How dangerous / crazy is Donald J. Trump?

FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2021

Wolf Blitzer asks Colin Powell: How dangerous is Donald J. Trump in these last two weeks? 

We raised the question yesterday. During last evening's six o'clock hour, Wolf Blitzer asked Colin Powell.

The interview was strange at its start; Powell even became annoyed with Blitzer's peculiar questions. Eventually, the rubber met the road, with Powell saying this:

POWELL (1/7/20): I think [Trump] should be rebuked in some way. I'm just not sure that the right way is to try to invoke the 25th Amendment, which I doubt would be done by the 20th of January. And I think the same thing goes on with an impeachment.

But if the Congress wants to try it, that's their business, not mine. I would focus on the man himself, and make sure we know what he's doing for the next two weeks...But it's only, what, thirteen days?

BLITZER: Thirteen days.

POWELL: How do we get anything done in thirteen days in this? No, let's just get him out of office. I think he's teed up to get out of office.

Some people think he's going to do something, something crazy, some kind of military action. I don't think so, because I don't think he would have anybody in the government who would give him that kind of support.

Powell doesn't think that Trump will do something crazy. Some people think he will, but Powell isn't among them. 

Would Trump really need "support" from others to take military action? Blitzer didn't ask. Later, though, Powell said this:

BLITZER: The former Defense Secretary, William Cohen, a man you and I know well, he said today that President Trump's behavior—and I'm quoting him now—"calls into question his mental status."

Do you have concerns about his capacity, his mental fitness right now?

POWELL: You can't not have concerns about his mental fitness, when you see the way he behaves, the way he acts, and the things he does, and how he sort of gets off the rail.

He says one thing and then does something else. So, I think there's something to what Bill Cohen said. That's something else that we can do, turn over to mental authorities on the thirteenth day from here.

Powell is concerned about Trump's mental fitness, but he doesn't think the commander will do anything crazy. Also, we can have him locked in a padded cell after he leaves office!

This morning, on Morning Joe, the very alert Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) expressed a somewhat different view. 

"Everybody's really on edge," she said, concerning the possibility that Trump will take military action in Iran. She specifically cited the recent routing change of that aircraft carrier. No one asked about nukes.

Slotkin is impressive and sharp. Nobody asked her how crazy she thinks the commander probably is.

As a society, we bought this dilemma a long time ago, starting with Diane Sawyer. 

"Was sex with The Donald the best you ever had?" Sawyer posed the question to Marla Maples, who went ahead and answered. 

This bit of lowbrow entertainment helped build Sawyer's "journalistic" career. On the downside, it helped make Trump a very big man, and it's been straight downhill from there.

"Everybody's really on edge." So said Slotkin, to Mika and Joe.