Since I’ve been mainlining the US Open into my veins for two weeks, I’ve felt such a pleasant distance from all the political shenanigans going down. I’ve been paying attention, of course, because it’s hard not to when my Twitter feed is clogged up with Brett Kavanaugh BS and Bob Woodward stuff. The one-two punch of Bob Woodward’s book plus the New York Times op-ed seems to have done a number on Donald Trump. He’s been acting particularly unhinged this week, according to multiple sources and multiple media outlets. But because of my distance from the hourly shenanigans, I do have to ask: what’s so different this time? People have been saying that Trump is nuttier than a fruitcake for two damn years. Every week there’s a new scandal, controversy or act of treason and every week it feels like people are saying “no, he’s really losing his mind bigly over this, this week it’s different.”
Which brings me to this Salon exclusive, which features some interviews and statements from various physicians and mental-health professionals. Dr. Randy Lee, a Yale University psychiatrist, says that Trump administration officials contacted her almost a year ago asking for help with Trump’s mental state:
According to Lee, the revelations about the Trump White House found in the New York Times article and Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book “Fear” suggest “how deeply the troubles run and what effort is required to protect the nation from what are obviously psychological symptoms.”
“None of the behavior that came out in the Bob Woodward book — as in the Michael Wolff book [“Fire and Fury”] … is a surprise, since it is all consistent with the psychological signs we observed and warned against 18 months ago. Mental health is a science-based field of serious conditions that have predictable patterns. We foresaw the course of this presidency, based on our knowledge and clinical experience, and were concerned enough to put our warnings into a book. We now warn that things will rapidly deteriorate and that the president should submit to an urgent, independent mental health evaluation by an appropriate specialist, as is warranted. We may be delayed, but it is still not too late. The 25th Amendment is a political decision, but it would set in motion the proper treatment of an individual showing his signs of instability: restraint, limit-setting, and removal from access to weapons.”
Lee also told me that these worries about Donald Trump’s mental health by staffers and those other people in the president’s inner circle predate Wednesday’s Times op-ed: “Two White House officials actually contacted me in late October, stating that Trump was “scaring” them, that he was “unraveling.” Not wishing to confuse the role I chose, as an educator of the public, and a potential treatment role, I referred them to the local emergency room without inquiring much further.”
Donald Trump has been scaring his staff for two bloody years. And none of those cowards have the guts to actually do anything about it. The story of the Trump Administration isn’t just one of a delusional, fascist maniac who is compromised by Vladimir Putin – it’s about the thousands of enablers who stood by and did nothing (but write a self-satisfied op-ed) while Trump burned down the world.
Speaking of the Stable Genius, here he is slurring “anonymous” twice in a row last night.
Trump's pronunciation of "anonymous" is the best video of the night. pic.twitter.com/HCyo5fpN7a
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 7, 2018
And here he is calling the NYT op-ed “treason.”
Trump on the NYT op-ed: "Number one, The Times should never have done that, because really what they've done, virtually, it's treason."
(Note: It is not treason.) pic.twitter.com/yToQcG3hEv
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 7, 2018
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.
The claim that two staffers phoned a mental health expert for help because his behavior was terrifying them, is, well, kinda terrifying.
What WAS up with that anonymous thing last night? I saw the clip on Lawrence O’Donnell and it shook me up a bit. I don’t believe that was a mispronunciation. Yeah, he couldn’t pronounce the word, but it was something much more than that. It almost seemed as if he was drugged? Too much xanax? I dunno.
I haven’t watched the clip yet but I heard excerpts from the rally on the news this morning and I remarked to my boyfriend that he sounded especially crazy. He is definitely spiraling.
Oh he definitely is kitten, he looked so weird last night. Terrified, panicking? I don’t know. Spiraling is the right word though.
It’s literally like watching a mad man. Even after two years, I still have moments when I cannot believe this is real.
His ghostwriter (T. Schwartz) was on TV yesterday, and he thinks Orange is absolutely terrified. He referenced the impromptu talk Orange gave in front of law enforcement the day before, just after the op-ed dropped. His speech and body language were erratic – more than usual.
Of course he is panicking. He now knows there is not, and has never been, anyone in his administration he can trust. Not to mention having to confront the fact that everyone thinks he is crazy and his ideas are stupid.
He’s totally spiraling. He’s gotten away with be a no responsibility, no morals, conman for 70 years. The walls are now closing in on him.
I would enjoy it more, if he weren’t doing so much damage in the meantime.
It is crazy to me how much this reminds me of the descent into madness of a Shakespearean character like King Lear or Macbeth. His anxiety, fear and guilt are just oozing out of him.
Once indictments start targeting his children and Kushner, I think he will truly and utterly lose it. Not because he cares for them, but because he will know he is next.
starting to wonder if part of “saving the country” done by these admin officials is “putting drugs into his diet cokes and big macs”.
Oh yikes, I hadn’t even considered that. What an utter sh^&show.
No one cares if Crzy is taking the wheel as long as the greedy hAve more $$ and the stupid have their pseudo Christian Supreme Court.
At his age, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he had early stage dementia. But if he’s not sleeping and/or riddled with anxiety, that can certainly impact cognitive performance, as well.
And we know he’s really not getting much sleep. He’ll tweet half the night. I feel like leader of a country is the kind of job where you REALLY need to try to optimize the quality of the likely reduced sleep you’re going to get.
Honestly, when I’m having bad migraines my energy levels get bad enough, and the pain wears me down after a day of work I’ll start fumbling over words. And I’m a pretty quick speaker with a decent vocabulary normally. But the mental and physical exhaustion from those bad pain days definitely affects my ability to concentrate on what I’m saying.
But on top of that – I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s taking a lot of drugs/supplement type things. Pounding back all that diet coke (I’m drinking some now and am unashamed – I manage to stick to one a day haha) and potentially mixing it with xanax or some other pills is certainly not good for a person.
He sounded drugged. That’s what I sound like after I have a surgical procedure! He was also pretty unhinged at that rally last night. I usually just read the transcripts since I don’t want to hear his voice.
