicans fiddle while the world burns? Get over bending over backwards to give this incompetent unqualified mess the benefit of the doubt and replace him before it's too late! I've never been so sickened by cowardly republicans in all my life.
65
Would Mike Pence be any better? We can only hope that the system can self-correct in the next election cycle and we'll have democratic majorities in congress. At that point, impeachment may become a realistic option. If not, at least democrats should be able to stop the republicans from doing more damage before 2021.
23
Yes, Mike Pence would be better. For all his faults, he is not mentally ill and he understands how government works.
Pence suffers from a different type of insanity. His cheerful, affable demeanor masks the heart and soul of an Inquisitor. At this point it is difficult to choose between our horrible perils. As long as we keep Trump separated from the go codes, it may be better to deal with a man universally known to be a mendacious and degenerate buffoon.
2
Never, ever, EVER thought I would long for HW or W. At the bare minimum, at least they were "presidential". The devil you know is SO MUCH BETTER than the devil you don't. I miss the good old days.
14
Well, Reagan railed against Big Government and went on to declare that "government is the problem." Of course, he was referring to regulations which he believed were chocking private industry and making it more difficult for it to function effectively. He was the hands-off president, who basically handed over the oval office to his close cronies and advisors. The Iran-Contra scandal almost brought down his administration, and then, somehow, Reagan survived to become one of the most revered presidents in the late 20th century. His wife Nancy was consulting with astrologers! How crazy is that (DT has yet to consult tarot card readers, but that could change). Was Reagan unfit to be president? Many good folks thought so, and yet, he managed to slip away from the hangman#s noose. Now, we have a new, unfit-to-be-president persona who for all intents and purposes will also avoid the political hangman. Maybe someday people will actually believe he was a good president after all! If "less is more" in terms of government, then we ought to be glad that our new emperor has no clothes, is totally unfit for the office he holds, and the other two branches of the government will take the reigns of power away from the madman in the WH. Let's be glad that DT is no ideologue, is politically illiterate, and does not have a hidden agenda to take over the government (something Nixon was accused of doing). Time will tell.
12
How crazy was it for Nancy Reagan to consult her astrologers instead of Reagan’s whacky advisors, you ask?
I’ll take Nancy’s astrologers any day!
"They have done so for a year, with some debacles (Puerto Rico) but also some genuine successes (the defeat of the Islamic State)."
The end of ISIS was easily predicted long before Trump was elected. Giving Trump all the credit, with no mention of Obama, seems disingenuous. The other success attributed to Trump is the economy. But, like the defeat of ISIS, the soaring economy was created by Yellen pushing the cart up the hill. Trump is just watching the momentum she created.
So that just leaves us with the debacles, of which Puerto Rico is just one of many. From efforts to backdoor undermine healthcare in his archaic, unfair, plutocratic, trickle-down tax-plan; to appeasing his evangelical base with a sloppy proposal to move our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem; to draconian travel ban EOs struck down at every turn; to equivocating approval of white supremacists; to gutting the EPA and USDA; to opening our oceans to unbridled oil drilling; to threat-tweeting nuclear war...the list is seemingly endless.
It's not Trump has done some good and some bad. It's been all bad -- a freaking disaster.
Douthat concludes: "Rather, the big question is organizational, managerial, and psychological."
That question has already been answered -- fail on all three counts. Nothing points to this being a big question going forward. We know what's coming if Trump stays in power -- compounding disaster upon disaster.
Help us Obi Wan Mueller, you're our only hope.
56
Snap out of it. We're voting in November.
Get people registered and get 'em to the polls.
Mueller can lay out the sordid facts but we must act upon them.
1
Douthat is apparently unable to appreciate the fact that America finally has a "stable genius" President, one who has the courage to tell it like it is, to cast himself in all honesty as having the same ability to lead our nation as three other truly great stable geniuses, Secretariat, Citation, and Seattle Slew.
31
You failed to mention the other "stable" genius-Mr. Ed, who had a much better and more bigly vocabulary.
1
I would like to say that Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Citation are greater stable geniuses than 45. I know my two horses are.
1
Don’t forget Mr. Ed.
Thank you, Ross. You sound as dismayed as most Americans, at least the ones who care about decency and intelligence. If Robert Mueller doesn't save the country will you vote for a Democrat in 2018 ? That would be doing your part much more than lamenting what "conservatism" has become.
32
Mr. Douthat once again fails to allude to the not so subtle damages that our current so-called president inflicts upon our children, poor, disabled, social fabric, environment, Constitution and democracy on a daily basis. To fail to mention these daily assaults is to abdicate one's duty as a patriotic American. Shame on you, Mr. Douthat.
31
So, Douthat spent an entire column previously discussing the 25th Amendment in the context of this unstable, impetuous Fake President but now that the "moment of reckoning" arrives he retreats into squishy rationalizations of forbearance despite the urgency of the moment to act before things really get out of hand, i.e. a potential war. Is he simply afraid of getting publicly called out by the F.P. himself in a tweet, or two? Oh, what First Amendment courage!
5
If Douthat thinks Trump has defeated the Islamic State, he'd better think again. They are in Africa, and, worse for the USA, in Afghanistan. You ain't seen nothing yet, Ross.
20
The Sunni-Shia fires are not extinguished, merely pushed off stage. Yes, IS controls less territory but they have great influence in Yemen and Afghanistan and iraq's Shia government will continue its own special incompetence, making sure that no coming together is possible. IS may reappear under a different name with a slightly less brutal policy, but we haven't seen the last of Sunni insurgency. We Americans never learned the lessons of Vietnam.
I like the part of this opinion piece that opines that Trump defeated ISIS. Really? That statement sounds like something coming from Kelly Ann or Sarah rather than someone who writes as if he knows the real deal. Come on, Ross, stop pandering.
20
Douthat is apparently unable to appreciate the fact that America finally has a "stable genius" President, one who has the courage to tell it like it is, to cast himself in all honesty as having the same ability to lead our nation as three other truly great stable geniuses, Secretariat, Citation, and Seattle Slew.
9
Where is the author’s beloved Ronald Reagan in his list of incapacitated presidents? Anyone familiar with the effects of alzheimer’s disease recognized Reagan’s condition before his first term was up. By the end of his presidency, Reagan was a shell of his previous self, his administration run by his cabinet and, in some instances, by the astrologist-consulting first lady.
17
Absolutely no one linked to this immoral, inept government can be considered a hero. This is complete spin and rationalization. They are not Schindler helping Jews. They choose to keep their jobs at all moral cost. No one who signs a pact with the devil can also be a hero. Mr Douhat may feel better by accepting this convenient excuse given his disdain for Hilary and the democrats during the campaign.
23
President Trump is scheduled for a medical examination at Walter Reed in a few days time.
Will that examination include a careful assessment of his incessant lying, his temper tantrums, his peculiar locutions, his tweeting habits, his belief in his genius, his constant insulting of President Obama and Mrs. Clinton, his refusal to release his tax forms, his inability to distinguish fact from fantasy when it comes to assessing his achievements as President, his frequent firing of staff, his strange television viewing habits, his aversion to reading, his oft-repeated repellant behavior around women, his tendency to bully minorities and make wild claims about his success as a businessman?
Psychological problems -- even serious ones -- can sometimes be overcome by small, simple and temporary adjustments in one’s life style. Fewer Big Macs, a cup of hot chocolate at bedtime, less time spent outdoors on the golf course in the hot sun, a cutback in the number of his exhausting vacations and airplane trips, a few meetings with a therapist, maybe even a prescription for Viagra or a short stay in a sanitarium in Puerto Rico.
He is our President. We owe him our deepest concern and our highest standard of mental health care.
16
"Will that examination include a careful assessment of his incessant lying, his temper tantrums, his peculiar locutions, his tweeting habits, his belief in his genius, his constant insulting of President Obama and Mrs. Clinton, his refusal to release his tax forms, his inability to distinguish fact from fantasy when it comes to assessing his achievements as President, his frequent firing of staff, his strange television viewing habits, his aversion to reading, his oft-repeated repellant behavior around women, his tendency to bully minorities and make wild claims about his success as a businessman?"
This describes a lot of the general public. This describes an entire "news" network. We get the president we deserve.
oh i see, they couldnt get the russia thing, the collusion thing, or anything else to stick, so now they come up with this. brilliant.
It's pretty cool, Lauren, the way you make a list to name one thing.
And that one thing hasn't not stuck, yet.
I know Texas is very, very big on guns, and you're jumping all of them.
Wait.
Oh Ross, puleeeze! How can you be so dismissive of a man who is a "stable genius", a man who is putting himself in the same class of Presidential abilities as Secretariat, Citation, and Seattle Slew, clearly stable geniuses in their own right.
5
It's problematic when a stable genius, the like of Ellen Griswold's Cousin Eddie, pulls his RV onto the White House grounds and takes over running the country.
5
It isn't working, Ross, it's on autopilot. Nobody can land it, it just runs out of fuel and crashes.
10
"Trump’s authoritarian impulses, while genuine, seem unlikely to produce even aggrandizement on the scale of past presidents from F.D.R. to Nixon, because he has no competence to execute on them."
Who needs competence when you've got tens of millions of gun-loving wingnuts on your side? Trump's authoritarian impulses will remain a danger as long as there is a sizable percentage of the population that sees him as a savior, rather than as the infirm egomaniac that he is.
12
Funny while you acknowledge the need to do something, you completely let yourself and those responsible off the hook. No Cigar!
There is another solution possible. Charges of crimes against humanity with Puerto Rico. While not on the level of Bosnian genocide and in no way wanting to mitigate the seriousness of those charges, but this is not Bosnia. This is the United States and comparably, Puerto Rico qualifies as criminal neglect that falls fully within trump's court entirely.
Trump's actions were fueled entirely by NLU bigotry to inflict willful pain, suffering and death on people who are brown and speak Spanish. What would have happened had trump treated Katrina similarly in New Orleans or Harvey in Houston?
We have the means. No, you are not left off the hook and you ARE fully responsible for acting, both mouthpieces for the GOP and conservatism, as well as the leadership, congressional, presidential. judicial and local.
If you do nothing thinking you're off the hook, you will discredit conservatism for all time.
11
Conservatism gas not a shred of decency, never mind "credit".
Brilliant Ross. All of us with a relative I.Q. above say 68 realize that something is very strange about the person sitting on the throne of the presidency, but your article brings the lens of the projector into much clearer focus. Regardless of your political “safe zone”, the reality of what keeps happening everyday within the shallowness of this creature who is in charge of our future goes well beyond “Boys will be Boys”. No! This madness has to stop and stop now! We might not survive as a country if we have to wait until 2020.
12
calling himself a genius is right up there with having a painting done of himself.
6
The problem is Mike Pence. Nobody wants him. Where is Spiro Agnew when we need him?
4
trump's entourage prevent some sort of calamity? i would call his purposeful dismembering of the EPA and his disregard of environmental regulations quite a calamity already made. He's disgusting...
10
In an otherwise reasonable article, one important date has been neglected: November 6, 2018. That is 303 days from now. Even with voter suppression, gerrymandering, polarized news outlets, fake news, the daily fog of idiotic tweets du jour and general voter apathy, let's all work hard to make this a "big, beautiful (and "bigly") election. Then the country can better chart its course and regain the world's trust and respect.
8
Your basic point, that Trump is nuts, is spot on. On the other hand, a great deal of evidence continues to accumulate making your assertion that he was legitimately elected highly unlikely. But if you want to continue living in cloud cuckoo land for now, be my guest.
9
I fear we win a Democratic majority later this year and are blamed by right wing propaganda for the failed government.
1
Once again, we ask, "Where are Ryan and McConnell?" Their continued support of this national embarrassment called Trump is simply unbelievable!
Completely ignoring the mountains of evidence of conspiracy with Russia by the Trump campaign, Graham and Grassley inexplicably become Trump sycophants and attempt to discredit highly respected Christopher Steele whose Trump dossier was initiated by their own Republican comrades.
When something makes no sense, "Follow the money..."
Rumor has it that Graham wants Attorney General job.
What does Grassley want?
7
Trump reminds me of Fredo from the Godfather, "I'm smart, it's not like everybody says " .
7
If only there were a Republican leader with s little guts. We’ve seen a few displays from McCain, Corker, and Flake, but not even McCain has been consistent. What a tragedy, a total abdication of morals and honor. All for the sake of keeping their jobs.
9
Compared to these past administrations (and interesting you didn't include Reagan with alzheimer's), what's of great concern is the fact that Trump appointments have been abysmal. He has put people in his cabinet who are blatantly against the mission of their departments. He has routinely hired the incompetent, the unqualified and even the treasonous. The GOP has completely lost its way over the past three decades and is not providing checks and balances. Congress has deteriorated in its functioning alongside bad rulings on campaign finance reform and other pressures. The State Dept has been denuded, and across the Fed, high skilled, experienced workers have been leaving in the wake of Trump's horrible management.
Under Nixon, Wilson and Reagan, the presidents were still surrounded by competent, experienced people. And there was still a reasonable amount of faith in government amongst the electorate, and 40% of them hadn't been brain-washed by paranoid right wing media. We didn't have major media outlets like Fox that have no trouble criticizing and undermining the FBI and other institutions. Even during the Viet Nam war, we were not so polarized by the influences of our daily feeds.
Trump has caused far more damage than I even thought possible, even though I was well aware he was 100% unfit for many years (even to ethically run his own businesses). America could unravel.
94
Perhaps putting the harshest critics of a department as their heads often reams out the outlandish and the deadwood, leaving a functioning, ordered, and focused department.
And while I am sure that you are sincere in your beliefs, I must remind you, as Barack Obama did shortly after he took office, that elections have consequences.
Perhaps it would be better to focus less on "the sky is falling" aspects of your positions, and more on constructing platforms and arguments that can win back the very votes that you have lost and that you will require to win elections in the future.
1
You acknowledge Mr Trump cannot fulfill the duties of his office. Yet you say the 25th Amendment should not be used and that the status quo should prevail. So you are basically saying it’s fine for the United States to be run by non-elected people, including the President’s relatives.
35
AnnH: Yes, it is fine because every administration appoints non-elected people and relatives (have you forgotten Robert Kennedy?) Looks like you trot out the indignation only because it is Trump.
I think he's saying we have no choice.
Only pundits like Ross are worried that if a president really incapacitated, he won't be removed or effectively controlled by applying constitutional remedies. But, what is happening in Washington is not based on realty but based on the imagination of Trump haters. Some of these people want to save America by challenging Trump's mental fitness. Steve Bannon thought Trump was not mentally fit to be president recently and see where he is now. Good luck to anybody and everybody who want to remove the president due to his mental incapacity.
4
While Mr. Douthat takes the long view, I worry excessively about the short term: the amount of destruction an unstable narcissist can do when he feels cornered by, for example, an international crisis or political opponents.
Nixon famously understood that he had to resign when senior Republicans told him he had lost Republican support in Congress.
I’m not sure Trump would do the same. Worry that he might start a war to regain popular support and hold onto his job instead.
31
Is this how Republicans govern the United States? So sad, this column mentions no outrage only resignation. I will say this over the last year and the news that the Republicans from the Senate want the FBI to investigate Mr. Steel the Republican party is the most corrupt party in the US today. So sad.
39
I agree with many of Ross' points, but to say Republicans somehow fail in supporting Trump is confused thinking. This is a meme that runs through much alleged conservative punditry. I did not vote for anyone in 2016 as the choice was between a criminal and a clown. But the GOP let its voters pick the clown, while the Democrats tipped the scales in favor of their criminal, and prevented a true radical from getting into power. As such, I am not sure what Ross wanted the DC GOP to do. Be like the Dems and subvert popular will? Ross claims to be the voice of the pro-blue collar wing of the Party, but too often he shares the same arrogant elitism of his liberal colleagues on the Op-Ed Page: we Harvard and prep schools grads know better than you ignorant voters, so just do as we say. Wrong perspective Ross.
5
Which crime has Hillary Clinton been convicted of? The most typical right-wing tactic (or Russian bot tactic) is to repeat over and over reductive statements, without any kind of basis. Hillary Clinton has never come close to committing a crime. Fox News may say it over and over, but she has not in fact ever committed a crime.
The claim that Trump was successful in the defeat of the Islamic State must be an alternative fact---I don't think the attacks from this organization have ended or are likely to end in the future--just the site of the engagement.
28
Past presidents weren't taunting other country's leaders on Twitter. There's no precedent for how that will work out. The people managing Trump haven't figured out how to stop this yet.
20
Dear Douthat, as clear-headed as you seems to be in this writing, you are still blinded by partisanship.
The Republicans in Congress and in the executive branch are not so much as paralyzed by fear, but mesmerized by greed and power. They are not just putting up with Trump in the fashion of in-the-mean-time, they are actively encouraging, excusing and protecting his wrong doings. As such, they are actively participating in Trump's presidency.
I am not surprised. Given that Trump's "populism" has easily fallen away, if it ever was there genuinely, what's left is the typical red meat right wing, Republican agenda that cater only the the money elite. Trump is an empty suit they can get anything signed. Did you not hear the lavish praises they heaped upon Trump after the tax billed was signed? The sound of those praises were a thousand spears to American values and American democracy.
But ultimately, I blame the Republican voters. If Trump's rating with this group falls as low as with general American voters, I am very sure the Republican Congress and their fellow cohorts in the executive branch would be booting Trump out by now if not definitely before this year's midterm elections.
33
For all the criticism and complaints regarding this column and the majority of your columns; it can really be summed up as "enabler". Mr. Douthat you have been and continue to be a high profile enabler of both Donald Trump and the current self-serving corruption that is the GOP. This fact will hopefully become the definitive quality that you are remembered for henceforth.
31
Trump is an extension of Reagan, the doddering uncle, aka media figure, that will say the same cocktail party drivel over and over as though it's a recording that keeps repeating without end. And he does have the skill to say it in just the right way for your own doddering uncle or aunt to agree with it: "of course we should bomb them if..." The picture of Trump is amazing, he actually looks like a cartoon of himself. If you speak loudly and boorishly you can get followers, especially those who are not being heard by by the political establishment.
9
According to Reuters, it was Russian bombs and boots on the ground that defeated ISIS. But, yeah, they could have been softened up by Trump’s bellicosity.
