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THE VIEW FROM HERE - When I first used this title in February 22, 2024 CityWatch, Wokeism was the most lethal. Trump was a leader of a cult which would disintegrate upon his demise, while Pelosi’ Identity Politics, aka Wokeism, had overtaken much of the Republic by substituting Identity Politics for the Declaration of Independence’s individual inalienable rights. As such, it had burrowed deeply into academia and the government, where use of the wrong pronoun had been elevated to a secular sin.
In February 2024, we wrote: “Without Trump, There Is No MAGA. Trump’s egomania became the core of a cult of aggrieved Americans who were mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. If Trump slips on a banana peel tomorrow and departs this earthly realm, the cult is dead. Surely, some will try to keep the MAGA alive, but it is dependent on one person, who had no agenda except self-aggrandizement.”
The Unitary Executive Theory and Trump
Too bad, so sad, no banana materialized to save America from Trumpism Unknown was an independent forced behind Trump – The Unitary Executive Theory. Trump clearly did not name it. If there is one thing at which Trump excels, it’s giving out memorable nicknames, like MAGA, and Little Marco, Sleepy Joe, Crooked Hillary, Lyin’ Ted, "Pocahontas" (Elizabeth Warren), and most recently “Dumocrats."
Within the confines of the US Constitution’s Checks and Balances, Trump’s mental illness could be restrained. (Screw the Goldwater Rule. It’s a political rule without a scientific basis.) Trump suffers from Histrionic and Narcissistic Personality Disorders with marked paranoid features. Since we are subjected to Trump daily, it is nice to recognize these features. The above hyperlinks in blue provide a decent explanation for us regular folk.) In fact, when people become familiar with the diagnostic criteria for Histrionic and Narcissistic Personality Disorders, it can be almost fun watching them display themselves before us each day. Rather than be mystified why Trump says such bizarre things and rambles on and on and on until people captured at cabinet meetings want to commit hara-kiri just to stop his endless droning on and on and on, we can play the game of “How many examples of Histrionics, Narcissism, and Paranoia Can We Identify?”
People with Mental Illnesses Can Have Talents and Function Effectively
Winston Churchill probably suffered from Bipolar II Disorder or Cyclothymic Disorder. Many would classify Abraham Lincoln as having Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) or Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia). Society needs to discard the pejorative term “mental illness” since we all have characteristic ways of behaving. Similar to how the genome project mapped all human genes, we need a comprehensive system to classify personality patterns. They may be so numerous and overlapping that perhaps only Ai will be up to the task. With effort and some mental effort, however, we can understand Trump’s patterns – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
What to Learn from Trump’s Peculiarities
Due to his grandiose sense of self-entitlement (Narcissistic), Trump truly believes that he may do whatever he desires. When thwarted, Narcissists have hissy fits, as Trump did during the interview with Kristen Welker (NBC's Meet the Press), when she pressed him for evidence of California voter fraud. Trump’s rage protects his ego from shame so that he instantly converts the public shame into an explosive burst of anger. The interview exemplifies his behavior when Trump is not allowed to break the cultural rule to have facts. He lacked any evidence to support his charge and Welker not only exposed Trump, but also, she did not back down like most people do. She showed to everyone Trump’s nakedness in public.
It is imperative to realize that it was Trump who fled. Worst yet, a woman had stripped him bare. Thus, Trump had to escape. It was Trump’s Histrionic Disorder which causes him to repetitively make this mistake, but almost no one exposes, to his face in a public setting, his total lack of facts and logic as Welker did. Because Histrionics are shallow thinkers with very limited analytical ability, they impulsively and dramatically utter nonsense.
When one knows the DSM-5 features of Histrionics and Narcissism plus paranoia (systematic delusions of persecution and/or grandeur), one can see how these same features were behind his bizarre behavior with Kristen Welker and after his losing the Iranian war. Reality has exposed Trump as a loser. In response, Trump rejects reality by incessantly claiming a wonderful deal with Iran is just a few days away just as he insist the California election was rigged. Iran holds a more devastating threat for Trump’s psyche. No one has held Trump face to face to Welker’s exacting standards on Iran as she did with California voting.