If I’m impeached, it’s your fault” That speech last night? He was yelling at his supporters and carrying on a 2-people speech over impeachment that made no sense whatsoever.
He has also announced a new NAFTA-type trade deal between the US and Mexico this morning.
He has slurred before. My belief is he is having mini-strokes, brought on by stress. Imagine his heart: 72, morbidly obese, high cholesterol and a “volcanic” temper? He is a major stroke waiting to happen. The other possibility is what Omarosa said: he has cognitive deficits, Alzheimers or Lewy Body.
Add that to his malignant narcissism, and we are in big trouble. Whoever wrote that Op-Ed, and I think it was several people, need to speak out and be patriots and heroes.
Unfortunately we’re all grasping at impeachment porn themes. Mental health evaluations can only come up w an “unfit” label IF the patient admits sh*t. Donny claims to be an Ernest Hemingway smart w a body builders physique- heck, he got his foreign barbitTron of a wife into the country on an Einstein visa. This man admits to NO dysfunction. I think the 25th amendment is a distraction for us liberals. Sigh.
I don’t know. He’s acted like this for two years. Maybe this is just how he is.
Maybe he’s just a jerk, nothing more, nothing less.
That being said, I’m sorry to admit, I’d relish a public breakdown.
Honestly, it’ll probably be much more mundane. He’ll resign before the Democrats can impeach him.
Sometimes I think (and have read others theorize about) that he has very VERY bad false teeth (?) which would be hilarious all in itself because what kind of vain gazillionaire wears DENTURES in 2018?? I choose to think that this time, he’s just a little bit tipsy and actually wanting to use the word “omnious”:D
He could wear partials, I do. But it didn’t sound like that.
So says the stable genius
President Gwen Stefani’s shit is still bananas. B A N A N A S. His latest tweet?
“The Woodward book is a scam. I don’t talk the way I am quoted. If I did I would not have been elected President. These quotes were made up. The author uses every trick in the book to demean and belittle. I wish the people could see the real facts – and our country is doing GREAT!”
Delusional af. He’s so unhinged, he’s basically a parody of himself at this point.
Does he not understand how Woodward operates? Oh yeah I forgot-the truth is not the truth. Woodward has taped conversations but 45 would just say that the tape was doctored. This is madness.
@Kitten. I honestly believe he does not know who Woodward is. It will not surprise me in the least that next he is going to call this man, one half responsible for breaking freaking Watergate wide open, a has been and nobody.
Hi Tiffany
Well, he knew who Woodward was when he was criticizing Obama because, of course.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-bob-woodward-old-tweets_us_5b8f7c9fe4b0511db3dd7222
Kitten, holy s^&t, there really is a tweet for everything. Like you said, even after all this time I still can’t believe what is happening. Every single day.
Esmom, he has known Woodward for years. He is part of the media elite Trump has tried to repeatedly woo & then neg, that NYT crowd he is so bitter about because they refuse to embrace him. He is obsessed with gaining their favor (for many years) and he becomes more unhinged as they kick to the curb and the only ones embracing him is Fox. Bet, he trashes Fox behind closed doors he knows they are second rate and he believes he deserves better. He has said openly “he doesn’t understand why the NYT doesn’t approve him and this was before he ran as president.
He also doesn’t talk or write like that particular tweet. No random capitalized words, no bizarre punctuation, no misspellings, no fragments. They have let slip that others use his account and I believe we are seeing the work of STAFFER Nagini.
Nagini the coffee girl strikes again…lol.
Only one ! point. That’s a dead giveaway.
It reads like a first grade teacher’s corrections to a student’s ramblings to show him/her proper sentence structure.
Great observation!
ITA, he doesn’t write using that sentence structure. And, it has no random capitalizations either, another give-away.
I was listening to a podcast a few weeks ago that played an excerpt of Trump talking during the campaign. The difference between then and now was SO striking! In the campaign excerpt you could just sense that Trump was happy; he was enjoying what he was doing, and because of that he was a bit more articulate, and quick-witted. There is none of that happiness when you hear him talk now.
So, its a small comfort that he is miserable, but I suppose it is better than him being happy.
It’s like living in bizarro world, he does talk the way he is quoted. We all have ears dude! You can tell when it’s him tweeting and when it’s not. His tweets are always manic sounding.
It is like Glenn from Superstore. Fanta Menace hears himself differently, than the rest of us.
I highly suggest everyone go and listen to the episodes of The Dollop (a personal podcast fave) about Trump. They did a two-parter that is just…horrifying. He’s been crazy for years, but this is just cementing it.
I second this recommendation, and would also add the Dollop episode about Erik Prince. Holy sh!t it is terrifying.
Funny you mention Gwen Stefani… Did you see the article where Michael Moore blames Gwen Stefani’s “Voice” salary for Trump running for president? Apparently, she was getting paid more than Trump did on “Apprentice”, so he staged the candidacy announcement (riding down his gold-plated escalator to a news media frenzy) to show to the network execs he can still demand a high salary.
… And we know the rest of the story.
I saw the movie last night and he certainly uses that as the starting premise… but he also blames others later on too.
US Open – Osaka was scary, icy efficient last night.
I’m fed up with this staff of his being worried but not doing a damn thing. They can implement the 25th Amendment or get Ryan on the phone and tell him to do his damn job and impeach. Instead, they’re allowing this madman and his unethical snake daughter, who is even more unqualified than he is, run the country into the ground.
BTW, this video of Smarmy, smirking Jared is absolutely hilarious
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smq8SY_UBFI
what a weird video, I don’t understand what is going on there or why he keeps smiling like that? He is so baby-faced, too, he looks like a giant third grader.
Omg, hahaha, thanks for sharing. I’d call him a punk but I’ve reserved that term for Don Jr. Jared’s more of a toady, I think.
Yup – you don’t get credit for being “worried”. You get credit for upholding the laws and doing what’s right – which in this case is making at least SOME effort to get a dangerous person out of power. The tools are all right there, no one has the guts to use them.
