Letters to the Editor: There’s nothing funny about having a mentally unfit president

To the editor: President Trump has been accused of eccentric behavior (that’s putting it politely) throughout his two-and-a-half years in office. This behavior seems to be escalating to the extent that even conservative columnists such as Jonah Goldberg are starting to express concern about the amount of “whackadoodle” statements coming out of the president’s mouth these past few weeks.

According to Goldberg, it is not so much that Trump is changing, but that everything around him is getting more and more precarious. This seemingly accentuates his already disturbing behavior.

What we have unfolding now is a tragi-comedy, quite like those in Shakespearean times. Even in the most sinister of tragedies, Shakespeare inserted several scenes that served as comic relief and accentuated the unfolding drama. Comedians have feasted on the material provided by this president, commenting incessantly on his “Trumpiness,” as Goldberg calls it.

Unfortunately, while we have laughed and scoffed at Trump’s behavior these last few years, we have also had to acknowledge the tragedy of his presidency — his disregard for human values, his undemocratic aspirations and, finally, the possibility of a worldwide financial crisis brought on by his ineptitude.

Lynn Lorenz, Newport Beach

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To the editor: Goldberg seems to have an endless supply of droll euphemisms for Trump’s mental state — he’s “a few fries shy of a Happy Meal,” his “cheese might have slid off his cracker,” and his “wheel might still be turning but the hamster’s dead.”

Let’s just put it in plain English: The president of the United States is mentally unfit for office. Hardly a joking matter, is it?

Tim Paine, Burbank

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To the editor: According to Goldberg, Trump hasn’t become more unbalanced, he’s just facing a new and ever-more-challenging predicament.

Being deprived of his bogeyman in the form of former Justice Department special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, and with “the squad” of four Democratic congresswomen or Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell found to be less-than-ideal replacements, what will it take to provide him with a foil sufficient to boost his popularity?

Will this pressing personal need require a military conflict with Iran? Or China? This is what we all need to worry about.

Claire Montgomery, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I read a column in the Los Angeles Times earlier this week that commented on someone’s recent behavior. I was taken by the descriptions that were given for this behavior, as many of them were are as follows: a few fries short of a Happy Meal, his cheese might have slid off his cracker, whackadoodle, his wheel might be turning but the hamster’s dead, accidentally switched his meds for M&M’s, not normal for a functioning adult, bat-guano bonkers and unbalanced.

I found the descriptions entertaining, but harsh.

You can probably guess who the comments were actually about, and you might expect such comments from a left-leaning commentator like Rachel Maddow. In reality, this column was by Goldberg, a senior editor at the conservative magazine National Review.

So I ask, how much is just too much? I fear that we are becoming like frogs in a boiling pot.

Larry Macedo, West Hills