The madness of King Donald*

 King George III was mad. At least, that was the diagnosis in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries when he was occupying the throne of Great Britain and its various colonies and territories around the world. Modern psychiatrists have suggested his "madness" was, in fact, more likely to have been related to bipolar disorder, but at the time he was just insane. Mad. Nuts.

The king's erratic and unpredictable behaviour was causing concern to the parliament, his advisors and his family. But he was King, and there existed no mechanism for his removal due to insanity or an incapacity to undertake his duties as sovereign. 

(To be fair, George and his wife, Queen Charlotte, had 15 children, which as far as I'm concerned would be enough to drive anyone bonkers. But still.)

Eventually, the parliament bypassed the king and installed his eldest son, the Prince of Wales, who ultimately became King George IV, as Regent. Which is to say, he effectively took control of the duties of the sovereign. George III retained the title of King, he had all the regal trappings without any of the responsibilities. Nice.

If last week's reports coming out of the White House are to be believed - and honestly, anything coming out of the White House at the moment is highly questionable - the administration's inner circle is doing a King George on Donald. Two incidents have been reported by media and have circulated widely on the internet. Fact checks on both are ambiguous, However, for what it's worth:

Report 1: During the operation to retrieve the downed airman who was stranded behind enemy lines in Iran it was reported by several news outlets that Trump was having a screaming meltdown in the Oval Office and officials thought his erratic behaviour might jeopardise the operation. He was essentially locked out of the Situation Room while Vice Pres JD Vance and senior military commanders controlled the operation.

Report 2: This one has been widely reported as verified, but facts are still very grey, however, if true ... Last weekend Trump attempted to access the nuclear codes but a senior general stood up to him and refused to allow it.

On top of these there is no shortage of photographic and video evidence of Trump falling asleep during meetings and his speech is becoming less and less coherent. This is without his ravings on his own social media platform and that now infamous pic of himself as Jesus.

On ABC's Planet America last week, his niece, clinical psychologist Dr Mary Trump, revealed that Alzheimer's disease runs in the family and that Donald's father was seriously affected by it. Alzheimer's has a strong hereditary element.

If either of the reports above are true, even partially, it seems that the inner circle of the administration is doing a King George on King Donald. He has all the trappings of the presidency - he's got his Air Force 1 plane, round-the-clock security from the secret service, he can put all the gold bling he likes in the Oval Office and no doubt he has a food taster to make sure no one tries to poison him (mushroom beef wellington, anyone**?). He's got his motorcade, and his adoring cult followers - although I suspect their ranks may be thinning somewhat.

While he's still the president, the Commander in Chief of the military and the CEO of the Executive Branch of government, it may be that he's being quietly sidelined from crucial decisions. While he's throwing a toddler tantrum, the grown-ups in the room are taking control.

If this is the case it gives me hope to know that there are, in fact, grown-ups in the room. 

King George III died in 1820 after a reign of nearly 60 years and nine years after his son was made Regent in his place, due to the king's mental incapacity. Trump has less than three years left for his reign, but at the rate he's going, he'll be fully nuts well before then.  

 ---

* The Madness of King George is the title of a play by British playwright and author, Alan Bennett, which was made into a movie of the same title in 1994.

** This pic appeared on my social media timeline this morning. I have no idea who to credit for it, but kudos to them!