Vol. 169: So you think Trump is unhinged?

Well, what did JFK really say?

I rise in defense of Donald Trump, unjustly maligned for using profanity and belligerent language in his discussion of Iran.

Just because he tweeted, in an Easter Sunday post on his Truth Social platform, “Open the fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” Trump’s erstwhile champion Marjorie Taylor Greene now concludes, “He has gone insane.”

Just because Trump declared last Tuesday that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” Senator Chuck Schumer calls him “an unhinged madman.”

Just because, that same day, Trump said, “We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the world,” Senator Bernie Sanders declares, “These are the ravings of a dangerous and mentally unbalanced individual.”

Just because he tweeted on Sunday, "Pope Leo is WEAK on crime, and terrible for foreign policy,” people say…. well, you get the idea.

You would think from these reactions that Trump is the first political leader ever to utter something blasphemous, nasty, or downright stupid. On the contrary, the only real difference is that Trump’s unfiltered 21^st Century thoughts are transmitted directly to the public via social media.

Lincoln’s rough draft

In the past, by contrast, pronouncements of great leaders were first polished by speechwriters, aides, publicists, and sometimes even journalists themselves before they were submitted for public consumption. That much is clear from a sampling of the statesmen’s actual first drafts. For example:

“We must all hang together, or sure as shit we’ll all hang separately.” (Franklin)

“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every son of a bitch who exercises tyranny over the mind of man. I’d like to kick those cocksuckers right in the balls, I really would.” (Jefferson)

“It is not upon thee to finish the work, you crazy bastards. Neither art thou free to desist from it.” (The Talmud)

“Four score and— Jesus, how many years ago? Three? Four? Who really gives a shit? Charlie, can you look this up for me?” (Lincoln)

“The business of America is business, asshole.” (Coolidge)

“Jesus H. Christ, we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Can you get that through your thick skull, dirtbag?” (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, some schmuck has dropped a goddamn iron curtain across the Continent.” (Churchill)

“Ask not what your country can do for you, motherfuckers. Ask what you can do for your motherfuckin’ country.” (John F. Kennedy)

Alternatives to oil

But seriously, folks….

— Trump started this war out of fear that the Iranians were close to developing a nuclear bomb. But under the Iran nuclear deal of 2015— a landmark agreement laboriously hatched between Iran and the U.S., China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Germany— Iran agreed to drastically reduce its stockpile of uranium and plutonium and to submit to 24/7 inspections of its nuclear facilities, all in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions. If Iran were developing a bomb, we would have known about it years in advance.

Trump tore up this deal in 2018, calling it too lenient. And now he professes outrage that Iran may be developing a bomb?

— Since the U.S. and Israel launched this war on February 28, Iran has retaliated by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a major maritime choke point for the world’s oil and liquidized gas trade. Amid fears of prolonged supply shortages, oil prices rose faster than during any other conflict in recent history. But Trump hasn’t uttered a peep to encourage alternative energy sources, which are cheaper, cleaner, renewable, and in the long run just plain smarter— you know: solar power, wind turbines, batteries, electric vehicles.

Trump seems to hate wind projects more than he hates the ayatollahs. He’s called windmills ugly, noisy, and hazardous to birds. His opposition is said to be partly rooted in a failed legal battle to block an offshore wind farm near his Scottish golf course.

— On March 15 Trump called on America’s NATO’s allies to help him re-open the Strait of Hormuz. He seems unaware that NATO is essentially a defensive alliance: An attack on any NATO member is regarded as an attack on all of them. But if a NATO country chooses to wage a preemptive war, as Trump has done in Iran, then it’s on its own.

Whom to blame?

Faithful readers of this column are aware that my explanation for Trump’s behavior remains simple and consistent. Having observed Trump since my days as a financial journalist in 1978, I concluded long ago that Trump suffers from narcissistic personality disorder. That explains pretty much everything, including his outlandish behavior since he started bombing Iran.

If that’s the case, Trump can’t really be blamed for any of his antics. Instead, the guilt lies with his enablers: Politicians, voters, and, yes, observers like me who never dreamed that so many Americans would take such a buffoon seriously.

But suppose Trump doesn’t suffer from narcissistic personality disorder? What would you call someone who tears up a nuclear agreement? Who loves oil and coal but hates electric vehicles and solar panels? Who starts a war and then expects his allies to bail him out? A jerk? A dope? A doodyhead?

Just asking.

Enjoy Dan Rottenberg’s newest book, The Price We Paid: An Oral History of Penn’s Struggle to Join the Ivy League, 1950-55. You can also visit his website at www.danrottenberg.com