I admit it. I’m a bleeding-heart liberal. I believe women should control their reproductive rights, chopping down old-growth trees is bad, and guns should be better controlled. I’m a liberal through and through. And yet, I have begun to wonder if I have been wrong about former President Donald Trump. Is it possible that Trump is NOT a chaotic, perjuring criminal with no respect for the Constitution or democracy? Is there another explanation for his lack of impulse control and anger management issues? Perhaps his “bad behavior” is not intentional! Perhaps it is a sign of advanced mental disability?
Judge Merchan should reconsider jailing Trump for violating his gag order and threatening witnesses, jury members, and the press. Instead, Judge Merchan should consider a more compassionate option: Have a competency hearing for Donald Trump! We need to accept the voluminous evidence that the former President cannot stand trial or make his own decisions. What is this evidence?
Cannot remember familiar individuals and events: Donald Trump has repeatedly made public statements about being unable to remember important people and events. He cannot remember having sex with Stormy Daniels, a well-known adult film star, and Karen McDougal, an ex-Playboy model. That’s pretty unusual for an adult American male. Dementia, however, could explain these memory gaps. Also, consider the 26 other women he is accused of molesting. He can’t remember being alone with any of them. Not one! More recent evidence of his mental decline is that Trump is oblivious to his family’s absence for the last few months that he has been in court. Perhaps that is for the best. In America, it is unfortunate but true that the family of a senile family member often just gives up. The exhaustion caused by senile behavior is too much. All of America feels that exhaustion. Imagine how Melania and Barron must feel! Have a heart judge, and declare Trump incompetent!
Cannot follow simple directions: Trump truly believes in the American court system! It is a well-known fact that Donald Trump enjoys going to court and suing people. His title as “Donnie the Sue-er” became enshrined in New York culture long before he became a politician. But given his obvious love of the courts, how can we explain his repeated gag order violations? It’s quite simple. It’s not that he doesn’t want to obey the gag order. He can’t follow complex instructions like, “Do not talk about jurors”, or “Do not mention addresses”. It’s all too much for him to process. Otherwise, if it’s not dementia, we would need to believe that Trump is constantly breaking the law. How likely is that?
Anger mis-management: Another symptom of mental decline, is a loss of emotional control. Before Trump, had you ever heard of a “Toilet Tweet”? These off-the-rails commentaries, often in the middle of the night, were short on facts and long on anger and retribution. Remember when Donald Trump angrily stalked Hillary Clinton around the stage in the 2016 debates? Or when Trump accused Ted Cruz’s father of assassinating John Kennedy? Or his epic rants in the 2020 Debates with Biden? Is Trump a man with absolute contempt for everyone on the planet… or is he merely a very confused elderly man crying out for our help? Let’s give Trump that help. Let’s get him a psychiatric examination.
Lack of energy: Donald Trump’s brand is “high-energy”, even “manic degree” (see “Toilet Tweet”). Anyone lacking his energy level was considered an enemy of America. Do you recall “Sleepy Ben Carson” and “Slow Joe Biden”? But recent reports from the courtroom talk about a “Dozing Donald”. Clearly, by his own standards, his mental decline has cost him dearly since 2016. But let’s be fair. Any politician with Trump’s combination of age, morbid obesity, and dysfunctional family life will lack energy. Donald Trump himself would belittle “Candidate Trump”, if he could only realize that HE IS Candidate Trump.
Confabulation: As dementia advances and memory fails, the brain compensates by combining memory fragments with invented events. This is “Confabulation”. Sometimes, it is consciously done to conceal the embarrassment of a failing memory. As mental degeneration progresses, victims believe their confabulations. We need only look at the long list of video clips… or the 57,000 tweets Donald Trump wrote… to confirm Trump’s weakening grasp of reality. Recently Donald Trump, who is 6’3″, stated his weight is 215 lbs. Quarterback Lamar Jackson is 6’2″ and also claims a weight of 215 lbs. At the top of this blog is a picture of both Mr. Trump and Mr. Jackson. Can you tell the difference between their physique? Mr. Trump cannot. He believes he has the silhouette of a 27-year-old NFL quarterback. Do you agree?
Physical health: Age and obesity are co-factors in mental deterioration. In the last Election, Trump said that Biden was too old to be President. Yet Trump is now just as old. Add to that his notoriously bad eating habits, and those famously chubby thighs, and his mental age is likely a decade older than Biden’s. Trump’s physique points to a heart attack or stroke in the very near future.
And Now?: Judge Merchan must decide how to address Donald Trump’s mental deterioration. Should he treat Trump as he would a criminal who shows as little respect for the court as a Maria Don? Or should he show compassion, examine all of the evidence, and allow Trump to voluntarily undergo a psychiatric examination, by a court-appointed expert. In your heart of hearts, you know the answer.