David Brooks nailed it in this article on our childish leader. We have elected a president who behaves like a child who can't get enough attention and praise. He behaves exactly like others who have the same personality disorder. Brooks provides numerous examples of Trump's behavior that are characteristic of narcissists. Trump was successful in his career as a TV personality, and as a real estate developer. He frequently got into trouble, but he found ways to use "trouble shooters" to get him out of the jams that he created on his way to fame and power. His creative use of lawyers and other enablers is legendary. This time it is different. He is no longer running a family business. He is in charge of a large and complex government that he does not understand. That makes him dangerous to himself; to our nation; and to the rest of the world. David Brooks describes Trump's meeting with two top Russian officials in the Oval Office. Trump boasted about the intelligence that he receives daily due to his position as our president. He decided to provide them with an example of the information that he receives from US intelligence sources.
One of our allies provided us with information about an ISIS plan to turn laptop computers into weapons that could be used by jihadists to blow up commercial airlines. The information that he provided, on his own authority, had been given our highest security classification. Trump did not understand why he should not have done this. The information that he provided will be reverse engineered by Russian intelligence. They will be able to identify the ally that provided us with the intelligence. That will have all kinds or repercussions that are potentially harmful to US security. A normal president, who did not have Trump's personality disorder, would have understood why that should not have been done. Trump did not have that understanding, and he could not resist the opportunity that he had to impress the Russian leaders with his access to intelligence and power.
It is obvious to many Americans that Trump is not fit to be our president. He has the lowest approval rating of any US president during the normal "honeymoon period" in which our elected president is given the benefit of doubt by the electorate. Moreover, the majority of Americans strongly disapprove of his performance. One would think that Republicans in Congress would do more to contain the dangerous person that they helped to elect. That has not happened. The simple reason that this has not happened is that 87% of registered Republicans approve of Donald Trump. Every Republican in Congress has to worry about how their reaction to Trump's performance will affect their next election campaign. They can't afford to alienate Republicans who voted for Trump, or those who typically fund Republican campaigns. However, they also have to be concerned about how independents will vote. Only 37% of registered independents approve of Trump.
David Brooks and a number of other Republican opinion leaders have decided to abandon Donald Trump. They don't want to be led by a dangerous child. They hope that their friends in Congress will decide that Trump is dangerous, and that they will decide to contain him, or replace him with a more reliable Republican like Vice President Pence who will act more like a president in promoting the same Republican policies that Trump has been struggling implement.
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