If Trump were granddad we’d assume he was well into the dementia of Alzheimer’s. His behavior is so perfectly symptomatic. It would be by far the most likely diagnosis for a man his age. Why it is beyond the pale of decency to say so completely mystifies me.

His supporters will tell you he’s a genius, that he knows exactly what he’s doing. The rest of us think he’s making logical if evil decisions. But he’s not either. He is demented. Literally demented. He is not all there. He’s a vile man who’s become a vile demented man. Jimmy Carter, were he similarly afflicted, would be a sweet demented man. Carter is not so afflicted, though. But Trump is not far from the permanent care stage. Reagan too was afflicted. But he, personally, was a nice guy and not prone to being a public asshole. He had a fiercely protective wife and not one who detests him. And most importantly Reagan had a fully functioning and staffed administration. I may have loathed the Reagan Administration with every fiber of my being but they were a working executive branch. Even towards the end of his second term when Reagan really was not all there anymore he was mostly kept from view so not to impair the appearance of being an administration is full control of its executive functions. Now it’s the madness of King George all over again. King George III recovered from his first bout and reigned successfully for a long spell till madness swallowed him whole and he spent his last decades locked up in regal splendor stark raving bonkers. But Trump will not recover even temporarily. If nothing else kills him first, the Alzheimer’s will.

That shouting you hear is the 25th Amendment trying to get our attention.