“We are at the mercy of maniacs”

Tom Nichols, writing in The Atlantic (gift link):

President Donald Trump has done what he swore he would not do: involve the United States in a war in the Middle East.

But why should anyone be surprised?

Ellen Braaten (child psychologist, Harvard Medical School), writing on Bluesky:

We have to stop talking about him as if he is he is a man who has the ability to understand diplomacy or military tactics ... or anything else for that matter. He is a pathological narcissist with limited cognitive functioning. No one should discuss him with any other lens.

Robert Reich, writing on Substack, asks and answers ten questions. He begins:

A single person — Donald J. Trump — has released the dogs of war on one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and done it without the consent of Congress, our allies, or even a clear explanation to the American people.

Anyone who has doubted Trump’s intention to replace American democracy with a dictatorship should now be fully disabused.

I share your despair, sadness, and fear. Even if our president was a wise a judicious man, surrounded by thoughtful advisors with impeccable integrity and wisdom, this would be a highly dangerous move. But we are at the mercy of maniacs.

That final sentence appears in the e-mail text but not in the (earlier? later?) text available in a browser. I believe it holds true.

Reich’s concluding sentences: “Be strong. Be safe. Hug your loved ones.”