{"id":30694,"date":"2023-12-19T18:59:10","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T02:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=30694"},"modified":"2023-12-19T18:59:11","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T02:59:11","slug":"more-unhinged-and-delusional-than-ever-trumps-mental-state-should-be-frontpage-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/19\/more-unhinged-and-delusional-than-ever-trumps-mental-state-should-be-frontpage-news\/","title":{"rendered":"More Unhinged and Delusional Than Ever, Trump’s Mental State Should Be Frontpage News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Donald<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Republican Presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a campaign rally at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center on December 17, 2023 in Reno, Nevada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden may appear frail at times, but at least he\u2019s rational. The growing evidence of Trump\u2019s dementia and paranoia, on the other hand, poses a potential danger to the future of America.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

ROBERT REICH<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dec 18, 2023 Robertreich.Substack.Com<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday, during a campaign speech in Durham, New Hampshire, Donald Trump invoked Vladimir Putin (of all people) as proof that he\u2019s being persecuted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cPutin says that Biden\u2019s \u2014 and this is a quote \u2014 politically motivated persecution of his political rival is very good for Russia, because it shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Some commentators see this and other Trump assertions about being persecuted as calculated efforts to fuel his base.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what if Trump really thinks he\u2019s being persecuted? What if he has a persecution complex? What if he <\/strong>believes<\/strong><\/em> his paranoid fantasies?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump is not facing nearly the same scrutiny for his age as is Joe Biden, yet Trump should <\/em>be \u2014 especially as to increasing signs of dementia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden is sane. He\u2019s getting major bills passed. He\u2019s negotiating with world leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Trump \u2014 who has a family history of dementia<\/a> \u2014 is increasingly incoherent and unhinged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has confused Biden with Obama so often that he\u2019s had to put out a statement that the slips have been intentional<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September, Trump suggested that the way to prevent wildfires in California\u2019s forest lands is to keep them damp. Here are his exact words<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThey say that there\u2019s so much water up north that I want to have the overflow areas go into your forests and dampen your forests, because if you dampen your forests you’re not gonna have these forest fires that are burning at levels that nobody\u2019s ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Hello?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also said that under his administration, shoplifters would be subject to extrajudicial execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWe will immediately stop all the pillaging and theft. Very simply, if you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In October, Trump warned<\/a> his supporters that Biden will lead America into World War Two.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has also claimed that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group, is \u201cvery smart.\u201d That whales are being killed by windmills<\/a>. That he won all 50 states<\/a> in 2020. That he defeated Barack Obama in 2016<\/a>. That the outgoing chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff should be executed<\/a>. That MSNBC\u2019s parent company is guilty of treason,<\/a> and will \u201cpay.<\/a>\u201d And that he will only be a dictator on \u201cDay 1\u201d<\/a> of a new term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most telling evidence of Trump\u2019s growing dementia is found in his paranoid thirst for revenge, on which he is now centering his entire campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 11, he pledged to a crowd of supporters in Claremont, New Hampshire, that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWe will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections and will do anything possible \u2014 they\u2019ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American dream.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Are these the words of a sane person? Or of an aging paranoid megalomaniac? Even if it\u2019s unclear to which category Trump belongs, shouldn\u2019t this question be central to the coverage of his campaign for reelection?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I\u2019ve asked members of the media why they\u2019re not covering the increasing signs of Trump\u2019s dementia, they say it\u2019s \u201cold news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, back in 2017, 27 psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals concluded in The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump<\/em> that Trump\u2019s mental health posed a \u201cclear and present danger\u201d to the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of Trump\u2019s own Cabinet \u2014 horrified by the January 6, 2021, violence at the Capitol and Trump’s lack of urgency in stopping it \u2014 discussed whether to invoke the the 25th Amendment<\/a> to remove him from office due to mental incompetence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But just because Trump has shown mental instability in the past doesn\u2019t make his mental problems any less relevant now that he is seeking reelection. They\u2019re <\/strong>more <\/strong><\/em>relevant. He appears even more delusional and unhinged than before.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Biden\u2019s age is fair game, why aren\u2019t Trump\u2019s age and apparent mental decline?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden may appear frail at times, but he\u2019s rational. The growing evidence of Trump\u2019s dementia and paranoia, on the other hand, poses a potential danger to the future of America \u2014 if he\u2019s reelected. At the least, the media should be investigating and reporting on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 2021 robertreich.substack.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ROBERT REICH<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Reich, is the Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. His book include: “Aftershock” (2011), “The Work of Nations” (1992), “Beyond Outrage” (2012) and, “Saving Capitalism” (2016). He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, “Inequality For All.” Reich’s newest book is “The Common Good” (2019). He’s co-creator of the Netflix original documentary “Saving Capitalism,” which is streaming now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican Presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a campaign rally at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center on December 17, 2023 in Reno, Nevada. \u00a0(Photo by Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images) Biden may appear frail at times, but at least he\u2019s rational. The growing evidence of Trump\u2019s dementia and paranoia,… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30694"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30695,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30694\/revisions\/30695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}