18
To ascribe the Trump administration the defeat of the Islamic State sounds like a self congratulatory delusion linked to the exceptionalism still felt by many US nationals. Whether we like it or not, the defeat of IS should be linked more to Russian, Iran and the Hezbollah than a country which, like the USA is still unconditionally servile to the interests of countries like SaudI Arabia, without which neither IS, Bin Laden, or the perpetrators of the 9-11 atrocities would not have existed. Besides, the parody of George W. Bush declaring victory in IRAK should have opened the eyes of many. It is still to early to declare that IS has been defeated while the USA keeps on supporting a country at the source of terrorism financing as Saudi Arabia.
22
Why did it take Wolf's book to finally make you realize that Trump is not only incompetent, but dangerous ?
21
"May the new year give us more, because our president’s chaotic mind isn’t going anywhere."
I believe this narcissist, currently "acting" as our President, is in office thanks to the Republicans, the mainstream media, and their combined ability to influence the unwitting, mostly in middle America, who literally cast their vote for this narcissist in an effort to deny the Democrats yet another opportunity to continue their 40 plus year agenda of driving the poor and the middle-class into penury and economic slavery.
As I indicated in another post this morning, we the living breathing and nearly subjugated poor and middle-class, have two major opportunities ahead, the midterms and 2020, to unseat all of these charlatans, Republicans and Democrats, send them into the wilderness, and elect only true Independents, Independents with no allegiance to corporate America and its wealthiest, Independents who believe in a Bernie Sanders agenda, an agenda which used to be the definition of America.
Anything other than that will insure the death of Democracy, and the continuance of the Republican and Democratic agenda, whose two main objectives are penury and economic slavery, for we the people.
12
Oh dear. That expression from 100 yeas ago -- "petticoat government" -- IS highly #problematic. So why use it? It's cute, it's quaint, and it's demeaning. Petticoats as a metaphor for...what, exactly? Government run by unelected senior staff? Incompetence? Or maybe government run by unelected, incompetent women who wear not clothing but "outfits."
Am I bringing pettiness to "petticoat"? I suppose I should focus on the more urgent points of this column. Yet in this #MeToo era, while we discuss the widespread harassment and abuse of women, it's important to pay attention to subtle belittling. It's not like assault -- a serious crime -- but these constant small slights have a cumulative effect. I'm 60 and I'm exhausted by it.
27
That chaotic, unstable Trump mind appears to be getting better results than the past 3 administrations however. Economy is booming, 4.1% unemployment, wages rising, Dow at 25,000. African American unemployment is less that 7%, an historic low. Trump’s role, deregulation and the tax cut, which really hasn’t taken effect yet. Illegal immigration down 70% simply by enforcing our laws. Isis defeated in the field, Trump took that handcuffs off our military. North Korea finally confronted, or did you want the nuclear blackmail to continue. Perhaps there are some ill advised tweets, but these results look brilliant to me.
2
Yeah you know when I got that new credit card, all of a sudden I was wealthy and I could spend and spend. My friends thought it was great. In fact I had more friends than I ever knew existed!! I was popular!!
Who knew it was so easy to be successful!
1
The economy and unemployment are the result of President Obama's policies, not Donald Trump
Trump has done nothing but great chaos, bedlam and erradcate some really important policies. Illegal immigration was already spiraling downwards. So deal with facts, not Trump fiction and fantasy
Of course the stock market is at an all time high.......it's rich people....... I'd be very concerned about the bubble that's fotming there...cause it's going to burst......and whose fault will that be?
1
The number of new jobs created in 1017 was down from the number of new jobs created in 2016. With the exception of the stock market, which has benefited from a huge corporate tax cut that will require cuts in domestic spending down the road, there is no evidence that the economy is doing anything more that proceeding on the same trajectory it was handed from the Obama Administration. To say North Korea had been confronted is a joke as they have continued in the unimpeded development of their nuclear capability. And with regard to ISIS you would be hard pressed find a single thing that has been done that was different from what the Obama Administration had already initiated.
1
We can no longer claim to be a beacon of democracy when this man "wins" an election without the popular vote. This is the second time it has happened in the last 5 Presidential cycles. It is no longer a quaint possibility for a close election. The system has been rigged to control us, and the agenda is to destroy all that oppose them (blue states, ethnic minorities, unions, teachers, scientists, environmental groups, et-alia).
The entire Republican party is complict. We are enabling them when we vote for a local Republican for representation, or we do not vote. Wake up! Everyone must vote to remove the Republican Party before they destroy this country.
19
"Trump's petticoat government" is the result of Republican politics gone wrong.
Their years of racially divisive southern strategy, dumb-down their electorates, but most significantly, lies and deceitful propaganda to undermine genuine civic discourse vital to the functioning of democracy. (These are the people who can argue sugar is good for you!)
The Republican establishment and the propaganda media such as Fox News and Rush Limbaugh etc. essentially create a generation or two of Republican voters unable to distinguish facts from fictions, or worst, Republican voters who are unabashedly reactive, bullish, racist and devoid of values of integrity, honesty and reverence for truths. Such is who they are, these Americans.
The chaos that Trump is -- is a representation of millions of Americans. They are cheering, they see no problem. THEY as Americans are reflected, acknowledged, voiced and vindicated in the highest office of our land!!
I believe this is not who Douthat is. But I think he is having a hard time admitting to himself the reality of his fellow Americans.
11
It is good that RD is holding the Trump/world administration accountable to at least some standard of rationally, but there is much more to be done on the left and right to account for Trump. The left lost contact with working class people post Vietnam and became spectators rather than agents of change; i.e. who is being marginalized by their 'otherness'---with it's attendant theory of truth, very similar to Trumps, that claims there are no facts only values that express power and dominance. The left has to get this or they will not be able to appeal to working people----please come to terms with the fact that Republicans are more appealing to working people. But the right's problem may be easier to change. Rovian 'perception is reality,' get their votes and then ignore them, can be changed in one election cycle, if only one conservative would hold to the standards that have served us well; you know, there are facts that drive values and not the other way around. Yes! Family and community far outstrip in value the supposedly enlightened elite. Only enlarge family and community beyond the Burkian world of a very narrow class; in other words live out the inclusion principles that this country was founded on.
1
A 25th Amendment solution requires a coup not just by the Congress, but by the Cabinet POTUS appointed. In this case we have already seen his demands for sycophant behavior made to Comey, Sessions, and Tillerson, and Comey being fired for refusal to grovel. Trump wanted to trademark "You're Fired!" (Really!). In what universe are we to dream that this Cabinet of Clowns will suddenly switch sides en masse?
And here's a constitutional stumper: POTUS has the power to fire cabinet members at will. If he fired them en masse, how would the 25th Amendment work?
5
Ross, let's throw something unpredictable into the mix: a global pandemic, say, or terrorist activity on US soil involving nuclear material, or an EMP event.
With the rogue's gallery in the White House, the US would be toast. We can not afford to limp along with this motley crew in the confidence that our luck will hold (as it DIDN'T hold for Puerto Rico) and they will never have to respond to an existential threat. He needs to be removed NOW.
11
The overall premise is correct, however, these other moments of incapacity were balance by a certain operational effectiveness, not just inside the White House, but in the co-equal branches of government. For nearly 30 years, the GOP has been trying to strip the performance and destroy the effectiveness Venus's of both Congress and the Courts in pursuit of their conservative agenda and lately their cowardly and craven pursuit of Tea Party, Nationalist ideology-inspired anti-government voters.
This no ordinary sick-President moment. The GOP has, in fact, brought us to a crisis...a crisis of and about the Republic itself.
The Tax bill is a symptom of that crisis. In the business circles the greatest beneficiaries of that Bill reside, the recommended action during such a crisis is often to"milk the cash cow," to take revenues out of the most profitable parts of the business before the whole this goes kablooee.
Sensing that something is wrong, the 1%ers are grabbing the most they can from the taxpayer, the only "profit center," the government has (and with zero intention of trickling it down, BTW) and Congress and the Courts are playing along.
I think you should reconsider your rosy scenario of the folks around the President holding it together for the rest of us...
That's not where the real action -nor the real tragedy -- is happening...
14
Mr. Douthat’s piece is somewhat reassuring, or at least realistic. Just hunker down and try to survive as a nation for three more years. Just hope that the generals can contain Trump’s worst instincts. The episode in Wolff’s book about the staffer who intentionally and erroneously told the president that he needed a reason to fire Comey is an example.
However, this piece overlooks the catastrophe that looms, i.e. if Trump threads the needle in 2020 and gets re-elected. The betting markets currently rate this as a 30% chance. If that nightmare occurs, then we will all move to California and vote to secede from the union.
3
Despite the gathering at Camp David this weekend to plan the republican agenda for the year, the party and its woeful president have little to move America forward. They are running out of actions to eliminate anything Obama did. They were a party of obstruction; ow they are a party of destruction. They are probably smart enough to realize they shouldn't attack entitlements. Do they are left with chipping away at social welfare programs.
What will happen is the persistent vitiation of American values and culture. Celebration of diversity will yield to vocal intolerance. Science will continue to wither. Education will be criticized. Trust within the country and with our allies will evaporate. The environment will be polluted. America will lose its sense of itself.
Most importantly, we will not progress. When was the last time the republicans put forward an idea to positively affect the future? As we stand still or regress, we will fall behind. There is harm in tearing things down, and there is harm in deliberate stasis.
10
Some of this is Trump. Some of it is the religious fervor with which many follow a simplistic and reductionist Ayn Rand. Pity the day that she gained such naive following for her less than nuanced thinking. And of course it was the overly simple wealthy that jumped on the band wagon, so they wield disproportionate power.
3
The far-right Republican agenda seems to be doing quite well, actually, notwithstanding Trump's personality failings: massive regulatory rollback, dismantling of environmental protections, huge immigration controls and deportations, big tax cuts, drastically cutting back Obamacare for the poorer 50 per cent, a booming economy. True, foreign policy has been a bit chaotic but with no negative real consequences as yet, while trade is still at best a work in progress. But not bad for a first year.
One idea struck home with me reading this column, attributed to the author of "Fire And Fury". Apparently, Michael Wolf thinks and states that based on his interviews that “the men and women of the West Wing, for all that the media was ridiculing them, actually felt they had a responsibility to the country,”.
I disagree and believe that based on the actions taken, by not only the White House men and women but the actions taken by congress and most of all by the administration, show them all to be uninterested with the effects of their actions on the country both long and short-term.
Responsibility to the country means responsibility to citizens. When did responsibility to citizens require removal of benefits from citizens and adding benefits to organizations? Responsibility to citizens would not advocate and attempt to remove ability to insure against medical expenses from millions, without any consideration of what would then happen to those citizens. Would greater profit to insurers and medical businesses somehow provide for those without insurance? Did any of the advocates for doing it care?
I see most of the current government's actions showing greater interest in providing a soft landing for them when their positions of being able to provide benefits to selected fields runs out and they need to rely on a welcoming new career.
15
The past year has been one big education of our system of government. And it's not good. This wouldn't be an issue in a parliamentary system. The party which one the most seats in parliament would replace him. Assuming a coalition, one for the parties could back out and force another election. Gridlock would last while taking time to form a government but not for a decade as America has experienced.
5
Thanks for reminding us of the many heroes within government.
Members of my family have had long carriers in the military, and other branches of the federal government. They are among thousands of unsung men and women who, day and day out, preserve our democracy.
My late father was a career Navy pilot and NASA engineer, who later served in the executive branch. He had a good perspective on DC politics. He said that most politicians focus only on promoting themselves. Thankfully, the dedicated professionals in military and civil service actually sail the ship of state. They can spot dangerous politicians a mile away and never let them on the bridge, much less steer the ship.
I think that is happening now. These patriotic public servants, who man every post in our government, deserve our thanks.
14
Glad you pointed out this fact, MAK. However, all the many persons in various agencies of government, whether it be the CDC, the National Park Service, or whatever, who are actually attempting to do their jobs, fulfill their responsibilities to the people of the USA, they are all considered as part of "the deep state" by the republicans. For in their view we are no longer in any way a democracy, and instead are a modern-day monarchy where everyone is a subject that owes unquestioning loyalty to the genius king. I'm reminded of the words of Saint Ronnie, remember him, with his famous "nine most terrifying words "I'm from the government and I'm here to help?'" He insulted and demeaned anyone who worked in any government branch or agency, and the republicans canonized him. So this is what we get. Pete McGuire Atlanta
1
I do share your appreciation for those in government who are dedicated to our democracy. But it seems that they are being over-shadowed by those who would dismantle our federal park system, foul our coastal waters with oil derricks, destroy health care to millions, and, give away tax dollars to billionaires. Need I go on? Let's take off the rose-colored glasses and see the men (yes, men, mostly) around Trump who are only in government for their own selfish and self-serving reasons.
1
This hopeful analysis reminds me of the fellow who falls from a 40 story building and who, as he passes the 25th floor, is asked how he’s doing. “So far, so good!”
22
(First off, let's not forget to mention Ronald Reagan spent his evenings lounging in bed with his astrology-driven wife eating 'jelly beans' de-legislating America.)
So, with the dearth of information shedding light on how much of a simpleton Trump is, how much of a banal, purile, incurious, dangerous egoist he is, what does this say about the 40% of the voting public who continues to support this guy?
Because he's so dangerous and should be removed from office and the leaders of the Repupublican Party just idly by in fear of losing the support of "Trump's base', what does it say about them?
Well, I know what it says about the 60% who are not Trump supporters. They need to vote in record numbers in 2018 and 2020 and vote the Republicans from office and win back the House and Senate to restore the sanity 40% of misguided Americans has removed from the general equation of what's right for our country.
The Democrats cannot sit on their hands and assume 'common sense will prevail' as they usually do. They must get everyone to the polls and start now. Because the Religious Right, the Gun Lobby, and all the other right-leaning cabals are already piling up the money to attack us
60%-ers.
59
Please let's remember that, contrary to the popular image promoted by this and other news sources, Trump's "supporters" are neither poor nor uneducated. They are upper class whites, and he is very, very good to them, so why would they complain?
It would be constructive for this "paper" to present a graph of who voted for Trump by income as well as education and region. We know the latter fairly well, but the former is better hidden.
You cannot defeat an enemy without knowing who they are and what motivates them.
6
It's common knowledge a fairly large number of the Trump 'base' are small business owners with plenty of the type who slap a magnet on their vehicle and write it off-you know the type the ones you see at Panera using it as their office, writing off their coffee and cinnamon role. Statistically they're the ones who hopefully/naievly voted Trump but will not be around, and this is optimistically speaking, next year-30%, in five years-50%, in 10 years-66%. Been to a 'cereal-bar' lately?
Supress voting here, a little black ops there, and a touch of imperceptable vote switching over there, and you’ve got a 40% majority.
He got a tax cut. Let us see how that works out. He signed a bunch of executive orders reducing government. Lets see how that works out. He got Kim to talk to South Korea and maybe at the end of it all we will get some stupid deal and our troops can leave Korea. Why not? Mutual destruction is mutual destruction. They are already (including the Times) setting the stage for "obstruction of Justice" which is the ideal Ham sandwich to get some indicted when you have nothing else on him except the fear of him. Just put up with him. His incapacities might benefit the country in the long run. After Trump we can try something else. The country will survive and he keeps us on our toes wondering and thinking what this is all about and doesn't lull us to sleep like the old days.
3
Yes, he got a 'tax cut' but only by having his cohorts frame it in the dark of night, behind closed doors with no input from the congress as a whole. With the rest of his actions, we won't really know its impact until it may be too late to correct the most harmful provisions.
His widest reaching impact has been to divide people and foster fear and hatred of one's neighbors as well as strangers. While we may have to "see how that all works out," I fear we know the answer--it will take years if not decades for our country to recover and for its people to learn to live together with a common purpose. While he "keeps us on our toes wondering....." the real work of the government is ignored while he tweets and postures and most of the Congress postures and dissembles.
1
the generals are ruling. we are now akin to egypt, semi leaderless with unknowns at the helm while republicans steal, lie and cheat their way through the kleptocracy they have so generously granted to themselves and to those to whom they bow. education is dead. truth is dead. freedom to speak ones own mind is withering as are the waters and the lands that used to belong to us and which now belong to corporations. hail to the chief. he will be the ruin of us all.
28
Taking note of the concluding thought:
"... because our president’s chaotic mind isn’t going anywhere."
Anywhere except on the road of slow deterioration to a totally demented condition.
More then once, also pre-election, I submitted variations of this comment. We ALL must consider it possible that Trump suffers from early onset Alzheimer's Disease (AD) to explain what follows:
His difficulty with the truth and inability to remember his lies.
He demonstrates severe memory problems and much confused thinking.
He will say one thing and then contradict himself soon after. At times even immediately thereafter.
We have seen his obvious memory problems, his inability to focus on the matter at hand, his tendency to wander off topic, his confusion regarding facts and figures, his desire to avoid answering questions in Q&A forums. (Mindlessly exiting before signing an executive order has to mean/prove something.)
Another AD attribute can be irascible behavior/poor anger management. I emphasize this statement yet again.
All factors noted should be enough to remove him from office - before he does any more damage and/or creates any more severe problems for us ALL, wherever we happen to be in the political party spectrum.
There are routes to end the problem we can easily brand as Trump's Trumpism.
Let us lean on the Congress to address and to solve this problem as expeditiously as possible.
And before we are ALL as crazy and distracted as he repeatably reveals himself to be.
13
It isn't early onset any more. That would be before 65. Trump is 71. He is old enough for the regular kind.
The Never Trump-ers of the Right, like the trained auto-bots of the progressive Left, have an answer for EVERY little thing - EXCEPT the fact that Trump is having more success than either of his predecessors in the office.
Rude and crude is now proven better than our well-dressed, silver-tongued liars and well-meaning liberal GOPers riding around in Grandaddy's Oldsmobile. Lead on, President Trump, and let's see just how low you can get that unemployment rate.
The lucky break for the poor worker has finally arrived.
3
If “more success” means “destruction of faith in government,” you have a point. And MAGA cap would cover it up nicely.
1
‘More success’, pure delusion.
1
Yes, Trump’s “accomplishments”: continuation of Obama’s economy for 11 months, partial defeat of ISIS through continuation of Obama’s policies and murderous help of his pal Vlad, withdrawal from Obama’s climate policies and Paris accord at the behest of Trump’s top scientists (ie, lawyers), a beautiful tax cut for him and his over-privileged cronies aided by all those republican deficit hawks, so-far unsuccessful attempts at torpedoing Mueller’s investigation of his collusion, money-laundering, and obstruction of justice, ….
Well, at least Trump is not a “silver-tongued liar” (beautifully and originally articulated, by the way), just a common habitual liar.
And, oh, by the way, it’s fair Verona, not “Veona”.
1
Been watching this road accident from afar with a great deal of concern. It is as though the scabs on the American body politic have all been ripped off and the fluids in the partially healed wounds are all leaking out. Cabinet officers appear to be selected for their antipathy to the agency they head, judges for their ignorance of the law, the GOP insurgency in Congress for its opposition to pretty much everything prior generations have built to make America great. And the US reputation as a reliable partner is in tatters. And worse, a nascent theocracy seems to be building. And the police are moving ever closer to becoming highwaymen and executioners for the state -- pretty scary. And the ongoing tragedy of a country no longer willing or interested in taking care of its own citizens -- whether disadvantaged or disaster-hit. Seems everyone has authority but no one seems willing to take responsibility. Even to do the jobs they have sworn an oath to execute -- from POTUS on down. America seems to GRATE on everyone, and I fear it has lost its way to anything but an ignominious end at the hands of the death cult in power.
26
The Republican Party is the only political party on Earth openly striving to undermine central government and break up the country.
3
Fake president. The 25th amendment doesn't allow for that. Mr. Douthat crafts an inciteful piece. Just one piece of fake news. Our fake president did not defeat ISIS. I rarely suspect the US military of accomplishment, but I think the Kurds and the US Army did a good job. This fake president is a small, meaningless man.
22
So you say we should just sit back, give Congress a pass for not doing their jobs and hope for the best? No, Mr Douthat. That’s the way you lose a republic.
22
I reject this notion that ISIS has been "defeated." perhaps their anti-smoking agenda no longer affects certain portions of Iraq, but they still are able to inspire acts of terror throughout the civilized world.
15
I wish Ross Douthat would stop saying that Trump has defeated the Islamic State. ISIS is more powerful than ever in Afghanistan and is constantly adapting. It’s also getting an assist from a president who is vehemently anti-Muslim.
22
Funny, Ross, The blame sits squarely with the philosophy and logic of American conservatives. On every topic from abortion to economics, the right wing obfuscates at every turn. The only goal of the right is to grab all the power, all the wealth, and all of the material well being possible on earth. To that end, there is no lie too bold, no compromise too extreme, nor any mean spirited abandonment of other humans too great. When was the last time a conservative did anything for the poor, the sick, the disadvantaged, or the young? Conservatism in America is a vile sham. And blaming it on others is wrong. Take a look in the mirror, dude.
35
I do not know if it has happened yet but trump annouced the re-militarism of your local police which Pres.Obama tried to reverse. Reading all the comments of disaffection over the gop tax grab plus the fallout from the Wolff political expose and hearing the reasons for the attempted uprising in Iran...failure of financial institutions...people losing their savings...not being able to afford food...increasing economic inequality..it appears that those political conditions could be coming to an America near to you. What will happen when the situation worsens in the USA...people being shot on the street and arrested while the oligarchs fly to New Zealand refuges? Scarey to observe from 40 km. away.
8
“And while I blame Republicans for a thousand things that brought us to this pass, it’s too extreme to blame them for not pursuing an option that’s never been tried before, against a president who was recently and (yes) legitimately elected, especially when that option requires extraordinary coordination across the legislative and executive branches and could easily fail … with God-only-knows what kind of consequences.”
It's too extreme to blame Congress for not pursuing their constitutional responsibilities? You are worried about consequences that could be greater than a nutcase with the nuclear codes? Are you able to take this position with a straight face? If so, the primary problem with the Republican party is perfectly exemplified. And no, the election was not legitimate, unless it's ok to make it impossible to track the votes after the fact, never mind voter suppression and extreme gerrymandering--and oh yeah-- the Russians.
20
"knows that some combination of Trump’s personality and temperament and advancing age leave him constantly undone by the obligations of the presidency."
Add, constant and vicious attacks from the press, day in and day out. Any of us who had to deal with half a dozen articles in the New York Times and another half a dozen in the Washington Post, attacking us, DAY IN AND DAY OUT, would be driven crazy.
Do you guys EVER realize what you are doing? You take a man with some character defects, and put more pressure on him than a normal person could tolerate. What makes you think this will lead to good results?
What Trump needs is a decent relationship with some less shrill Democrats. Then we can tone down the volume of enmity and "get America moving again."
And Ross, you are one of the more moderate people at the NYT. But I suspect you are horrified at Trump's patent lack of virtue. OK, I get it why you do not like Trump. But you need to be wiser rather than joining the shrill voices of the progressives.
Get America moving again? With tax cuts that further enrich the already wealthy? Tax cuts that will not so gradually bleed Medicare and Medicaid to death? And put a Bullseye on Social Security? And sell/give the American Patrimony to the Oligarchs to clear cut, strip mine and drill without any consideration of the consequences for the ordinary citizen? It’s not shrillness you’re hearing, it’s the voices of those who’d rather live on their feet than on their knees.
1
It's hard to feel the optimism you do, Mr. Douthat.
Richard Nixon was hamstrung by scandal, and Wilson by stroke. Donald Trump is hamstrung by mental illness.... and he carries a nuclear arsenal around.
Horrifying.
10
We’re going to live the next few years with this guy?
If Donald Trump is not impeachable we might as well do away with the 25th amendment. Because that would mean it’s only for Republicans getting rid of a Democratic president and is of no use against any any Republican administration. Of course we all know that Republicans abused the 25th when Bill Clinton was president. And they abused the independent prosecutor also. They have been chasing the Clintons for years every made up story they can think of and even now to obstruct the investigation of the Russian collusion and obstruction they are back after Hillary Clinton.
This is not you run a democratic government this is a banana republic. No puppet no puppet no collusion no collusion. Anytime Donald Trump uses denials twice it means the opposite. But he left out obstruction in money laundering.
15
Checks and balances were put into our Constitution for a reason. The current Congress, however, has totally abdicated their role as an equal partner in this, and has instead merely become an extension of the personality cult of IQ45. They are so afraid of his base (helllooo--they're only approximately 30% of the republican base) that they refuse to do their civic duty of keeping the man-baby in check. In the process, they also get to enrich themselves & their 1% donor base.
12
That his relatives and WH staff would coddle him like a petulant child is one thing, but that Republicans elected to the Senate and the House would fawn over him, make every excuse known to mankind as to why this is acceptable, and constantly deflect by pointing the finger at the FBI, HRC, Obama, etc., is the real danger in America. We now have elected men and women who are willing to sacrifice not only their souls, but the soul of America for more money in their pockets.
18
Shorter Douthat: Nothing can be done, don't blame the Republicans for doing nothing - because it's hard. Grit your teeth, lie back and enjoy it. And trust to luck.
But it's not true that Republicans are doing nothing. Here's what they ARE doing:
"There are, at this moment, far more investigations underway intended to bring criminal charges against Donald Trump’s political opponents than there are against Trump, his associates, or his family. There are, at least, five open investigations of Hillary Clinton. And at least four investigations intended to make it impossible for Robert Mueller to continue as special counsel. It may be easy to believe that the Mueller investigation is the only one that counts … but it only counts to the extent that Republicans allow it to count. Trump has the House in his pocket. Trump has the Senate in his pocket. Trump has the Justice Department in his pocket. There are no other pockets."
That should be the screaming headline on the front page, and the subject of a Times editorial board commentary. This is no longer about Trump; this is about a party that has thrown out all principle for power. This is what American Fascism looks like; the institutions are still there, but they've been turned inside out.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/1/7/1730479/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Ro...
17
The defeat of ISIS was due to the mobilization of 100000+ members of the Iranian led Popular Mobilization forces. You folks continually try to make this be about Trump, or the US. It's not.
Give Iran credit where credit is due.
6
Unless republicans grow a spine and develop personal integrity and courage..thinking of you Ryan and McConnel...this disaster will be in the White House until 2020. Hopefully the house and senate changes hands in 2018 in which case Trump will be impeached.
5
As Trump continues to mentally unravel he makes me think of the neuroses addled genius Howard Hughes during his final reclusive period holed up in Las Vegas - touching nothing without a Kleenex to avoid germs and obsessing over the size of “peas.”
Despite assuring us by tweet that he is “a very stable genius,” with Trump we clearly have a president racked by a multitude of neuroses, but none of the brains!
3
It is much worse than that. Get ready for the next disaster. It could be:
1. Mueller files specific and credible money laundering charges against the Trump family, Jared, ivanka, Jr., and Trump blows up and fires Sessions, and the whole justice department. Republicans will face a historic moment and opportunity to show their profile in courage....and fold like a cheap suit.
2. Or maybe Trump just starts a preventative war as a distraction.....bunker buster bombs in Iran? Decapitation strike in North Korea? Pick your worst case scenario, then go south from there.
3. Knowing that Trump is weak, an adversary tests him. What if Putin decides to seize some territory, and that same week releases what ever
kompromat he has ready to go to paralyze Washington. If he releases Trump’s tax returns, and then invades Finland, Washington will be so distracted they won’t even hear the phone ring.
I am just saying, what ever you imagine as the worst case scenario ending to the Trump administration, it is going to be worse than that.
4
OK. It took an hour or so for my eyes to stop bleeding after re-reading - just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating - Douthat's absolution of congressional Republicans of running away from the 25th amendment as though it were a Monty Python killer rabbit. Too extreme, Ross? When the Koreas are smoldering wastelands and the global economy is swirling the drain, you may well find yourself re-thinking that absolution.
Trump's cabinet may be a collection of self-serving ego-fluffers but if Wolff is to be believed (it's hard not to, given that his book is just a tome of corroboration of what we already know), 100% of Trumps's circle thinks he's nuts. Ben Carson, the brain surgeon, has surely informed his Cabinet colleagues that, having examined thousands of brains, the one under the presidential combover is in serious disrepair.
Rebuplican senators and congressmen all know what we know: that the president is wholly unfit for office. That they refuse to sideline him, in hopes of using him to help gut Social Security and Medicare, is nothing short of treasonous, and Douthat's absolution of their venality isn't far behind.
7
Why on earth should it be necessary to work around an unfit president where one slip up could lead to war? Surely we can do better, even with the sycophant, unpatriotic, and self-serving Republicans in the congress. Indeed in the world we live we must do better.
3
Ross you seem to be implying that this president is like having your demented father living with you and your family. He is bizarre, vulgar, exposes himself, and leaves lit cigarettes all over the place, but life goes on. Everyone gets up, goes to work, goes to school, has meals, and so on. The behavioral abnormalities are ignored or compensated for. Well this is a bit different. Republicans aren't just going about their business and ignoring him. They are applauding and defending him. Any "family" would be embarrassed by a person who exhibited such behavior. And likely would apologize to anyone subjected to its pleasantries. But not these guys. They make it seem that the person who comes into your house, having to see your father exposed, being called vulgar names and then leaves telling others: "Don't go in there, the father is bizarre" is the real problem. You seem to imply, Ross, that America should just relax and let "dad" be dad as long as the table is set for dinner. Pretty hard to ignore, really, when one of those errant cigarettes could set the place on fire. But, I guess, that's why we have the Republicans, right? The grownups in the room. They will fix everything. Now I feel so much better.
5
He was 'Legitimately elected' states Douthat. NO he wasnt! The Russians interfered with the vote on election day (read Malcolm Nance), gerrymandering and stricter voter registration led to Republican Congressional dominance. He lost the popular vote. The election process was highly influenced illegally by Russia. Probably USA will continue to suffer especially when He fires Mueller. Good luck my friends in the USA but please, please, please dont let Him unleash a nuclear war with his big red button!
3
The defeat of the Islamic State?
I think that statement belongs up the with “Mission Accomplished” as far as silly triumphal statements that come from our fearless leaders.
For America to be seen as the world s authority on anything we need to dump this bunch of impostors.
We are in a war of Ideas. The republicans have no weapons for this war, only Anarchy.
5
Donald Trump abandoning several million Americans on Puerto Rico to live without potable water, electricity, medical resources or adequate food - Mr. Douthat, if that isn't a 'historic calamity' what is?
'Calamity' - "disastrous event marked by great loss & lasting distress & suffering." Millions of Americans struggling to survive in ravaged parts of Puerto Rico while Trump ignores them is a "historic calamity." When in the past has a U.S. president left millions of his countrymen in such peril because he's too bigoted, distracted, ignorant & callous to ensure life-saving aid?
Anyone who's lived in NYC met nasty, rotten bigots who consider New Yorkers of Puerto Rican descent their inferiors. Trump's proven repeatedly he's feels justified waging a war to make America a place where native white people have preferential treatment & protections over others. The ongoing disaster in Puerto Rico is a cancerous outgrowth of that.
Puerto Rico has been out of the headlines for weeks not because the suffering & damage were resolved. It's out of the headlines because Trump's constant stupidity & nightmare antics consume every news cycle.
The only reason this isn't as big a scandal as Katrina is because Puerto Rico is harder for media to access than coastal Louisiana.
I'm ashamed of Trump every day. I'm ashamed of this most of all.
If this isn't impeachable - imperiling millions of Americans in his callous disregard of his duty to do his job - I don't know what is.
5
Perhaps the reason that Our Fake So Called President still has 30 to 35 per cent support is because, like him, those peeps have been
listening to hate radio and conspiracy theories for the past 20 to 30 years and really have become citizens of an alternate universe complete with alternate facts. It is sad to admit it but, a sizable number of Americans would stop believing that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west if their "friends" in the conspiracy theory business told them that it didn't. It is not unlike a cult that just digs in and lashes out whenever its beliefs are challenged and, IMHO it is a very bad thing for the future of this country.
5
Ross, everyone who reads, knows "Trump's personality and temperament and advancing age leave him ...undone..by the ...presidency." Wolff's book is just more red meat thrown to the anti-Trump hoi-polloi. Crying White House havoc to invoke the 25th Amendment to repeal and replace our Tweeter in Chief, may not cause the downfall of Trump, which we have seen coming since he dementedly pursued President Obama for not being born in the United States. Major presidential deterioration is afoot. Trump's alternative truth "Petticoat" government won't last any longer than Watergate did after the break-in. Legal jeopardy and the passage of time are the heart of the matter. The mills of justice are grinding slowly. We are in for a dime, in for a dollar in this "historic calamity" in our American lives. Golda Meir used to say "Life is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you're aboard, there's nothing you can do."
"...against a president who was recently and (yes) legitimately elected..."
Was he legitimately elected if Russia tampered with the election and by all appearances his campaign welcomed if not outright colluded with Russia's efforts?
5
The Republicans in congress act as if they are in denial of the big family secret, and are unwilling to acknowledge the simple truth that this ogre that slithered his way into the presidency of our nation is nothing more than the Saturday Night Live character of "Drunk Uncle." Everyone outside the family can see it, and everyone outside the family talks about it, but everyone inside the family pretends it isn't so, that there is no problem, that "Uncle" is a stable genius. As this truth reveals itself daily to the rest of the world, the Republicans retreat to their family fallout shelter, where the single source of information about what is going on in the world outside their bunker is their reassuring Fox news channel, i.e., mental-state-controlled news.
3
We have met the enemy and it is us. Sixty two million who pulled the Trump lever and now the enablers who trot him out there with a pen in his hand. Traitors or fools, the lot of them. You had to be blind not to see it, in the campaign, in the debates, on Hollywood Acess, anywhere he showed his face. And yet there he is and here we are. You get what you pay for, returns not accepted. And yet the Republicans who brought this mess to our doorstep will blunder on, win elections etc etc. We are who we are.
4
Please share your information regarding ISIS. If you have some knowledge of what exactly Trump and his "team" did to credit them with the defeat of ISIS the rest of us would like to know about it. His other great "successes", Gorsuch and the tax bill, have nothing to do with Trump and everything to do with McConnell, Ryan, and others in congress who used weaknesses in our system to force changes that are against the will of the electorate.
You can't take credit for the train reaching its destination if you did nothing more than stay off the tracks.
And you're right to worry about the American system of government. It stinks actually, and we're lucky it hasn't ruined us already. There have been many new governments established in the last 200 years and none of them emulate ours. Why is that? Try explaining to anyone who lives abroad how a country could elect a president with fewer votes than his opponent in 2 of the last 5 elections.
5
And yet...except for the gratuitous provocations -- to North Korea, to immigrants, to the FBI -- Trump is effectively doing nothing in his official capacity that any other conservative president would do. Does anyone really believe that Trump is any more dangerous to the people of this country than Pense would be?
1
His incompetence and corruption were (and are) no secret. Yet he won. Speaks volumes about Hillary's lack of appeal and a lot of disenchanted americans' willingness to roll the dice in a truly frightening manner.
The way to remove Trump from office is a relentless, withering assault questioning the integrity, patriotism, and deeper motives of Congressional Republicans.
7
The key to containing this President until he either is undone by Special Prosecutor Mueller or voters in 2020 is a Congress that can be a counterweight and perform its Constitutional duties to be an equal political branch of our Government. That means it must retake from the President the right to declare and make war; only affirm political appointees who are not personally conflicted and competent to do their jobs; and stand as the principal barrier against this President's many dangerous impulses.
The Republican controlled Congress is failing miserably in this role. Instead of serving as an equal branch of Government during President Trump's first year, they have been facilitators of even his worst impulses, often by simply remaining silent when they should have taken strong public stands, such as with the Charlottesville fiasco and the Puerto Rico disaster.
Increasingly, the only barrier against this President in his final two years, assuming that he is not impeached and removed from Office, would be a Democrat-controlled House and Senate. As odious as this would be to many Republicans and Independents, it is preferable to an unbounded and increasingly unstable Donald Trump.
3
If the President isn’t the real President, can the U S be considered a republic or are we a third-world oligarchy? Evidence appears to show the person the electoral college made president isn’t emotionally or intellectually capable of fulfilling his duties. In his place, there is an unelected group of “capable” generals, family members and billionaires with no governing experience who will be running the nation for the next three years. Their beliefs, motives, programs or intentions are as unknown as is their ability to do this job. Others in charge have highly questionable gravitas. Who would have voted for Kelly Conway or Steve Mnuchin for president? Even if they are incredibly competent, this is less of a democracy than exists in Iran or Russia. The Republican Party is satisfied with this situation. Currently he is helping them dismantle the federal government. To them, this Faustian bargain is a win-win since the fear Trump’s supporters but must realize he is totally under their control knowing they could reasonably impeach him at any moment when the time suits them. This nation has survived past absences of an elected chief executive; let’s hope the streak continues.
