Col#279- 4/10/26
THE MADNESS OF KING DONALD
By
Richard Davis
There should be no doubt in most people’s minds that the President of the United States is severely mentally ill. Other world leaders have described him as unhinged, or worse, based on his erratic behavior and lack of any sense of ethics or morality.
Some politicians are talking about using section 4 of the 25th amendment to remove Trump from office. It is a flawed amendment because it requires politicians close to the president to determine that he is unfit for office. It says, “Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”
On one level it makes sense that those closest to the president should determine his fitness to continue in office, but those people usually have a high degree of loyalty and they are able to justify illegal and immoral actions based on a flawed decision-making process because of that loyalty. They are the wrong people to decide if a President is fit to continue.
There should be an independent body comprised of non-political people who can make objective decisions as to whether or not the president can discharge the duties of his office. It would make sense to have nine people appointed by a national medical association to be available to make a decision, when needed, of fitness for office.
That committee should be comprised of medical doctors from a variety of specialties including psychiatry. They could have the power to go to the full body of congress and declare the president unfit. No politicians would have the ability to override their decision and the Vice President would assume office when they deliver their decision. In the case of a debilitating stroke or even a disabling accident, the committee could render an expert opinion instead of a politically motivated decision, as is now the case.
I have no credentials as a mental health professional, but it seems that Trump displays many of the symptoms of a borderline personality as well as having a manic side to his personality. It is difficult to put anyone into the box of a mental health diagnosis, and it is even more difficult when they hold the position as the most powerful world leader.
That is why we need experienced professionals to determine whether or not this country is in danger of being harmed by someone whose behavior is consistent with a form of mental illness. Trump will continue to harm the entire world, starting wars whenever he feels like it, signing racist and immoral executive orders and defying the rule of law whenever he wants.
He needs to be stopped. The 25th amendment is useless as it is. The only way we have to remove him from office is impeachment and a two-thirds vote by the Senate to convict, which means he can be removed from office.
These options seem to be only wishful thinking, and unless the Democrats take power and act with conviction, we will have to wait until Trump leaves office and then spend decades undoing all of the chaos he has created.
