MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2026
...about president's future conduct: Exactly as we told you on Friday, full services will resume some day this very week!
In the meantime, Mediaite, reporting on Axios and the Wall Street Journal, invites us to think about this:
‘Beginning of the End’: Trump Advisers Reportedly Spooked He Will Increasingly ‘Act Out’ as He Loses His Grip on PowerIn a piece titled “Behind the Curtain: Trump’s future foretold,” Axios co-founders Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen report that Trump’s closest allies are growing increasingly concerned about how the president will act as his term draws to a close.
“The skeleton key for unlocking Trump’s mind is understanding that he thinks constantly about exercising power, and believes power is a zero-sum game—a winner and a loser,” VandeHei and Allen wrote.
They added, “Trump advisers and confidants describe him as generally in a good mood. But some privately confess he can get too cranky too quickly sometimes and that he’s showing his 80 years on Earth.”
The report comes on the heels of a Wall Street Journal article titled “Wave of Setbacks Leaves Trump Frustrated and Looking for Credit.” That story, as well, painted a picture of an increasingly frustrated president growing more desperate and lashing out.
Is Mediaite overstating the content of these reports? It's strange to see a provocative phrase ("Beginning of the End") adding spice to a headline when the provocative phrase in question doesn't appear in the body of the report.
(Concern that the president might "act out" does appear in the report, but it doesn't appear as a quote from those "Trump advisers.")
Whatever! However you slice it, these reports involve a question we've raised at this site again and again and again. Given the possible mental illness / cognition issues our press corps insists on avoiding, what might the sitting president start deciding to do once the midterm elections have passed?
Even in the Axios quote, Allen and VandeHei go euphemistic with respect to possible cognitive decline.
Euphemistically, they refer to the possibility that the sitting president is "showing his 80 years on Earth.” Our journalists will go to great lengths to avoid discussing the possibility of mental illness and/or cognitive decline.
The high-end press isn't going to drop its avoidance of adult discussion with respect to such possible infirmities. Meanwhile, where might the president's future impulses take us?
That's a second, separate question. Because of the possible danger involved, it might be time to act like grown-ups in crafting our public discussions of same.
Update: As an example of what we're talking about, go ahead and just click here. Please remember our basic rules:
A (serious) mental illness is an illness. Also, as a general matter, people don't choose to be cognitively impaired:
Trump Goes on Bonkers Rant Against Climate Change, Tying It to AI: ‘Nobody Was Dead’
President Donald Trump went on an electronic tirade against climate change, comparing any controversy surrounding it to recent panic that AI “will kill us all.”In a Truth Social post on Monday afternoon, the president denounced the threat of “Global Warming,” saying the name has since been “‘reborn’ to Climate Change.”“The same people that said, ‘We’ll all be dead in twelve years because of Global Warming,’ a name since ‘reborn’ to Climate Change, because the Planet was cooling, not warming, and nobody was dead, are the people that are now saying that AI is going to kill us, that robots are going to attack us, and everything is a DISASTER,” Trump wrote. “This is more of a Hoax than even that of RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, and Climate Change!”
[...]
Moments before, Trump posted another poll that asked his followers for their preferred name for artificial intelligence, days after he announced his intention to change what he called an “inaccurate” and “very ineloquent” moniker.
Trump must go. But is JD any better?
ReplyDeleteSince Vance has flipped and flopped more often than a freshly caught fish, the truth is nobody knows how badly he would behave -- but that he WOULD behave badly is pretty much a foregone conclusion. It's just a question of degree.
DeleteVance is solidly backed by billionaire Thiel so he may be less likely to be as personally corrupt, but for the country Vance would be at least as bad as Trump.
DeleteFor the country, sadly, it is better if Trump survives his term as he continually falls in popularity. If Vance took over, he could gain a foothold, but with his complete lack of charisma, Vance on his own, trying to campaign,, would fall flat on his face.
Dems will probably take back at least the House, and then probably win in 28.
Trump has done a lot of damage to the GOP, it will take time for it to recover.
"Trump has done a lot of damage to the GOP..."
DeleteTrump has revealed exactly what the GOP is. THAT is the damage he did to it. In the past, the GOP was able to hide its true colors. Trump isn't capable of hiding anything, even his personal corruption. He'll probably do even more damage before he goes -- but that damage will be what he does to the country at large, as it's hardly possible to reveal more fully than he has what the GOP is. How the country reacts to his destructiveness will reveal exactly what IT is, and I'm not optimistic. Bush ran the country into the ground, and two years later the country gave the GOP control of Congress.
Agree.
DeleteAnd Somerby will say it’s the fault of liberals for being so unappealing, smug, and condescending.
DeleteYup.
DeleteSomerby's analysis is so dumb and off base, it can only be the result of strict adherence to an agenda.
Obama's midterm disaster was the result of a wave of racist reaction to a Black person being elected president during one of our worst economic downturns in history (of Bush's making), along with complacency among Dems, and with corporate media still, but barely, clinging to its stranglehold on discourse and the Overton window.
