An Existential Crisis

And now we are facing an existential crisis, a threat to our existence. Make no mistake. It is real and it is a clear and present danger. Trump denies the claims of renowned scientists, he announces that he is a stable genius after one of his former undergraduate finance professors was quoted as saying that Trump was the dumbest damned student he ever had in a classroom, and seems to presume that he is a god with claims like “Only I can fix it.”. Some have suggested that we should adhere to the Goldwater rule but that is nonsense in this era of instantaneous availability of information, especially as Trump is concerned. He hides nothing. Every impulse, emotion and vitriolic diatribe is on full display often multiple times daily through tweets, rallies and interviews. He rambles incoherently in what can only be described as glossolalia about his German father (who wasn’t German), HRC, his love affair with despots. He swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution but he berates freedom of speech and a free press on a regular basis, calling various new outlets “fake news” and berating multiple reporters. He has hinted more than once that perhaps we should try a lifelong presidential experiment, although presidential tenure is limited to two terms in the Constitution. All of us want secure borders but every ICE agent I have heard has agreed that they need more resources but not for more walls. They want more resources for better technology to detect illegal immigrants and to hire and train new and existing ICE agents. I have heard them say that they have plenty of walls but are grossly understaffed and poorly trained with outdated surveillance technology. Trump does not not care about any of these facts. His only concern is his own image. What else would one expect from a malignant narcissist? As I said, we are facing a clear and present danger — an existential crisis.