And then it came to me. Trump IS Lord Denethor from THE LORD OF THE RINGS. He has a narcissistic personality disorder which causes him to demand respect from all, even when he hasn’t earned it. He viciously derides anyone, from any group or party, who dares to criticize or challenge his authority. He acts publicly in a delusional and deranged manner because of his disorder. Like Denethor under the spell of Sauron and the palantir, Trump is controlled by Putin and the Russian oligarchy, most likely because of Trump’s debts to them and the compromising information they possess about his finances. Trump surrounds himself with a bubble of sycophants who never confront him with the truth, and because of this he has a pitiably poor understanding of what really constitutes loyalty.
I suppose our only solace is that Denethor eventually meets his fiery end, and the good guys triumph in the long run.
On a related issue, I long for more reporters to act like Peter Alexander and challenge Trump publicly on his incorrect FACTS. Trump lies about Obama, lies about protesting Muslims on 9/11, lies about crime and employment statistics, lies about voter fraud and millions of illegal votes being cast, lies about the size of his inauguration crowd, lies about his Electoral College victory . . . and on and on and on. Trump’s lame defense to Alexander’s challenge was “Somebody gave me that information.” It would be so satisfying if reporters would begin to tell Trump, “Just because you heard that lie somewhere, or saw that lie somewhere, or read that lie somewhere (granted he does not read much), that does not mean you need to REPEAT that lie to the American people.”