Still Struggling To Understand What Has Changed

Yes, and?

Some who described changes to Salon’s Brian Karem are concerned that Trump is quickly losing ability to put in the hours needed for his position — and that his mental acuity has taken a significant downturn.

What else is new?

He confided that Trump hasn’t shown up in the Oval Office on a Monday for the past month. He’s also been playing golf in Virginia, avoiding his usual trips to his clubs in Florida and New Jersey.

“That’s because he doesn’t have to be gone from the White House as long,” the source told Karem. “I don’t think he’s in good physical health.”

Other causes for concern voiced to the writer by two people inside Trump’s circle included, “His recent lackluster public appearances, his gait, his apparent befuddlement, his propensity to govern via Truth Social postings, his sloppy attire and his lack of engagement at the White House with others.”

This calls to mind an SNL sketch from the Reagan years (pipe down, ya punks! Yeah, I’m old!). Reagan is in the Oval Office with the press, playing the befuddled Grandpa he was, with only slight caricature. The press duly filed out, and Reagan was suddenly a man with the vigor of a teenager and the mind of Jefferson, snapping questions to his staff and clearly eight steps ahead of everyone in the room, with full knowledge of the facts and issues and an action hero’s resolve about what to do next.

Do these White House staffers think that was Trump? Befuddled boob in public, determined, dynamic leader in private? And now they see the truth?

The man’s brain is a boiled egg. That’s obvious from his press conference at Alligator Alcatraz. (There’s a three minute clip there, where O’Donnell finishes with the transcript. Honestly, “Joe Biden is old, but…” is the only possible response to the press ignoring that “performance.”)

There is no one behind the curtain. There is only this guy in a red cap and orange makeup.