Historically, there have been many documented “problems” with world leaders wielding the powers of their station with less than a “full deck”, (I’ve never been a fan of the wink-wink quote thing, but the nuttiness seemed somehow appropriate here).  I offer but a few examples:

Caligula – Emperor of Rome whose appetites ran to indiscriminant, public sexual deviancy and cannibalism

George III – Reality-challenged youth who, as King of England, was driven bat-shit crazy by losing the American Colonies

Ivan IV, (The Terrible) – Known for his swift and lethal rage against any perceived disrespect…basically a “terrible”, (there I go again), guy

Ludwig II, (The Mad King) – Spent his entire reign building fairytale castles

Hitler – (consider this an interactive spot where you can fill in your own description)

It’s certainly troubling whenever someone commanding great power is in less than complete control of their faculties.  Often, the combination of the mental challenge and that power leads to less than benevolent behavior.  Of the above examples, (and believe me, this is but a dipped toe into the pool of history’s loony leaders), inbreeding was often a contributing factor, but, in almost every documented instance, the exhilaration of having explicit reign over the lives of others became an uncontrollable and, too often, malevolent obsession.

You would think by now that countries with history and structure and ethics and a moral code, (even if based in some make believe religious dogma), would have a fail safe to insure that crazy people can’t ascend to power, even by military might, or, if they do, that there would at least be a mechanism to quickly, and with minimal bloodshed, send them packing.  Parliamentary nations have that ‘no confidence’ thing, but that’s really more about political disagreement or sexual misconduct than a referendum on psychological competence.  Democracies have impeachment, but nobody seems to know what it is or how to implement it.  The Electoral College?  How’s that working out?  So, we get Kim Jong-un, and Rodrigo Duterte and, oh, so sadly, Donald Trump.  And, lest anyone think that I am overstating my case, making unfounded comparisons or just lashing out like some sore loser…knowing the difference between right and wrong…that’s the litmus test, right?  I rest my case.