Rachel Maddow devoted her entire show Thursday to the book written by "Anonymous" - the Trump senior official who penned the op-ed published in the New York Times editor last year.
It confirms what we already know: Donald Trump is a tyrant with no patience for facts and analysis who is driven by impulse and whims. He wants his briefings in pictures, is fascinated with stupid visuals, and randomly makes decisions with far-reaching ramifications with no rhyme or reason for why he does it.
The picture "Anonymous" paints is a disturbing one, but not one that should surprise anyone who has been paying attention. The purpose of the book is to warn the country that he must not be re-elected.
Ben Rhodes, who spent 8 years inside the Obama administration agrees.
Speaking about Trump's impulsive decision to pull U.S. troops from northern Syria, Rhodes said, "If you don't read the briefing memos, if you don't take the job seriously, real world consequences happen."
"The President of the United States has responsibility for the security, the safety, the prosperity of the American people and for very complex issues around the world," he continued. "It's remarkable to me here we are three years later and we have someone demonstrably unfit for this office, who makes a mockery of this office that is deeply important to the direction of this country and the world."
"And this person is laying out for us I think in really chilling detail just how demonstrably unfit he is," Rhodes added.
But here's the thing. Every day we have senior officials risking their jobs and their careers to go and testify before Congress about what happened in Ukraine. They are doing so with the full knowledge that retaliation is just one impulse away and yet they are going to Congress, stating their names, and swearing to tell the whole truth. This person is hiding behind the veil of anonymity.
Rachel asked Rhodes about that, and whether this person had a responsibility to come forward and put their name to the accusations.
"Well, you know, first of all part of what's been so difficult about the last three years is that I don't think that our system ever anticipated that someone like Donald Trump could become president," he replied. "You know, the way in which the founders designed the system, the way in which candidates were nominated, someone like this is not supposed to be President of the United States."
"I would also say, I'm appalled not just necessarily this person is anonymous, but there are a lot of people who have seen this president up close who know these things," he said. "They need to tell us what they know."
"There is an election in one year. If this president is allowed to be in charge for another four years, God help us Rachel!" he said. "And the reality is it is getting worse because he's increasingly surrounded by sycophants and people who tell him what he wants to hear."
On fire now, he went on. "And that's just going to get worse in a second term. What I find appalling is all these people who have cycled through, who could tell us what they know, who have been in rooms like the one that author describes, I think have a responsibility to publicly say what they know because the American people have to make a decision that could affect the future of our democracy and the future of the stability of the world. One year from just last week! There are people who have things to tell us."
Yes, they do. And while we're at it, how about the Senators who know he's destroying our reputation on the world stage, who fully understand that he is not fit to hold the office he's in, and yet they look the other way, bowing and scraping to him at every turn?
And let's also talk about the media, media like Kelly O'Donnell and Kristen Welker, to name but a few, who pretend that what he does is perfectly normal and go out of their way to tell us that "this is a president who thinks a certain way" as if disordered thinking is perfectly normal?!
Yes, there are people who know things and they damn well better step up and say them for all of us to hear. Donald Trump cannot be re-elected. It's as simple as that.