100% true that this has been common knowledge. I hope, though, that Woodward’s book and the op-ed piece can shift the republican establishment and hammer home the point that THIS WILL NOT END WELL FOR THEM. They will forever be tied to a madman they let run amok. I think that, once they collectively truly realize that, it will be a race as to who can distance themselves the farthest from trump. Right after the NYT op-ed, Axios published that two other trump unnamed officials reached out to them because they would have written the exact same article.
Nope.. nothing will be done until they install their SCOTUS. Then MAYBE, if the House is turned, something might be started, but don’t forget, Dems don’t have control of the Senate, so it will stall there. I feel like we’re doomed 🙁
I think it is different this time because it is “anomynous“ and he has no idea who to take it out on. He also knows that that person is in his orbit and it’s driving him crazier than usual.
The Op-Ed is a big deal and I’m glad it was written, but the anonymity of it bugs me a bit. I think the people in the administration will use it after the fact the rehab their image. We will be inundated with people speaking out and saying they were part of the resistance all along. If you worked for this administration, you should not be able to erase that from public consciousness.
Exactly. It could be anybody, and from the looks of Woodward’s book, there are several believable candidates. He has nowhere to go.
So eventually, all of these staffers are going to be portrayed as hero’s who saved America from a mad man, right? We’ll just forget that they keep enabling a mentally ill man in favor of tax cuts.
It’s kind of like how GW Bush is now be painted as everyone’s favorite, bumbling grandpa, instead of a war criminal who once delivered a hate speech on gay marriage so he would rile up his evangelical base.
IMO W is only looked upon fondly now bc we have sunk so low even an anti gay war criminal who sent us into a recession looks “good” because at least he has some common decency (like his friendship with Michelle) and wasn’t tweeting about “fake news” and all his so-called “enemies” at 3am while trying to take a dump. Had Trump not come along W would still be hated. If anyone has benefited from this shit-show its probably W.
🙌
Plaid shirt guy at the rally was incredible. Clearly mocking drump at every sentence. Someone tweeted “Does anyone know which gulag they took this guy?” after he was removed.
They removed him and someone else last night to replace them with young, smartly dressed women. It was so bizarre! That dude was either trolling or they really do hire people to stand behind him. I loved when he mouthed “have you?”
Oh no, he may not get his 390 dollars! There was an ad on Craigslist that was believed to be for this rally, and that was the day’s pay rate.
Who is paying for that? The CNN reporter said there was 10,000 people there
I really don’t know. It’s a campaign rally, yet do taxpayers fund his travel to these random locations?
I do buy the theory that seat fillers are selected and likely paid for these appearances (especially ones in camera view). It’s an acting job.
I would guess it’s a mix of taxpayer money, and his weekly allowance from Putin.
There’s always reports for every rally that they’re looking for seat fillers on craigslist, and yet somehow, not one person has ever replied to the ad, gone to the rally, and then posted the receipts afterwards to prove that they were paid to be there. So, I think it’s just somebody with no connection to the campaign posting it online so that they can say that Trump has to pay people to attend his rallies. Sadly, and most frightening of all, he really doesn’t have to pay. There are still people dumb enough and crazy enough to support him no matter what.
Plaid Shirt Guy actually wasn’t mocking Trump or protesting. He himself admitted he doesn’t have a poker face so those were his genuine reactions to what he was hearing.
I remember seeing a startled expression on Barron Trump’s face when he was on stage with his dad during the campaign — somebody in the crowd starting chanting something about “string her up”. The kid had been dozing on his feet (he was only 10) but woke up looking shocked when he heard that. His dad didn’t miss a beat, of course.
Another guy in the VIP section was realistically shocked during the campaign when Trump talked about “Second Amendment people” would take care of Hillary and any of her SCOTUS nominees. He was right in front toward the side, very visible on camera.
Plaid Shirt Guy is in high school and the school was passing out tickets to the rally to people who wanted them, I think. Probably the Trump team provided piles of tickets all over the community like that. He went because he was interested in seeing a President in action. Historical opportunity and all that. He did the same when Pence came to talk, he just wasn’t on camera and Pence doesn’t come across so crazy. He doesn’t consider himself a Trump supporter but is more mellow than most of us… I think he’s just curious and wants to listen to everybody.
Plaid Shirt Guy says he was offered the VIP seats when he asked if he and his friends could sit in those seats behind the President. They just wanted good seats. He says everybody was told to be very enthusiastic and they were given MAGA hats (which he quietly wouldn’t wear…). Once the staff realized the kid was not being enthusiastic enough (he only clapped when Trump said something he liked, otherwise he reacted honestly), they replaced him AND his friends with staffers. And he also had a ten minute chat with Secret Service and was told to leave and not come back. He says they were polite. But it seem rather ick to me. He didn’t burst out in chants or wave signs, he just reacted visibly in pretty normal ways. Fine if they didn’t want his unenthusiastic self on camera, but it seems odd to boot him out entirely from the event. Just seat him elsewhere.
I really wish media would investigate who goes to those rallies and why more thoroughly. I do remember hearing that the natural crowds were thinning out early in the Administration. People were looking st their phones and not paying much attention to President Tweeter. Don’t know if they were bored Trumpers, people like Plaid Shirt Guy who were offered free tickets with no questions about their potential enthusiasm, or if they’ve been paying a lot of seat fillers.
I wish I felt more confident that this was going to be how people finally realized how dangerous he is rather than a GOP manufactured press set up designed to ouster him and usher in Pence now that 45 has served his purpose.
Yep. I totally think they are setting this up and that’s why this is all coinciding with the Kavanaugh hearings. As soon as he’s on the bench, boom.
Oh god you guys are scaring me.
Yep and if the, expected, Blue wave hits that will also be used to ousts him. But they underestimate how vindictive Trump and his spawn are – he will take everyone with him. He will not go quietly.
Honestly, I’d be more comfortable with that situation – Pence is evil for sure, but Dump is really unhinged and extremely dangerous. And Pence has no fan base of his own, he’d be a much easier defeat in 2020.
Eh, who knows, we’re all forked either way.
🙁
I will still have my moment of happiness if/when Trump gets hauled off to the loony bin in a straight jacket. Then I flee for Canada bc fuck being part of a theocracy.
