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GH's avatar

I looked up George III. Gave about half his income to charity, provided massive support to the arts, when two mentally challenged people tried to assassinate him he treated them with compassion, he contributed a considerable sum to support victims of a fire in Montreal.

Donald Trump………

James's avatar

Thank you as ever.

Your footnote explains the now more obvious (remaining in the second paragraph in contrast to the first) reference to the Mars-Jones 'novel'. Just in case you wish to change that too and avoid the slight disconcertion.

JM

Timothy Garton Ash's avatar

Yes, thanks… I spotted the second para ‘novel’ too late… disadvantages of not having an editor…

Jan Maciejowski's avatar

There are signs of rationality among the craziness. For example if you take seriously the ‘simplification’ of the world by dividing it into three zones of influence, then it’s perfectly rational to insist on full sovereignty over Greenland before pushing Denmark into the Russian zone.

John Woods's avatar

I would leave it until after the Mid Terms when the Democrats may have a majority in the House and the Senate. However you need a two thirds majority in the Senate which is how Trump avoided impeachment in his first term. We can sit this one out but the Constitution needs to be updated to prevent the Presidential Orders he signs to avoid Congressional intervention.

Paul Chilton's avatar

Spot on, as always . Yes, he's crazy, seriously. On my recent Substack I've made the argument that we need to go beyond simply using insults such as "crazy", "lunatic", "deranged", etc. we need to go beyond insults (deserved though they are), and look at ways in which his observable mental health problems (I'm putting it in rather sober terms) can be substantiated clinically. Since the medical psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and neurologists can't diagnose publicly for professional ethical reasons, there is no reason why the rest of us should not put forward reasoned hypotheses. These can be based on (a) The authoritative DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders) (b) conversation with qualified colleagues and

(c) Trump's linguistically analysable public utterances. He looks like a mentally ill person to professional specialists, and others I've spoken to. And now my emotional political response: fellow Americans should not and must not tolerate a psychopath who wants to be a dictator! And we must support them in every way we can.

Réjean Grenier's avatar

Bet you a large swath of Americans and Canadians won’t get the George111 joke.

Cassandra's avatar

Perhaps add one more element to capture Trump's bullying, nastiness and lack of empathy. From the little I know about George III, he was batty but not murderous. As Trump becomes more deranged, his callousness has become more pronounced. I fear it will get worse, much worse.