DeleteObama was reelected though.
And the democratization of media came to the fore.
Trump squeaked by because Dems hadn't yet fully learned the lesson that old school neoliberalism and colonialism are no longer supported by the electorate and that swing voters no longer play a significant role in electoral politics (also because we don't have universal mail in ballots, and because there remains some sticky sexism and racism among Dem voters, and because Republicans excel at voter suppression and related dirty tricks).
Times are a bit different now. Corporate media's sway has greatly diminished. We have people like Mark Elias and Heather Cox Richardson and independent media doing yeoman's work. Look at how quickly and strongly opinion has shifted on Israel. Dems have Mamdani, Sanders, AOC, El-Sayed, Talarico, Brown, Nixon, etc. These are very popular politicians and many are massively over-performing in polling.
Something is in the air.
"Somerby will say it’s the fault of liberals for being so unappealing, smug, and condescending."
DeleteSomerby has never blamed GOP buffoonery on liberals being unappealing, smug and condescending. He argues that Dems would do better in elections if they're weren't so much of the aforementioned things.
Splitting hairs there a bit, also Somerby's arguments do not make sense, and he never offers any coherent or credible evidence to give any credence to his silly claims.
DeleteHere’s an example, 4:02, of Somerby blaming liberals for GOP buffoonery:
Delete(Referring to Gutfeld):
“In our view, Blue America should be asking itself how he ever got that way.” …
Has our team possibly played some role in this truly remarkable fail?”
“Silly and childish and numbingly stupid!
TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2024”
https://dailyhowler.blogspot.com/2024/04/silly-and-childish-and-numbingly-stupid.html?m=1
ReplyDeleteYeah, sure, the usual: beginning of the end, the wall are closing in, it's all over, it's a bombshell, etc. etc. etc.
It's been a decade of this shit now. Yawn. But sure, keep it going, Dumbocrats, keep it going.
Are you the asshole that thinks Eisenhower bombed Dresden?
DeleteNo, he is the asshole Mao trolling this place since the early "00' s". He is so fucking stupid he hasn't figured out there is no B in dumass.
DeleteSomerby: Nothing to worry about, the Axios article doesn't mention my cause célèbre - the precise diagnosis of Trump's mental illness - but it does not harm the GOP. Rest easy folks.
ReplyDeleteExactly.
DeleteTrump's mental illness is already widely reported, nailing down the specific term won't have any impact on policy or electoral politics, it'll only serve to soften the blow to the Republican party: 'Republicans aren't so bad, they have valid ideas, they just happened to have voted in someone who is a bit too boorish and loony.'
Hey at least Somerby isn't doing his usual whining about Gutfeld being bad for Republican branding.
Delete2:31 -- You're using the Big Lie Technique, right? Just keep repeating the Lie (i.e., Somerby criticizes Gutfeld because Gutfeld is bad for the Republican brand) over and over and over.
DeleteThe fact that Somerby severely criticizes Gutfeld undercuts your overarching theory that Somerby is right-wing. (I mean, you don't see any other right-wingers criticizing Gutfeld, do you?) So you've concocted your Big Lie as an epicycle to explain this wobble in your theory.
But there is an alternative. You could discard your Big Lie and amend your theory to fit the reality that Somerby criticizes Gutfeld for the simple reason that Gutfeld is a gutter propaganda artist.
“Last night's program was brutally stupid. That said, it was also built, at times, on a certain measure of truth.”
Delete(He was speaking of Gutfeld’s program.)
“Silly and childish and numbingly stupid!
TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2024”
https://dailyhowler.blogspot.com/2024/04/silly-and-childish-and-numbingly-stupid.html?m=1
Why would someone who feels Gutfeld is a “gutter propaganda artist” acknowledge that his propaganda is built on truth? In that same post, he says:
“In our view, Blue America should be asking itself how he ever got that way. …
Has our team possibly played some role in this truly remarkable fail?”
He is blaming liberals for Gutfeld.
Using a small bit of logic and inference, there really is no other reasonable reason why Somerby is long term laser focused on criticizing Gutfeld's boorishness while endorsing some of the ideas Gutfeld champions.
DeleteAnd many Republicans express distaste for people like Gutfeld, with Karl Rove being a recent notable one.
The only reason one would read Somerby so literally is because one is a troll dedicated to defend Somerby and his obvious right wing agenda.
Now who hurt you so bad to be in such a way, poor fellow?
He gets “cranky” too quickly sometimes? Is that the size of it?
ReplyDeleteDo any of those “close allies” do anything but express “concern”? Have they stopped being close allies? Do they feel Trump should step down? Do they suggest that republicans ought to step in? Who are these close allies? Is there some movement afoot amongst the GOP to rein Trump in? There is zero evidence of that, and it seems unlikely to happen, because the GOP isn’t the GOP of nixon’s day. It’s a cult.
Bob leans heavily on Axios in producing his (somewhat) daily content here.
DeleteAxios is a right wing rag with close ties to Trump and his admin, is owned and operated by right wingers, and whose main purpose is to normalize right wing beliefs.