I also find this extremely worrisome – it could be a plan to usher in Pence and/or a way to fulfill the wish, which I am sure some have and would love, to usher in martial law (stating that it’s a threat to national security wouldn’t seem so outlandish).
I figured that was their plan all along. They never expected Trump to make it this far and were hedging their bets. Frankly, I think we were in trouble for the long term after we lost the second court justice. If not Kavanaugh, it’ll be somebody else in their quarter.
I’m sick and tired of everyone acting like he has mental health issues. He does not. He is just an ignorant, mean, boorish racist. Every one of us white people has someone like this in our extended families, it’s just that most of them don’t have unlimited money and power and a national audience. They are not mentally ill. They are just bad people. End of story.
Narcissism is a personality disorder. I believe he is a malignant narcissist who has been abusing speed for decades and this has lead to increasingly erratic behavior. And yes, he is also an ignorant, mean, boorish racist. These things are not mutually exclusive.
That’s interesting tw, would speed make you slur like that? I thought something like xanax, but I don’t have any experience with people on speed.
The clips I saw of him last night and at other rallies–my first thought was speed or cocaine.
The thing is, I saw a video of him from yesterday earlier in the day when he was talking to a reporter and his voice/posturing was very calm and subdued.
I think he takes some sort of upper before his rallies…
I also believe he is a malignant narcissist and that he could also be suffering from dementia. I never bought the idea that he’s mentally ill, although I suppose anything is possible. Sigh. What are we going to do, guys? This gets scarier every day…
I don’t know Kitten. I alternate between working for my local democrat, Libua Grechen Shirley, who is taking on Peter King in LI’s 2nd district, protesting, and then taking weekends to myself where I stay inside and to be honest, drink.
Working on campaigns must be really empowering, Darla. You are doing the right thing. Voting on Tuesday made me feel like I was doing something for the first time since we last protested. My coping mechanism is to do any little thing that helps me feel like I have a tiny bit of power–a tiny bit of control–over our powerless circumstances. Oh yes and the vodka and weed therapy also helps.
Kitten, I’ve been working on a campaign too and on those nights I do feel better for a while, although I’m not sure he’s going to unseat the GOP incumbent. Fingers crossed. I did have an interesting call with a 70 year old man who said he’s never voted D in his life but would do so if our candidate would guarantee to make Trump’s impeachment a priority. I was floored, and am hoping more people are thinking that way. I know the Dems are dancing around impeachment and trying to stick to the “issues,” but clearly impeachment is an issue for some.
I’ve been doing volunteer work for a local Democrat voting drive group. My district went from pretty secure red to a toss up. If Dems actually show up and vote, I think we can give our rep the boot, but there are a LOT of older, more conservative voters in my area, so I don’t know. But at least I feel like I’m doing something.
Also people sometimes slide into dementia with crotchety, defensive, emotionally rigid behaviors. My mom was clearly changing before 72. I think it’s questionable for people over 70 to be president. Aging is effing real.
Kitten, remember Dr Howard Dean, DNC said last year that 45 uses cocane and he was told to take it back. I always believe the dotard uses some kind of uppers when he’s attending those rallies. I also believes his Dr feel good, Bernstein in NY was his go to person. After he was elected he sent his goons to the drs office in NYC and took all his medical files, records, including lab results. The dr said they just came in the office, go to the filing cabinet, without asking permission, took everything and left, He’s definately hiding a lot.
I think he has mental health issues and is also everything you say. I think the mental health issues just make the other stuff more obvious.
He has a persoanlity disorder and when they are confronted or “caught” they become incressingly unhinged mentally and sometimes physically. Don’t think its actual mental illness but his narcissism is so out of control it effecting everything.
I think it’s both. He is absolutely an ignorant racist. But he’s also 72 years old and people can lose some of their mental ability at that age. You can tell by the way that he speaks and repeats the same phrases that’s something’s not right.
My mom had small TIA’s at that age. It effected her short term memory. Because nothing else was effected no tests were done and could live her life alone (although we were near) without problems. She stopped driving at that point because she couldn’t remember how to get to places she normally went to. Later they did tests because she was having neck problems and they discovered it then. So I can truly believe he may have had some small TIA’s that is effecting him in this manner.
Swack, a TIA (mini-stroke) crossed my mind when I saw him try to say “anonymous” twice. It was as if he had a brief episode. I do not believe it was dentures slipping, either. He tried to pronounce the syllables twice and could not do it.
Agree, and so do any number of psychiatrists. Allen Frances, MD, a prominent psychiatrist, said people need to stop saying drump is mentally ill. He says his patients are some of the kindest people he has ever known. He says drump is an evil, dangerous man, but not mentally ill.
Please stop stigmatizing people with mental illness.
Thank you. I completely agree. This is who Trump has always been. He just turns it up sometimes, like at his unhinged rallies, depending on the situation.
Thank you, you put it so much better than I did in my original post.
You can be a lovely person who has a mental illness, or a terrible vile person who has a mental illness, or like most people somewhere in between and have a mental illness. It’s not stigmatising mental illness to point out the very disturbed speech and thought patterns of Trump. Seems more neurological than psychiatric to me but there’s definitely something not right there.
He was a violent child whose parents had to send him to military school – as a young child he was violent to other children. He is a walking list of personality disorders on top of , what I think, ADHD and learning disabilities. The bullying and bombast is there in part to hide his limited intellect and skills – I have encountered enough malignant narcissists in my life to see the signs. The shrieking and temper tantrums are used to deflect from their bad behaviour.
He can be a horrible nasty woman beating racist and have severe mental health issues. Stress can exacerbate personality disorders which is what you are seeing with him – he’s terrified.
I once worked with a narcissist (who was also bi-polar) and he would shriek and stamp his feet to be at the centre of things and once he got there he’d make mistakes and then sh!t himself in fear of being exposed. He often was and then would turn on the tears and drama making up stories about his health (ala Thomas Markle).
Not all people who have mental health issues are mean but some are.