4
In September 2018 I will vote for the first time in the Swedish National Election and on November 6 2018 I will vote for the nth time in the American Midterm Election.
In 2014 85.5% of those eligible to vote did so in Sweden, whereas in 2016 only 55.5% of those eligible to vote voted in the American presidential election.
We can be sure that the Trump core will be out in force on November 6, the day on which the rest of American registered voters can show their true colors. Only a record turnout will do. If there is no such turnout then we as a population will only have ourselves to blame.
In preparation for that I have pre-ordered from my Swedish On-Line bookstore.
How Democracies Die - Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
If my fellow Americans show they really do not care for their democracy, we can write in our comments here in the Times that Trump's "Plot Against America" has been fully realized, one more empire down in flames thanks to an American Nero.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
2
In a way, Trump is a uniter. He has me in agreement with Ross Douthat very often, which used to be rare. Trump is here, barring extreme health problems, through 2020.
Many Dems I talk to expect the Trump presidency to end soon. But by what mechanism? Impeachment is preposterous with a Republican House. With the sidelining of Bannon, Trump is now in the warm, fuzzy embrace of the Republican establishment. They are actively defending him now. If the House flips, would they spend the time on impeachment if there weren't 2/3 of the Senate who would vote to convict?
The 25th Amendment would only be used after something horrendous happens, and maybe not even then.
Our elected officials are craven. It will be up to citizens to become or stay active, and vote to break the Republican monopoly on our government. Another year, and we may have some relief.
273
We can always hope that his diet of junk food will be his undoing. He eats like a ten-year old boy whose parents aren't home. I expect his blood pressure to be sky high, his arteries to be clogged to the danger point, not to mention the other health risks that accompany a weight gain of 100lbs while in office. (Source: The Guardian, 1.6.18) Diabetes, stroke perhaps?
6
Scharf says 'Impeachment is preposterous with a Republican House.' True. Solution? In November let's flip the House and move the Senate to 50:50 or better. Begin impeachment proceedings in the house and get and release those blamed tax returns! As the case to impeach builds, bring pressure on each senator to Do Their Job or face defeat.
In the end even Goldwater could not support Nixon ...
3
In reply to Nora M, if Trump were to keep over for health reasons, we'd be saddled with Pence, whom I feel is even scarier for many reasons...sigh!
As someone who recognizes Trump's incompetence and instability, Douthat should be urging Republicans to do their patriotic duty and impeach the President or use the 25th amendment, not write a column about how he hopes the WH staff can neutralize the worst instincts of their boss for the next three years. Mr. Douthat, please show some courage in your convictions and use your column to promote the removal of the "cancer in the WH" (as John Dean spoke of Nixon so many years ago). Anything else is unpatriotic and wishful thinking.
31
Republicans have no courage; they will not remove "45" from office. They got their tax cut. NOw they can start on "entitlement reform," which describes to take things away from the less fortunate. If they remove him from office, they will be left with Pence, who is more extremist than the current president. Pence has no constituency other than rich white people and narrow-minded religious conservatives.
21
Now that Trump is joined at the hip with Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan do his populist supporters still want him to be President?
12
Whether or not the Trump administration qualifies as a "petticoat government" remains to be seen, but it's not altogether unlikely that other manner of garb may prove to be suitable and sartorially appropriate, including Florence Nightingale jumpers, candy-striper frocks and, perhaps, even white coats.
6
Harding stroked out before Tea Pot blew its lid. Coolidge knew better than to defend that hot mess, but it still clouded the GOP's coffee for decades. Handing over public assets to Americans without a bidding process can't be half as bad as trading national interests for Russian influence.
10
Ross, you're always true to your agenda. So, even as you point out the flaws in the president and the presidency, you warn against the terrible consequences that might flow "if the Democrats take a share of power". Are you implying that even the current chaos is preferable to that??
20
Early in my career my company had a sales executive who was horrible with customers. Virtually every time he met one, he said something inappropriate, or angered them, or seemed like he didn't want to be at the meeting. Not only his words, but his tone and body language were terrible. So we found ways to work around him. We kept him out of customer meetings, hid information from him, and made excuses for him. We used these and other tactics for quite a while.
Two things eventually brought this charade to an end. First, sales team got tired of this and, one by one, the good people left. Second, while it was OK when results were good, it didn't work when they dropped off. So he would look for scapegoats and start firing people, including the few remaining good people. The poorer performers understood this and started kissing up to him, to save their own jobs. Of course, he loved this and they became his favorites.
The end result:The sales organization became dysfunctional. Growth evaporated and we began a precipitous multi-year decline in sales. The company did poorly and, for this and other reasons, eventually went bankrupt.
Many of Trump's failed businesses (Trump Airlines, Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump's casinos, various real estate projects, etc.) were ran the same way, which is why reputable lenders stopped lending to him. Tragically, this "very stable genius" is now bankrupting our nation, morally, ethically and financially, as he did his own enterprises.
49
The Founders advised against political parties. Now we see why!
They best solution is to flip the House and Senate so they can act as intended, a check and balance on the President.
To overcome the efforts of the state and local Republican operatives to limit non-Republican voters, a consistent and ongoing effort needs to take place to register and vote for the 45% of non-voters in the country.
Donnie squeezed into office. He has not increased his support base, if anything, it has shrunk. He will continue to use that support as a threat to Republicans in office. They need to be removed so the will of the majority can be heard.
13
If Mr Douthat is looking to the Republicans in Congress to pursue an "option that's never been tried before" (at least by them), then perhaps they might choose to do their jobs. This means working with their colleagues from the opposition, and actually governing for the people who elected them (and for those who didn't) rather than pandering to the donors who have bought them. The should reread those pocket Constitutions they like to trot out for photos, as well as the oath of office they took pledging to defend it. The best check against an ineffectual or incapacitated president is a robust and effective Legislative Branch. There's a reason that Article I comes before Article II. Nothing radical about that.
17
These very same "feckless" Republicans would have begun impeachment of Hillary on day one, oh Hillary was a Democrat and extremely competent. But you are asking them to perform their jobs, to defend the Constitution. The Republicans only care about their partisan dreams, to destroy entitlements and reward their donors.
2
Carol:
Actually, I was asking Ross to ask them to do that. I hold no illusions about their will or ability to do so.
I beg to differ that Trump was legitimately elected! Despite interference by Russia, Trump lost the election by 3 million votes. He only occupies the White House by virtue of the archaic Electoral College. He has no mandate for the awful policies that he has been enacting!
26
This THANK YOU may never reach the intended targets but, I’d like to say it nevertheless. Thank you to those around this president who are there for duty to country! Can there be such people still? I’m trying very, very hard to believe it’s possible. So again, thank you!
3
Ross, you're an apologist for the President and a complicit Republican Party involved in obstruction and other criminal activity before, during and after Mr. Trump's run for office. There is no real comparison between former President's who may have had other problems and Donald Trump. None of them actually believed they were mentally stable geniuses smarter than the professionals the President now refers to as the "Deep State" since each area of expertise is different and their talents lay in their respective areas. You know the President is unfit as does the people around him. Since taking office Trump has done nothing but divide the nation and embrace policies of destruction from healthcare, to tax reform to environmental issues to foreign policy. The nation didn't need mental health professionals to conclude he is a mercurial, frenetic, paranoid and self absorbed man who has no understanding of government and lies continuously. Remember his claim that no one in his orbit had contact with Russians? We now know that twelve people did have those contacts and lied about it, Including the Attorney General and his National Security Advisor. So he changes the narrative to "No Collusion" took place and ignores his prior claim of no contact at all. This is not normal. And why lie about it if nothing of note took place? Republicans scramble around creating distractions making them complicit in obstruction. Sorry Ross, you're delusional if you believe this is normal.
19
Isn’t treason sufficient grounds for removal? Isn’t proof the election was rigged sufficient grounds for reinstating the correct candidate? In this unreal matter, which risks the future of the world, why would wise men, patriots, hesitate for a second to do the right thing.
13
“the men and women of the West Wing, for all that the media was ridiculing them, actually felt they had a responsibility to the country,”..."But for others the work has been necessary and important, and the achievement of relative stability a genuine service to the United States."
This is nonsense. The United States (and any country, for that matter) is its people. It is not some abstract thing. If one is in service "to the United States" in its government, then that means they are in service to the people of the United States (who put them in the WH via a tampered-with election, but an election nonetheless). When Trump's cabinet and WH (not to mention the Republican Congress) have to protect the country (the people) from the president, know they do, but pretend they don't, lie to the people about doing so, cover for him (or her), and even, in Congress's case, feed his sicknesses, namely his narcissism and megalomania, then they are not serving the United States, i.e.: the people. They are abusing the people. What they're doing is protecting one man, something that is anathema to the notion of any democracy or republican but is suited more for a dictatorship.
10
Spot on. Of course there's always the hope that someone, maybe Ivanka, will convince him to resign.
1
You say that everyone already knows that Trump is utterly unfit to govern and that Fallows is only stating the obvious. That is certainly true of people who have been following the mainstream media and reading sites like The Atlantic. But they would never know if they got their news from Fox or from right wing sites on the internet or from fellow Trumpers. Nor would they know it if their representatives or senators were Republicans who care so little about this country that they are willing to subvert the course of the Mueller investigation (Nunes, Ryan, Grassley, Graham and many others) or who are ecstatic that they were able to pass their tax plan to eviscerate everything but the Department of Defense so that the richest Americans can be richer yet. That includes my own Senator Gardener who likes to pretend he's a moderate while following Trump like a Labrador puppy with the eating gene. I realize it's hard to believe this if you live in the NY Washington axis, but out here in flyover country the die hard Trumpers don't believe a word you write--even if you are a conservative. They wanted a demagogue and they got a demagogue and they are happy as clams and will be until Sessions takes away their legal weed.
11
Continuing to discuss whether or not 2 plus 2 equals 4 is an utter waste of time.
Our lives and our children's lives are in the hands of a mad man. We should quite literally be in the streets and on the literal doorsteps of Republican Congress "men" until the threat is removed and sanity is restored.
7
It’s been said that an empty barrel makes the most noise. Unfortunately, In Trump’s case, the barrel isn’t merely empty, it’s a vacuum.
5
Despite Mr. Douthat's insistence to the contrary, today's GOP has no commendable moral, social, or ethical values----which is why Donald Trump is the perfect person to lead the party.
16
This leaves out context. Until WWII, the US was inconsequential on the world stage and had a national economy. During the Reagan administration, the US was the only superpower at the start of globalization. Today, the economy has integrated globally, with the production process for single products traversing the globe. And we have become a multipower world, with nations that are opposed to enlightenment principles that ground democracies and that wish to shape the world order in their own vision. So, this situation is unique. And the power of a president in the US is profound. Therefore, the incapacity of the president is itself a crisis in ways never confronted in the past. If the nation truly has no legal process for dealing with an incapacitated or "obnoxious" president (as the founders phrased it), then this is profoundly dangerous.
9
The really scary aspect is that the US is nowhere near reaching the bottom of this disasterous Presidency. The likelihood is that he will be President for another 3 years. Its at that point that rock bottom will be glimpsed and all of its attendant second and third order consequences. Internationally, nationally and locally the US will be paying a price that will make the financial crisis look like a minor bump on the road. Good luck. A wonderful nation undone from within.
9
Can we stop with the fantasy that the trump administration defeated the Islamic State? For those who have forgotten, in the campaign trump boasted regularly about his secret plan to defeat ISIS. Once in office, that secret plan never materialized, instead the military kept executing the strategy started under the Obama administration, with Iraq and Syria doing the boots on the ground fighting (and dying for many soldiers). So quit trying to give the current clown car administration credit for ISIS' defeat - the only credit the trump circus deserves is for not ginning up a strategy to make trump's 'secret plan' seem real.
Ditto for the good economy (continuation of performance from Obama days) in case you wanted to scrape the bottom of the barrel for something else to give trump credit for. In the end, trump's only achievement is a tax bill for the 1%.
16
Ross describes exactly what I expected going into this Presidency, including the debt we owe to staff who serve this country by mitigating the obvious, serious – and yes, potentially dangerous flaws of the man we elected. Even so, given the alternative – the absolute certainty that the elitist globalism and cuckoo social politics of the left would have had an aggressive champion in the White House – I would make the same choice again. I only need rewrite this column in my head and substitute for Trump’s missteps the rotten fruit of the divisive policies that Hillary Clinton promised us.
America will be asking itself in the future if our system of checks and balances really works. After Trump has finished tarnishing America's image, after he has torn up long sought after treaties and trade agreements, and after he has isolated America and damaged relations with our allies and finally made a mockery of his time in office, we will have to seriously question whether this system of ours really does what was intended. so far. There are those who think he's doing a great job and there are the rest of us who know better.
6
In the end, of course, the only real solution for our current situation is to turn our current power brokers out of office, because even if the 25th Amendment was invoked, there's Pence, there's Ryan . . .
So REALLY concentrate on the 2018 elections.
And, remember, without good turnout, nothing turns out good. (An aphorism I'm thinking of getting printed on a lot of T-shirts.)
4
Republicans only care about power, so they will never go along with the 25th amendment until it directly affects them; e.g., he starts a war where their families might die or he creates a crisis that damages the global economy and costs them money. The latter is more likely because, throughout his life, nearly everything Trump touches turns into a disaster. If the stock market crashes and we have a global recession, you'll suddenly hear Republicans talk about the 25th amendment.
5
Clearly something is wrong with President Trump. Oddly, his deficiencies are part of his brand. His outrageousness is a selling point among his aggrieved supporters who have been left behind in he 21st century. If this is a medical condition, will he deteriorate over time? Will the signs become more obvious and disturbing? Surely many Republicans in Congress must recognize this risk. Sen. Corker's comments on the "day care center at the White House" must be privately shared by others. And it's not as though the GOP must hang on to Trump to carry out its agenda. A President Pence would sign any conservative bill put in front of him. We need some "profiles in courage" on Capitol Hill, lawmakers willing to risk facing a primary in order to do what is right for the country. If Trump declines further, it will become a crisis of conscience for Republicans. And a true test of their character. I wish I was more confident about the outcome.
2
The truly unfortunate side of this is that the democrats are sitting back, waiting for the pendulum to swing back in their direction. It will. But, this expectancy has left them with no sense of urgency about defining what they will do when they get back in power. What's the plan? What's the vision? If it is the same old, same old that has caused them to lose at every level recently, then their return will be short-lived indeed.
2
How much longer will the republican leadership gamble with our safety and future? If we all know trump is mentally incapable and or morally unfit for the office, why aren't we demanding that the right thing be done? Do we need to wait to see if there is a collusion reason for removal when we know the article 4 of the 25th amendment provides the proper solution.
48
They will keep doing what they do as long as they can, as long as there is any money for them to take, as long as there are profits to be made, as long as there are natural resources & assets to be stripped away by greedy international corporations, as long as their "donors" keep telling them what to do next. They will never stop unless they are physically removed and stoped from even further destruction.
3
Article 4 is predicated on the assumption of a competent Cabinet. Therein lies the problem.
1
Only one thing to do...keep writing and talking to people. Make sure they vote for Dems in 2018. It’s the only way.
1
There may have been a bit of embellishment but everyone knows at least 90% of the Wolff's book is accurate and one of its central themes is the general incompetence and/or cynicism of those who surround Trump or support him every day in the Republican party. The two top economic figures in the government (Mnuchin and Cohn) two of the so called adults in the room are proven liars; Republicans constantly try to shield him from legitimate investigation; his press secretary performs a truly grotesque daily ritual of lying and hyperpole. And no the 25th amendment is not going to be invoked and so this bizarre pantomime will continue. Trump's enablers in the Republican party and in his immediate entourage will continue to enable him regardless of the harm to the national interest.
132
Speak for your self and let everyone else speak for themselves.
I believe Wolfe only included stuff in his book that made Trump look bad.
As a result you naturally do not necessarily get a true picture.
I don't know the truth and we may never know it.
You hate Trump and want him removed from office and even if he could prove he was not incapacitated you would just find a different reason to have him removed.
He is the President and will remain so for three more years.
Get use to it.
@stone
Brooklyn
"He is the President and will remain so for three more years.
Get use to it."
I thought that was what I said. The bizarre pantomime will continue. I'm sure you believe the true picture is one of calm and measured management, truth and honesty which says as much about you as Trump.
"So unless Mueller has more goods than I expect..." Perhaps. But what if things were far more twisted than most people think? Michael Wolff's book reveals that virtually no one in Trump's campaign thought he was going to win. Junior said his father looked like a ghost when he'd realized he'd won. Late night comedian Trevor Noah, with his usual insight, wonders if this fact exonerates Trump of charges of collusion with the Russians. After all, if Trump wasn't really trying to win--in fact, didn't even want to win--why would he encourage the Russians to act against his own wishes?
This is where speculation of high treason comes in. Putin--somehow, some way--has Trump by the financial short hairs, which is why Trump hasn't released his tax returns and is adamant that Mueller not probe his business dealings. Putin must have followed the Republican primaries with amused interest, and waited for Trump to secure the nomination before he pounced. Putin hated the thought of Hillary as president--which he, along with just about everyone else, probably thought was inevitable--but figured the least he could was humiliate and weaken her. Trump had a choice: either be Putin's puppet and cheerleader for the hacked emails, or Putin would see to it that Trump would spend the rest of his life in jail.
So when Trump insists there was no "collusion," what he really means is that there was no collusion TO WIN. For once he's actually telling the truth. It's still treason.
147
Adding to WDG.
However it all may have come about, I think it is safe to say that Trump is a fool, a tool, and finally Putin's Poodle - for reasons yet to be revealed.
Such self-realizations would cause anyone to "look like a ghost when he'd realized he'd won".
Green mail or black mailed loomed.
The skunk got skunked.
Add to the mix:
The election was hacked by Russians and the resulting outcome may have come as a surprise to Trump and his varied group of hangers-on.
