What President Donald Trump said to the nation about the prospect of war with Iran impressed many listeners far less than the way he said it — or slurred it. Unlike the manipulated video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that made her appear drunk, Trump delivered a live speech that made him sound impaired.
The president’s sputtering crystallized the danger of this perilous confrontation. Over the tense days that followed the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the nation’s commander in chief showed that he knows almost nothing, reacts impulsively to events and cannot decide whether he is an isolationist or an imperialist. Such enormous power in the hands of an incompetent, incontinent figure is frightening. And even the Republican politicians who routinely tolerate and even praise his worst offenses seemed to feel the fear.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who complained loudly about the “insane” White House briefing on Iran attended by him and his Senate colleagues, is one of the most right-wing members of that deliberative body. Angry and shaken, Lee clearly believes that this president is in need of congressional restraint. For him and the Democrats who passed a war powers resolution seeking to restrain Trump, the daily chaos of his presidency now seems to be a prelude to catastrophe. Continue reading.