His slurring and loss of vocabulary show signs of mental health issues related to age and that is separate from his overall being an asshole. Many people are able to separate the two. My grandmother suffered from bipolar disorder and wasn’t a raging asshole like him even in her worst manic stages so I understand quite well the difference. There’s something wrong with him and it’s okay to talk about what we are seeing before our eyes. It’s gaslighting to suggest otherwise.
Completely agree Nic919, Trump has always been a deeply unpleasant person. Boorish, ignorant, amoral but it’s wilful and dangerous blindness to ignore that on top of those things he is also in a deteriorating mental and/or neurological state.
I have watched Trump for decades in NYC. He always was a POS, but he is different now. He repeats himself, says the same things over and over, his staff said in that Op-Ed that he goes on repetitive rants. I think this is what is happening:
– malignant narcissism for years
– Alzheimers or Lewy Body
– series of small strokes, which will lead to a huge stroke
I think his staff and MD medicate him – uppers for when he needs to be somewhat awake and aware in the evenings and late afternoons, and downers for when he needs to sound sane.
I would bet my house some of these things are going on.
Some very good points here and I would agree. Makes it kind of obvious that he was PLACED in this position by some well paid Republicans/Russians/Corporations… They (Rs) needed a stooge dumb enough to be the face of the legislation they wanted passed. They hide behind this clown for now but when he outlives his usefulness they will turn on him. Some part of Drumpf’s addled brain suspects this making him super-duper (more than usual) paranoid.
As an Amommymusss person I’d like to say that Emperor Zero is batshit crazy and Bob Woodward has totally unhinged the Fat Orange Stain.
Lie detector
Amomymouuus Op-Ed
Bob Wordwood
It was Genireal Kelllllli
Fake Mews
I’m Tonald Drump
As of last night, Kelly hasn’t issued a denial. Which in itself is hilarious. I think he’s a thinly veiled drama queen, no matter how many medals he possesses.
Really? That’s interesting. Everyone else was tripping over themselves to say it wasn’t them.
Though I’m starting to wonder if it was Pence after all, who relished the opportunity to issue a huffy denial, but is secretly working to oust him. Who knows. Whoever it is, they’re still a coward and no hero.
NBC has a list (screen graphic) they showed several times. As of this morning, the denial column is lengthy. The no denial column has one name – Kelly. Then they have a “refer to WH statement” column with one name – Jeffy Beau.
My medical opinion is that he has been taking some sort of amphetamine for decades. Shame on the shady doctors who have not reported on his drug use, especially that Dr. Feelgood navy doc who got canned last year. This will come out eventually.
Coke. Years of Coke. And I don’t mean the cola.
Probably years of coke is what causes him to sniff all of the time. I honestly wouldn’t doubt it
I believe that – he’s made a lot of noise about being tee total but considering he liked to hang out at Studio 54 and with Epstein, class A drugs were def on his radar.
I speak from (observed) experience when I agree with you heartily. Speed/coke also explains the paranoia, and why he resonates with all the meth heads in rural America who think just like him and cannot use sweet logic and reason but operate solely from their (chemically altered) instincts.
I generally assume most wealthy people do drugs regularly, to be honest, because they have the resources to both purchase them and bypass any consequences. And narcissistic personality disorders are more prone to addiction to begin with.
Someone up thread mentioned ADD/ADHD. Could he possibly be abusing Adderall/Ritalin/Concerta? I was spastic as hell when I was prescribed those.
I mean, it doesn’t actually matter. But it’s a possibility…
If he actually had ADHD the adderall or rx used would have the opposite effect on him.
True, Ang. IF he were taking it as prescribed. If not, the meds would have the usual effects seen with meth…
Again, just pure speculation on my part though.
I refuse to believe this man doesn’t do drugs. He may not drink but he is definitely on something.
Let’s all hope that today is the day Mueller indicts Junior and Javanka.
But what will that change? Trump’s still not going anywhere. If that did happen, it’ll only increase his anger and paranoia.
I think Mueller is saving them for last. For some reason, I’ve been reading more and more articles about Mueller (not new ones – just going searching for older ones) and it’s all the same thing: he is so smart, so hard working, he knows exactly what he is doing. There was one video compilation put together about him when he was appointed Special Counsel and someone talked about how he went into private practice law for a short period of time but couldn’t stand it, because he would interview potential clients and would say to them, “Well, it sounds like you’re guilty and should go to jail.” I trust that he sees everything wrong about trump that we see, and that he has a plan. I have to, or this will drive me a crazy as trump is.
No, they’re both too far up the chain.We’re still in the early stages and they still have tons of information to comb through from people who flipped in the past week. Lower level people like Stone and Page and some more Russians and some people we haven’t heard of yet. STAFFER Nagini will be last with Daddy as her co-conspirator. There are also several state and foreign investigations into her and Jared..
The most powerful man in the world, does not know to spell, how to pronounce words and I am sure would not be able to show where for example Sweden is on a map.
Trump proves that those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world usually do.
Marco Rubio said on NPR interview just now that everything is fine… He said that Trump’s policies are great, and he’s doing everything in line with what Rubio thinks is good for the country. It’s clear that the GOP will protect Trump as long as they can. They’d rather have an authoritarian state than a democracy. Definition of tyranny.
If they removed Trump I think there’d be a pretty extreme response from the deplorables.
True
I hate Marco with the passion of a hundred thousand burning suns. He said that? I guess it’s time to call his poor staffer in the central Florida office to complain again. I can’t wait until we can vote him out of office.
So…they (Russia, Rump, someone) has something on Rubio, I assume. Or McConnell put the turtle-like pressure on him for some reason.
Russia probably has truckloads of dirt on so many of these politicians. That is the only reason I can think of as to why none of them have spoken up or taken action against 45’s outrageous behaviour.
@RBC: I think they haven’t taken action because he’s given a record tax break to the rich.