In any case theories will abound and sorting it all out will take much time and great effort before this nightmare comes to an end.
4
coming from Queens New York, I told people and warned them. It didn't get through. They were jealous of the people getting a free ride-the 1% and the poor. They thought trump would save them somehow. What a fantasy.
75
I fear Mr. Douthat is too optimistic. I say this while pondering whether removing Donald Trump from office would be better or worse than living with him still there. But I doubt he will manage to serve his full first term.
Trump has been borderline crooked all his life. And he has been brazen, rather than cautious. Think of the stiffed suppliers, Trump University, housing discrimination, and known evidence of money laundering for the Russians. Color this with six bankruptcies and the still-unseen tax returns.
Trump always covered his butt better than his tracks. Mueller's team has expert trackers. I suspect some are fallowing tracks in Trump's tax filings right now.
But even if Trump and his family avoid being taken down by criminality, the problem of Trump himself likely cannot be avoided.
He
Donald Trump is deteriorating before our eyes. So also the good standing and overall health of the nation. Allies no longer trust us. Competitors and enemies take advantage of us. Needs at home go unaddressed. Trump tweets bipartisanship one day then calls Democratic leaders names the next.
Trump grows less and less visible but more and more petty. He talked with a 'Times' reporter recently, rambled badly, lied repeatedly, re-lived old hatreds. It has been months since he held a news conference. I can't imagine he will soon.
I can barely imagine his holding it together until the midterms, with or without Mueller's team forcing the question of "Trump?".
61
In essence the future of our country is dependent on the cumulative effects of excessive cheeseburger consumption. Otherwise nothing will be done.
Surely, the man must have some positive attributes? The opinion pieces by this newspaper and The Guardian in regard to anything Trump are, in my opinion, particularly vicious. With regards to speculation on mental status, the experts very often get it wrong and I imagine the journalists practicing amateur psychology will too. Canadian Journalist Rex Murphy wrote a recent editorial titled "The Real Fake News of 2017"and pointed out that contempt for Trump serves as a warrant for abandoning all disinterested judgement.
"Stories, however, that might hint at some aspects of competency or adroitness in Trump's handling of affairs are either passed over or given the most desultory treatment. How many tins of Pepsi Trump drinks gets more coverage than the defeat of ISIS in Iraq, which has occurred under his watch. Under Obama that would have generated skyscraper headlines, under Trump you can search for it in the back pages and fine print."
4
@S Sm
Canada
Isis hasn't been defeated. It's still whacking people in terrorist outrages across the middle east. To the extent they have been squeezed out of territory in Northern Iraq and Syria this was an initiative that started during the Obama administration leaving aside the fact that Putin is also claiming the credit. And yes even the most despicable characters are said to have positive characteristics. Mass murderers like dogs etc.
59
The defeat of ISIS occurred in a very long sequence of events starting during Obama's "watch" and following a plan largely worked out by the Obama White House and the military. When the plan was announced, both Obama and the military warned that the plan would take several years, which it did. At the time the plan started there was much discussion about some confounding factors and how those factors required some time and delicacy of approach. One obvious one was the need not to kill vast numbers of noncombatants living in ISIS-captured cities. Another really big one was how to keep Turkey in NATO, despite the prominent role the Kurds had to play in the war.
Luckily Trump did little to alter this plan, which had already borne fruit well before he was sworn in.
This comment by S SM does nicely point out what I was going to write about. One thing that makes Trump different is that he has a significant group of supporters who don't think his behavior is aberrant at all. I see no evidence that this group will ever change their mind. Eventually, they will have to again self-censor their public speech. They call this "being politically correct". Remember the continued popularity of Joseph Stalin with ordinary Russians, even to this day.
2
As Mr. Douthat points out, all you need to do is read his tweets. He is providing ample evidence of his unfitness on a daily basis. Never mind any newspaper's opinion piece, just pay attention to what comes straight from the source. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. That's not a good enough standard for someone with nuclear annihilation at his fingertips.
1
Can the inexperienced tyros who surround the unstable toddler keep the Ship of State from sinking until the people who voted Trump in and truly believe he is doing a good job get a second chance to vote for him again?
If we are going to measure success in terms of failure to begin a nuclear war, or failure to sink the economy, his administration may be termed successful. And if having the EPA reduce environmental protections, HHS reduce healthcare availability, HUD reduce public housing, Education privatize public schools, State cede global leadership to China and possibly Europe, as we sink into "bilateral" trade agreements that do nothing to gain back the jobs his supporters want, then yes, I think he will be successful.
If we think of success as being the continued loss of personal protections in the face of corporate power gains, then yes, he is a resounding success.
May as well give him credit for ISIS, even as the whole groundwork was laid by the previous administration. But blame Obama or Syria: Trump takes all the glory and none of the shame.
There is no solution other than truth, and the backbone to uphold it. Many don't believe the facts, and Congress doesn't have the spine to face them.
59
In an age in which terms like "genius" and "like, really smart" just don't cut it, we need an entirely new way of expressing an even higher level of intelligence.
We'll call it 'Dunning-Kruger smart.'
19
How do I apply for a Dunning-Kruger Certificate?
"Is the American system more able to correct for presidential incapacity than some of us have feared?"
Is the American system able of giving us the president the people wanted?
The answer to both questions is NO.
We are a banana republic and trump proves it. He is no better than the guys he admires: Putin, Durate, etc.
22
Trump was "legitimately" elected?? Douthat, I doubt that.
Trump was appointed by a so-called Electoral College infested with people who failed and/or refused to do their jobs. After all, the entire purpose of such a "college" was to protect the country from obviously incompetent buffoons like Trump.
66
Trump won 30 states.
Hillary 20.
Trump therefore won the electoral College and Trump won the election.
NewYork and Calfornia do not pick our presdents for us.
The states do.
1
The Republican controlled Congress make our country’s present crisis even worse. Instead of being a stabilizing or moderating force for an unstable president, they act like a bunch of lap dogs.
It is disgusting to see their ridiculous fawning and hear their phony accolades delivered with such artificial smiles and deference.
It is disgusting to see them pursue their political agenda, putting party ahead of country.
63
So, you are fine with individuals of dubious intelligence and blind allegiance to a malignant narcissist to run the largest economy and leading democracy because doing otherwise would be inconvenient or messy? You're part and parcel of the collusion.
47
Yes the republican party are all complicit and should all go to jail. But since they make the laws they can break them. This proves we are no better than the banana republics we’ve been scoffing at for years. Putin won. Is laughing at us. Wise up America!
The fact that Trump is ranting about being a genius, a self touting genius, says much about his priorities and insecurities.
Hardly statesmanlike.
27
The situation is much worse than what this essay suggests.
I cannot agree that our times are akln to the waning days of Wilson's or Nixon's presidency. Woodrow Wilson's wife, to my knowledge, never conveyed any of the madness that the Donald extrudes. I know that some people contend that Nixon was a bit insane toward the end, but I doubt those allegations. Although he was filled to the gills with rage and self-pity, he never, ever said anything that compares with the psychotic and grandiose gibberish that spouts from the Donald's mouth like lava from a volcano.
If we love life, we cannot live with and accept the idea that Donald will be with us till 2020. He is too much of a threat to our survival for us to permit the continuance of his regime.
Americans like to think of themselves as courageous and free people. I'd like to know when we are going to start acting like free and independent people. A man who talks about our nuclear capacity like an 8 year old boy discussing his phallus is patently unfit and unworthy for high office.
To invoke the 25th Amendment, we need the Vice President and half the cabinet to recommend that Trump step aside during the duration of his ailment. Of course, most of those guys are, we all know, selfish, insanely rapacious rich guys who care for nothing other than their own self-aggrandizement. Therefore, it is high time that we rally, rebell and revolt to make our miserable leaders throw Trump out of the driver's seat.
64
I agree the Donald must go by any means possible. If we have to drive everybody we know to the polls to vote we must do it. We can’t depend on Mueller. Republicans look like alien pods that have replaced an entire political party.
2
How could any person, let alone the President of the United States, describe themselves as a 'Very Stable Genius', and expect anyone, even those closest to them, let alone the entire world community, to accept this statement as fact?
Would you make this statement to your circle of relatives, friends and community? I don't think so.
The words speak for themselves - the man is delusional, and a threat not only to his own country, but the rest of the world as well.
He needs to be removed from office immediately.
72
Unless they all quit in unison and come out publicly against him, they are 100% complicit in all of it, and the "we were just taking orders" excuse won't fly.
62
That there's a certain amount of stupidity and un-American whining in much of what Trump says goes without saying. And while much of what America stands for will continue to grind away to the betterment of this planet, the Trump presidency is like a leaking roof. Let it go long enough and it isn't just the roof you've got to replace, you could be looking at the walls and foundation too.
If we're expecting the rest of the world to sit back and wait to see when we get started on fixing our roof, we're in for a disappointment. Our neighbors all have their own problems and ambitions and they'll go about their ways without the good influence we once may have had, for better or worse.
Even worse, Trump has unleashed opinions here in the U.S. that have no credibility when it comes to fixing things. Shutting off that noise may prove to be as hard as shutting off the rain. It's now a matter of how much rot we're willing to risk before we decide to get to work.
39
If Trump had surrounded himself with knowledgeable, disciplined and experienced aides and advisors, perhaps we could somehow skate by with a petticoat government. Instead, he hired sycophants, extremists and inexperienced young ideologues who know this is their only chance, ever, to serve in a White House. We can have little faith that they will ever put the country first.
As for what to do about it, continuing to highlight every misstep and dangerous move from now until November needs to be the focus. Dems would be wise to campaign on the idea of checking this out-of-control right-wing Congress and the unqualified and dangerous President. Talk of impeachment should wait until Mr. Mueller presents irrefutable evidence.
37
Invoking the 25th amendment as a means to remove this president is not a defensible course of action. Mr. Trump’s ability “to discharge the powers and duties of his office” is the same now as it was on the day that he was sworn in as president. It is also patently absurd to expect a Republican-controlled Congress to take action to impeach and subsequently convict a president who was selected by their constituency. In order to extricate ourselves from this crisis, we need to direct our attention to that constituency and understand what motivates their behavior. Mr. Trump’s election is merely a symptom of a disease that has infected our society, and not the disease itself. Rather than wasting oceans of ink analyzing the President’s mental fitness, we should focus on the values and beliefs of the average American, and craft a message which wins back their hearts and minds.
23
Those in the early stages of dementia and Alzheimer’s develop rigorous coping mechanisms that can fool others around them for a period of time before the whole house of cards finally collapses. For family gatherings, my mother muscles up her best cognitive resources to try to fool us, at a great cost to her condition the next day. Trump will use this technique at his Walter Reed exam, but hopefully the doctors will see past it. The question is whether or not we, the public, will be allowed to know the true findings. Trump is seriously overweight, consumes an awful diet with tons of meat, salt and sugar (which contributes to dementia) and gets no exercise and little sleep. Top that off with the stress of not being idolized, and he has to be one of the unhealthiest men alive.
32
" ... a president who was recently and (yes) legitimately elected ..."
We'll see, Ross. We already know from our intelligence agencies that Russian propaganda was deployed extensively in the elections, not to mention the Russians’ hacking of Democratic emails. We also know that Trump's election apparatus had many continuing contacts with well-connected Russians, some of which were to explore the possibilities of exploiting dirt on Hillary. There is also the mystery of how the Russians were able to target their disinformation so effectively on social media. And, Trump's people, to a mind-boggling and unprecedented degree, did not report these contacts as required by law. Finally, there is the glaring fact that Trump, who swore a constitutional oath to defend our country, has never tried to protect us from a hostile power who clearly meddled in a foundational component of our democracy. Why? Although these threads haven't come together yet in a set of formal findings, I'm betting we have a criminal enterprise in the White House, and that the election was, in fact, illegitimate. "Treasonous" indeed.
28
at this point we must hold the Republican party responsible for the travesty of this continuing presidency of Donald Trump. He is merely a pawn in their goal of destroying the social gains our country has achieved over the many years of democratic governing and/or bi-partisan efforts. The G.O.P. agenda now is for tax cuts, cutting all benefits for the poor and needy,social security destruction and a host of de-regulations to ruin our environment and deny scientific facts.
They must be held responsible for destroying our country, not serving the people who foolishly elected them all to serve their continuance in office via their money patrons who support them. We have become a shameful country , denying our history and the great people who fought and died for it. There is a coarsening of our culture now that is part of this phenomenon - the populace that voted for Trump accepted his crude boorishness in a political scene that humiliated the majority of us. He was not elected by all of us and that's part of the disgrace of it all.
35
So Trump comes along with no prior political credentials and:
A) Defeats 16 Republican candidates in primaries.
B) Defeats unrelenting criticism from 90% of news media
C) Defeats BILLIONS of dollars in negative advertising
D) Completely outworks & outstrategizes his opponent.
E) Defeats the vaunted Clinton political machine.
F) Seeks to fulfill each campaign promise.
This Trump sounds like a really smart guy to me.
7
He seeks to fulfill campaign promises that help the powerful and not the promises that would help the powerless. Remember how he said he would get rid of the carried interest deduction and other special interest loopholes? Remember how he said he would repeal and replace the Affordable Health Care system with something better? He is very selective about the campaign promises he is implementing.
2
Trumps background in self promotion is no doubt exceptional, and his deliberate choice to promote the “birther” conspiracy was the opening gambit in his 2016 presidential run ( he did run before, contrary to what he says, it wasn’t his first time), but there is no glory in the kinds of feelings and subtext of the “agenda” he has for America, or the kind of darker angels he has harnessed to promote it. He is not “smart” so much as cunning like a thief. Yes, he won. But like the junior executive that won a senior management job, he has refused to learn or rise to job. He’s a terrible president. Sloppy, haphazard and mean spirited, his uncompromising attitude and fear of his own base makes him an ineffective leader, not “smart”.
2
Or the people that voted for him or easily duped?
2
Even as a young and apparently healthy young man,Trump was obviously unfit for any role requiring thoughtful reflection or moral eadership. His clear deterioration in cognitive skills and emotional stability exacerbate this fundamental deficiency. Previous presidents whose disability occurred in office had surrounded themselves with fairly competent cabinet members and associates. Not so Trump.
Moreover the dominant party in congress is a pallid remnant of a serious governing body..they are in the grip of delusional economics and vindictive postures towards any group that is non Christian,non white,non American born.
Again, in contrast to previously impaired presidents, Trump's tenure is young..seventy five percent remains....the only hope for avoiding some disaster ia democratic capture of. Congress
21
I agree with Ross however things are not going to stay status quo. I believe trump will start to be really squeezed by the Russia investigation and domestic politics. When the DEMs win control of at least one branch of government and really tighten the grip on him I believe he will snap.
18
"Is the American system more able to correct for presidential incapacity than some of us have feared?"
Sighting the presidential tenure of James Garfield, Woodrow Wilson, and Richard Nixon were times when the availability to news sources were limited and much was easily left hidden from the public. The 21st century of technology has made available a copious of news sources, 24/7. This has made the hidden agenda of this GOP far more difficult to hide, for all (I do believe the majority of us) eyes and ears are wide open. This is our wake-up call for maybe we became a bit too complaisant.
It does not take a professional to recognize the fact that President Donald John Trump continues to mentally unravel bit by bit. He has and continues to live in a world that does not exist outside his skewed thoughts driven solely by a frightened ego. The GOP will continue to turn a blind eye. They are desperate to hold on for it has been many years since they have won such commanding majorities in the House of Representatives while also dominating the Senate.
The answer is yes, our American system of governing will survive this. We the People will begin to bring our government back to the middle on November 6,2108. It will be a long journey, however We are wide awake and paying very close attention. This year, aptitude will win over attitude.
4
Thoughtful article by Mr. Douthat. I must take issue with one assertion, however. Trump does not deserve credit for defeat of the Islamic State.
The Islamic State was on its last legs as a caliphate before Trump was elected. In addition, we have not heard the last of them, so it may be too soon to call them defeated. Let us not be overly generous in our assessment of Mr. Trump.
12
It is rapidly becoming GOP dogma that Trump has "defeated the Islamic State".
Oh, really? Just who has pronounced it dead? What will they say when there are future strikes by these same people?
Oh, he may have wrenched it's operators out of cities like Mosul - but at what cost? The rubble left after all the bombing and raiding is unfit for human habitation, especially by the civilians who used to live their lives there. It will take billions to build another city from the rubble and trash that we left to the people.
And while we did that, smashed their homes and cities to smithereens, killing untold numbers of innocent civilians - coarsely referred to and reduced to "collateral damage" - just how many new, young American haters do you think we created?. Along with those Islamic State fighters that fled the cities and are now gathering elsewhere, a whole new generation of those who were radicalized by us are going to join them - why not? They have no family or homes left - and it was not the Islamic State that did that.
Please stop accepting the premise that Trump "won" anything in the global fight against terrorism. Do you actually feel safer, as though we reduced the chance of another attack on US soil? Or did we also contribute to the radicalization of home grown Islamic State sympathizers?
Trump will never be able to win the hearts and minds of the people of the Middle East - necessary for any long term cessation of terrorist activity against us.
10
The concept of a Trump 'historic calamity' is being taken way
too casually because Trump continues to be tolerated.
The danger of this man is a clear and present one.
12
It is just not good enough to lay blame upon one figure and think the entire problem will go away with his removal. What we need is a complete housecleaning. And that includes the Supreme Court.
Washington has become a Zoo.
11
Concerning Wolff's assertion that "the men and women of the W. Wing actually felt they ad a responsibility to the country", one can just barely imagine what it means to form and be an active part of a shadow complicity that adheres to long-held standards of honesty and democratic values in this W.H. and one can only pray that in the same shadowy fashion there is a group of straight-headed Republican senators that is holding hands with them not to fail
1
Completely disagree with your statement that Republicans are through with policy after the tax cut bill.
How do you think they are going to pay for? Listen to what they are saying (Rubio, for example): they plan to cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. I have heard Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio prefer to Social Security as an “entitlement”. My husband and I paid into Social Security our entire careers. We did so believing that we would have SS To fall back on after retirement. Cutting SS now that we’ve paid into it is a retroactive tax—a large one.
