Image via Flickr Creative Commons by majunznk.
When it comes to impeaching President Trump, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) never wastes an opportunity to jump off the deep end in encouraging her fellow Democrats to join her in getting it done.
The woman infamously referred to in conservative circles as “Mad Maxine” Waters unloaded on Twitter today in what was first a call-out to Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway over the very public, very angry back and forth between Conway’s husband George and Trump:
Kellyanne Conway, the "alternative fact" is your husband George is absolutely correct. Who do you support, your loving husband or this unhinged president?
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) March 21, 2019
Congratulations! You just guaranteed that millions of more people are going to learn about narcissistic personality disorder and malignant narcissism! Great job! https://t.co/Dk9bI3sBs7
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 19, 2019
Right on,@gtconway3d! The facts are mounting. More and more psychiatrists describe #45 as detached from reality, volatile, & attracted to violence. Members of Congress have introduced legislation questioning Trump's sanity. America beware!
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) March 21, 2019
She then went on to encourage Congress to “dare” to impeach the president, and urged voters to demand it, too:
Unfortunately, many Members of Congress whisper the President should be impeached but have not supported my call for impeachment. Only a few of us dare to continue to urge both Dems and Repubs to impeach this dangerous president. I will keep trying. The public needs to demand!
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) March 21, 2019
There are a number of things wrong with not only Waters’s call for impeachment but also her statement regarding how “psychiatrists describe” the president.
First, as Psychology Today noted in 2017 (not even a month into Trump’s presidency), a doctor diagnosing the mental health of a patient they’ve never seen is unethical:
It is widely regarded as unethical—a violation of the so-called Goldwater Rule—for mental health experts to offer a professional diagnosis of any person they have not personally examined. The rule was established in 1973 by the American Psychiatric Association and is still in force today. Although psychologists are not expressly forbidden from making public pronouncements about the mental health of public figures, the American Psychological Association has affirmed the rule and psychologists generally abide by it.
[…]
The Goldwater Rule is as valid as ever, insists Steven Berglas, a Los Angeles psychologist and executive coach and consultant. What’s more, he says, [psychologist John] Gartner’s petition [to remove Trump from office] is a flagrant misuse of the DSM. “You cannot discern from public behavior whether a person’s behavior represents an authentic personality style or is choreographed.” How do we know, he asks, that Trump isn’t “throwing paint balls at the wall, creating chaos so that he can dial it down later to get what he wants.” In fact, he points out, the President seems to be behaving quite rationally in that he is fulfilling his campaign promises.
“I specialize in narcissists, says Berglas. “Many effective leaders are narcissists. Diagnosis is not a cudgel to be tossed around in anger.” And in fact, he believes that doing so is a disservice to the field. The DSM is meant to guide treatment and referrals, and it loses value when it is applied to diagnosis at a distance. He thinks the DSM should come with a warning abel: Don’t use this at home.
Secondly – and beyond the “sanity” issue, Waters and her impeachment-obsessed ilk haven’t provided a shred of evidence that there’s anything Trump has done that rises to the level of “impeachable.” Not one thing.
“Driving liberals crazy” is not an impeachable offense, m’dear.
Lastly, if we’re going to impeach/remove elected officials from office based on the appearance of unhinginess and insanity, then Waters’s nearly 30 years of (non-) service in Congress would mercifully come to an end.
Until then, we’ll have to wait for the voters from California’s 43rd District to wake up and smell the coffee. Don’t hold your breath.
——————————
—Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–
The post Irony Alert: Unhinged Mad Maxine Waters Believes Trump Should Be Impeached Because of “Sanity” Issues appeared first on RedState.