This is fine
https://imgflip.com/i/2hhhwl
I remember when people freaked out over the possibility that Ronald Reagan may have been experiencing dementia while in office. Well, at least Reagan had a decent VP and senior staff to cover for him, and at least the rationale was based in trying to protect the country (not showing weakness during the Cold War). Trump has no such excuses. Generally, I hate speculating on anyone’s mental health, but with him, it just FEELS like something is amiss. Granted, I do not think Trump is mentally ill – I think he’s just a jerk – but his mental fitness is certainly something that needs to be thought about. The scary thing is that nobody around him is really competent to step into his place. If he goes down, he’s taking a lot with him.
Ryan and the GOP will do nothing until they have Kavanaugh confirmed and on the bench. Only then, when they have what they want, will they make a move to get rid of him.
And if a miracle happens and he is not confirmed then this farce will just continue until another “Kavanaugh” is.
i was thinking about this on my commute to work. Marco Rubio was on NPR talking about how the aides should resign and the congress and elections are the checks to the president. Eye-to-the-roll. And all I could think was that if any of these people were true patriots, or truly cared about the country they would have acted by now. The constitution has laid out what’s to be done and they just won’t do it. Congress is not acting as a check or a balance. And the Cabinet refuses to do their constitutional duty and invoke the 25 amendment. There are rules in place for situations like this. They are just too craven or cowardly to use them.
I haven’t read anything yet. Just a thank you for posting my fav pic of POS – I needed that laugh before I cry
I will not give this anonymous source a pat on the back or a cookie for their “courage” in writing this. Until someone decides to take action, sooner than later, nothing will change. But I believe, as others, that once Kavanaugh is confirmed they will begin getting rid of Trump as he will no longer be needed. They are using him to push their agenda through and he has NO idea that he is being used because he is the smartest man in the room.
Oh boo hoo–you’ve been scared for two years? THEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I’m sick to death of all this hand wringing and “oh my!!” DO SOMETHING, or keep your pie hole shut and stop whining about it. We are all “scared” but 99% can’t do shit about it, but all these crybabies on staff can ACTUALLY do something, but all they do is cry and say, “Well, we’ve stopped him from worse…” Really, cuz no you haven’t. There are still babies in cages at the border, that tax scam bill, the rallies and the racists running amok and making policy. FU crybabies, DO SOMETHING.
Even though all the signs were obvious to many during the campaign that Trump would be a disaster as President, that was dismissed as just policy differences. We viewed him with alarm supposedly just because we hated his politics.
But when people who agreed with his politics found themselves working with him up close and personal in the confines of the White House — they began to realize that there really was something terribly wrong with the guy. They tried to work around it in pursuit of the policies. Besides, he was the POTUS. What the heck could they do about it? The 25th Amendment probably had other causes in mind for removing a President besides the fact that about 1/4 of the registered voters elected a willfully ignorant, impulsive, vindictive malignant narcissist with sociopathic traits.
The dilemma for people around him is that they want the policies without Trump’s instability and wild approach to the rest of the world. They’re trying to contain a tornado in a bottle. Pence would give them the same policies, but invoking the 25th would be quite messy and impeachment even messier. Now they are also facing the possibility that Democrats may get control of Congress, which puts their policies in jeopardy.
Maybe they are just hoping that as everything becomes more public, Trump will resign in a snit. But now the big complication is that as soon as he leaves office, he is at risk of subpoena and indictment. Pence can pardon him only for federal crimes and he knows it. I think Trump will hang on to the POTUS job for dear life, unless he figures out a way to escape the country to a place that won’t extradite him.
Trump will be more and more dangerous as he feels more and more cornered. There is really no great solution. Congressional Republicans will continue to cover for him because they want their agenda pushed through and he also most likely has dirt on some of them from Putin. Impeachment and Mueller’s investigation is a threat to some of them personally (such as Nunes) and to the Republican Party in general. It won’t just be Trump whose dirty laundry will be revealed. There is good reason to believe that our voting has been selectively hacked since those machines got so popular in 2004. If Mueller has found evidence of Russian hacking, he may also have found evidence of non-Russian hacking in previous years. That possibility may terrify people in high positions who know about it.
Oh boy. Well, i think this will be one of my stay inside weekends.
Right there with you. I am seriously contemplating spending my weekend building a stockpile of canned goods, hard liquor and toilet paper (people always forget about the toilet paper). Also thinking about the best way to convert some cash into gold before the US dollar tanks and my 401(k) loses half of its value.
Dara I have this thing I do, I don’t tell people about. I sometimes check into a Marriott very close to my home, for the weekend. I tell family I am going “out east” which on LI is a catch-all, no one really knows what it means, but they have some vague idea of the hamptons or the wineries. And they always answer “Oh! sound great, enjoy!”
So no phone calls, and no family just “dropping by” which ends up being a whole day thing. At night, I get these amazing bourbon cocktails they have, and I float away into a very rare state of relaxation. It’s the only thing keeping me sane right now.
Good, I’m going to join you, Darla:)
Darla, you are a genius!
F*cking A. Just…f*cking A.
The physician sited is BANDY Lee. Dr. Lee, who at the time that she banded together with others from Yale and made public statements about the mental health status of Trump, was not even licensed at that time. I always think it’s suspect when someone who can’t pass a licensing exam and other licensing criteria in their field feels justified in critiquing others. The issue at hand which any entry level mental health professional knows is that one cannot diagnose anyone without an IN PERSON assessment. It is highly unethical to do so. Dr. Lee’s actions were condemned by the American Psychiatric Association publicly. What also is notable is that recognized experts in the diagnosis which she assigned to Trump publicly stated that Trump did not meet the criteria for that diagnosis. Trump supposedly had a mental status exam as part of his yearly physical and passed with flying colors. None of my comment is meant to support Trump, but to clarify inaccurate information.
They actually have more data to diagnose Trump than they typically do with direct patients because of the extensive video record.
Professionals are also citizens and have a duty to share their expertise in a situation like this. Trump is a danger to the entire world.
The “Goldwater Rule” that was the basis of a critical statement by the APA about “armchair diagnosis” in general is informal and does not really apply in this situation. That hardly qualifies as condemnation of her personally. The rule is controversial within the profession, and evidence for that is the large number of professionals who wanted to sign on with their concern about Trump. Read the book. Only a small number of those actually could fit in the book.
