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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAndrew Sullivan: The Madness of King Donald
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/andrew-sullivan-the-madness-of-king-donald.html?mid=fb-share-diFebruary 10, 2017 9:51 a.m.
The Madness of King Donald
By Andrew Sullivan
snip//
What are we supposed to do with this? How are we to respond to a president who in the same week declared that the murder rate in our country is the highest its been in 45 to 47 years, when, of course, despite some recent, troubling spikes in cities, its nationally near a low not seen since the late 1960s, and half what it was in 1980. What are we supposed to do when a president says that two people were shot dead in Chicago during President Obamas farewell address when this is directly contradicted by the Chicago police? None of this, moreover, is ever corrected. No error is ever admitted. Any lie is usually doubled down by another lie along with an ad hominem attack.
Here is what we are supposed to do: rebut every single lie. Insist moreover that each lie is retracted and journalists in press conferences should back up their colleagues with repeated follow-ups if Spicer tries to duck the plain truth. Do not allow them to move on to another question. Interviews with the president himself should not leave a lie alone; the interviewer should press and press and press until the lie is conceded. The press must not be afraid of even calling the president a liar to his face if he persists. This requires no particular courage. I think, in contrast, of those dissidents whose critical insistence on simple truth in plain language kept reality alive in the Kafkaesque world of totalitarianism. As the Polish dissident Adam Michnik once said: In the life of every honorable man comes a difficult moment when the simple statement that this is black and that is white requires paying a high price. The price Michnik paid was years in prison. American journalists cannot risk a little access or a nasty tweet for the same essential civic duty?
*
Then there is the obvious question of the presidents mental and psychological health. I know were not supposed to bring this up but it is staring us brutally in the face. I keep asking myself this simple question: If you came across someone in your everyday life who repeatedly said fantastically and demonstrably untrue things, what would you think of him? If you showed up at a neighbors, say, and your host showed you his newly painted living room, which was a deep blue, and then insisted repeatedly manically that it was a lovely shade of scarlet, what would your reaction be? If he then dragged out a member of his family and insisted she repeat this obvious untruth in front of you, how would you respond? If the next time you dropped by, he was still raving about his gorgeous new red walls, what would you think? Heres what Id think: This man is off his rocker. Hes deranged; hes bizarrely living in an alternative universe; hes delusional. If he kept this up, at some point youd excuse yourself and edge slowly out of the room and the house and never return. Youd warn your other neighbors. Youd keep your distance. If you saw him, youd be polite but keep your distance.
I think this is a fundamental reason why so many of us have been so unsettled, anxious, and near panic these past few months. It is not so much this presidents agenda. That always changes from administration to administration. It is that when the linchpin of an entire country is literally delusional, clinically deceptive, and responds to any attempt to correct the record with rage and vengeance, everyone is always on edge.
There is no anchor any more. At the core of the administration of the most powerful country on earth, there is, instead, madness.
more...
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Andrew Sullivan: The Madness of King Donald (Original Post)
babylonsister
Feb 2017
OP
JHan
(10,173 posts)1. cracking piece K & R
First Speaker
(4,858 posts)2. I've always admired Sullivan, even when I disagree with him...
...maybe because he's a Brit, and/or because he's a Tory...but he's just the sort of civilized conservative I wish made up our opposition...
Laffy Kat
(16,373 posts)3. One of the few conservatives I can tolerate.
I actually like it when he's on "Real Time".
coco22
(1,258 posts)4. It's both for me..
He is a nut and I hate his agenda.
Lucinda
(31,170 posts)5. TY KNR