I came across that quip referring to United States President Donald Trump the other day and could not help thinking that it has actually come to that. One of the most powerful men in the world shows every sign of being certifiable. You do not need to be a psychiatrist to observe that, although many of them have. And sadly, it gets worse, week by week.
As time goes on, I think the straw that broke the camel’s back will be the picture that Trump originally posted on his own social media network that has since gone viral, depicting himself as Jesus Christ. One does not need to be a Christian to know how wrong that was or how many people it would offend.
Whether Donald Trump arranged for that picture or someone else did doesn’t matter. It would not have been on Truth Social without his knowledge and consent. And there is little doubt that he was thrilled with it because it would appeal to his deity complex, one that is spurred on by some of his ‘spiritual advisors’ who publicly portray him as Christ-like.
Time after time, since he first became President of the United States, Donald Trump has demonstrated that he truly believes there is no one greater than himself. It is all about him. He is convinced he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. He named the Kennedy Center after himself; he covets, indeed, he seeks personal recognition and adoration wherever he can find it. He revels in Cabinet meetings where every member of that body attempts to outdo each other in their tributes to him, because they know that is what he most wants to hear. Shades of North Korea.
Anyone who challenges Trump’s perceived omnipotence is an enemy and a target. He depicts the Obamas as apes, highly respected former Senator John McCain as a loser because he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam and he celebrates the death of people like Robert Mueller, former Director of the FBI. He threatens people he dislikes with jail and thrives on revenge politics.
The cherry on the cake is when Donald Trump took on Pope Leo XIV, who, whether you belong to his flock or not, holds one of the world’s most important and respected positions related to integrity and morality.
No doubt, some comments made by Pope Leo over the past few weeks that certainly appeared to be directed at him were not well received by Donald Trump. They got under his skin to the point where Trump and his cronies could not resist fighting back.
Should the Pope have kept his mouth shut then, and again when he said this in Africa just a few days ago? “Jesus told us, blessed are the peacemakers, but woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain.”
Should Pope Leo have stayed silent on that as well? There are many who will think so. At least equally, there are those, regardless of their religious belief or their apostasy or their political partisanship, who look to moral, as well as political leaders, to speak out forcibly and urgently when dangerous and unacceptable boundaries are crossed that affect mankind.
One can have their own opinion about whether Donald Trump was right to go after Pope Leo for his comments. What is strikingly of more importance, however, and far more revealing and concerning, is that part of that response was a depiction of Trump as Jesus Christ, making himself greater and more important than the Pope. Doubling down on his ingrained belief that no one is greater than him. This is no joke. It is embedded in his persona.
That is when the rubber hits the road. That is where the problem lies, and that is what makes Donald Trump one of the most dangerous men in the world. He believes only in himself, which is not only delusional but also unhinged.
A consequence of that is that the United States, under Donald Trump’s leadership, has fewer and fewer real friends. Alex Stubb, President of Finland, generally a supporter of Donald Trump, says, “I think at the end of the day the United States will find themselves in a lonely place.”
Russia and China were never friends of the United States. On top of that, right now, there is a dilution of respect and support from significant nations, especially in the Western world. This includes not just Canada, but also countries like Great Britain, Ireland, France, Italy, Baltic nations and now, even Hungary.
Almost singlehandedly, Donald Trump has succeeded in disrupting much of the world and changing the narrative, at least from his perspective, to himself alone. The global stability of the past six decades is disappearing.
Almost every week now, something happens that causes many people, especially those who are not drinking the Kool-Aid, to question Trump’s sanity and his fitness for one of the most powerful offices in the world. To many, that combination in a single individual poses a clear and present danger.
Some believe that the mid-term elections scheduled this November in the United States will bring President Trump to heel. I am not so sure of that.
When someone is angry and bitter and feels cornered, they become more dangerous than ever before, especially if they are somewhat out of whack to start with. One should never underestimate Donald Trump’s intelligence, but neither should one underestimate his venom and unhinged behaviour when his back is against the wall.
If the midterms appear to be on the verge of changing the balance of power in Congress, Trump will do one of three things. He will do everything he can to disrupt that election, and if that doesn’t work and the election results do not turn out to his satisfaction, he will move mountains in an effort to invalidate them. Legalities will only matter if they are on his side.
The third possibility is that he simply won’t be there. If things are inevitably going down the drain, something will intervene, health issues, family matters, or what have you. The election results will be someone else’s fault. Donald Trump never loses. In his eyes, it is just not possible.