I don’t know why you are smearing Bandy Lee’s credentials. Yale thinks she’s fine. She is an M.D. (psychiatry is a medical specialty) who among other things is a forensic psychiatrist specializing in violence. She seems well respected by her colleagues. Snopes investigated your claim that she lacks a medical license and dismissed it as false and promoted by right-wing groups.
The false claim apparently started when they found out she had a lapsed license in Connecticut. That was deliberate – she decided she no longer needed to maintain three different state licenses (Connecticut, California, New York) for her consulting work. She definitely has a current license in New York, she says that was the easiest one to maintain. License renewal requirements vary in different states, some are more time-consuming than others. She also dropped a license in France, which she had obtained because of her work with the French Ministry of Justice in the past.
And did you look at that mental evaluation test that Trump allegedly passed with flying colors? Administered by the same guy who didn’t bother to measure his current weight or height?
It’s available online so I looked at it. There is simply no way that Trump would have made 100% on that exam legitimately, just based on the cognitive difficulties he shows in interviews and press conferences. He would have to be carefully coached with the exact answers for a specific version of the test, and even then he would have trouble because of his memory problems. More likely, the doc scored his test the same way he decided Trump weighed 239 lbs and was 6’3” tall — without bothering to have him take the exam. His reward was supposed to be the VA job.
Regardless, people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s have successfully passed that exam with an acceptable score. It is not intended as a full mental health evaluation. It is used mainly to do a quick check in situations where brain injury may have occurred.
The only sources that are pushing that conspiracy theory about Dr. Lee not having a “Connecticut” license are far right, wingnut sites. She has a license to practice, just not in Connecticut.
Physician licenses often require both national and state exam verification, and they are expensive and cumbersome to maintain. All licensed medical professionals regardless of field require continuous education, which means shelling out hundreds of dollars to re-certify, and all states have different requirements. Before I went back to school for medicine, I was a mere pharmacy tech, and maintaining certification for just THAT position cost me close to a $100 every two years and required 30+ hours of CE.
Chances are, she’s licensed in another state but teaching at Yale without intent to practice in Conneticut. (I mean, really, you think Yale of all places would hire an unlicensed professional?) I have mixed feelings about her choice of venue, but I can understand why she feels his mental health is a legitimate national concern.
So two senior officials contacted this doctor for help, and she directed them to take the president of the United States to an emergency room if they were concerned?
Wtf?
This shows how bad we are at mental health. So good of the Dr to keep her hands clean, if it was a genuine outreach for help, she just endangered the entire freaking world. Is giving a referral somehow unethical? I’m just mad.
Lucy – if they were worried about his mental condition and the situation was acute, the ER is where they should have taken him if the White House physician was unavailable for some reason. The ER would have been able to decide what to do next, depending on whether or not he was considered a danger to himself or others. That’s one of the things an ER does.
They only contacted her because they knew her name. She doesn’t live in DC. She was very likely right to avoid getting involved in specific treatment recommendations – that would have muddied the waters in what she was actually trying to do. We don’t know what exactly they told her, but if they felt it was an emergency then they needed to go to the local emergency specialists. The President is generally treated at the military hospital where he had his physical — that’s where they should have started. There is also a physician on staff at the White House who could make a referral. At the time, it might have been the dubious fellow who gave Trump the dubious physical, though.
You can’t simply come in without a prior therapeutic relationship to treat someone. That would be unethical and not in the person’s best interest. In many states you start at the emergency room where a designated mental health professional comes in to determine whether you’re a danger to yourself and others – possibly necessitating involuntary treatment. Usually, only these designated responders have the authority to do this under the court to deem a person as meeting this criteria and have access to the treatment beds.
I’m glad some outlets are publishing articles about the CONTENT of the anonymous op-ed piece, and not going all vulture on the MYSTERY of who it was. I watched the slurring clip and it seems like Trump was really, really trying, as hard as he could, to pronounce “anonymous” correctly. But he just couldn’t. WHY COULDN’T HE? There must be a true, perhaps medical explanation. This mystery is more interesting to me than the identity of the stoolie in the White House. What is wrong with our President? Obviously, something is very wrong. We really deserve to know.
Myrtle, I agree. I could not laugh at those two attempts to say the word. Something was not functioning correctly, for some reason.
Even after 2 yrs of this moron, I still cant believe people actually voted for him, I knew he was a demented a–hol-, long before he ran, I have a son that voted for him, I love my son, but we cannot talk politics together.. He is causing the downfall of our country.. And to say that his followers are the reason if he gets impeached.. NO orange man, YOU are…
So true @Kaiser and thanks: “Donald Trump has been scaring his staff for two bloody years. And none of those cowards have the guts to actually do anything about it.” They, who chose to remain employed, and thus, enabling this clown are all tainted cowards. There’s no altruism here despite writing anonymous articles. People like #PresidentMiller are there to forward their despicable agendas and undermine the country.
Fvck trump. President Obama is giving a blustering speech right now. I hope it lights a fire and gets people off their duffs.
I just finished watching it and I’m tearing up. I miss that man so much!
I meant BLISTERING, not BLUSTERING. LOL. I’m typing without wearing my reading glasses.🤓
Those lucky students who got tickets should feel great. For most of them, he’s the best president during their lifetime.
I loved his comments on how he complained about Fox News but never called them enemies of the people and how it wasn’t difficult to say that Nazis are bad. He is right that Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt wouldn’t recognize today’s Republican party. Lincoln would be appalled at having someone like Jeff Sessions as AG and the current party would be too cozy with big corporate interests for TR.
Until the ‘staffers’ who contacted this doctor come forward I call BS on it.
I don’t think she would lie about it. Why would she? What would be the benefit? It would only harm her if it could be proven false. She didn’t give any details that would disturb President Tweeter, just said she suggested the ER for preliminary evaluation if they were worried.
President Obama spoke today at the University of Illinois where he received an award for ethics in government there. Yeah, I know that’s a bit ironic considering that multiple former governors, a former speaker of the house from Illinois, and other politicians are currently and have spent time in jail. Obama’s administration was very ethical and not the ethical trainwreck that this current administration has become.
It was a great speech because he came out swinging against Trump and his GOP enablers. He also praised the record number of Democrats running for office at all levels from local elections like school board races to major statewide races. He called out white nationalism, Nazis, and the politics of fear and resentment.
The main message was aimed at the student audience who entered into an online lottery to get less than 1000 tickets. Over 15 thousand students entered their names to get a chance to see him. It was a simple message that voting in November is the best way to make our voices heard. If we vote, we can do our part to make America a better place for more people, not just ourselves.
We worry about terrorist threats from other countries when our own home grown terrorist sits in the white house.
This doesn’t seem like a popular opinion, but frankly, I’ve never believed that Donald Trump has had any significant mental health issues, at least not to the degree that people often assume that he does. He’s always struck me as a very prototypical white man who just lacks a filter and has never faced the consequences for his actions or his opinions. He’s been raised in and remained in an environment that laughed off or forgave his offensive behaviour for decades now. All I see is a coddled, racist, bigoted white man finally being forced to come to heel and raging and lashing out as a result, which is frankly something I’ve seen many many white people do over the years, although not with this level of impunity or while holding this sort of high office.
There’s a great article out there that talks about how a lot of white people handle diversity training in the work place, and it’s this exact sort of fragility that I see in Donald Trump as well, albeit incredibly magnified. He’s gotten so used to lying off the cuff and being casually racist that he genuinely doesn’t realize this stuff is wrong because no one has ever held him to task.
I think both things are true. I think his personality has always been awful for exactly the reasons you state. However if you compare his earlier interviews/speeches to those of the last 5 years there is very clearly a deterioration of his language processing and other executive brain functions.
Donald Trump reminds of Jim Jones the cult leader in some of his rants.I’m not sure if it’s mental illness,drugs are both but he is delusional,unstable and dangerous.He is also an idiot,narcissistic and an a racist.I think it’s disgusting that Pence,Kelly,Ivanka,etc are enabling this sick man.
The press assumes that the republicans are complicit because they are afraid of the Dotard tweeting about them to his “base”. The republicans are complicit because they are afraid of the Dotard’s puppet master. The republicans were hacked just like the DNC and many republicans have ties to Putin via their businesses.
This WH is full of hypocrisy. All week, the Dotard, republicans, and WH staffers have been whining about the anonymous op-ed writer and then last night they leaked information to Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker that they have a suspect list that consists of 12 people. The Dotard calls the NYT failing, but then keeps leaking information to Maggie and Peter Baker and then asking Maggie to investigate and find the leaker during his rally.
John Kelly has not issued a denial and he is leading the investigation to find the leaker. I still think that it was John Kelly who wrote the op-ed and that he will he either place the blame on some lower level aide that no one has ever seen or heard of or that he will distract the press by getting the Dotard to do something very stupid. The press keeps getting stuck on the motive for the op-ed. The motive wasn’t to warn us about how bad the Dotard has become, the motive is that someone is trying to protect himself from the Mueller investigation. What the press should be asking is if John Kelly sat down and talked to Mueller.
George P was sentenced today, so who is Mueller’s next target?
Omarosa thinks it was someone in Pence’s office. Says it looks like memos she’s seen from them. She mentioned one man in particular.
Omarosa also said that anyone who criticized the Dotard would be bowing at his feet. Omarosa will say anything to keep her name in the press. She jumped on the Pence bandwagon because that is what is trending.
WHY? — Omarosa also has lots and lots of tapes…. I think she has recently found that telling the truth and backing it up works for her purposes now. She really doesn’t have to make things up.
It’s kind of fun watching her work during these troubled times. Didn’t anybody think about the fact that Omarosa Confined in the White House was safer than Omarosa Unchained?
Anyway, her claim that it looks like memos from Pence’s office could be easily checked. I don’t think she’s a pathological liar like Trump. Maybe an opportunistic liar when it suits her plans, but don’t know enough about her to know that and many people are opportunistic liars, more or less. But pathological liars are a whole ‘nuther level. They lie about everything — big, small, and in the middle. Even when they can easily be found to be lying. They are rare.
The Dotard is a con artist. His base consists mainly of bots and he uses crowd fillers(people from high schools, actors, senior living facilities, and his employees) to make it seem like his rallies have a huge turnout. The person sitting behind the Dotard making faces the other day was a high school student. He said that he was selected by his high school for VIP treatment at the Dotard’s rally(get to take pictures with the Dotard) after he applied for tickets to the rally. He said that the woman who replaced him was a Dotard staffers who was working the handshaking booth.
I see Papadopoulos got a whopping two weeks in jail. I hope prison doesn’t harden him. 😢
Guys, I swear to God this is true: Last week, while on vacation in Iceland (of all places) I met A LOT of Americans. Like, a lot a lot. Buses full! Everywhere. And came to talk to a couple of them, who were – you guessed it – Trump supporters!!!!! I didn’t know what to say without pissing them off, so I just asked un-specific, neutral questions. Like “What do you like about him?” and “But that thing with the Grab em by the pussy?”, and “He keeps changing his mind on huge decisions from one day to the next, doesn’t that make you nervous?”. And they ALL said: “We admire him for, shaking things up. He’s not letting all the old rules destroy our country. He stands up for who he is and doesn’t take shit from anybody”.
I could not believe my ears, or eyes for that matter. These were highly educated people! University degrees!! But I guess the entire world is going to shit. We have our election coming up on sunday, and it’s highly likely that a vile and disgusting racist group will get some sort of majority:/
I met several Americans in Ireland last week who didn’t have a good word to say about Trump, one was as health economist from NC! There are plenty of people who despise him.
Disturbing as it is, that’s the attitude that won him the election. People who voted for him felt disenfranchised and somehow believed that this multimillionaire braggart, who has never had the common touch in his life, could relate to them. And he could: When it came to racism and xenophobia, they were all on the same page.
It blows my mind too! Even here in Canada, people I previously thought sane support him… My only response to them is, if you like him so much, then move to the US. See how much better he is when you have to live under his rule!