Unbalanced

For John, BLUF:  There is a lot of talk about Trump mental stability, on the Democrat side and amongst reporters, but I repeat myself.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

The psychiatrist who briefed Congress on Trump’s mental state:  this is “an emergency”

That should read "members of Congress", about a dozen of them, out of 535 (including Senators).  But, revolutions and coups usually begin with a small number of bold members.♠

The Vox article is by Ms Eliza Barclay (eliza.barclay@vox.com), on 6 January 2018.

Commentator Byron York tweeted about it, here:

Yale psychiatrist who briefed Hill Dems wants to physically restrain President Trump, force him to submit to evaluation, declare him unfit for office.  But she worries:  'This really will look like a coup.'  You think?  From Vox:  (link: http://ow.ly/fdlG30hCyqa)

Here is an excerpt from Ms Barclay's article:

Leading this call is Bandy Lee, an assistant professor in forensic psychiatry (the interface of law and mental health) at the Yale School of Medicine who has devoted her 20-year career to studying, predicting, and preventing violence.

She recently briefed a dozen members of Congress — Democrats and one Republican — on the president’s mental state.  And this week, she, along with Judith Herman at Harvard and Robert Jay Lifton at Columbia, released a statement arguing that Trump is “further unraveling.”  The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, a collection of essays from 27 mental health professionals that Lee edited, was published in October.

Sigh.

Doesn't anyone remember "The Goldwater Rule" (Section 7 in the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Principles of Medical Ethics).  Anyone besides my wife?

Then, from The Washington Examiner we have this 6 January 2018 piece by Eddie Scarry:

Why hasn't Michael Wolff's dementia-Trump ever been seen in public?

Here are some Instapundit excerpts from Mr Scarry's article about Mr Wolff's new book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House♥:

In the book, Trump has an impossibly short attention span, refuses to learn from policy briefs and fails to grasp the fundamentals of U.S. government.

Where was this version of Trump when giving one of his dozens of interviews, hosting his rallies, or delivering public remarks at any point between 2015 and now?

Yes, Trump mostly spoke extemporaneously during the campaign, often repeating words and themes, a phenomenon otherwise known as speaking aloud.

But he’s also delivered dozens of speeches off teleprompters, proving he can actually read, frequently going off-script to offer commentary and then returning to the prepared remarks.

During the campaign, from January to September in 2016, he hosted more than four-and-a-half hours worth of press conferences, compared to Hillary Clinton’s 38 minutes worth.

Here’s an experiment:  Put a truly mentally slow older person, like Dana Milbank, for example, on stage in front of reporters to answer a succession of questions for one hour.  Then compare it to the multiple times Trump did it, and see who comes out sharpest.

As president, Trump frequently approaches the press pool in order to answer a range of questions, something former President Obama rarely did.

In Wolff’s book, he says Trump is perpetually distracted, can’t train his mind on substance, and couldn’t recognize his own friends.

Contrast that account with the transcript of a 30-minute interview Trump gave at his golf club in Florida on Dec. 28 to the New York Times.  It shows him talking at length about the Russia investigation, the threat from North Korea, and immigration.  He even interrupts his thoughts to speak with guests he presumably recognizes.

Here is what Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds had to say:

You never see dementia-Trump in public because he only lives in the heads of Democrats and reporters — but I repeat myself — who are desperate to believe, and who are making fools of themselves in the process.

Yup.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Of course, eleven of those dozen are Democrats and they don't even have what it takes to replace their House Leader, Ms Nancy Pelosi, who I judge to be further along than President Trump.  But, she is a Democrat.  And older, although not as old as my wife, who I would put in charge in a heartbeat.
♥  Don't look for me to be reading the book for you and posting extracts.