If Donald Trump has any true "genius" it is branding. He comes up with catch phrases and insulting nicknames which he repeats constantly until they burrow into the brain like a malignant ear-worm. It is time to give him a dose of his own medicine and label him for what his actions reveal him to be: Mad King Donald!
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| Here is a real image that was posted on the official White House account. |
There is a word for this: Madness
I am of the opinion that in the first sentence of every discussion of Donald Trump it should be pointed out that he is well and truly mad. Madness can be a broad concept but I specifically mean it as "rash or irrational conduct, headstrong passion, extreme folly". I am not talking about any specific clinical diagnosis, but as an accurate description of his words and actions. I hear and read attempts to find a reasonable explanation for his pronouncements, but going back to his 2024 campaign through today he spouts nonstop nonsense. He is mad with Power, an affliction succinctly depicted in this scene from the film Bananas (1971) He is also mad due to his enormous toxic narcissistic ego “like no one has ever seen before”, to borrow a common Trumpism. At nearly 79 there may well be age-related cognitive decline too.
You can make your own list: tariffs on and off, Canada 51st state, Greenland, Panama Canal, DOGE firing people willy-nilly and cutting funding and eliminating departments, his “vision” for a Gaza with no Palestinians and luxury beach condos, loving Putin, hating Europe and other allies, etc. What takes this from just bad ideas to madness is that he could do all of this legally. He could have his minions in Congress pass laws to reduce government prudently, or he could negotiate quietly with Panama and Denmark to try to accomplish his expansionist goals, but he seems incapable of that.
This madness must be acknowledged daily. If his supporters don’t mind the madness, or even like him because of the madness, they should admit it and not deny the obvious. That’s their right. Yes, his actions are consistent with his desire to rule the world, get as wealthy as possible, seek vengeance on his “enemies”, and have everyone bow down before him. However having a “method in your madness” doesn’t make them sane. He genuinely believes only he can make things right and all of his predecessors were idiots, and talks of ruling beyond two terms and behaves as if he will never die. Perhaps dodging a bullet made him believe he is immortal! Have you ever heard him say anything about his mortality or what will happen to the USA and the world post-Trump? Neither have I.
His chastising Volodymyr Zelenskyy for “not having the cards” is very revealing of his world view. Who else is lacking in “the cards”? This would appear to include every country except the USA, Russia, and China. Therefore, they should be able to subjugate everyone else they please.
Maybe the Americans who voted him back into office want a madman in the Oval Office. Maybe they don’t care that he will not fulfill the simple responsibilities the Constitution requires:
- He shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed; and,
- To swear I will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Maybe these words from the Declaration of Independence are for “suckers and losers”:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.If you do believe this, then you can’t treat people like vermin and animals and deprive them of basic human dignity and whisk people away to foreign prisons possibly to their death without even a hearing. Remember that he used every legal trick in the book (and more) to avoid his day(s) in court.
As silly as it seems, the new labeling of Mad King Trump will surely anger him, as it did when Tim Waltz called the Trump/Vance ticket "weird". May it will forever be his legacy, as it is for the 19th Century Mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and all he did was build a few fairy tale castles. Perhaps as in the fairy tale enough people will realize this Emperor has no clothes.
