The Witness Chronicles, August 1, 2024

Unfit for office

Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash

It’s Time to Start Questioning Trump’s Judgment

Choices like choosing J.D. Vance are finally revealing that his decisions are impulsive and dangerous

We all know that Trump is not known for thinking things through logically. It’s all impulse and gut and neither have proven to be good. He ‘likes’ murderous dictators who are our declared enemies. He gets pitched things like selling bibles and golden sneakers and goes for it. He says things like if I get elected you’ll never have to vote again.

I seriously doubt that any of his advisors thought any of these things was a good idea, because they are terrible ideas. And in case you think they are just harmless Trump stuff, think again. We cannot have a President who shoots from the hip all the time and either misses or screws up, all the time.

That’s fine when you’re just a publicity grubbing rich guy, but when you’re President people can die or be ruined, hard work can be undone in a moment, and our country’s reputation trashed in seconds.

This is not a minor problem, it is one of the problems, one of many, but for me this stands out. The recent example of choosing Vance against the advice of everyone around him is a prime one. We have to question whether they thoroughly vetted him or Trump simply ignored what they found, because Vance’s negatives were all out there in very public places.

His open hate of women’s rights of all kinds, including the right to not have children and choose a career. The man is a troglodyte and women recognize the type. And they don’t have to be Democrats to not like it. Vance was part of the plan to solidify MAGA and go after Joe Biden. Now he is a boat anchor weighing down the campaign.

And he is just one example. We choose leaders specifically because of their judgment, because we trust them to weigh the information and make the best decisions for our country. At least that is the theory.

There’s a bigger picture here. I wonder if the MAGA people who blame everyone and everything else for the troubles in their lives ever consider that it might be their own bad judgment? It’s super easy to pass the blame for things you screwed up onto other people and vague conspiracies.

People who make excuses are people who don't take responsibility for their lives. They are also people who fantasize about saviors who will fix everything for them. Trump knows this and it is the core of his appeal. All grifters depend on this. They know that some people will fall for charisma and throw any logic out the window.

It’s why Jim Jones’ followers swallowed the kool aid and died by the hundreds. They stopped relying on their own judgment and simply did what they were told. Lemmings following a leader over a cliff.

That’s the cost of no judgment. But Trump has a scarier version. He thinks his judgment is good. It’s not, and when things go south on him, he blames others.

Today he proved his judgment isn’t just bad, it’s non-existent, as he tried to tell a room full of black journalists that Kamala Harris ‘turned black’. Her father is Jamaican and her mother is Indian. She attended an historically black college and university.

But Trump insisted that when he first met her she was Indian, then became black, implying it was a choice based on perceived political advantage. Those on the panel questioning him were incredulous and pushed back hard but he kept digging the hole.

It’s hard to know exactly how to take this. I have yet to hear his campaign’s explanation or excuses, but they should be interesting. How do you explain what looks like delusional fantasy?

This bizarre election year keeps topping itself. But there is a logical explanation for what Trump is thinking and it is terrifying. He will say anything that comes into his head because he doesn’t care what people think. He knows his plans do not focus on winning anymore but on once again trying to steal the election and destroy democracy, all in service to his monstrous ego.

And, it must be said, his existential fear. The man could well go to prison if he is not elected, one way or another.

His actions since Biden suddenly dropped out and the Democrats united around Harris’ nomination make it clear he intends to embark on the civil war he has been promising for months, if not years.

To me this is delusional and may represent a huge misjudgment of the American people. For years Trump has been surrounded by a bubble of people and rabid followers who constantly reinforce his reality even as it has no parallel in reality.

In other words he may be devolving into a pure psychopath, a creature who cares for nothing except himself and will coldly embrace killing if it suits his purposes. The man is crazy.

He may think the Supreme Court’s decision granting Presidents total immunity for official actions may somehow help his case but he has not been President for four years, and currently has no right to any kind of immunity for any actions he takes to overthrow the government.

In fact, if she is sworn in, that immunity will go to Kamala Harris and, until then, applies to Joe Biden. In the past few weeks we have seen a massive shift in voter sentiment as those opposed to Trump went from despair to an upsurge of enthusiasm, buoyed by Kamala Harris. I find it reassuring that Americans look poised to do the right thing.

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