B X Lee -- ‘Madman Theory’ to Conceal Actual Madness
‘Madman Theory’ to Conceal Actual Madness It Only Works to a Certain Point; Sooner or Later, Madness Requires Proper Intervention Bandy X. Lee May 01, 2026 A superbly-written article has appeared in the New Yorker by Fintan O’Toole , explaining how “Trump’s strategy of feigning madness [has no] border between pretense and actual irrationality.” I pull a few quotes, but the thesis (poetry) should be drawn from the full article: [When asked] whether there were any limits on his global powers, he replied, “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind.” Since whatever morality he ever possessed has long since departed, the remaining question is whether he has also lost his mind…. there’s no doubt that in Trump’s chaotic mind there lurks the Madman Theory, a belief that acting crazy is a rational strategy…. Yet it raises a further question: Is it possible for someone to act the lunatic while actually being one? To the truly psychotic person, there is no greater yearning...