There are also signs that Donald Trump’s latest move against Pope Leo and the depiction of himself as Jesus are the last straw.
George Conway is a well-known conservative lawyer and was an active Republican for many years. For a time, he was married to Kelly-Anne Conway still a key advisor and supporter of Donald Trump. George Conway has since turned against Donald Trump and is now running for the United States Congress as a Democrat. This is what he says now.
“Trump is destroying his own base. He is destroying his own credibility. He is destroying his own power. And even though that means he is going to be more dangerous because he’s going to be more desperate – I think we can see a path – a difficult path – but a path that can be transversed with great determination.” It would not surprise me if more and more U.S. citizens who voted for Donald Trump, even some within the MAGA cult, are coming to the same conclusion.
In my view, Donald Trump is now either very evil or very ill. I tend to lean toward the latter. But in either event, it is he who constantly demonstrates that he should not be anywhere near the reins of power in the United States. It begs the question of why the United States Congress is failing the American people, and, for that matter, many parts of the world, by not doing something about that, as only they can. The alternative is another two and a half years of Donald Trump.
And that is really frightening. The man is six cans short of a six-pack.
Hugh Mackenzie.
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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We were in TO yesterday for the musical “The Book of Mormon” . Not bad, but not as good as ‘Kinky Boots’ ‘nor ‘Wicked’. In my opinion “. And not as good as ‘Miss Saigon’ if you want to go back to the 90’s. Then we headed home. From downtown Toronto. An hour and a half of mind numbing, gut knotting, soul crushing traffic. Just to get clear of that place. How can people who do that daily be fine with that? Face that morning and evening! In Huntsville, I was never more than 10 minutes from work.
On the drive up, out there on the service station signs were fuel prices that were all over like a fart in a tornado. Made me think of the turmoil in the middle east and the fool in the hill. You can’t punch someone in the side of the head and expect your friends and allies to rush to your assistance. That’s ‘the donald’ for you. Making his country not to be trusted and now with more people beginning to want him gone.
I was surprised at the number of American plates I saw in the city and on the road north towards sanity. Not summertime numbers for sure but more than I would have expected. Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Indiana I can recall and others I don’t. Why are you up here now.? Good on ya’. Maybe fleeing the aforementioned fool. There ‘the donald’ is again.
And the young couple we talked to in the Starbucks. He from Chicago and she from Toronto. Came to Canada because of the lady he said. And then “And because of the politics”. Well a good woman can make you do a lot of things. With pleasure. So that’s understandable. But there ‘the donald’ was again.
So to the lady who commented she might like to see less of ‘the donald’ on Doppler, I’m with you. We do have some interesting things afoot, but your comment and this one were because of the fool on the hill. There he is again.
It’s all about the money. He’s making his family fabulously rich. And showing the world that a seriously unhinged human can be president.
In Trumps first term when he would release streams of tweets, I mentioned to a friend that I could see no way to run a country of nearly 400 million people as diverse in their ethnic backgrounds and as spread out over a continent as the USA is.
Then, when he lost the election (and this has been debated and tested to death with no change in the result) he slunk off to Florida in the most disrespectful way possible for any President but, with amazing bad instincts and by ignoring the facts, the USA voted him back into office.
Now he has proven for sure that he is incapable of running the USA, heck he probably could not run a Burger King franchise, with any success and now we sit poised on the most world changing negotiations of probably the century and he is like a grade 5 kid who has done no homework and is panicking because the test is this week and he cannot lie his way out of it this time round.
He is a sick puppy!!
Our times seem to be developing a penchant for shocking us enormously. In previous days, there could be found the ‘good guys’ and the ‘bad guys’. Now however, you really have to search for the right and wrong in today’s confrontations. Not really being up on the various theologies of today and I wonder if they apply anyway. According to the old standards ‘the donald’ was destined to be a ‘good guy!’. Man!! That hasn’t happened. From my perspective he is nothing more than a raging prat and despot. If there needs to be a ‘bad guy’ who would that be? All we seem to have is belligerents. I can’t ally with either of them. In fact, ‘the donald’ I find repugnant.
The Jesus likeness doesn’t come across as funny at all. It was also interesting that he claimed the image was to be that of a doctor. “Physician. Heal thyself.’ But by all means, show me what you got trump. Tow that cross. Face those spikes. After those three days, I’d be some disappointed if anyone were to roll away that stone. I’m assuming ‘the donald’ has some idea of what I speak, but maybe not.
