Mr. President:
In spite of your disdain
for opposition, the First Amendment protects my right to express my opinion. Opinions are neither facts nor libelous and I
welcome your rebuttal.
Sir, I have given
a lot of thought to your mental state over the past two years. Having spent a good portion of my career in
the service of lunatics and politicians, I am qualified to comment on your
administration and some of the problems I see.
For the sake of the nation, I hope you accept this message as helpful; but, I believe you lack the requisite capacity to do so.
“Capacity” is an
important legal construct and is the basis of this one-sided discussion. Before I explain what capacity is, I will
tell you what it is not. Capacity is not
“authority.”
Sociologist Max
Weber defined “Rational-Legal Authority” as a power that is granted and
acquired from a society's rules and laws. All presidents are bound by the
constitution, legal precedent, and the separation of powers. Rational-legal authority is the basis of
modern democracies and allows elected leaders to make decisions and to set
policies. Essentially, the rules that
create rational-legal authority also limit a leader from running amok.
Much to your
consternation, the courts used their ration-legal authority to overrule your executive
orders for travel bans. Don’t feel
bad. You’re not the first president to
hit that constitutional wall. Even with your copious business experience as a
point of reference, your lack of political experience resulted in predictable missteps.
But, you don’t
like rules and laws, do you, sir? In
your business dealings you demonstrated your lack of concern for laws, morals
and ethics repeatedly for four decades. You
really never cared what effect your actions had on the lives of others as long
as you got what you wanted. Being
elected president did not change you. This
is why so many people are concerned that you lack the capacity to rule our
nation safely. Capacity is defined in legal terms
as follows:
“The
ability, capability, or fitness to do something; a legal right, power, or
competency to perform some act. An ability to comprehend both the nature and
consequences of one's acts.
“Capacity
relates to soundness of mind and to an intelligent understanding and perception
of one's actions…”
For just a minute
let’s forget about tax records, blind business trusts, nepotism, fraud,
obstruction, money laundering and treason. Let’s just focus on you and your
mental state. In my opinion (you can’t
sue me for an opinion, Don), you appear to lack the legal capacity to appreciate
the consequences of your actions and you lack the fundamental ability to be
accountable for them. Investigations
might reveal impeachable crimes, but “capacity” is why I believe you should be
relieved of your elected position.
Some pundits and
mental health professionals have ascribed terms like grandiose, narcissistic,
sociopath, and paranoid to you. While
these terms have bearing on your behavior, I think such labeling oversimplifies
certain rudimentary problems. My theory
is, deep down, you’re an infant who never won the love of his father and your
entire life has been a series of efforts to get his attention. Even though he’s deceased, you would like to
think that he is proud that you are president, right? Can we talk about your role models for a
moment, Don?
Your dad must
have been a really frightful man. Your
grandfather, his role model, was an opportunistic “businessman” who favored
get-rich-quick schemes, bars, brothels, dirty deals, criminal elements, dodging
drafts (he spent time in jail for that) and concealing his immigrant status. Although your grandfather died when your
father was just a kid, his impact was made.
Your dad, Frederick Christ Trump, took on the mantel of “the man in the
family” because he and your grandmother needed to survive and he simply did the
things he learned from your grandfather.
Given your
father’s inauspicious history as a KKK sympathizer (and possible member), his
mistreatment of immigrant construction workers and building tenants, his ties
to mafia-owned construction companies, his war-time profiteering charges, and
the competitive environment of your home the likelihood of your learning socially
acceptable ethics and morals was slim. Face
it, the man was a stinking turd, but he was your dad. Did he make you feel bad because you couldn’t
read as well as your siblings? Did it make you sad when he shipped you off to
boarding school? Did he say he loved you or did he just shove money at you and
tell you to not screw up?
Little is written
about your Scottish-born mother, Maryanne.
I know she was beautiful. I know
she reportedly worked as a maid before your parents married. I know she was nearly killed by a 16-year-old
mugger. That incident caused your dad to
contribute to many medical charities.
But, Don, did your father respect her?
Was she allowed to teach you kindness and self-control or did your dad
treat her like a pretty, little, baby-making machine who cooked and picked up
after the children? Was she expected to keep
her mouth shut?
Besides your
brother, Fred, who died from his alcoholism at age 42, was there another heavy
drinker in your house? Were drunken fits
of rage “normal” where you grew up? Did
you walk on eggshells? Did you learn to
not trust anyone? Did you learn to be a
two-faced liar to avoid getting hit? Did
military school teach you to hide your weaknesses with bragging? When you were played for a fool did you call
it “a win-win” to avoid being called “a loser?”
Did family cruelty teach you resentment and revenge? Is fear of losing self-control what keeps you
sober?
With a family
like yours, how could you be expected to internalize attributes like honesty
and integrity? How could a guy ever
learn to validate himself when he was constantly being smacked down? How could a young man develop himself if his
father always had to be better? How
could you ever really be anything but a broken child?
These days, you
demand unflinching loyalty from your inner circle because someone needs to
protect you. You aren’t a grown-up, Mr.
Trump. Your daughter, Ivanka knows it. Your wife knows it. The White House staff knows it. The press knows it. Your party knows it. World leaders know it. Your enemies know it.
Everybody knows you
are an infant but you. You have no
self-control, you are not insightful and you never had the capacity of an adult. This is why you don’t know how to sit still
in a meeting. This is why you have to
touch everything. This is why you are rude. This is why you have
temper tantrums on Twitter and in public.
This is why you do not accept “no” for an answer. This is why you call people names. This is why you think you can take whatever
you want and not pay for it. This is why
you respond to facts about your bad actions by saying, “nuh-uh.” This is why you don’t care who you hurt. This is why you push, grab, and assault
people. This is why you wanted to play
king of the world and why you never knew how “complicated” it could be. This is why the Russians can count on you to
brag about all the top secret stuff you know.
This is why the world is a second away from nuclear war.
You lack the ability
“to comprehend both the nature and consequences” of your actions. You lack the “soundness of mind” and “intelligent
understanding and perception” of how your actions affect everyone -- including
yourself. Capacity, Mr. President. You are not capable of safely running a
country in a very dangerous world.
For once in your
life, Donald, stand up to every bad thing your father ever did, and taught, and
stood for. Do not shame yourself by
adding impeachment to your list of infamies.
Step down and put the world back into adult, capable hands.
Sincerely,
S. E. Lyon Kramer
American citizen