After a federal judge blocked President
Trump's executive order barring entry to the United States by people from
certain countries, Trump publicly wrote, "The opinion of this so-called
judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is
ridiculous and will be overturned!"
Vice President Pence defended the
president's statement by saying, "I think the American people are very
accustomed to this president speaking his mind and speaking very straight with
them," and "The President of the United States has every right to
criticize the other two branches of government."
That kind of talk won't do for long. No one
denies the president's right to speak his mind or to speak straight or even to
criticize the other two branches of government, so long as he speaks and
criticizes within the bounds of his rightful powers and obligations. The vice
president may deflect the first warnings of constitutional crisis with words of
his own choosing, but he should begin to consider what he will be compelled to
say and do when the shield of oblique language fails him.
A chief executive who characterizes a
member of the judiciary as a "so-called judge" has embarked on a
course to treason. Such words cannot be allowed to a President of the United
States on any grounds. When used with awareness of their meaning, they
constitute an assault on the American system of government from within.
Otherwise, they constitute evidence of mental incapacity. An aspiring tyrant
with a disciplined, forward-looking mind probably would not give himself away
so soon, but Donald Trump is an impetuous fantasist with a mind that scorns
discipline. That is not to say that he fits any clinical definition of mental
illness. Some mental health professionals have warned that he shows clear signs
of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), which they say could have dire
consequences. However, Dr. Allen Frances, author of the section on personality
disorders in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders stated in June, 2016, that while Trump was
"completely disqualified by habitual dishonesty, … impulsive unpredictability,
… imperial ambitions, constitutional indifference, … etc.," his
personality features did not constitute "anything approaching a mental
disorder."
If President Trump were indeed afflicted
with NPD, his mind would be not so much a man's mind as an invisible beast
holding a man in thrall. The president could not submit to the humbling
constraints of a system that is bigger than all of us, because the beast would
not admit that anything was bigger than itself. Lacking the prospect of such a
diagnosis, which would clearly justify removal from office under Section 4 of
the Twenty-fifth Amendment, it seems we're faced with a beastly enough mind
that must be left at large until it's discovered in some chicken coop. But must
it?
Clinically sane though Donald Trump may be,
he is not master of his mind. Whether his arrogance is hardwired or habitual,
he's going to assert it against all comers including the U. S. Constitution.
The question is whether the consequences will be limited to his
self-destruction. Let us hope that those who hold crucial positions of
responsibility under the Constitution will stand united and ready to do their
duty at the first permissible moment. Not after a calamity, but as soon as this
hopelessly unfit president delivers himself into their hands by word or deed.
Has he not already done so? Nothing that is treasonable or seditious, wantonly
menacing or perversely self-debilitating, should be dismissed as a harmless
quirk. It should be grasped as an unconsciously outstretched hand, and the
drowning man hauled in -- as humanely as possible, but promptly and with
formidable unity. A medical pronouncement of incapacity is not required. Even
with one, a conflict between the president and those who declare him unable to
discharge his duties is sure to ensue, after which the issue must be decided by
Congress. This is no job for faint hearts.
A supposedly educated mind whose thoughts
nevertheless crystallize in infantile forms like "a very smart
person" (the centerpiece of Trump's praise of himself and his chosen
associates) is liable to be deficient for presidential purposes. A mind that
publicly pleads its own intelligence in any form at all is one that either
doesn't know when it's confessing stupidity or compulsively does so just the same.
A mind that campaigns for the repeal of unflattering facts, letting the claims
of vanity corrupt official speeches and conversations day after day, is unfit
for the business of government. The question is not one of mere sanity, but of
ability to discharge the duties of office. If Ronald Reagan's White House staff
contemplated invoking the Twenty-fifth Amendment on grounds of sloth, then
surely recklessness, intractable ignorance, and extreme self-absorption should
be enough to build a case on.
Meanwhile, President Trump sails along on
his course to treason or some other impeachable offense. If there is no case
for saving him from himself, then there must be a case a-building for
impeaching him. If he is not an addled man, then he is a man who aims to lower
all barriers to his will by means of casual contempt. Even if there is no
disorder compelling him on this course, he clearly can't stop himself. The
guardians of the Constitution now have the offenses "so-called judge"
and "If something happens blame him and court system" to weigh. How
many more offenses or displays of mental unfitness will it take before they
decide to tap Donald Trump on one shoulder or the other? The Republic can't
afford to wait till every citizen notices something amiss. It needs courageous
leadership, soon.
