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Some years ago I was patrolling the streets of Spokane (the mid-1970s, for those keeping track) and found myself behind a car headed eastbound Third Avenue on the edge of downtown. The driver was driving slowly but busting every traffic light at every intersection -- entering each intersection a few seconds after his light went red.
I pulled in behind him and turned on my own blue lights, honked a few times to get his attention, but he continued to roll along with nary a care in the world. As he continued blowing red lights I finally hit the siren, which got his attention. He pulled ever so slowly and cautiously into the McDonald's parking lot far enough so he was off the street, but not far enough to let me clear my lane.
I got out of my patrol car and began to walk up to the driver's door when I noted his car was rolling back toward the patrol car (as the driveway and parking lot had an incline). I grabbed his car's door-handle and managed to stop the roll-back as the driver rolled down his window. I judged him to be in his eighties and said, "Excuse me, sir, but could you put your car in park? Your car is rolling backwards."
He was very nice and a gentle soul; I explained the reason for the stop, and he was surprised that he had gone through any red lights. He thought they were green, but he trusted my judgment. His son, you see, was also a police officer, and I recognized the name on his license matched the name of one of our detective sergeants.
I was sure his driving days were over, but chose not to cite him for the violations. Call it professional courtesy. I did call his son and suggested that it might be time for him to have that difficult talk with his dad that no child ever wants to have. "You're no longer safe behind the wheel of a car. We love you too much to risk having you out there where you or someone else could get hurt."
It seems we have the same issue on the national stage. It comes as no surprise that I do not like #47; I don't like his character, his policies, or his attitude, but this is not about that. It's not about him falling asleep during meetings, or rage-tweeting at 3 a.m. (although those are symptomatic of "what's wrong with PawPaw").
His actions are far more reckless. Sending troops into cities without legal reasons. Ignoring court orders. Attacking countries without authorization. Kidnapping foreign leaders. Threatening to annex countries the way a toddler grabs candy bars at the checkout. These are not normal behaviors for anyone, let alone the leader of the US of A.
If #47 is facing a mental health crisis, whether caused by age, brain decay, hardening of the arteries, or anything else, I would want someone to have that hard talk with him. It would be bad enough if he wanted to roll around solo in the president's great black beast, but he has the keys to Armageddon. It is way past time to take away those keys, not because the guy's a madman, evil incarnate, or anything like that, but because he is a danger to himself and the nation, and it's time for his family, the people in his party, to have that hard talk with him. His actions demand action -- not talk or more talk. Action!
Call it what it is: professional courtesy.
