Trump, from day one of his presidency, has been prodding and picking away at the sensitive exoskeleton of the Constitution.  But Mick Mulvaney’s blatant public announcement yesterday that the president did indeed attempt to coerce a foreign government to further his political interests,  well what you have there is the President of the United States clenching his fist and slugging Mr. Constitution right in the grapes.  We do have a constitutional crisis on our hands.  When the president of the county stands before us and proclaims Article Two of the Constitution gives him the right to do anything he wants, he has gouged the eyes out of the Constitution with an ice pick.  And yesterday Mulvaney didn’t stop the constitutional assault with that abuse of power and quid pro quo statement.  With nothing hesitant in his voice, he declared that the facility for the upcoming G7 conference that will host diplomats and staff from all over the world will be Trump’s own Doral Country Club. That is a  direct violation of the emoluments clause.  So bend over Mr. Constitution because here comes a Louisville Slugger straight up your patootie.

Gaslighting has been a favorite tactic for Trump.  Keep repeating something and pretty soon there will be people who start believing whatever was said.  And it’s pretty clear he is comfortable residing in chaos.  As we pass from one imbroglio to the next, it is easy to forget about all those that preceded.  But this political approach of shamelessly admitting to wrongdoing and somehow believing that makes it tolerable is something new, and frankly, alarming.  He is practically daring congress to impeach him on 25th Amendment grounds.  Publicly flaunting the law is not something a normal person does, and when you do that and you are the leader of a country, there is something wrong in your head.  It’s the kind of thing that labels a person a megalomaniac.

Of course without a critical psychological analysis it is impossible to make a judgment of competency.  But here is a read for you. Unfit for Office    It’s the very lengthly George Conway Atlantic article.  He makes the point that the President of the United States, particularly this president, is the most observable individual on the planet, and the general public should be able draw some observational conclusions.  The second half of the article (you will have to scroll down quite a ways) concerns narcissistic personality disorder.  Trump meets every criteria.  I don’t think this is mentioned in the article, but take note sometime how Trump claims ownership of the government.  It’s MY generals, MY military, MY economy, MY NASA, MY miners, MY farmers.  Even MY African American.  Yikes. Lest we all forget, it is OUR government.

We keep lowering and lowering the bar of acceptable conduct for this president.  Congressional Republicans have nearly placed the bar at ground level.  Jesus Christ most of you are attorneys. Wake up.  Go back and read the Constitution and the Federalist Papers.  You of all people should be well enough informed to realize this is a constitutional crisis and start speaking out.  Do your job.

Republic Under Presidential Attack  

by Admiral W H McRaven.  Whether you are a veteran or not, this article should resonate.