15
My guess is, other major countries that matter, are sitting on their hands with key policy issues, observing our dysfunction and obsession with inquiries, and media hype 24/7. Trump was elected not because of the person but because many proclamations he made rang true with main street. Main street knew, most could not be realized under our dysfunctional system. Reality of the office of the President of the US has always been no one has all those qualities we fantasize about. Some grow into their job better than others. Obama had zero qualifications but accomplished with executive orders what he was elected for. Geo W Bush was simply not that bright. A comfortable situation would be a President who hides in the oval office surrounded by as capable a staff as possible. The big big question is who is the Democrats are going to bering forward to be our next savior. Can they impeach Trump? If so Pence could be our new Jerry Ford, as in do nothing, just manage the Oval office thermostat. HRC and Bill may have been a better choice but main street views them as professional crooks.
3
The writer sums up the first year of the Trump presidency by comparing the dismal and dismissive results in Puerto Rico, a study in racism, incompetence, and lost opportunity, with the military "defeat of the Islamic State," which had virtually nothing to do with Trump, which was inevitable, and which may result in greater incidence of terrorism as an expression to that movement, yet. These are the examples Douthat chooses for success and failure? More than half of what is essentially a U.S. state is still in the Stone Age, and his appointees are only fit to dismantle, not build or enhance. Do tell us what brave and wise military choices were made by Mr. Trump which caused the fall of the Islamic State, since you have your "sham of objectivity" hat on, Mr. Douthat.
Year One has been an unmitigated disaster, unless you measure success by a short term continuation of a bull market, a metric Mr. Trump himself derided as a "bubble," while falsely and piously telling potential voters "he doesn't invest in the stock market."
13
To me there are two reasons that Trumps election to the presidency is illegitimate, his continual lying and Russian help. Trump lied, as he does now, with a felicity unseen before in public office. When you are selling everybody a bill of goods, you can deliver anything and still point to the result as "keeping a promise." His tax plan, the GOP Congress came up with that. His secret plan to defeat ISIS, there was no change to the plan already in place. His infrastructure plan, nothing there yet. He will release his tax returns, no release so far. Repeal and replace Obamacare, still no plan. Ban Muslims from entry as immigrants, not much there. The GOP sees a patsy in Trump who will take most of the blame for their unpatriotic, mean machinations. 2018 must be the watershed moment to reverse this attack on our Constitution, Bill of rights and our citizens. If the Democrats can take the House, they will have the power to rid us of this corrupt administration and stop the GOP attack on our country.
2
Let's make an analogy.
About 400 years ago Isaac Newton was a brilliant mathematician who formulated the theories and mathematics we use to solve mysteries of the Universe. His work allowed humankind to advance by leaps and bounds. His contribution to modern life is and will remain incalculably stellar and active.
Yet he was a totally obnoxious person. Devious, petty, vitriolic. Beyond that and despite his genius he was wont to believe in the most unscientific of things. Indeed he wasted his genius for most of his life submerging himself in the most foolish of undertakings.
But we'd have been fools to not have tolerated Isaac Newton. His abilities, genius, and contributions obvious, precious, and unique. We'd be fools today to cast aside his body of real scientific work because he otherwise did not comport with norms of grace and reason. Mighty stands the man - and rightly he deserves his revered place in History.
I guess I can say the same for Richard Wagner and I could go on about other obnoxious geniuses.
Sometimes geniuses are really hard to stomach - but stomach them we must because the World obviously needs them/profits from them.
DJT may or may be a genius depending on criteria used. Matter of values I guess. But he is a palpably obnoxious and unsuited to any charge expected to protect and serve us. His net contribution to humankind will be negative and perhaps disastrous. What I say is obvious!
Shame on us for electing him and stomaching him!
5
Actually, I can blame Republicans. Our elected and appointed officials have a sworn duty to protect the security of our nation. Trump, whether through incompetence, incapacity, or just sheer laziness, represents a clear and present danger to the nation. If the 25th Amendment is too risky, Trump is already impeachable for a number of violations independent of the Mueller investigation. Try the Emoluments Clause for starters. Republicans simply lack the will to do the right thing. Baby sitting Trump for the next two years and hoping the world doesn't blow up while personally benefiting from the chaos is not serving our country. Period.
14
I'm confused (please don't use this as a reason to take me away, Ross) - on the one hand it is stated by most who have known him, including Chuck Schumer, that Trump has always been this way - emotional, easy to provoke, impatient, always on the attack against his enemies and full of sometimes unsubstantiated bravado. Yet he has had obvious successes and failures in business, became a media celebrity and managed to defeat Hillary. If he hasn't changed and has been reasonably successful in life, including in the Presidency with tax reform, the crushing of ISIS and the removal of excessive regulation at multiple agencies, what is the basis for these calls for his removal? A partly fictitious book? His policy stances? Or as my wife has said, his ability to act like a BLANK on a daily basis?
When democrats and never-Trumpers unfurl banners on Capitol Hill proclaiming "We need President Pence Now" I'll take them more seriously - until then these are nothing more than political tantrums driven by a personal dislike of Mr. Trump and the conservative policy direction his administration is pursuing.
3
Mr. Douthat,
Interesting opinion bit on Trump. However, where was your doubt about George W. Bush when he was at his peak of spinning lies that would soon result in the destruction of a large swath of the functional Middle East (Afghanistan and Iraq)?
I, as an engineer without an foreign policy training knew the following: 2/3 of Iraq was Shiite. Upon putting Democracy in place, the ruling Sunni's would be under serious pressure from that majority and Iran.
After Iraq turned into the disaster it remains Condoleeza Rice famously opined: "Who Knew?". Even though at least half of America knew.
Sadly and clearly not her and George W.
W. was unfit for office from the time he graduated from high school at the bottom of his class and was admitted to Harvard on the Affirmative Action Plan for Caucasians cloaked as the "legacy" program.
Where was your pen when W. was unfit and causing destruction?
Trump has actually not done anything even close to as destructive as "W". the "Decider".
7
Oh, great. Our safety and the future of our country depends on the ability of staff to keep a tantrum-driven child in check. Why am I not filled with hope?
8
It is interesting take note that two world leaders have come under scrutiny, suspicion and outrage by the media. Both are considered insane by some and morally dubious by even more.
Of course, our dear President Donald is one and the other dubious character is none other that Pope Francis, the Socialist politician, environmentalist and part time Progressive religious leader moving Catholics rapidly into Protestantism. A recent biography called 'The Dictator Pope' spells it all out.
Curious that such supposed fringe characters hold such significant roles in the world. How did such people get elected? Who is really responsible and what does it mean?
1
The more threatening situation is not that Trump is lying, it is that he doesn't know that he is lying. He truly believes what he says, in the face of clear evidence that it is not true. A liar is aware of the existence of anther set of realities which he is trying to hide. With Trump, they don't exist at all. This is delusion on a grand and frightening scale.
9
Oh, great! We have avoided a nuclear war for almost a whole year. Certainly something to cheer about. But catastrophes are mostly built over time. Even an earthquake, which seems to come out of the blue, is the result of changes in pressures and movement in the earth's crust unknown to most of us. So many of Trump's actions may yet result in calamity because they are fundamentally unwise. Which will it be? Off-shore oil drilling creating a spill that ruins Florida's coastline? A tax "reform" that increases income inequality until we reach a breaking point? Lack of action to slow climate change that leads to disastrous storms and droughts? Encouraging racism that results in social discord and violence? I could go on ... and on ;;; and on.
Trump and his Republican enablers are the catastrophe and calamity. All patriots should work to make the 2018 elections an unmistakable repudiation of this presidency and this congress.
642
We are barreling down the highway at 80 mph with no seat belts, and telling ourselves that everything is all right because "nothing has happened". By the time it does, it will be too late.
15
I suggest charges of crimes against humanity for failure to respond to Puerto Rico. It is nothing short of knowingly sending one ambulance to a 100 car chain reaction crash just to be able to say trump did something.
It's not just a political play either. An earthquake in California, even another Hurricane Sandy in his home town could be given the same treatment as Puerto Rico because they didn't vote for him and their congressional representatives won't help him either. Aided by the groveling obsequents stacked like turtles all the way down, as is seen in the tax bill and attempted health bill, it's entirely likely is could happen elsewhere.
For the petticoat to not act on Puerto Rico incriminates not just trump but all of the top layers of leadership requiring having to dig deep to find the next Gerald Ford.
11
Trump could start a nuclear conflagration because he felt he was insulted. That this risk exists with this man is reason enough to start the 25th Amendment process.
40
I have spent too much time watching the ribald farce that is 21st century America.
This morning I went to bed after hearing about your "stable" genius President for about the fifth time.
My sleep was interrupted by a very disconcerting dream. I blew the final jeopardy question because I yelled out the question when the answer was revealed. I had the game won but I bet everything when the final jeopardy category category was Jonathan Swifties. I knew I would know the answer. When the answer was revealed it read an animal with the body of a man and the brain of a horse. I could not stop myself from yelling out the answer YAHOO and I was disqualified. I woke up feeling like a "stable" genius.
21
There's another "stable genius" in our culture and that was Mr. Ed, the horse that could talk. Mr. Ed, although fictional, had more sense than the "stable genius" in the White House.
1
President Trump is scheduled for a medical examination at Walter Reed in a few days time.
Will that examination include a careful assessment of his incessant lying, his temper tantrums, his peculiar locutions, his tweeting habits, his constant insulting of President Obama and Mrs. Clinton, his tax evasions, his inability to distinguish fact from fantasy when it comes to assessing his achievements as President, his frequent firing of staff, his strange television viewing habits, his aversion to reading, his routinely-disgusting behavior around women, his tendency to bully minorities and make wild claims about his success as a businessman?
Psychological problems -- even serious ones -- can sometimes be overcome by small, simple and temporary adjustments in one’s life style. Fewer Big Macs, a cup of hot chocolate at bedtime, less time spent outdoors on the golf course in the hot sun, a cutback in the number of his exhausting vacations and airplane trips, occasional meetings with a therapist, maybe even a prescription for Viagra or a few days of respite care at a sanitarium in Puerto Rico.
He is our President. We owe him our deepest concern and the very best mental health care that is available.
28
My hope is that the doctors will find that the role the President is playing is injurious to his heath and if he wants to live to a ripe old age, he should resign.
5
You could see tRUMP at his best in one sentence: "I went to many colleges, actually one- a very good college the best" He cannot understand that his language catches him in lies all the time.
5
Yes, a medical intervention and long rest would do us all good.
We've been led to believe that Mr. Trump relishes the air time/inches of print that his Tweets garner; what would happen if all the news outlets, social media etc. were to declare a 24 hour blackout on all Trump tweets?
Just wondering.
33
I have been asking this for months and months. WE are way past the point that media outlets should seriously consider it.
1
I wish! Trump's head might implode.
Regardless of Trump's grossly obvious mental illnesses, (extreme narcissism, bullying, vengeance seeking, and belief that he owns the government as long as he is President), and extreme role deficiencies, ranging from extreme, wide ranging ignorance - with no interest in learning, rather obvious functional Illiteracy, and an attention span that lasts only a few moments, we still had an electoral college dumb enough to go against its due and proper goal of protecting the nation, after people believed stupidity in the extreme couldn't be all that bad - and let Trump loose to rampage blindly, and damage the nation and the world!
Wrong or not, self serving or not, deluded or not... the various checks and balances failed, and Trunp became President.
This excuses nobody from doing their due Constitutional roles to protect the nation from what snuck through the system!
Every day is a new day! Every day is a day when the President is required to rise to the occasion, or face the consequences of not being able to appropriately lead the nation he has been entrusted with. We deserve the best. If the President can't deliver,we should insist that we have someone who can!
Sadly, not a day has passed since Trump has singularly demonstrated his singular lack of even the most basic skills. He's had a year: it's time for him to go!
46
Trump lured journalists with his flamboyant tweets early in the campaign, and they paid him in spades reporting his tweets for free advertising. Journalists helped Trump even more when they consistently fenced stolen emails for the Russians as news, as though the Museum of the Bible was justified to purchase stolen antiquities from Iraq for show. Congressional Republicans showed their contempt for democracy when they made a secret pack to oppose any and all Obama policies including judicial nominees, and McCain, Hatch, Graham and others followed them down the rabbit hole. Trump will continue unabated until at least 2018, but the Republican design to pack the judiciary with conservatives like Antonin Scalia, who told 60 Minutes the Federalist Papers guided many of his decisions rather than the Constitution and Bill of Rights, will haunt our great nation for at least a generation.
52
Mr. Douthat, you've missed the point. Trump is a failed corrupt businessman who is now a Russian asset, because they bailed him out financially and installed him as a puppet by illegitimate means (no, the election was not legitimate!). He remains there because of GOP Congresspersons and Senators twho are also under the Russian control through hacked RNC emails and large campaign donations from Putin-allied Americans of Russian descent..Witness the 180 degree turnaround of Lindsey Graham from outspoken Trump critic to a full-on Trump supporter after one day alone on the golf course with Trump? When pressed about Trump's spending so much of his presidency on his own golf courses, Sarah Sanders even acknowledged it and defended it saying that he was conducting official business there with his golf guests to advance his legislative agenda. Yes, Trump shows evidence of cognitive decline, even over the past few months and should be removed. Yes, he remains a corrupt businessman who thinks he can bully our allies and enemies alike like a street corner thug and is therefore unfit to serve. However the Russian-owned GOP lackeys in Congress and the Senate will never impeach him and his cabinet is equally corrupted by Russian money so Article 25 will not be invoked. The corruption of our government and government leaders is so widespread and so deep that Mueller may not get it all before Trump gets him fired, but I'd like to believe that Mueller is 3 steps ahead with a backup plan.
94
I believe an important point is missed here, indeed obscured the ritual reference to Wilson.
The GOP actually favors incapacitated executives. Why? Because it is in thrall to an ideology, a mantra, a hive mind. The mishmash of god, guns, Ayn Rand, egoism, and tax cuts is not a rational pursuit of a better world. It is a faith, not subject to self-criticism or second-party opposition. Much like radical Islam.
As such, a robot could president, as far as the GOP is concerned. Mentally impaired presidents, from Reagan and Bush to Trump are preferable to any individual who might actually reason, judge evidence, and think independently.
Trump's stupidity and incompetence delivered the tax bill, a radical act based on pure utopian faith, the most fundamental act in their ideological drive. Like terrorists, any GOP ideologue knows what is right and what to do. No evidence or reasoning required.
This is why the GOP will continue to elect the mentally impaired. Their ideal president is any agent lacking judgment and spewing noise, a child, chatbot, or pig. As a combination of all three, Trump is the ideal.
59
Grover Norquist said it even before the election of 2016, which was that all the GOP needs is a President with 5 working digits to hold a pen to sign the bills sent to the Oval office.
1
I remind myself and take comfort in remembering that only 19 months elapsed between RMN's inauguration and his resignation. We have endured a trump presidency for just 12 months, and while there is no guarantee that he will not obstruct justice by firing the special counsel, if Mueller is allowed to proceed and if the results of the midterms turn out to be what is being predicted (just 24 seats are needed to flip the majority in the House), we could likely see the beginning of the attempts to jettison DJT sooner than we now anticipate. Mike Pence will not be a successful president for a variety of reasons, some of which are described in this link, so his ascendancy should not be feared.
https://newrepublic.com/article/142752/dont-fear-president-pence-liberal...
10
Rosemarie in her comment provides a link that asks this question: “If President Pence would be so much better for the GOP than Trump, why are nearly all Republicans in Congress refusing even to discuss impeachment?”
That question is worth answering. Perhaps closer examination could encourage the Dems to impeach Trump when that becomes their option?
1
"They have done so for a year, with some debacles ... but also some genuine successes ..."
He's playing nuclear chicken with NK. Europe has turned away from us and is reorganizing the order of world power and influence. From what is already known of his dealings in business, he's also likely highly corrupt, and we know he'll say or do anything to please the Russians who lend him money.
Sorry, Ross, you're like the guy who fell out of a skyscraper who's saying, "So far, so good." The rest of us believe that our government—and the nuclear codes—should not be left in the hands of someone who needs minding.
This should not even be a question.
50
It's a major error to put faith in those who've accepted Trump's offers to serve. Any that really do have idealistic motives will be thwarted and, ultimately, disgraced. All the others are vile toadies for whom a swamp would several steps upwards.
17
"... his inability to handle the weight and responsibility of his office is not something that crept up gradually ... it’s been a defining feature of his administration from Day 1 — and indeed was obvious during the campaign that elected him."
Truer words were never written, which points up another obvious fact: those who stand with Trump are equally dysfunctional in their critical thinking skills, psycho-social maturity, and ability to accurately cope with reality on reality's terms.
Yet these inadequacies have far deeper roots: this same subgroup is inherently defined by a glaring, unconscionable display of dishonesty and dishonor, relegating them to the sub-basement of social and cultural value.
Not merely 'deplorable,' but far, far worse ... inherently unworthy of any valid participation in public discourse.
18
Douthat argues that action against trump is futile in such a resigned yet breezy way, he sounds like someone dealing with some minor annoyance—like rain during a vacation or the car breaking down. He neglects to mention not just the major threat,of war but the systematic sabotage of our democratic institutions. He doesn’t mention the republicans who have known of trump’s colossal ineptitude standing with him in battering away at our d mocracy.
24
Ross is distracted again by Trump. Trump is not the issue. The venal grasping craven GOP Congress, puppets of a few bilious blind billionaires, that is the problem. Were they functional, were they patriots, were they doing their job, then Trump would be a soluble problem.
50
How bad do things have to get before a plan is enacted to end this madness? This wait-and-see attitude, while our nation is corroding and its citizens are threatened with deportation, is clearly not working. Trump obviously suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder; he has no care nor empathy for anyone but himself. That lack of interest in the welfare of others should disqualify him from serving as our Commander-in-Chief. But as long as he is increasing the wealth and prestige of his enablers, none of them is going to lift a finger to end this travesty. How far do we have to fall before we can admit we're falling and take actions to prevent this inevitable apocalypse?
17
Lest we forget: a majority of white American voters (both men and women in just about all income and educational categories) voted for Donald Trump. A majority of white Alabama voters voted for Roy Moore, who, quite possibly, exceeds even Trump in venality and contempt for the rule of law. The problems with American democracy and its white majority run much deeper than we would like to believe.
28
Us Whitepeople are to blame. I agree.
