None of this is unexpected.  They've been telling us their intentions for years.  The only upside is they are bunch of poser LARPers in tacticool who accidentally tase themselves in the balls.  The Republic may well have been saved by their incompetence. 

But even a moron can use a gun (major feature of the weapon), so this must be taken seriously.  Imagine a competent authoritarian at the helm.

NASA has a term (I doubt they originated it*) called "Nomalization of Deviance." When outlier events have either never occurred or are so rare you don't prepare for them, even though they may be a possible outcome or are even statistically inevitable. 

*Edited to add:  Was sociologist Diane Vaughn: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25742063/

Really curious where you're going with this.  Are you saying that America has invented DJT as its newest "bad guy"?  That we've been so desperate for someone evil, couldn't find anyone, so the MSM and Democrats thrust it upon him?  It feels like that's where you're going here, as if to say that Trump hasn't earned and doesn't deserve four years of backlash for actions he has purposefully chosen and which would have taken down nearly every president before him if not for a Congressional majority too willing turn a blind eye.

What are you really saying, Joe? 

Seems a little sneaky to me, as the process -- if it happened -- would be Pence & the cabinet declaring to congress that Trump is unable to discharge his powers/duties, then Trump would write a letter back refuting this, and then congress would have up to 21 days to vote on the matter, which would obviously take us beyond inauguration day. 

Peter, it's a legitimate and legal way to hold Trump accountable and limit his capabilities to incite further chaos.

You want "sneaky",look no further than Mitch McConnell and his "poison pills" when moving to block giving aid to millions of Americans during the pandemic. THAT's sneaky!

The 25th amendment process is necessary to stop a madman from causing any more destruction.

Nothing sneaky about it - no more sneaky than a President using the pocket veto to veto legislation without ACTUALLY vetoing it, or making a recess appointment WITHOUT the consent of the Senate. 

If the framers of the 25th Amendment wanted to prevent the temporary removal of the president from occurring less than 21 days prior to his or her leaving office they could have easily incorporated that into the text of the amendment.

You want sneaky??  Just take a look the the history of Canadian prime ministers proroguing parliament for purely partisan political advantage.

Marc

At least in Canada, we have a very simple method of removing a PM. A vote of non-confidence and he's gone. As well, I believe the Governor General could simply have a crazy PM removed on their own, which would be an interesting legal situation. Not sure though. 

It seems to me that impeachment is the mechanism designed to remove a president who has betrayed the public's trust and that the 25th is for when the president is unable to do his duties. Is Trump any more unable now than he ever was? It seems to me his ability is unchanged, but his willingess has disappeared. I therefore view invoking the 25th as a disingenuous move.

As for all the list of other sneaky things mentioned. Yes, I'm happy to concede these are all sneaky things. What's the relevance? Here's a list of dodgy things, this therefore precludes the need to consider the appropriateness -- and likely effectiveness -- of invoking the 25th.

You have a situation where a sitting President has lied to a massive base of people that trust him, riling them up with damaging consequences. Most sensible people agree this is unacceptable. The question is what is the best course of action to minimise the damage before he exits the door.

It's unfortunate and ugly that there is this powder keg of Trump's base, but it does exist. You go down this route -- which has never been used before -- and you have Pence and Congress saying Pence now has the powers of the President. And you will have Trump openly saying no, look here I am, clearly I am able to do the job. And the rules say I am president still. That's in the constitution, see, right here. And by the way, I fire my cabinet.

Now, does this make the mess any less dangerous? Have you made the situation better or worse?