When the Secret Op-Ed Hero mentioned the 25th Amendment in his or her New York Times screed this week, it was an excuse. The anonymous patriot wanted to absolve himself or herself of blame for failing to take real action to stop a president who's quite clearly a few screws short of a hardware store. So the author said invoking the 25th Amendment would cause a "constitutional crisis."



The truth is we're already in one, and those inside the White House who understand the president isn't All There are just trying to squeeze a little bit more out of the deregulation frenzy—and solidify a conservative Supreme Court—while polishing their resumes for their next job in conservative politics once the whole thing blows over.

But President Trump held a rally in Montana last night, and it wasn't an advertisement for his Fitness For Office. This is because he spent large periods of it slurring his words and wildly hopping between disparate topics.

Exhibit A:

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Trump is struggling to talk. Here, he repeatedly fails to say the word "anonymous." pic.twitter.com/VSXGUkNey5 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 7, 2018

You may remember that this is not the first time Trump has been found slurring. Last December, he struggled mightily to finish a speech in which he announced the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel:

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This was met with no small reaction on the web, and it rose to Trump's attention. Soon after, Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury kicked off a maelstrom of speculation about his psychological well-being. In response, he got a full physical exam—including a cognitive assessment—from White House physician Ronny Jackson in January, which found he was in "excellent" health across the board. Trump even mentioned Jackson last night:

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TRUMP, UNHINGED: "But Ronny Jackson is a doctor, he is actually the doctor that gave me my physical. And he said that I am in great shape. And the Democrats, liberals, deep state, they were very upset to hear that. So they got tougher & tougher and they write more books now." pic.twitter.com/P7mvQZzXfQ — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 7, 2018

Trump liked Jackson so much he eventually nominated him to head up the Department of Veterans Affairs, a decision he essentially made unilaterally, before Jackson could be vetted by the White House. The subsequent vetting revealed that Jackson was not an ideal candidate for, well, any job in government. Former colleagues told Senate investigators he oversaw a hostile work environment, drank on the job, and was handing out prescription meds like candy. It should be noted this also went on during the Obama administration, where he was beloved by senior officials.

Apparently, that's no coincidence: Jackson was hell to work for, but was a relentless suck-up to his superiors. He went to great lengths to ingratiate himself, and Trump clearly loved him. (He has ranted about Jackson's supposedly unfair treatment many times, including in a Fox & Friends cameo so unhinged the hosts basically hung up on him.) The key thing is whether this calls into question, say, Jackson's finding that Trump was one pound below the BMI criteria for "obese." Or that cognitive test. Did Jackson just give the president the results he wanted?

Trump continued ranting about Jackson last night, at times skipping far enough down the winding corridors of his own resentment complex that even his most committed supporters struggled to understand, looking on silently:

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Trump sounds completely out of his mind: "Ronny Jackson is a great man. Ronny Jackson has led a great & beautiful life. And to have lies told about him, I would never repeat what they are. In my case, they repeat them... do we love Sean Hannity?"



The crowd is in stunned silence. pic.twitter.com/PDPPZ0JrER — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 7, 2018

This happened a number of times. He slurred through a millionth rant about how he won the election two years ago:

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Trump is slurring heavily & making less sense than normal. In this clip he pivots from bashing the media, to praising Ben Carson, to bragging about beating "the Bush dynasty," to talking about "Crooked Hillary," all within 90 seconds. pic.twitter.com/ORZLV8AGFN — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 7, 2018

Mr. President...what? Yet he seemed simultaneously aware of the mechanisms of what's going on:

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Trump, slurring, on what will happen if he's impeached: "You have a country that's going to turn into a 3rd world country. Because if the opposite party becomes president... they will say 'We want to impeach him!' And you will impeach him. It is so ridiculous." pic.twitter.com/ijaYJcVEVH — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 7, 2018

And then there's this:

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Trump is out of his mind. Listen to this. pic.twitter.com/Pl2J7kR6wJ — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 7, 2018

Later, Trump suggested his opponents say he's "lost it," but, he continued, how can he give a rally speech for an hour and a half without notes if he's lost it? If Trump had ever ridden the subway he wouldn't need to ask whether someone could rant for an hour without notes. It was all a prelude, though, to the president comparing all this speechifying to...the Gettysburg Address:

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Trump Suggests His Speeches Will One Day Be Seen On Par with the Gettysburg Address, which the Fake News Also Bashed pic.twitter.com/Cg4ywg9Ykp — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 7, 2018

Many people are saying the Fake News CNN covered Lincoln very unfairly! It's important to remember this is the dumbest time in history, but also that the people around the president enabling him to continue in office are betraying the American republic and endangering the world. Even if they write op-eds.

Jack Holmes Politics Editor Jack Holmes is the Politics Editor at Esquire, where he writes daily and edits the Politics Blog with Charles P Pierce.

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