Will Trump Succumb to Delusions
It’s hard to tell if Trump has become truly delusional about his loss of the 2020 election. Even people with delusions can know reality on some deeper level. Suppose Trump possesses a delusion that Iran wants a deal and that one is a few days away. His juvenile attempt to control Israel is based on some deep need to deny that he has lost control. When Trump claims that Israel will have to live with a bad deal, Trump lacks the insight that he is admitting that there is no good deal to be had with Iran. The Iranians as well as Putin and virtually every other world leader can read Trump like an open book. Where’s the wonderful deal with Putin to end the Ukrainian war? Greenland or Canada blew off Trump. His grandiosity causes him to believe that anything and everything which he desires is possible. Being Histrionic, Trump has delusions that world leaders, who actually despise him, are his close friends. With Putin, however, we have to factor in that Putin is blackmailing Trump with a KGB file which goes back to the 1980's.
How Senator Thune Betrayed the Nation
During his first administration, Trump had many advisors who disagreed with him and countered his crazier plans. The horrid Stephen Miller, who has ruined Trump domestically, however, is not subject to Senate approval or rejection. The existence of the vile Stephen Miller in the White House made it overwhelmingly vital to the nation that [the] Senate reject each and every incompetent whom Trump nominated. See Thune is a Traitor
Only Sycophants Need Apply
Since his first administration, Trump has worked very hard to surround himself with people who only praise him and never disagree. When one takes the time to learn the features of Histrionic, Narcissistic, and Paranoia, one understands that Trump tolerate only aids without absolutely loyalty and who praise him 24/7. For his second administration, Trump nominated the worst of the worst. But for the reprehensible abrogation of Sen. John Thune’s Constitutional duty to reject the qualified nominees, Pig Hegseth would not be Secretary of Defense. More importantly for Trump, the nation and the world, Hegseth would not have misled Trump into his absurd plans for attacking Iran. Yes, it is axiomatic that Iran has to be stopped. While Trump was heeding Israel’s advice, progress was being made, but as Hegseth cleared the Pentagon of qualified experts, Hegseth juvenile concepts of lethality destroyed strategic planning. From June 2025 when Trump insisted that Israel stop after Twelve Days to Trump’s getting 40,000 activists murdered in January 2026 to Hegseth’s disregard of the nature of the Iranian regime and the absolute necessity to deprive Iran of the Strait of Hormuz, disaster has followed disaster. You can’t fix stupid.
Let’s Heed the Federalist Papers
Federalist Paper 76, written by Alexander Hamilton, explains the Senate’s duty to reject unqualified nominees as well as highlighting some types of men who required Senate rejection. Federalist Paper 77 explains its attitude towards John Thune demanding that all Senators had to approve any and all Trump nominees. “If an ill appointment should be made, the Executive for nominating, and the Senate for approving, would participate, though in different degrees, in the opprobrium and disgrace.”
As Welker proved, Trump is perfectly capable to staying with the checks and balances of the US Constitution, no matter how much he might hate it. Trump has agreed to another Walker interview. The Constitution’s framers foresaw a Donald Trump, and therefore, they impose certain duties on Senators to limit a President’s behavior. Trump may have wanted an ignorant tool like Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense, but the US Senate had an absolutely duty to say, “No,” and reject Hegseth. Almost all of Trump’s other nominees would have been rejected. Trump would have bitched and complained incessantly, if the Senate had constructed around Trump a fence of wiser minds; Trump and the nation would have been better for it. Senators were and are abject cowards.
The absurd idea that a President has the right to have his nominees approved is constitutional hogwash. Trump may have become a buffoon, but Senator John Thune is far worse traitor than Benedict Arnold
(Richard Lee Abrams is a former Los Angeles-based attorney, an author, and political commentator. A long-time contributor to CityWatchLA, he is known for his incisive critiques of City Hall and judicial corruption, as well as his analysis of political and constitutional issues. Abrams blends legal insight with historical and philosophical depth to challenge conventional narratives. A passionate defender of civic integrity and transparency, he aims to expose misuse of power and advocate for systemic reform in local government. You may email him at [email protected] )
