Squiddiddler Loc: Phoenix

The campaign to overturn the 2016 e******n and bring down President Trump shifted into high gear this week.

Inspiration came Saturday morning from the altar of the National Cathedral where our establishment came to pay homage to John McCain.

Gathered there were all the presidents from 1993 to 2017, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Vice Presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney, Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Henry Kissinger, the leaders of both houses of Congress, and too many generals and admirals to list.

Striding into the pulpit, Obama delivered a searing indictment of the man undoing his legacy:

"So much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse can seem small and mean and petty, trafficking in bombast and insult and phony controversies and manufactured outrage. ... It's a politics that pretends to be brave and tough but in fact is born of fear."

Speakers praised McCain's willingness to cross party lines, but Democrats took away a new determination: From here on out, confrontation!

Tuesday morning, as Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court began, Democrats disrupted the proceedings and demanded immediate adjournment, as scores of protesters shouted and screamed to halt the hearings.

Taking credit for orchestrating the disruption, Sen. Dick Durbin boasted, "What we've heard is the noise of democracy."

But if mob action to shut down a Senate hearing is the noise of democracy, this may explain why many countries are taking a new look at the authoritarian rulers who can at least deliver a semblance of order.

Wednesday came leaks in The Washington Post from Bob Woodward's new book, attributing to Chief of Staff John Kelly and Gen. James Mattis crude remarks on the president's intelligence, character and maturity, and describing the Trump White House as a "crazytown" led by a fifth- or sixth-grader.

Kelly and Mattis both denied making the comments.

Thursday came an op-ed in The New York Times by an anonymous "senior official" claiming to be a member of the "resistance ... working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his (Trump's) agenda."

A pedestrian piece of prose containing nothing about Trump one cannot read or hear daily in the media, the op-ed caused a sensation, but only because Times editors decided to give the disloyal and s*******s Trump aide who wrote it immunity and cover to betray his or her president.

The t***saction served the political objectives of both parties.

While the Woodward book may debut at the top of The New York Times best-seller list, and "Anonymous," once ferreted out and fired, will have his or her 15 minutes of fame, what this portends is not good.

For what is afoot here is something America specializes in -- regime change. Only the regime our establishment and media mean to change is the government of the United States. What is afoot is the o*******w of America's democratically elected head of state.

The methodology is familiar. After a years-long assault on the White House and president by a special prosecutor's office, the House takes up impeachment, while a collaborationist press plays its traditional supporting role.

Presidents are wounded, disabled or o*******wn, and Pulitzers all around.

No one suggests Richard Nixon was without sin in trying to cover up the Watergate break-in. But no one should delude himself into believing that the o*******w of that president, not two years after he won the greatest landslide in U.S. history, was not an act of vengeance by a h**e-filled city that ran a sword through Nixon for offenses it had covered up or brushed under the rug in the Roosevelt, Kennedy and Johnson years.


So, where are we headed?

If November's e******ns produce, as many predict, a Democratic House, there will be more investigations of President Trump than any man charged with running the U.S. government may be able to manage.

There is the Mueller investigation into "Russiagate" that began before Trump was inaugurated. There is the investigation of his business and private life before he became president in the Southern District of New York. There is the investigation into the Trump Foundation by New York State.

There will be investigations by House committees into alleged violations of the Emoluments Clause. And ever present will be platoons of journalists ready to report the leaks from all of these investigations.

Then, if media coverage can drive Trump's polls low enough, will come the impeachment investigation and the regurgitation of all that went before.

If Trump has the stamina to hold on, and the Senate remains Republican, he may survive, even as Democrats divide between a rising militant socialist left and the Democrats' septuagenarian caucus led by Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Bernie Sanders and Nancy Pelosi.

2019 looks to be the year of bellum omnium contra omnes, the war of all against all. Entertaining, for sure, but how many more of these c**ps d'etat can the Republic sustain before a new generation says enough of all this?

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

Great article but the future is a bit scary.

SilentGeneration Loc: Michigan

Our forefathers wrote an impeachment process for a reason. No one is above the observance of the law. Perhaps we should have had more than two impeachments.
Aside from media reports, Mr. Trump's own words, tweets, and actions have created the situation he's facing. We need to get a higher level of accountability from our public servants. Our politicians often remind me of children in dire need of firm, consistent discipline. They're supposed to work for us, not for the Koch brothers or for Soros. If they can't do that, we need to v**e them out of office. Mr. Trump needs to learn that he's running a country, not a private business. It's a totally playing field with built in checks and balances. He's not the boss; he works for us now.
As a country, we need to all exercise our right to v**e. This is the best way to have a say in who is going to govern us at all levels.

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

To be more influenced by Trump's tweets than his outstanding accomplishments is the failing of the left. Trump is fit to be our president because he was legitimately elected to be president.

debeda

What an EXCELLENT post and summation Squid!!!! I dont believe the dems will take the house or the Senate, but I also didnt really grasp the ramifications and escalation that will continue after that. Scary stuff.

debeda

And your perspective, from your point of view, is part of the divide, I guess. From my point of view, as a conservative, what has been happening to and around our President is no matter how much things improve for the American people the left continues to have and escalate a tantrum that is s*******s and dangerous.

debeda

SilentGeneration Loc: Michigan

We can agree to disagree. I firmly believe that our greatness comes from our Constitution, Declaration of Independence, our citizens and their work ethic, and our Bill of Rights more than from our politicians. This is why i believe we have always been great and will continue to be great. Our systems allow for the discussion of opposing points of view. Our best leaders reach across the aisle to work together to resolve our problems.

woodguru

I'm putting you in for this week's sensibility award, damn...

woodguru

And our best people recognize when wrong is wrong or right is right,and most importantly act accordingly regardless of if it's a democrat or a republican.

debeda

Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be a consensus on what's "right" and what's "wrong". Therein lies the impasse.

woodguru

Being elected is one part of it, that means nothing if the person can't do the job with honor and integrity.

Hold off on the legitimately part, that dog is still hunting. That little paying off his porn star right at a critical time in the e******n might throw some doubt on that, and then there's Russia that might have affected that...

What outstanding accomplishments, the economy already was in great shape and so far much of what Trump is doing with trade and foreign policy isn't exactly proving to be stable. Trump has done things that could tank the market still.

debeda

Could, would, might...but isn't. More jobs, more $$ in paychecks, more respect toward the American people. That's the results people see and like.

woodguru

Things were in pretty decent shape when Trump took office, he has made no miraculous improvements.

It's up to Trump and his temperament (the best temperament of anyone in the world), and whether he has committed crimes or not, that remains to be seen. If he has he will be held accountable for them, winning an e******n does not give him a free pass.

debeda

Things sucked and were getting worse before the 2016 e******n. The improvements, in contrast, are pretty amazing.