9
I'm a 74 year old white guy myself, Navy veteran and a Methodist. I look at the GOP members of Congress, all of them middle aged or older white males and it causes me some disgust at our system. These "guys" do not look like America of the 21st century. We need women, minorities, etc. to replace most of them.
The only problem I find with Ross's opinion is the fact that Republicans are 1. refusing to stand up against Trump. They've traded their integrity for their their political agenda and the American public knows it.2. They are doing everything in their power to obstruct the Russian Investigations both in Congress and with Mueller.
Their enabling Trump by their inactions is the real problem. We are a system of checks and balances; Republicans have conveniently forgotten this fact.
The American public needs to let the GOP know this at the midterms.
29
"And while I blame Republicans for a thousand things that brought us to this pass, it’s too extreme to blame them for not pursuing an option that’s never been tried before..."
But that's just the thing with Trump - his grotesque mix of eruptiveness, neediness, ineptitude, incuriosity, narcissism and pathological lying is unprecedented. This nation has had poor leaders, but never of this magnitude. A drastic situation calls for drastic measures.
24
Douthat is a republican and as such, a conservative, and they don't like any change. They like to "conserve" things as is, even in the face of a catastrophe. It's absolutely ridiculous to suggest that because Trump's presidency and personality is so extreme, that somehow that is reason for not trying to remove this cancer from the White House. You're right, this is a situation that calls for drastic measures, even if it's never been done before. Not sure I'll ever understand why republicans are so afraid of change, especially when what they currently have is clearly a sick and sad situation.
3
Sadly, the destructive power of the Republican Party is not going anywhere, either.
14
the past year has filled me with disgust for politicians and the political process. we have become just like the banana republics we used to look down upon.
19
The president has run his administration as if he were in a coma, beginning with his inauspicious “carnage” address last January 20. But along with the president, Republican Congressmen have also shown that they are incapacitated as well. They have done nothing to check the president’s wild impulses and have excused missteps and rookie mistakes as part of a learning curve in handling his duties as president. Some Republicans were embarrassed by his statements about white nationalists being “very fine people” during the Charlottesville debacle last summer and his incendiary and reckless tweets threatening another irresponsible world leader but perhaps their fear of him has encouraged him to proceed apace with his irrational behavior. Republicans have been willing to tolerate the president’s obvious unfitness for his duties so they’re as much to blame for the president’s ineptitude as he is. This administration a government by the ruling party.
15
Was it really necessary in 2017 to use "Petticoat" to describe Trump's ultra-masculine government? First, we don't wear petticoats anymore. Second, we voted for Hillary. Three, Trump is horrible all on his own. Don't blame women. We are his chief targets, except for the few tokens like Kellyanne, who are profoundly anti-women's issues themselves.
17
Narcissistic people elected our narcissist president.
What are the chances of 60 million people looking themselves in the mirror and saying to themselves that they made a mistake?
What are the chances that these people will go out and look for scapegoats instead? America is in for a rough ride. This isn't just entertainment anymore, folks.
16
Enraged Democrats are whipping themselves into a frenzy at the prospect of driving President Trump from office. They still seek to reverse the result of the 2016 Presidential election. First the electoral college was supposed to negate the election, then Russian interference had made the election invalid, then Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling would result in impeachment and now the 25th Amendment will supposedly be invoked to remove President Trump by reason of insanity.
Sorry, guys, you will have to live with him until November 2020. Then you will have a chance to remove him.
3
Should the Dems take back the House and the Senate I wonder just how big the whistler-blower group will become, knowing they have zero protection now but will with Dems in charge.
Ross, your resigned, nay cavalier, attitude about Republican/Trump politicization of the Government and governance is beyond sad. Republicans are dying a well-earned and deserved death and that's a tragedy; but the greater tragedy is their willingness to undermine the Constitution and destroy faith in, and the functioning of, civil democracy: power at any cost. And yes, that is festering fascism.
22
That people in power conspire to hide an indcompent is unethical and immoral, even if not illegal.
Full Stop.
It deprives the citizenry who did not elect a conspiracy.
6
I think that a stock market crash will bring Trump's house of cards tumbling down. It will happen sooner than Mueller or Kim, and very well might spur both Mueller and Kim into action. Our own stock market, enabled by Washington, will be our "Bullet in Sarajevo"
6
Unfortunately that's what it takes for Republicans to acknowledge that a Repblican president is awful.
4
What has the Trump Administration, specifically, done to defeat the Islamic State? The Islamic State is the product of an amalgamation of circumstances, both geopolitical and cultural, that the government of the United States has little to no control over. The "defeat" of the Islamic State has nothing to do with Donald Trump nor Republican dominance of Capitol Hill.
6
Sad though it may be, Douthat is probably right. Incompetence, narcissism, poor reading comprehension and lack of attention span are not enough to invoke the 25th amendment. And then there is the fact that even if Mueller's team finds anything incriminating, there is little indication that Republicans will act to limit the reign of Trump. They seem more interested in shutting down the investigation rather than learning anything that might incriminate Donald Trump or his family.
The bigger issue is how do we as a country prevent someone who is illiterate, incompetent and narcissistic from becoming President in the first place? This must never happen again.
8
An alternative to Article 25:
Give the guy 10 billion dollars (a fifth of what the wall would cost), cancel all the corruption investigations, build a giant gold monument (or gold plate the Washington Monument and let him put his name in lights on it for a while), give him his own TV show, name a mountain range or something after him, pat him on the back with a "Your work is finished, well done sir!", and issue a proclamation stating "The absolute best, smartest, hardest working President ever!"
Then lets all have a giant parade to the Capitol Steps for a "Reverse Inauguration," where Donald J Trump will finally have the largest crowd ever assembled on the Mall. I'd be there and so would much of the nation, in a New York minute.
12
We are walking towards the crossroads for the United States of America. I pray that we end on the path of justice.
And I'm an atheist.
6
The big question is whether the nation survives (figuratively and literally). George Washington Plunkett of Tammany Hall would tell us all that the trump family and administration and the GOP Congress are engaging in "dishonest graft." [The lower case 't' in trump is intentional.] The retiring GOP are getting out with their pockets stuffed full as can be. The President believes he is a tough guy and a strong man. He believes he is a heavyweight intellect. Those around him know better. They are in it for their own selfish reasons. He is a useful tool to them. As Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar though, "The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones." This includes Grassley and Graham and Conway and Corker and Huckabee Sanders and....
5
So "Trump defeated ISIS"! And they're gone forever! And will never come back ever again (presumably because they're scared witless of Trump).
In the first place that's extremely unlikely. In the second place, they're not vanquished at all, just scattered. They seem to have developed a fondness for Afghanistan.
3
It is the failing of every Republican, or even conservatives like this op-ed author, that they lack the fortitude en masse to do the most important thing they have ever done and remove this President. The electoral college provided the initial failure of will and reason and duty, now the Republicans follow it with their timidity and laziness. The GOP is a joke, only no one will be laughing when it hits the fan, and we all pay a terrible price, IN ADDITION to that which we are paying every day out of the American soul.
4
Browsing the news, it appears the Republicans are calling for Session's retirement...
So that they can install a new AG to get rid of Rosenstein, and then get rid of Mueller.
Sessions will be gone in a couple of days, the new AG will take over, and after a grace period will summarily dismiss Mueller.
How would Ross view this? This is a primary question to measure his fealty to our Constitution, or toward his now horrid Party.
6
"Is the American system more able to correct for presidential incapacity than some of us have feared?"
Not if enablers and sycophants erect barriers to prevent the system from working and protect the president from accountability.
Don't agree that "our president's chaotic mind isn't going anywhere." I would say it isn't going to a positive place, more likely 'round the bend.
4
More than any other indicator: even with a cabinet and congress full of sycophants, none of the usual toadies has stepped forwards to claim Trump as intelligent, not even in some arcanely qualified a manner. No one, not even Pence, Mitchell, or Ryan would stake his own reputation on that call.
4
The truly hilarious outcome, or tragic outcome, depending on one's estimation of one's self-importance in the grand scheme of things, is to imagine what the next presidential election will bring. First, the primaries - the inaugural democratic comedy hour where many and sundry unqualified, loudmouth, slogan-chanting zeroes will unabashedly claim they have what it takes to be "leaders". Perhaps of their respective quilting circles, but little else. Then come the anvil-crushed republicans. A lot of pompous, pious-sounding blather about the disgrace of electing an uncouth, bronze-spoon-born buffoon instead of one of their "serious" number. You're all kidding, right? Each of these clueless bastions of an increasingly superfluous quadrennial exercise both overestimate the intelligence of the American voter and underestimates the voters' motivations of punishment, revenge and outrage. Until some of you wake up, you'll get a Trump, a Sanders, a revisionist kook of one or another stripe. Now that's comedy folks. And we the few, the secure, the folks cut loose from both the tyranny and the stupidity of big government enjoy the show. Who needs art when real life is so much a Pollack painting?
2
I'm sorry, but there are concentric rings of enablers that amplify every mental weakness and vagary Trump exhibits. You can start with the inner circle at the WH (the Kushners, Melania, Conway, Sanders, his personal telephone pals) and work your way out to the icky solicitous, fawning Cabinet secretaries, and then, of course, to the genuflecting Republican Senators and House reps. Without their approval of Trump's worst instincts and procliviites, he would not be showing the world on an hourly basis what a dissembled and unpredictable person he is.
"Trump is Trump" is old news; decades old, really. That he now has a job that has tremendous status, power, and consequences is what has everyone terrified. But his enablers scare me even more.
656
How right you are. On more than one occasion I've likened his GOP supporters to the Vichy government in France during WWII. I admin in some respects it is a stretch but the exact same lack of honor and courage is there. Too many on the right won't speak up nor walk away but instead, like Orin Hatch collaborate against the truth for their own little agenda. It sadly illustrates how weak human character can be.
10
Agreed! Yet you fail to mention the greatest enablers, those enabling all you mention: We the People are the ultimate enablers of the enablers.
6
Er, do you really expect his wife and family to abandon him in his hour of great need? All families enable their loved ones, do they not? For we all have weaknesses and shortcomings. Granted, though, most of us are not presidents. It's a Greek tragedy play.
2
If Trump is incapacitated, he probably is incapable of engaging in complex criminal activity, and so Mueller is probably wasting his time. But the theory that Trump is indeed incapacitated makes little sense. My mother had dementia and most of us know what Alzheimer's is like, and Trump does not have the symptoms of either. Not so long ago he ran a multi-billion dollar real estate empire and was a prominent TV personality. He functioned at too high a level recently to be incapacitated. And if that has changed, tell me when and how, despite his incapacity, he has masterminded criminal collusion and obstruction of justice. Those who believe he is incapacitated have to give up on the theory that he's a devious crook. But those who read him better, can see that Trump is just lazy, disengaged, and flying by the seat of his pants. He could do the job if he tried, but it is obvious that he is putting virtually no work into his job. He has decided that doing the job well isn't worth the effort, and so why bother. And, in many ways, that's his worst crime of all.
2
Mr. Douthat, the examples you gave of petticoat governments all involved the president becoming unable to act himself. But Mr. Trump is quite energetic and acts all the time. What the people around him are doing is damage control, not necessarily governing. You are charitably ascribing pure motives to those doing damage control, but they are equally likely to be doing this work for the sake of personal enrichment and power.
The major presidential deterioration in the middle of a major crisis, as you put it, is the "my nuclear button is bigger" comment. That is when the 25th amendment needed to be invoked. The government officials not invoking it are fools.
5
Trump is incredibly self-absorbed and narcissistic, he's no genius, and some of his Tweets suggest instability. On the other hand, because of the rawness of the Tweets, Trump may just be unusually unvarnished, tranaparent, vulnerable and unprotected. He may be exhibiting roughly typical presidential instabilities, from Wilson's stroke to FDR's affair to JFK's sexual antics and dropping acid to Johnson's harshness to Nixon's paranoia to Reagan's mental decline and susceptibility to Nancy's astrological imaginings.
In any event, Trump is not in real practical danger of being ousted either under the 25th Amendment or via impeachment and subsequent trial (unless there's more to Mueller's investigation than is yet known). Democrats are making a mistake to the extent they put their eggs in those baskets. Much better to focus on policy. Any particular vote for a congressperson or senator in 2018 will not really turn on such threats to Trump, which may actually prove counterproductive to Democrats, who, absent coherent and popular policy alternatives, will be seen as trying to unwind a valid electoral result in illegitimate ways through extraneous and basically illegitimate means pumped by sore losers. Sore losers even in close races usually do worse the second time around, for a reason.
2
We are indeed at a fork in the road, and I believe this corrupt administration gives us the opportunity to re-assert democratic and republican principles (small letter 'd' and small letter 'r'). The core problem with Trump is that he's corrupt both morally and legally, and that corruption eats away at our social and governmental fabric.
We have an opportunity to restore our democracy and root out corruption at its center. This effort goes beyond getting one inept and narcissistic man out of office. Trump may be impeached, but he won't be convicted. Using the 25th Amendment to remove him, meanwhile, is a pipe dream and will only happen if the Republicans can replace him with someone more to their liking.
So, we have three years to reclaim our democratic republic. That starts this year with the 2018 elections. Then, for the 2020 elections, let's hope both parties bring forward dynamic and forward-thinking candidates who are not morally and legally corrupt.
(And, let's hope we don't find ourselves in a nuclear war, in the meanwhile.)
4
Remember Bernie's babies saying there was no difference between Trump and Clinton?
That was false then and we are paying the price for their sitting this last election out.
I blame them even more than Trump's deplorables; at least they were ignorant.
9
If Trump was removed by the 25th Amendment, based on his obvious insanity and remarkable stupidity, Trump could use that insanity and idiocy as his defense in the numerous Federal and State court actions that are certainly to occur for the remainder of his pitiful existence.
If Trump was impeached / convicted, Trump would be repeatedly convicted of crimes and in civil actions in Federal and many State Courts, with his Impeachment assisting in those convictions.
The Republicans would be smart to remove Trump via the 25th Amendment as soon as possible, before he starts a nuclear or world war. If dome within the next 6 months, in the 2018 Elections, the GOP would possibly hold onto a slim majority in the House.
But Pence and his buddies in Congress are waiting for Trump to serve 2 years, before removing him. In that case, Pence could be President for 10 years, whereas if Trump is removed from power in 2018, Pence's maximum tenure as President or Acting President would be limited to 6 years under the 22nd Amendment's Term Limits.
Without Pence's cooperation, in 2019 the Democratic Congress could only remove Trump by Impeachment, which could take months. But the 2020 election would result in a Democratic President, and in Democratic Senate / House majorities.
The GOP must ask itself, is it willing to remove Trump early in 2018, in return for at least holding onto a majority of the House in the 2018 elections?
3
It would be worth to have this menace gone. Especially since they have Pence in the wings.
1
You give credit to Trump for defeating the ISIS? What has he done beyond continuing Obama and for that matter Hillary Clinton and John Kerry's policies? Again specifically what has he and his generals done differently beyond one minor bombing in Syria.
9
Agreed. Just because it happened on his watch doesn't mean he was responsible. It's like saying thanks to Trump, Emma Stone won an Oscar.
2
Yes, a little more schadenfreude please.
One has to wonder why one so supposedly incompetent has accomplished so much with judiciary, economy, government regulations, immigration, the man-made climate change hoax,etc.
The only sure thing about the analysis of the Trump Presidency is that he has many enemies in the media. Chances are this is mainly do to the country becoming successful again. The media hates nothing more than the success of one of its enemies.
1
History has had some really insane rulers
https://listverse.com/2010/10/14/top-10-truly-insane-rulers/
and Mr. Trump is the mental health Rock of Gibraltar compared to these.
Mr. Douthat is correct. One year into the Trump Administration the odds are on (at least ) 3 more years.
1
As much as I despise this black hole of inhumanity that Trump displays on a daily basis, I would find it more satisfying for him to lose in 2020 in a landslide, and by then for his base to be wiped out financially for good.
If Muller gets him, he will be the victim of a vast conspiracy, (according to him, FOX News and his base) so I'd rather he walk into the sunset as the colossal failure that he is.
As for the rest of us, I think we will be fine. He shall be the poster boy on how not to be a pretend President.
6
What Ross leaves out is the fact that what made this monstrosity of a candidacy and then presidency possible from day one was the complicity, support and enabling on the part of the GOP. It was and continues to be party over country in the pursuit of power. That dynamic in itself is almost as pathological as the president it now serves. Both need to be rousted from power, and the sooner the better.
I wonder if Ross would have been as forbearing if the unfit commander in chief happened to be a Democrat. Somehow I doubt it.
6
The GOP is the utterly ruthless party and damned proud of it.
Really? Are you kidding with the idea that people in the West Wing are doing the US a great service? If that were true, they would be doing everything in their power to let the American people know how incapable this man is of doing his job and incapable he is of defending the Constitution. They would work within their means to get him out of the Oval Office and bring safety and stability not just to the United States, but to the rest of the world as well. That would be true patriotism. Other wise, they are just complicit and will bear a huge responsibility for whatever catastrophe falls on this country. Shame on everyone of them.
5
"Trump’s authoritarian impulses, while genuine, seem unlikely to produce even aggrandizement on the scale of past presidents from F.D.R. to Nixon, because he has no competence to execute on them."
This is a far too harmless description of a president who has rolled back environmental, health, medical and other rules that protect people but stand in the way of big money were simply drafted by his predecessor.
It is a form of aggrandizement to destroy with whatever catches your eye just because you can.
3
"unless Robert Mueller has more goods than I expect," seems to be the consensus of conservative thought that includes not only Douthat but David Brooks as well -- expecting no big crimes despite the ferocity of the Trump family's cover-up. Because Trump is crazy the intensity of efforts to block Mueller is somehow not indicative that he has something to hide? I respectfully submit that the scale of Trump's derangement over Mueller may be proportional to the rational existential threat only he and his family (and Mueller et al eventually) understand. The President is busily denying collusion over and over -- that's the most benign framing for him -- while his frantic and frenetic cover up gets aid and comfort of Congressional Republicans all collectively doing everything possible to make us a banana republic. What is unfolding before our eyes goes beyond Watergate and collusion is the recent manifestation of Russia's acquisition of what passes for Trump's soul, the process of which includes Trump crimes. We see every day that Putin owns Trump. Never a harsh word is spoken of Vlad. Trump isn't in mortal fear of collusion allegations -- it is as Bannon suggests financial crimes -- not some video with prostitutes but knowledge of the Trump organization's dependence on money laundering or at least laundered money.
