General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Republicans Close To Trump Say President Is Showing Signs Of Mental Illness [View all]KewlKat
(5,624 posts)The erratic behavior of Donald Trump has raised new questions about his mental and emotional capacity to discharge the tremendous burdens of the most powerful position in the world. It is the president who has the ability to launch nuclear weapons, unleashing untold devastation on the world. Presidents can create diplomatic chaos or move markets with the most carefully crafted declarations, let alone late-night tweets with the grammar and misspellings of a fifth-grader and decidedly unpresidential tone.
Regardless of what happens with Donald Trump, this issue will arise again. Presidents are subject to illness, accident, or--God forbid--physical attack. Americans are living longer. The current occupant of the White House assumed office at the age of 70. While the president of the United States has access to the best health care in the world, there is no guarantee of successful medical intervention or that he or she would be fully functional during the course of treatment and recovery.
There is no better time for Americans to acquaint (or reacquaint) themselves with the provisions of the 25th Amendment, its history, application, and potential problems and to consider solutions.
And it has inherent flaws that need to be addressed. The amendment's default decision-makers-- the vice president and the cabinet -- have a natural bias toward the existing officeholder that would make them reluctant to acknowledge the president's inability to serve. Additionally, in the case of a president who is suffering from mental illness and is emotionally unstable or irrational, there is no fail safe to prevent him or her from simply firing the entire cabinet to prevent the application of the amendment.