Axios gushed at Trump's accomplishments in the first year of this term, and to explain Trump's unpopularity they actually said that Americans "seem tired of all the winning." That was their explanation.
Axios' agenda and content dovetails well with Bob's blog.
Oh, so Somerby primarily uses right wing sources to create his blog posts. Huh.
DeleteWho knew?
" ... as a general matter, people don't choose to be cognitively impaired: ...."
ReplyDeleteThey can be cognitively impaired and decide to be pricks. Both are possible.
Somerby is being vague again. What does “cognitive impairment” mean? Is Somerby using this term as a synonym for a personality disorder? They aren’t the same.
DeleteIf he is referring to dementia, then it’s not entirely accurate to say people don’t “choose” it. Trump famously has a terrible diet, gets no exercise, and doesn’t get proper sleep. These are choices, and these things strongly increase the risk for dementia.
But we are told by his doctors that he is doing just fine!
I didn’t decide to be a prick. I’d really rather not be a prick. But now that I’m cognitively impaired, I can’t help myself.
DeleteAgree, one of the many flaws with Somerby's point is that it is not very actionable.
DeleteBut even that is on purpose, it serves to distract from the fact that Trump is our most corrupt and criminal president in history, which is actionable. But Somerby says oh no we can't prosecute people like Trump, after all Trump might really believe his lies - this is the baby brained level of thinking. We have to pity people like Trump, after all many of their ideas are valid. Brother, please.
The entire Rebub cult needs to be destroyed. Look at Thom Hartmann list these fucking weirdos and jagoffs picked to run our Government:
ReplyDelete"— An alcoholic B-list weekend TV star in charge of our military,
— A formerly heroin- and sex-addicted brainworm-infected lawyer in charge of our public health,
— A wrestling promoter in charge of our Education Department,
— The president’s personal criminal defense lawyer in charge of the Justice Department,
— A C-list reality TV star in charge of our air traffic control system,
— A plumber in charge of Homeland Security,
— A “miracle weight-loss pill” TV hawker in charge of Medicare and Medicaid,
— A social media hustler and children’s book author in charge of the FBI,
— A predatory hedge fund guy in charge of the Treasury,
— A fracking CEO who denies the climate crisis in charge of the Energy Department,
— Jeffrey Epstein’s former next-door neighbor and Epstein Island visitor in charge of the Commerce Department,
— A politician who built his career on a phony story about his parents fleeing Castro in charge of telling America’s story to the world,
— The mentee of an anti-democracy billionaire as our VP,
— A Project 2025 architect who was excited to put federal workers “in trauma” in charge of America’s federal budget,
— A racist whose own uncle publicly denounced him as an immigration hypocrite, and whose leaked emails pushed white nationalist material to Breitbart, in charge of immigration policy,
— A former NFL player in charge of public housing,
— A real estate developer and golf buddy with no diplomatic experience whatsoever negotiating with and sucking up to Vladimir Putin,
— The world’s richest man firing people investigating him and his companies while gutting the federal government and killing millions by “feeding USAID into the wood chipper,”
— And a self-described “proud Islamophobe” with no government job vetting the National Security Council staff."
Sweet moobly goobly that be some incredible fucking stupid.
Where is your pity for these poor suffering souls?
DeleteWe should try to maintain good relations with Muslims, but their religion is nonsense.
DeleteWhich religion isn’t nonsense?
DeleteIslam is no more nonsense than Judaism or Christianity. In fact they all worship the same god, Muslims even believe in Jesus, which Jews do not.
DeleteWe were always 'doing it wrong' (hat tip to Mr Mom) with respect to Muslims, generally supporting Sunni extremists instead of the less extreme and more Western Shia.
In reality, nothing is supernatural, there are no gods and Jesus is a myth.
Religion would not exist without indoctrination.
But we do have a problem, death is scary af; that also drives religion, when it should instead be driving ways to have death with dignity.
“ cognitively impaired?” Official White House medical reports state that Donald Trump is in "excellent health" and fully fit for office.
ReplyDeleteThose doctors wouldn’t lie would they? Why should Trump’s closest allies be concerned?
I mean, it is what they say.
DeletePeople always say what they mean.
Right?
Question, and I don’t mean to be smug and/or condescending: are Trump’s supporters cognitively impaired?
ReplyDeleteIn a colloquial sense maybe, sort of.
DeleteTrump's supporters are all right wing (generally much more extreme than right wing Dems), which refers to an emergent personality trait proximally borne from unresolved trauma and ultimately borne from the hierarchical and dominance-oriented conditions of our current society which has been developing over the past 10-12k years. Prior to that, for 95% of our existence, we lived in primarily egalitarian societies.
Trump's supporters are not dumb (there is no credible evidence that demonstrates any significant difference in brain capability among non impaired individuals), in fact they are quite sharp in some respects since their personality traits are so far adrift from our natural and innate states so that they have to maintain a house of cards and castles made of sand that tends to keep their brains well exercised in a way. Not a good way though.