Done.
Trump Has Completely Lost His Grip on Reality
The former president’s deterioration is on full display in the Truth
Social asylum he built for himself.
Let’s check in on the shadow primary for the 2024 Republican
nomination. Nikki Haley is putting together a finance committee, and
suggested last week that she’s “leaning in” to a run. Mike Pompeo has
just published a book called Never Give an Inch, and told CBS
yesterday that he’ll decide whether to enter the fray over the “next
handful of months.” Governor Ron DeSantis has continued to pick
winning fights in Florida since being reelected in a November
landslide, and has stayed assiduously quiet about his future.
And then there’s Donald Trump, who, despite being the only candidate
who has officially announced his bid, is . . . well, ranting like a
deranged hobo in a dilapidated public park. No, don’t look at him — he
might come over here with his sign.
There was a point in time at which Trump’s unusual verbal affect and
singular nose for underutilized wedge issues gave him a competitive
edge. Now? Now, he’s morphing into one of the three witches from
Macbeth. To peruse Trump’s account on Truth Social is to meet a cast
of characters about whom nobody who lives beyond the Trump Extended
Universe could possibly care one whit. Here in the real world, the
border is a catastrophe, inflation is as bad as it’s been in four
decades, interest rates have risen to their highest level in 15 years,
crime is on the up, and the debt continues to mushroom. And yet,
safely ensconced within his own macrocosm, Trump is busy mainlining
Edward Lear. Day in, day out, he rambles about the adventures of Coco
Chow and the Old Broken Crow; the dastardly Unselect Committee; the
(presumably tasty) Stollen Presidential Election; the travails of that
famous law-enforcement agency, the Gestopo; Joe Scarborough’s wife
“Mike”; and other unusual characters from Coromandel. “Where the early
pumpkins blow / In the middle of the woods / Lived the
Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò / Who STOLLE THE ELECTION / Don’t you know?”
These characters come and go as the world passes indifferently by. But
Trump’s heroism remains the one constant. It is the dream of any
artist to play both performer and critic, and, on Truth Social, Trump
is living the dream. At times, his penchant for self-elevation makes
God’s declaration in Genesis “that it was good” look positively
bashful. Apropos of nothing, he will declare to himself: “‘TRUMP WAS
RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING’ One of [sic] most often used current phrases
or statements. Wow, such a magnificent compliment. Thank you!” Other
evaluations are equally gushing. His appraisal of the social-media
company of which he is the sole potentate: “TRUTH SOCIAL IS SOOO
GREAT!” His review of his golfing abilities in a competition that,
astonishingly enough, he managed to win despite missing its first day:
“Competed against many fine golfers, and was hitting the ball long and
straight,” which “in a very real way . . . serves as a physical exam,
only MUCH tougher.” His assessment of his presidency, and of the 2020
election that he lost by millions of votes: “I did a GREAT job as
President, maybe the best.” And then: “I Ran twice, did much better
the second time (Rigged Election!)” I tell ya, Charley, I coulda been
a contender.
Throughout his public career, Trump has resembled nothing so much as a
drunken talk-radio caller from Queens, and, on Truth Social, readers
get the treat of watching him at the zenith of his rhetorical powers.
Nobody — and I mean nobody — can shift gears as fast as Donald J.
Trump. One moment he’s proposing that the solution to the Supreme
Court leak is to “arrest the reporter, publisher, editor—you’ll get
your answer fast,” or, if that fails, “put whoever in jail.” The next,
he’s describing the prosecution of his business associate, Allen
Weisselberg, as “the greatest Witch Hunt of all time.” His repertoire
is unmatched — and unmatchable. He can do edgy insult comedy for the
people listening in at the bar: “The reporter was a shaky &
unattractive wack job, known as ‘tough’ but dumb as a rock.” He can
make numbers up off the top of his head: “The change in the Election
was Complete & Total, with Millions of votes switched, at least 17%.”
He can use hyperbolic analogies: “Our Country is SICK inside, very
much like a person dying of Cancer.” He can even do angry: “May he Rot
In Hell!” He can do anything.
Anything, that is, except focus on the world outside — where the
problems that Donald Trump once used to propel himself into the White
House remain real and pressing, whether or not he chooses to engage
with them.
Swill
--
Trump and his MAGA nitwits don't know it yet but they've all been
politically castrated.
Glory to the heroes! Glory to Ukraine!