One lesson we have better learned is how expensive war can be. The US is well on it’s way to going broke under the direction of ‘the donald’ and his band of dim bulbs. Patriot missiles cost a few million a pop and to use them against drones costing pocket money? Nations are now well aware that superior logistics is having major problems subduing tenacious attitudes. That lesson should have been understood from battles in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Ukraine. In her book ‘March of Folly’ author Barbara Tuchman shows that the lessons of the Trojan horse, the American Revolution, the War in Vietnam can be taught but not necessarily learned.
The media and the belligerents shower us with a constant barrage of “It’s open”, “It’s closed” announcements. Claiming to be in charge. The messages as my grandfather used to say are “Spinning like the button on the outhouse door”.
When it comes down to it ‘though, nothing will pass through that strait until the insurance companies say so.
As an update to the Pope vs Trump debacle, Pope Leo XIV clarified that his recent appeals for peace-made during his ongoing apostolic visits to Africa – were not specifically aimed at President Donald Trump. Speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane on April 18,
the Pope pushed back against media interpretations framing his peace appeals as direct attacks on Trump. He clarified his speeches during his trip were prepared in advance and aimed primarily at local African communities and leaders, not as a personal debate with US President Trump.
My wish is that the Doppler Listen Up op-ed would concentrate on other topics of interest rather than a weekly attack on Trump. Canada surely has its own issues that need discussion.
Yes Kathryn. Trump is great.
Why I like him.
1. Convicted felon.
2. Compulsive liar.
3. Assaulted a woman in a change room.
4. Make Canada the 51st state.
5. January of 2025 said he would crush Canada’s economy.
6. Tarriffs
7. Didn’t know King Charles is the king of Canada. Duh.
8. Used the F word on Easter Sunday.
9. Will wipe out Iranians.
10. Said the Pope is okay with Iran having a nuclear bomb.
I could go on.
Do you still like Trump ??
William said Trump is a good golfer. Sure he is. Because he cheats. I saw two guys interviewed that have golfed with Trump and both confirmed he cheats. If he doesn’t like the lie, he moves the ball with his foot.
If the MAGAS think Trump is God, why don’t they crucify him ans see if he rises up after the 3rd day.
At least Donald Trump tells you what he is going to do and then he follows through. NOT LIKE THE LIBERALS WHO HAVE PROMISED WATER TO THE INDIGENOUS, A PIPELINE, HOMES AND SUPPORT FOR OUR VETS. LIBERALS ARE ALSO MESSING WITH WOMENS RIGHTS WITH ALL THE TRANS STUFF. I WILL TAKE TRUMP ANY DAY.
We must remember that Trump is a spoiled kid and a failed cassino operator with a massive, outsized ego. He was put in that position and is controlled by selfish billionaire fossil fuel tycoons, enabled by the so called “Citizens United” law governing US election campaign contributions.
The global scene is far too complicated for Trump’s feeble mind. He knows nothing about history or geography or science, and he doesn’t listen to people who do know. Trump is twisting himself inside out to support causes that are bound to fail. But just as the people of Hungary soundly tossed out Trump’s buddy Victor Orban, US voters will do the same to Trump. Better sooner than later.
Spot on Hugh. What we’re witnessing in Donald Trump goes well beyond bluster. His slide from malignant narcissism into something far more erratic is visible to anyone willing to see it. Yet JD Vance and other cabinet figures appear unwilling or unable to act through the constitutional safeguard of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The real question isn’t just about Trump. It’s about the people around him. Will his enablers, from MAGA loyalists and much of the Republican Party, continue to defend and follow him, even if he pushes toward a third term? Time will tell.
We tend to focus our outrage on Trump himself. But the deeper failure lies with elected officials who refuse to uphold their constitutional responsibilities. That’s where the real erosion is happening.
For context, Narcissistic Personality Disorder is defined by grandiosity, a constant need for admiration, and a lack of empathy and all are traits that can deeply distort judgment and relationships and all (plus some additional disorders) are exhibited by Trump.
At some point, plain language matters: there is a deeply unstable individual occupying the Oval Office and too many people are pretending otherwise or they are pretending to pretend it is otherwise!
Couldn’t agree more. We just have to sit back and watch Trump self destruct. Oh….you forgot to mention what a great golfer he is. In his mind that might be more important than being God!