'Shrieking maniac' Trump is deeply 'disturbed' and getting worse with impeachment on the horizon: columnist

Writing at the New York Times, columnist Roger Cohen labeled Donald Trump a "shrieking maniac" and said he is becoming unglued before our eyes now that the Democratic-controlled House is finally opening impeachment hearings.

As the president frantically tweets threats at Democrats and wails about "PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT," Cohen notes Trump came into office as a "shrieking maniac" and has only grown worse as the pressures of the job -- and his inability to obey the law -- have gotten to him.

"President Trump is disturbed and growing more so," Cohen wrote. "When he feels cornered, his symptoms run wild. As a narcissist, the thing he finds most intolerable is any suggestion that he cannot get away with whatever he wants. So he tweets: 'IT WAS A PERFECT CONVERSATION WITH UKRAINE PRESIDENT!'"

"Oh, yes, Trump’s conversation on July 25 with President Volodymyr Zelensky was impeccable, the way he asked if the new leader could 'do us a favor' before raving about 'the server' that in his addled mind is somehow in Ukraine and at the center of some political conspiracy he’s embraced involving Democrats; the way Trump asked if the new leader could speak with Trump’s personal lawyer and the attorney general about any dirt he could gather on former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading Democratic candidate in the 2020 election," he continued before adding, "'Do us a favor' is English for quid pro quo. That’s a Latin phrase now popular with the lackeys of Trump who still insist on calling themselves Republicans. They keep saying, 'no quid pro quo,' as if that exonerates Trump."

According to the columnist, attempts by the White House to hide Trump's phone calls to foreign leaders -- including his Ukraine call -- are clearly criminal, writing, "In English, that’s called a cover-up. I’m not sure what it’s called in Latin, but I gather Republicans are working on finding out."

Now that the scandal has blown up and engulfed Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also -- which could destroy the president's firewall of protection -- Cohen suggests Trump has truly lost it.

"Now the shrieking maniac is shrieking louder, shrieking of spies and treason, and a good chunk of the United States will shriek with him," he explained. "They will redouble their fury against the press, in line with what Trump said at the United Nations this week: 'These animals in the press. They’re animals actually. Some of the worst human beings you’ll ever meet.' And, 'They’re scum, many of them are scum'."

According to Cohen, the president is playing a losing game no matter how much he shrieks and complains, and offered up a tip of what is to come.

"The disturbed man with the hair should tune into the Bobby Fuller Four. In the mid-1960s, they did a great version of a song by Sonny Curtis of The Crickets," he suggested before quipping, "The chorus goes, 'I fought the law — and the law won.' It’s catchy."

You can read the whole piece here.