Friday, January 12, 2018

An Ignorant, Senile Old Man



Two days ago, the cameras were allowed into the cabinet room as the members around the table talked about reaching a deal on immigration. Donald Trump actually looked reasonable, capable of reaching a compromise. And then yesterday he returned to form, blowing everything up. Abigail Tracy writes in Vanity Fair:

On Thursday afternoon, as the White House basked in the afterglow of the president’s ability to contain himself for 55 minutes, Donald Trump brought their triumphant parade to a screeching halt, calling into question not only his own mental fitness, but the possibility of a bipartisan deal on immigration reform. When a bipartisan group of senators approached the president with a tentative immigration agreement, which included protections for Dreamers, an additional $1.5 billion in border-security funding, and the possibility of restoring protections for countries recently removed from the temporary-protected-status program, the president responded with an outburst that reportedly alarmed the group.

And it should have:

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” he asked in reference to African countries and Haiti, according to The Washington Post. Instead, the president reportedly suggested that the U.S. should encourage immigration from countries like Norway.

He is already on record as believing that immigrants from Haiti "all have AIDS," and that white nationalist groups contain "some very fine people." He then confidently asserts that, "Before I make a statement, I need the facts. I don't want to rush into a statement."

It seems pretty clear. Trump is an ignorant, old man on the cusp of senility.

Image:Pinterest


6 comments:

Toby said...

During the onset of dementia there is a period of denial. Those afflicted can be very good at pretending there is nothing wrong and they can be quite hostile at any suggestions that they are losing it. Relatives and close friends can actually join into the denial charade. I've seen this close up. Trump is on the spiral.

Owen Gray said...

I've seen it, too, Toby. There are lots of Americans in denial.

The Mound of Sound said...


Have you ever watched the video clips of Trump exiting Air Force One at some airport. He comes down the stairway. Directly in front of him is the presidential limo sporting the presidential seal, the flags, everything. Instead of getting in, Trump wanders off until an aide retrieves him and points him in the direction of his car. When you do that, something is very, very wrong.

https://youtu.be/sF5TGQgQJeA

Owen Gray said...

Thanks for the clip, Mound. I've seen it before. It seems clear that one or more cylinders are misfiring.

John B. said...

When you try to sell somebody a freezer or a set of encyclopedias, you'll say whatever you have to say to keep things moving toward a closing, or just to keep it going until you finally realize that the potential customer doesn't qualify. It's reflexive and it doesn't matter if any of it's true. You want the spouse to be present but if a bunch of neighbours or other relatives show up to watch, you may as well take off and knock on the next door.

Meanwhile, has anybody got an idea as to why so few Norwegians are lining up at Trump's shithole? Maybe they're waiting for somebody to tell them whose name you have to mention to get a good seat.

Owen Gray said...

Trump is a salesman, John. He's been a salesman all his life. He would do well to read Arthur Miller's Death of a Saleman. Willie Loman did not come to a good end.