The New Yorker, coming out of the bullpen
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Coda to Trump’s meeting with the Generals
In the twenty-four hours since Trump’s disastrous speech to the generals, he has remained out of sight in the White House. An article by Tom Nichols in The Atlantic focused on Trump’s obvious mental deterioration—and its implications for national security. What does the military do if the president is not sane? See The Atlantic, The Commander in Chief Is Not Okay.
Nichols writes,
[T]he generals and admirals should be forgiven if they walked out of the auditorium and wondered: What on earth is wrong with the commander in chief? [¶] In 1973, an Air Force nuclear-missile officer named Harold Hering asked a simple question during a training session: “How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?” The question cost him his career. Military members are trained to execute orders, not question them. But today, both the man who can order the use of nuclear arms and the man who would likely verify such an order gave disgraceful and unnerving performances in Quantico. How many officers left the room asking themselves Major Hering’s question?
Trump’s tentative grasp on reality is so obvious that Speaker Mike Johnson avoided commenting on Trump’s performance by claiming that he did not watch it. See Mediate, ‘Oh My God, Please!’ House Democrat Confronts Mike Johnson Over Trump’s Comments to Generals. (Mike Johnson: “I didn’t see it.”)
Mike Johnson may not have watched Trump’s remarks in their entirety, but he saw video clips—as did most people in America. Trump’s political allies are so embarrassed by his deranged comments that they are denying knowledge of a major policy speech by the president to all senior leaders of the military.
Speaker Johnson’s denial is not credible. It is evidence that those around Trump recognize his mental deterioration and are attempting to conceal it—thereby highlighting the urgency of their fears.
[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]
