The Lincoln Project is busy today. Steve Schmidt was on television earlier addressing the issue of Lisa Murkowski âstrugglingâ with the decision to vote for Donald Trump or not. Hereâs what he said, and it is music to my ears. Raw Story: âWe saw the president direct violence against peaceful protesters this week, and seen the president lie to the country nearly 20,000 times,â said Schmidt. âWeâve seen the president divide the country and incite violence. And weâve seen a level of ineptitude in this historic pandemic that defied description, but included standing in front of the nation when tens of thousands are dead, talking about his ratings or telling the American people that it is a good idea to ingest or household disinfectants. Weâve seen a president preside over the shattering of an economy. We have seen a president race-bait, demean, disgrace his office, to desecrate the bonds of affection that exist between us as Americans.â âHe has completely, utterly failed in the execution of his duties,â said Schmidt. âHe has attacked our institutions. He has no fondness for liberal democracy. He doesnât understand the American ideal and idea. And the notion that you would struggle with the question of four more years of this or President Joe Biden is extraordinary to me. I canât fathom it. I canât process it.â âIt is the choice between a good man and a bad man,â said Schmidt. âA moral man versus an immoral man. A patriot versus somebody who has desecrated our freedoms and ideals by his assaults on American people. The choice between Trump and Biden isnât a difficult one. It is a choice between decline and the chance of a restoration and recovery from these tragic events. That is what the election is about. And she shouldnât be sweating it in the way that she is. It is not a troubling decision. It is an easy one.â Isnât that poetry? Couldnât you just listen to that all night? Especially knowing that itâs coming out of the mouth of a Republican strategist? Oh, how that makes it all the more sweet. And hereâs more from George Conway, publishing in the Washington Post: So much of Trumpâs inaptness and ineptness in these and other matters stems from his exceptional narcissism, and the empathic deficit that attends it. Few who have considered it would today doubt, as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) so perceptively put it in 2016, that Trump was âa narcissist at a level I donât think this country has ever seen.â But itâs more than just narcissism that drives this failing, flailing president. However difficult they can be, even extreme narcissists can have consciences. They donât necessarily cast aside behavioral standards or laws, or lie ceaselessly with reckless abandon. Trumpâs behavior is conscienceless, showing utter disregard for the safety of others, consistent irresponsibility, callousness, cynicism and disrespect of other human beings. Contempt for truth and honesty, and for norms, rules and laws. A complete inability to feel remorse, or guilt. As a New Yorker profile of Trump put it nearly a quarter-century ago, Trump lives âan existence unmolested by the rumbling of a soul.â Thatâs Donald Trumpâs problem yesterday, today and tomorrow. Itâs our problem, too, for now: We remain governed by a soulless man with a broken mind. The damage will continue, and it wonât [âŚ]
