Trump, and His Marbles

An assertion has been circulated this past week about how Donald Trump appears to be "losing his marbles". I want to discuss that possibility.

We all know what this expression means. (Well, maybe not the MAGATS, but most everyone else knows what it means. For the MAGATS,) losing one's marbles is a quaint metaphor for losing one's mind. The notion that Trump seems to be losing his marbles was asserted by former U.S. congressman from Illinois, Adam Kinzinger. He said, "Against all advice, against all sanity, [Trump] is attacking the Republican governor of Georgia. ... Donald Trump is losing his marbles." This would definitely be an accurate depiction if, indeed, Mr. Trump initially had all his marbles to begin with. I would offer that there has been ample evidence over an extended period of time, that points to Donald Trump possessing a rather limited number of marbles for quite a while now. But the case can certainly be made that a few more marbles may have slipped away very recently. Attacking the Republican governor of a state Trump needs to win in November, certainly seems to point toward a recent marble dump.

However, this former president has a marble-challenged history. Yes, he recently has displayed some behavior that is peculiar, even for Donald Trump. Party politics is a game in our two-party system, and it is one in which your attacks are supposed to be directed against those in the other party, not your own. It's just that Donald Trump is not that well practiced at this politics game, and he does revert to another game when pressured. His childish game of choice is to attack, to demean, to belittle perceived opponents. And his preferred game has no party definitions, just two sides. Those two factions are easily defined as for, or against, Donald Trump.

An increasing number of party loyalists have emerged expressing concern about The Donald. Matthew Bartlett, formerly of the Trump State Department, reacting to Trump's recent increase in acid-tongued attacks, has said, "This is what you would call a public nervous breakdown." Bartlett told Politico, "This is a guy who cannot come to grips with a competitive presidential race that would require discipline and effective messaging,... and we're seeing a candidate and a campaign absolutely melt down." And GOP consultant Mike Madrid has said on social medium X, "Trump fatigue is real. America is ready to move on."

Recent polling reflects the Democrats' surging excitement and the effects of a rapid-fire succession of events, such as Harris' emergence at the top of the ticket, the addition of Tim Walz, and the anticipated approach of the convention. Trump's polling numbers have begun to slide beneath this barrage of pro-Democrat moments and their dominance of the news cycle. The reaction of GOP operatives is understandable, given Trump's ramping up of acid remarks against everybody imaginable. But The Donald is actually just being The Donald. He is what he is, and he cannot change or adapt to circumstances. When we assess his marble count, we must remember that this is a man who favored injection of bleach to treat COVID-19. He wanted to drop a hydrogen bomb into a hurricane, giving the storm yet one more weapon with which to destroy life. This is not a man with a healthy adult mind. Donald Trump is Donald Trump, and the Republican Party's delayed recognition of this is not so much a Trump decline, as it is a GOP awakening that has come far too late to be of any use to the Party. They welcomed in Trump, and now they must pay the piper. The coming election should be a wake-up call, but it is far more likely to be a disaster from which the Republican Party might not recover. Trump will do what Trump does. And if anybody remembers what he did the last time he lost, it should not come as a shock that what he will do this time, is going to be even worse.