7
If we can muddle through without a nuclear war, the Trump presidency may be the best thing that ever happened for the revival of freedom and self-government in American precisely because of his deficiencies. Perhaps we will come out of it with a bipartisan commitment to federalism, to division of power, and to a permanent reversal of 100 years of ever growing childish dependence on executive authority.
2
About this so called 'defeat of the Islamic state' ... why don't we call it by another name, which is 'the loss of Syria to Iranian and Russian influence'? Yes, our military has defeated ISIS in Syria - but to what end? To prop up Assad?
The problem with the one/two punch of military/diplomatic activity is that we no longer have a State Department to carry out even basic functions, like organizing and holding on to a victory.
6
The Apprentice is a bad enough story and his election remains one the darker moments in our Nation’s electoral history. The GOP are a sad bunch of hypocrites and cowards with no spine for protecting our Nation’s integrity. They will not live this period down for many years. The Democrats will get a good measure of electoral power in 2018 because of Trump’s unpopularity and a large voter turnout. If the Supreme Court only does a halfway decent block on partisan gerrymandering, our National votes will become less a sham and more competitive in their results. With the Dems having such a large voter base, we can moderate our Congress to less partisanship. The future looks as good as our current status looks troubled without coherent leadership.
3
Mr. Douthat seems to suggest that America be run by our responsible appointed mandarin runners for at least the next three years while we all whistle past the graveyard of Mr. Trump's mental state. But those people have been appointed largely because they helped to put Mr. Trump into the presidency long after that huge risk was obvious to everyone of average intelligence and paying attention. And now we are to take those people seriously and depend on them? Sure, what could go wrong?
5
I urge Ross and anyone else inclined to read David Frum's new column in The Atlantic "Donald Trump Goes Full Fredo". As Much as "Fire and Fury" highlights the chaotic mind and alternative reality of Donald Trump, that has been on public view for a long time. The more disturbing reality at this moment is the complicity of Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Lindsay Graham and like minded GOP reps in their eagerness to use Trump as a"useful fool". In doing so, they erode the very foundations of democracy and the rule of law. The "system" in which Ross places his hopes is only as good as those who uphold it, or in this case, those who undermine it.
Some pundits, including some current and resigned Republicans, recognize the danger. Unfortunately, The NY Times and others in the mainstream media spend too much time and energy dwelling on that which we already know, the unfitness of Trump, and not enough energy to exposing the motives and machinations of his enablers.
6
Theoretically the electoral college is supposed to protect us from such an obviously incompetent president. The voters recognized the threat from Trump and that's why they voted overwhelming for Hillary Clinton even though she's not exactly trustworthy. Since the GOP has made it clear that they will back Trump regardless of how erratic he is as long as he rubber-stamps their agenda our only hope is too flip Congress to Democratic control so they can act as a check.
We're stuck with this president for the foreseeable future. But going forward we need to make changes to ensure that this doesn't happen again. Nixon led to similar reflection and adjustment. You can't change the past but we can certainly learn from it.
2
It is quite possible that Mueller's investigation will reveal illicit financial machinations that even the craven Republicans in Congress will be unable to tolerate. The most likely result would then be president Trump resigning while declaring (and believing) that he was the greatest president ever.
Failing that, the most likely remedy is a two step process: 1) Hobble the Trump administration in the 2018 mid-terms 2) Vanquish the administration and his enablers in the 2020 general election.
Meanwhile, the best rational people can hope for is damage control and minimization of international embarrassment.
1
Jennifer Rubin, Michael Gerson, David Brooks and many other thoughtful conservatives see the danger. The deadly threat to democracy that Trump represents is clear. Lucid appeals (preserve decency, protect the constitution, promote fairness, prevent nuclear war, ease the effects of climate change, ...) to those political leaders who can stop him are being ignored. They have their reasons (personal power, promoting an ideological agenda, enhancing their own wealth, cowering in fear of Trump's tweets, ...) that seem impervious to our criticism. Many are in safe seats. Reasoned discussion with them is impotent. Voting is important, but Citizens United and gerrymandering have undermined the possibility of useful change. I truly wish this were not necessary, but short of force, we could without mercy ridicule them publicly at every turn, make them laughing stocks and a source of deep embarrassment to their families and friends until they themselves feel shame. In Trump we choose the wrong target, deflecting our attention from those who deserve it. Trump may be immune to such an approach, but I suspect the others are not. I have not yet come to the conclusion that McConnell, Ryan, and other Republican enablers are completely evil. They are at best terribly foolish. They have earned the right to be shamed.
3
Removal via the 25th amendment is a fantasy. Trump may be a lot of things - pathological liar, narcissistic man-child, amoral ignoramus, junk-food addict, and so on - but none of these qualities rise to the level of "incapacitation". It will take good old fashioned impeachment to remove this president, and impeachment is ultimately a political process. This is why Trump is suddenly making nice with the GOP establishment. Still, when he becomes too much a political liability to the GOP, they will not hesitate to turn on him. Mueller's findings (I'm guessing money laundering, tax evasion, and/or obstruction) will provide the impetus needed to begin impeachment proceedings.
3
...Except there are daily articles of Trump's ability/inclination to truncate the Mueller inquiry which is one of the most important inquiries in US history. Has the current POTUS a history of money-laundering? What is Russia's reach into this administration?
2
What's interesting about Trump isn't that he's such a Dunning-Kruger exponent, but that he's a meta-Dunning-Kruger exponent. His extreme narcissism combined with his remarkable success places him at an historically low point of the people able to understand what the Dunning-Kruger effect is. The idea that the Trumpster could over-estimate his own abilities is a statement devoid of content, for the Trumpster. Which would be interesting, in a cutely self-referential way, if his wonderful, great finger wasn't on the nuclear button.
"Is the American system more able to correct for presidential incapacity than some of us have feared?
The last year has given us some reason to think the answer to the last question might be “yes.”"
Might be "yes" is not a good enough answer. The answer has to be "positively yes". All that is at stake is the future viability of our democraic republic!
I have little faith that even with impeachable evidence the "president" will be removed from office. I have much hope and faith that that stock market bubble will pop, the market crashes and hopefully we get a recession to make the last one look like a kids game. Why? Because Americans only seem to care to vote when it hurts their finances, depressingly so...
2
What a pass you give Trump's executive corp, even going so far as to credit the West Wing for minimizing the worst excesses of his Presidency, and in the process preserving our nation's honor and our democratic heritage Are you kidding? You are dancing around the danger of Trump, as if this national calamity and disgrace isn't of the highest magnitude.
Is this what it means to be conservative, Ross? To turn a blind eye to the stunning singularity of Trump's presidency, instead viewing it as some variant of the normal course of jockeying branches of the government, even invoking some archaic early 20th archness -- a "petticoat government" -- as a comparable outrage. I'm no historian, and our nation 100 years ago bears scant resemblance to what it is today, but I can't believe anything as poisonous as the Trump Presidency, which we have the misfortune to view minute by minute, has ever been visited upon America before.
5
If only we could have a 'petticoat government' (Milania, the power behind the throne, the strategizer of all policy), things would be so much better than this administration, whose inner players, are in denial. Denial of their boss's neuroses. Indeed the inner functionaries have conspired to be co-dependently delusional. Short term, it seems to be working for them. Unfortunately, not so much for the country, for us. Psychoanalysis of this president is long overdue. But we know why that can is kicked down the road. It would logically require another type of psychoanalysis, a cultural one, ie, a close psychological study of his base, and the rest of our feelings regarding how they are part of the DNA of the West at this particular cultural-historical moment.
1
While the departure of Bannon may have reduced the nationalist rhetoric coming from the White House, though not the broad supply in the general public, there is enough policy craziness in McConnell and Ryan to supply years of legislation. Neither one has any shame about taking from the poor to give to the rich or putting off repairing American infrastructure, education resources, legal system, foreign relationships, etc. There is plenty of damage stored up in those febrile minds ready to take advantage of Trumps meandering mind.
1
This article is nothing but more of the smoke-screen Republicans are creating to cover up the effects of the dumpster fire that began when Trump paraded himself down that staircase to declare his candidacy for president. Republicans are used to underhanded election tactics since the days of Nixon - they keep claiming they are justified because they say the Democrats did them wrong in the 1960 election, and they've been 'getting even' ever since.
But Trump poses an existential problem. With a nut-job in the White House, all the other nut-jobs feel empowered, and that means ignore the rules you don't like, push the limits on others, push other people out of the way, and generally grab all the gold you can while you can. It won't take long for things to descend into chaos and even the dimmest Republican mind understands there are a lot of unstable, angry people out there with a lot of guns and piles of ammo.
So Ross Douhat is telling us, stay calm and carry on. We got our big tax cut and we're going to eliminate the regulations we don't like, and we're going to save a lot of money when we close down those expensive social programs we don't want to pay for.
Well maybe he's right. Or maybe the Republicans have created - allowed to exist- a monster in the person of an authoritarian ego-maniac they really can't control. Maybe they have miscalculated their ability to neutralize the other nut-jobs out there, the aspiring Trumps.
Either way its all a Republican problem.
The following may not be central to this op-ed piece, but still....
Mr. Douthat casually chalks up "the defeat of the Islamic State" as one of the Trump's administrations "genuine successes." But has ISIS truly been defeated? And if so, can this administration legitimately + fully claim credit for that?
It's stated here as fact (in a rather off-hand way)... but doesn't that point remain controversial or at least debatable, at best?
1
While we agree on Trump's mental state - it is especially glaring, during this era of #metoo, for Douthat to illustrate his point with a sexist "petticoat government" metaphor meant to convey, in no uncertain terms, how unsuited women are for leadership.
More appropriate, Douthat could have used an example much closer to modern times: Reagan's second term with Alzheimer's.
4
Rome wasn't built in a day--but it also didn't fall in a day, and Rome had far weaker institutions as well as numerous emperors who were far worse than Trump.
America shares many features of Rome in late antiquity: loss of civic values, worship of hedonism at the expense of virtue, cultural transformation through mass migration, debasement of currency, rare completion of public works, religious re-evaluation, language shift, political rivalries that supersede national allegiance, ugly art, and many other symptoms of a rotting imperium. Rome endured two centuries of decline punctuated by startling resurgences, and so will the US. The weather may be frightful, but Goths in pinstripes aren't marching across the frozen Potomac. Wait for our Adrianople, then panic.
Actually, it was a very cruel and irresponsible deed to vote for mr. Trump in 2016. You didn't have to be a psychiatrist to recognize the erratic behaviour of the Republican presidential candidate and it wasn't rocket-science to predict a very, very chaotic and dangerous future if elected. I feel sorry for the human being Donald Trump: he must realize deep down he is utterly unfit for the job, more so even than Warren Harding, and for a narcisistic personality depression is never far away in those circumstances.
If the Republicans have any decency left, they should end this charade now.
2
Not only is he incompetent and dangerous, he has been supported by people in the White house who let him undo every positive bill that was passed in the last 50 years. So we go back to imminent war, no gun control, no medical, all the protective laws preventing big business from selling mortgages to gouging the public, undoing the EPA, making the ultra rich richer, enabling oil drilling on the east and west coast, on and on. He has incited racism is destroying our democracy and is increasing the budget by trillions. What is wrong with the Republican Party? Do they not care that this country is being Destroyed bit by bit- Who is advising him of the results of all these actions? We have lost our standing in the world and no other country wants to be near us. He is goading other nations and has no concept that we are at the brink of nuclear destruction. I dread what he can do in the next 3 years. How long do we keep condoning his behavior?
1
In the movie, Being There, with Peter Sellers, there was a fellow who everyone considered a genius. People around him hung on his words and, through a series of odd circumstances, becomes a trusted advisor for the business and political elite, who seek him out. He was mentally deficient but only his former housekeeper seemed to realize it.
We are living a similar situation, where people who are not necessarily stupid, are taken in by a simpleton, who has all the answers and whose every word can be somehow justified.
Unlike the Peter Sellers character, the trump character has malicious intent. Trump's inability to recognize his own incompetence and the people surrounding him and enabling him to deal with this truthfully for the good of the country, makes trump different.
The only hope is that somehow this ends, soon, and we can repair the damage to the country and the world.
2
Sir, your comment may well be be true and to the point but only as long as nothing even worse than what we have seen so far is happening. Should a catastrophe (and there are a few options for this as we have seen so far) happen everybody will say why haven't the responsible branches of government acted sooner? I say test him and then the 25th! In an open q&a environment I'm 100% sure that tested on his own policies he will proof to be an absolute embarrassment. Let him explain health care, let him explain the new tax system, let him explain foreign politics.
"...it’s too extreme to blame them for not pursuing an option that’s never been tried before, against a president who was recently and (yes) legitimately elected..."
Suffering succotash, with the exception of this gratuitous "yes", I find myself agreeing with Douthat. I also have agreed since election night 2016 that Trump was legitimately elected. Only those on the looney left question the constitutional legitimacy of Trump's election, similarly those on the extreme right spent eight years questioning Obama's birthplace, including Trump, himself. Can we get past all this?
1
The problem is not that Trump has been erratic from day one, the problem is that Trump has been erratic from day minus 1000, that it was visible to every one, and that still he was elected President, either despite of his craziness, or even because of it. The biggest threat to America is not Trump who believes the Presidency is like a reality TV show, but a big part of the American electorate, who believes politics is a reality TV show.
3
In some perverse way, the Russians brought him to the dance, and may be the same ones to leave him at the door. There are no good options, petticoats not withstanding. Trump is miserable, delusional, and out of his league. The newer problem is that Republicans, in Congress, are now equally bizarre. As our nation spends trillions on national security, our White House, the Republican Party, and our President fiddles, excuse me, tweets the glory of tax cuts that line his pockets, while the rest of us burn.
3
I do blame the republicans for enabling this nightmare we're all living through. At the very least Trump is a fool and an embarrassment, and at the worst will bring us to war - even an unintentional one. Really? We can't fire him? Don't forget - Trump swore an oath of office - and he is obviously not up to fulfilling the oath.
2
Perhaps some rope-a-dope strategy may save America from the multiple calamities that Trump and the Republicans have already inflicted on the American people--not excluding the absurd fiscal and administrative chaos inflicted by their absurd tax "reform" bill. But the Republicans are indicating early in the new year that their whole strategy is to attach this corpse of a government to the nerve endings of their venal passion to retain their grasp on power, even as the effort costs them their own souls. I'm not unmindful of the famous Calvinist saying that history proceeds by "the grace of God and the confusion of men." Even so, no rational collection of parliamentarians in a rational western democracy deliberately seeks to govern by self-evident chaos and the inner destruction of the very administrative and institutional structure they had some kind of sacred duty to protect. Helmut Thielecke, the once well-known German theologian, confessed freely to his students in the 60s that during the Allied Bombing of his own nation, his fellow citizens prayed not to God but "to the bombs." Is this Douthat's solution, to pray to vengeance and folly?
Trump was never a smart man, and he was in fact a failure at business. His great success was with his reality show, and he seems still be in a reality show. A scary one. And not getting such good ratings.
Trump's father died of Alzheimer's, and it would be natural to wonder whether this 71-year old man is now exhibiting early stages of that disease (which tends to run in families). It wouldn't explain everything, but certainly a lot.
The real point is that sick or not, he is incompetent to be the president of the most important nation in the world. He is not the leader of the free world because he is no leader, but a spoiler, and that is dangerous for someone who is head of the richest country on Earth. He has insulted every world leader---except the autocrats, whom he admires.
Obviously something must be done, and Mueller needs more time, time which the Republicans are desperately trying to cut short; they would rather eat their toes than impeach. Every one of them still puts party over country. That is a sad state of affairs for this once proud Republic.
I believe the only relief would come with people filling the voting booths this year to elect Democrats, especially women, who might be relieved to cut this miserable run short. There must be a dramatic turnout because of the gerrymandering. But it is urgent. Everyday there are new assaults on our air, our water, our earth, our dignity, our pocketbooks, and the rule of law. Good people make sure other good people vote!
3
Let's presume that, starting late this month, Trump goes private. No more twitter, no more insults, no public mendacity, no more bragging, only ceremonial public appearances. No change in intellect or temperament, just the absence of monotonous public demonstrations of his incapacities.
So what we would see coming out the quiet White House and administration, are signed executive orders that step by step erode this country, and a lot of ad hock cruelty, like disowning the Dreamers, and tearing apart immigrant families. The Trump administration has removed the US from the effort to control global warming, and in fact has invoked policies to make it harder for others making the effort. Mendacity, bragging , insults, and Twitter Commandments had nothing to do with it.
Trump never provides any thoughtful rationale for what he has done. The lawful power of the presidency doesn't require him to do so when signing executive orders. That lawful power in Trumps hands is the danger we face. Ih shuts up, he might even do more harm because he morphed in Me Nice Guy.
Mr. Douthat errs when he says that, because Mr. Trump is incompetent (which is true), his authoritarian impulses "seem unlikely to produce even aggrandizement on the scale of F.D.R. or Nixon".
Mr. Trump does not need to be competent to think that the role of the Attorney General and the DOJ is to defend the president and threaten political opponents. (This is a sign of incompetence.)
Mr. Trump does not need to be competent to intimidate the DOJ into reopening an investigation of Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Trump does not need to be competent to attack the FBI.
Mr. Trump does not need to be competent to fire Jeff Sessions, then Rod Rosenstein, in order to get an acting AG who will then fire Robert Mueller.
Mr. Trump does not need competence because there is not one, literally zero, Republican members of congress who, at present, will stand up to this president. Indeed, many enable him and are actively trying to discredit the Mueller investigation. With former critics like Lindsey Graham trying to weaken the Mueller investigation, and lackeys like Devin Nunes and Rep. Jim Jordan - who would not say "no" when asked several times if it was the job of the Attorney General to defend the president - Trump does not need to be competent.
What he does need, and unfortunately has, is a congress that is complicit and unwilling to provide a check on this president.
Our founding fathers are spinning in their graves.
2
You don't seem particularly concerned with just how scary and shameful this situation is. We have seen the deterioration of honor, decency, competence, tolerance, and prudent policy-making in a staggering fashion, with GOP foot soldiers just going along, while claiming to still be the party of Lincoln. This is beyond tragic.
2