Where are the adults?
The Madman of Mar-a-Lago is melting down faster than Dorothy’s witch.
“Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID!” Donald Trump exploded last night on Truth Social after allies rebuffed Trump’s demand for a multinational naval force to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
And you little dogs, too, Trump raged, naming names.
“Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!” Because no one knows more about winning wars (or starting them) that Donald John Trump.
Recall from his first term how reluctant psychologists were to diagnose the man-child Americans put into the Oval Office. Wouldn’t be prudent, or professional, they averred. And now? The rest of the world doesn’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
Trump’s latest tantrum comes amidst the widening conflict in the Middle East that he launched against Iran with Israel on Feb. 28. Iran responded by attacking vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, effectively “bringing oil shipments from large parts of the Gulf to a halt and triggering sharp rises in the global price of oil.” With midterm elections approaching rapidly.
Trump’s demand is not about military help, retired three-star general and former commander of the French Foreign Legion, Michel Yakovleff, told LCI on Tuesday. “It’s that he wants to share the political risk… not the military risk.” Trump wants Europe to buy discount tickets for the Titanic after it’s already hit the iceberg, Yakovleff said.
The New York Times reports that Trump is not “afraid” of sending in U.S. troops into Iran:
Mr. Trump has faced mounting criticism over the U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran, now in its third week, from allies and even members of his own administration. On Tuesday morning, Joe Kent, the president’s national counterterrorism director, resigned in protest, writing in a letter to the president that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
Mr. Trump tried to downplay the idea that Israel had influenced his decision to attack Iran, calling Israel “a partner” and asserting, “I was against Iran long before I even thought about Israel being against Iran.”
Etc., etc.
Mr. Trump is currently considering two actions that would almost certainly require ground action by American or Israeli forces: Taking over Kharg Island, where Iran loads most of the oil it produces onto tankers, and the underground site at Isfahan where it stores most of its 970 pounds of near-bomb-grade nuclear fuel.
Mr. Trump told reporters that he was unconcerned that such moves could commit U.S. forces to a Vietnam-like boondoggle in Iran.
“I’m really not afraid of that,” he told reporters. “I’m really not afraid of anything.”
Except for losing control of Congress next January. And what comes after that. Trump shot off his mouth and U.S. missiles, and now doesn’t know what to do next. Iran is not Venezuela.
Where is any leadership from Congress? The supposed adults in the room we hear about from pundits? Trump was never sane to start. He has always been a bundle of personality disorders “like nobody’s ever seen,” in his own parlance. His niece, Mary Trump, herself a psychologist, warned us, and warned us again, that her uncle was not just unbalanced but lacking any scruples or morals. He’s only grown worse with advancing age and with accountability for past crimes stalking him. That much is crystal clear. What will it take for members of his cabinet or members of Congress from both major parties to shout “enough” and see to his removal before more people die for Trump’s sins?
Robert Reich this morning, noting that “Trump is alone,” explained our plight to the rest of the planet:
It’s important that you, the citizens of other democracies, know that the vast majority of us — the people of the United States — are embarrassed and offended by the oaf who now occupies the highest office in the United States.
He does not speak for us. He is not making decisions based on our welfare, let alone the well-being of the rest of you. Please don’t confuse him for us.
We are trying our best to resist him, contain him, protest against him, and remove him from office as quickly as we possibly can.
Except “we” does not include the people Americans elected to office.
Last night I had to assure a new friend in Canada, “Only some of us are insane down here.”
UPDATE: