Imagining a mad king

by liberal japonicus

This NYT article wasn’t behind a paywall and I’ll leave it to all of you to glean whatever kernals of grain and post in the comment. The article had me thinking about the movie The Madness of King George, which is from an Alan Bennett play and tells the story of the Regency Crisis of 1788 where George III suffered a bout of mental illness. From the wikipedia summary

Lady Pembroke recommends Dr. Francis Willis, who cured her mother-in-law. Willis uses novel procedures. At his farm in Lincolnshire, patients work to gain “a better opinion of themselves.” He observes to an equerry “To be curbed, thwarted, stood up to, exercises the character.” When the King insults him, foully, he is strapped into a chair and gagged. He will be restrained whenever he “swears and indulges in meaningless discourse” and “does not strive every day and always towards his own recovery”.

Who do you nominate to be our Dr. Willis? In my version, she’s black.

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`wonkie
`wonkie
5 hours ago

A 14 yo going to prison? He’s 20 now. He also seems to be genuinely self-aware and fully takes responsibility.

Not only is Trump incapable of that, but I don’t think anyone in his family, his Cabinet, or any supporter in Congress is capable of it.

CharlesWT
CharlesWT
5 hours ago

Is the article a news article or an opinion column? It comes across as an opinion column.

nous
nous
3 hours ago

It’s too long to be a news article and it includes a wider array of arguments and perspectives than would normally be found in an op-ed. I’d call this a long form journalistic essay.