Do you want to tell the story?
No, you’re doing fine.
Because if you think you can tell the story better, I would absolutely love to hear you try.
Well I guess technically I am more qualified…
Are you? How so?
Because unlike you… I’m an optimist.
Almost ek’smas and I’m in my usual funk of too much to do, no desire to do it, the days are short, the light is flat, bad, and not at the right time. The weather sucks too.
What I used to do before I started writing was crawl into bed after Thanksgiving and sleep until Groundhog Day (which I would then repeat until I got it right). Now, I feel a certain responsibility to my dozens of readers.
Robert Reich on the other hand is brimming with schadenfreude cheer.
Trump’s End
by Robert Reich
Friday, December 21, 2018
This morning I phoned my friend, the former Republican member of Congress.
So, what are you hearing?
Trump is in deep sh*t.
Tell me more.
When it looked like he was backing down on the wall, Rush and the crazies on Fox went ballistic. So he has to do the shutdown to keep the base happy. They’re his insurance policy. They stand between him and impeachment.
Impeachment? No chance. Senate Republicans would never go along.
Don’t be so sure. Corporate and Wall Street are up in arms. Trade war was bad enough. Now, you’ve got Mattis resigning in protest. Trump pulling out of Syria, giving Putin a huge win. This dumbass shutdown. The stock market in free-fall. The economy heading for recession.
But the base loves him.
Yeah, but the base doesn’t pay the bills.
You mean …
Follow the money, friend.
The GOP’s backers have had enough?
They wanted Pence all along.
So …
So they’ll wait until Mueller’s report, which will skewer Trump. Pelosi will wait, too. Then after the Mueller bombshell, she’ll get 20, 30, maybe even 40 Republicans to join in an impeachment resolution.
And then?
Senate Republicans hope that’ll be enough – that Trump will pull a Nixon.
So you think he’ll resign?
No chance. He’s fu*king out of his mind. He’ll rile up his base into a fever. Rallies around the country. Tweet storms. Hannity. Oh, it’s gonna be ugly. He’ll convince himself he’ll survive.
And then?
That’s when Senate Republicans pull the trigger.
Really? Two-thirds of the Senate?
Do the math. 47 Dems will be on board, so you need 19 Republicans. I can name almost that many who are already there. Won’t be hard to find the votes.
But it will take months. And the country will be put through a ringer.
I know. That’s the worst part.
I mean, we could have civil war.
Hell, no. That’s what he wants, but no chance. His approvals will be in the cellar. America will be glad to get rid of him.
I hope you’re right.
He’s a dangerous menace. He’ll be gone. And then he’ll be indicted, and Pence will pardon him. But the state investigations may put him in the clinker. Good riddance.
It’s a nice fantasy. I think the likely outcome is… nothing. Democrats too gutless to act, Republicans too arrogant and complicit to care.
The really bad thing about it all is that, if before the threshold for Impeachment was too low (a consensual blowjob, albeit with disturbing power dynamic implications), it is now impossibly high.
If you won’t Impeach someone who committed Election Fraud to gain his office, just plain Fraud to line his pockets, lies 10 times a day (every day), Suborns Perjury and Obstructs Justice, abuses the National Security apparatus of the United States to punish his enemies and incite his supporters to violence (Abuse of Power), and is a Traitor to boot…
Well, what is your standard?