* Yesterday Paul Krugman tweeted this:
An American first: a president who was obviously mentally ill the moment he took office. Thanks, Comey https://t.co/FuZbCy5DxQ
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) January 24, 2017
* In a tweet storm today, Maggie Haberman of the NYT describes a man who is mentally unstable.
… started calling advisers and aides angry about the @BCAppelbaum RT by parks, accusing media of being out to get him. Trump’s worst 2/
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017
…to let go of any grievance or perceived slight. And he is genuinely transfixed by people thinking his election isn’t legit. He is 4/
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 25, 2017
* Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin speculates that “Maybe Trump Isn’t Lying.”
The supposition among pundits, elected officials and political insiders is that Trump, like his argument over the inaugural crowd size, “lies” to make himself feel better. His staff salutes, repeats his lies and then gets bashed. What if, however, he thoroughly, “honestly” believes his crazy, unsubstantiated claims?
Rubin goes on to suggest that there are only two options for explaining what is going on.
We are not calling — yet — for invocation of Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. (“Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”)
We are calling for someone, perhaps his children, to see if they can prevail upon him to stop behaving in this way, for if not, legitimate worries will mount about whether he is able to carry out his duties. We also are saying that Republicans need to be pressed to state their view: Is he lying or is he unable to separate what he wants to believe and what exists, literally, in front of his eyes? The first makes him morally unfit…If the latter, they — and we all — have a constitutional crisis the likes of which we have never seen.
* All of this leads me to agree 100% with what Martin just wrote, “The Emperor Is Actually Crazy.”
Perhaps as big of a problem is that too many of us are carrying on as if this is okay. It isn’t.
