"This Matrix is glitchy."

It's disturbing to watch the media comment on the speech he made moments ago without even referencing the heavy breathing, sniffing, disconnected affect, aphasia, wandering eyes, and other gaffes - it was a speech with words AND it was a verbal dump by a mentally unstable person.

— Duty To Warn 🔉 (@duty2warn) January 8, 2020

I'm not comfortable with the arm-chair psychoanalysis (any more than I'm comfortable with adjudging someone's legal situation without being personally involved in the knowledge of that situation.  I've seen too many people make judgments from outside a situation they don't know enough about.).  But I listened to some of this "speech," and one thing that was clear that it was a "speech with words."  Whether the words meant anything to the speaker, is the question.

First, Trump walked into the room and declared Iran would never have nuclear weapons.  Those were his first words.  Then he addressed the room with a clearly prepared greeting, and delivered what were clearly prepared remarks, probably with some portions ad-libbed, though it was hard to tell what was Trump and what wasn't Stephen Miller.

He seemed, as ever, completely disconnected from what he was saying, but at the same time anxious to make sure certain things got said (like the bellicose opening statement).  However, he didn't connect his assertions to any plan or even idea of how to make them effective, except to say they would be so because he said so.  That's where the words disconnect from their meaning.  He doesn't even seem to think saying it makes it so (a sort of "magic"), he just repeats what he's been told to say, and laces those remarks with complaints about the nuclear agreement he blew up and which Iran has now said they won't feel bound by.  Notably, he didn't say anything about that.  His actions don't matter; only Iran's do.  And his words don't matter; but he's duty bound to use words on this occasion.

So he delivers a speech with words.  He likes words.

For those who missed it, watch the Joint Chiefs faces when he mentions hypersonic weaponshttps://t.co/jiePNahTCv

— Angry Staffer (@AngrierWHStaff) January 8, 2020

Is that another mark of dementia?  Or is he just carelessly stupid?

“Our missiles are big.”

bro. You’re making this too easy.

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 8, 2020

He really likes words.  Sometimes he even appears to know what they mean.

Threat.
Sniff.
Lie.
Brag.
Mispronunciation.
Sniff.
Brag.
Sniff.
Brag.
Slurred something.
Threat.
Brag.
Threat.
Lie.
Bye.#TrumpSpeech #TrumpsWar

— Lita Smith-Mines 🌊 (@LitaTweets) January 8, 2020

Mostly, he doesn't seem to care.

"Two officials conceded some of Trump’s messages over the weekend were unhelpful. The aides pointed to Trump’s threat that the military would target 52 Iranian sites...Pentagon officials had not analyzed potential targets before the tweet"

What a fiasco.https://t.co/neugLHb9s1

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) January 8, 2020

He picked that number to match the number of hostages Iran held in 1979.  Again:  words.  Meaning?  Who cares?

“Today, after three years of pissing all over NATO, I am going to go to Europe and tell everybody to get in line with me.” Good luck with that.

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 8, 2020

Actions?  Follow-through?  Results?  He's already forgotten he said it.  Words are stupid things.

Indeed. This Matrix is glitchy. https://t.co/FJ72TOZw1u

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 8, 2020

Trump doesn't care about words.

A speech completely disconnected from everything he has said the past few days and probably from what he will tweet over the next few. Careening from news cycle to news cycle with no plan or strategy, same as it ever was.

— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) January 8, 2020

 

The effect is all that matters.