Chris Matthews of MSNBC apparently sees the Trump administration as a bizarre hybrid of a “strongman... like Mobutu Sese Seko,” and the Romanov Dynasty, with a “whiff of fascism” for added complexity.   

No, I am not kidding.  All in the same evening.

Here he is making comparison of the President to fellow “strongman” Mobutu:

Here is his Romanov comparison:

And here is the “whiff of fascism”

Nobody could take this seriously as political theory; most charitably, it is reckless rhetoric.  

And I think that this, and all the other fulminating underway over the Comey firing, is precisely the response that President Trump anticipated. Every time his critics make predictions of doom, heralding the arrival of fascism or monarchy or a coup by a military dictator who looted his country, or whatever, they add to an expectations problem they will face when the investigation by the FBI professionals continues, as does the Republic. For Trump, the outrage of his critics over the way he handled the firing of his FBI director is not a bug, it is a feature, as they say in the tech world.

They have more than three and a half years of his presidency left, but how much more room do they have for rhetorical escalation before they look ridiculous – or tedious -- to everyone that is not a fanatical Trump hater?

Trump Derangement Syndrome is real, and Chris Matthews is its current poster boy.