How Enfeebled Is Trump?

 Richardson's daily post is about the increasing tempo of authoritarianism in the Trump Administration. It is certainly true and very troubling. We have the assaults and planned future assaults on American cities. We have the retribution campaign against anyone who doesn't genuflect before Trump and his twisted narrative.

However, there are other signs that aren't as good for the Mad King. First, there's the weakening economy that seems only propped up by an AI bubble that seems bound to burst sooner or later. All the stagflation lights are blinking. He's not popular - though polling seems all over the map. 

The bigger issue for me at this moment are the rumors of poor health. I pondered on what happened in the Alaska Summit that had his aides so rattled, but it occurred to me later that maybe Trump fell asleep or demonstrated clear signs of dementia in front of Putin. There's the recurring photos of his right hand covered in makeup to conceal the bruising that could come from IV blood thinners and other drugs. He looks like shit, he sounds like shit, he can't walk in a straight line, he has the BMI of the Stay Puff marshmallow man and he was dumb before age-related cognitive decline hit him.

What if he's in really bad health? Hell, I'm not quite 60, and I can say that I just don't bounce back like I used to. I work out rigorously, I feed my brain, I try and eat well, and I can feel it. He's 79 and in obvious decline.

How much of the authoritarian framework depends on Trump personally? That's the trillion dollar question. His bizarre fixation with tariffs seems unique to him. His vice like grip on the GOP seems unique to him, whereby he utters some stupidity about annexing Greenland and his wee toadies fall in line, then forget it when he does.

Still, the worst actors are the Miller-Vought-Patel-Noem-Kennedy-Hegseth-Gabbard-Bondi types who implement his authoritarian impulses. If he dies or becomes so incapacitated that even they can't deny it, what happens then? JD Vance has no more principles than a sea cucumber, but is that a good thing or a bad thing? Would he try and double down on Trumpism or try and seize the center? Both bring peril to a guy with the charisma of, well, a sea cucumber.

Otto von Bismarck said that "God has a special providence for fools, drunkard and the United States of America." It would be something if the thing that saves our democracy is the fickle finger of death landing upon the Mad King.