There is no heroic action, no patriotic sacrifice, no solemn occasion that President Donald J. Trump is unwilling to turn into a narcissist's stew of ludicrous boasts and dishonest attacks. And yet, somehow, he retains the capacity to shock many of us with his ongoing debasement of the American presidency.

Four soldiers were killed in an ISIS ambush in Niger on October 4. For 12 days the President did not publicly acknowledge their deaths. At other times, to his credit, our President has personally attended return ceremonies for fallen heroes at Dover Air Force Base, but he did not do so for Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, and Sgt. La David Johnson. In fact, when Johnson's flag-draped coffin arrived at Dover, Donald Trump was playing golf.