How Does Attention Deficit Disorder Syndrome Work With Incipient Fascism?

This morning's big political kickoff conversation for the week was set by reporters Burgess Everett and Elana Schor at Politico: The 'attention-deficit-disorder' Congress. Short version: "Donald Trump's fondness for flitting from one topic to another is making it hard for lawmakers to focus." Louisiana Republican John Kennedy came right out and called it "attention deficit disorder" and Susan Collins (R-ME) said "It's unbelievable to me. The attention span just seems to be... it’s a real problem." Maybe we're better off that he has no attention spam. After all, who wants an efficient fascist around?

Every time it seems the president has zeroed in on an issue, and appears determined to see it through-- guns and immigration are just the two latest examples-- he moves on to something else. And Congress... simply can’t keep up.

The constant whiplash of priorities is getting on lawmakers’ nerves.

...The hyperactive mindset of the Oval Office has had the effect, whether by design or not, of quickly diverting attention from topics big or small. After a bout of attention on gun control in the wake of the Florida school massacre last month, Congress has seemingly moved on already.

...In the end, nothing gets done on the issue of the day.

It's not just getting on lawmakers nerves; it's getting on the whole country's nerves. For one thing, it allows Trump to say anything that pops into his mind and then worm out of it a few days-- and 3 issues-- later. Parkland surviver David Hogg seems to have noticed real fast-- and called Trump out on it. [See the video up top.]

The president “is all over the place-- 15 tweets in 19 hours,” said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who invested months of his time in the immigration debate only to watch the effort fall apart. “Trying to keep up with where his mind lights from day to day is hard."

Trump’s March 5 deadline to extend expiring protections for some young immigrants briefly trained the Senate on that topic, though the chamber failed to pass anything. Then the president flirted with Democrats on gun control after the Florida school massacre, seemingly building momentum for a rare breakthrough.

But before anything happened on the Hill, Trump had moved on tariffs-- causing a genuine GOP freak-out and a movement to rein Trump in. When the White House might try to refocus the Capitol’s attention back on gun violence or immigration is anyone’s guess.

“Short attention span around here. Obviously on guns, you don’t do that one unless you’re forced. On immigration there’s no real deadline,” said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), a retiring senator also in the middle of both issues. He said he’s worried he’ll end his Senate career this year without Congress having taken action on either issue.

...Gun control activists have vowed to keep the heat on Congress, and Democratic leaders believe that nationwide demonstrations scheduled for March 24 will help. With federal court rulings effectively preventing the Trump administration from executing its plans to end Obama-era protections for young immigrants, advocates for that issue appear ready to take their chances with the judiciary after falling short in Congress.

But ultimately, like lawmakers, they’re at the mercy of Trump’s outsized power to control a Washington agenda that now changes at head-snapping speed.

Is he senile? Retarded? Or is it a strategy? After a meeting with the lobbyists from the gun manufacturers (the NRA)-- who were part of the money laundering scheme to put $30 million of Kremlin money into Trump's campaign-- Trump reversed himself on raising the age for young people to buy military assault-style weapons like the AR-15. It seems like it was just days ago that Señor T was laughing at Republican legislators, smirking that, unlike himself, they were "afraid of the NRA." Instead of doing anything, Trump wants to create a commission to study the problem, which is widely regarded as a way of avoiding doing anything so as to not piss of the NRA or parents who want to see military weapons off the streets (and out of the schools).