The Week That Was, Alas

Another week at the Oval Orifice.

We still have White House aides and advisers in the news cycle–for security-clearance matters, for unsettling, out-of-school quotes, for nepotism issues, for conflicts-of-interest scenarios. The usual. Plus, we have the ever-ratcheting Russian investigation that stalks the White House–with collusion and/or obstruction of justice charges looming. Plus, that White House revolving departure door that includes Hope Hicks, Donald Trump’s therapist babe and image masseuse. Plus, that counterproductive tariff proposal, prompted in part by a temper tantrum that caught everybody off guard, from allies to Paul Ryan. Plus, blatantly confusing signals about guns. Plus, a “Mr. Magoo” insult hurled at the appropriately beleaguered Jeff Sessions and some lingering Stormy Daniels references.

Does anything really matter from one impulsive, ego-driven tweet to another? From one “Apprentice”-like performance to another? Ask Canada. Ask the European Union. Ask North Korea. Ask Vlad Putin. Ask Wayne LaPierre.

How to characterize the Oval Orifice resident? How about “unstable, inept, inexperienced and also unethical.” Resulting in a state of “deep worry and concern.” Whose words? Former CIA Director John Brennan.

Or this: “I think the president is starting to wobble in his emotional stability, and this is not going to end well.” Whose words? Retired four-star Gen. Barry McCaffrey. “Trump’s judgment is fundamentally flawed, and the more pressure put on him and the more isolated he becomes, I think, his ability to do harm is going to increase.”

From nuclear-code access to “easy-to-win” trade wars. An unhinged, circus act has never been so existentially alarming.

No, impeachment scenarios are not going away. Neither are subplots involving the 25th Amendment, although it requires cabinet and vice presidential collusion, so to speak. And, yes, “Seven Days in May” is still selling well. As is “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,” a sobering assessment of Trump by more than two dozen psychiatrists and mental health experts.

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