TrumpWar

In a twit of astounding narcissism and hubris, the president of the United State suggested that if he’s impeached, there could be a problem.

A “Civil War like [sic] fracture”? As in brother against brother, father against son, mother against daughter? There are people in this country who support Trump, which is hard to explain. It’s not that the Dems offer a better vision of the future. It’s not Trump has managed to accomplish anything particularly helpful to anyone, beyond the appointment of more conservative judges, and few of the groundlings have a serious grasp of what that means.

Trump isn’t conservative. Trump isn’t anything beyond doing what feeds his ego and pocket. He hasn’t brought good jobs back to America, and he’s pretty much blown every ridiculous promise he’s made. For years, many good Americans believed that an “ordinary” person, a non-politician, could take the reins and run this country according to the way they felt it should be run. It was a virtue that he knew nothing about law, governance or pretty much any subject other than building gaudy structures. He was like them, seeing the solutions in the most simplistic and obvious ways.

It’s like all those good people who believe the Constitution “means what it says,” not grasping that nothing is as simple as they want it to be. Here he was, a guy just as simple as them, and surely they would be proven right, that these fancy-pants smart people were full of it and Trump would finally, finally, prove that it was just as obvious as they always believe it would be.

It’s not. It never was. It can’t be. As Trump said about a year after the election, he didn’t know it would be so hard. It’s a big job. He was never up to it. Even assuming he’s not particularly venal, his lack of grasp of law and propriety has led him to engage in a steady stream of bad acts, as if he’s running a mom and pop business for his own benefit on our dime. This was the best one could expect of Trump.

The problem isn’t that a non-pol can’t be president. Or that conservatives are evil and progressives are the harbingers of Utopia. The problem is that one person, Donald J. Trump, was the wrong choice, a bad guy, ignorant and incapable and motivated not to help anyone but himself. You may want to believe his lies, but you know they’re lies, right? Whether you agree with what he spews, you know he’s just feeding believers what they want to hear because his only weapon is amoral shamelessness.

Whether he gets removed remains to be seen. But what if he does?

And here’s the thing: You have a very good alternative. I don’t personally share Mike Pence’s worldview, but you do. He is a deeply conservative, anti-regulation, anti-tax, evangelical Christian. As a bonus, he has never paid hush money to a porn star or made big campaign donations to New York Democrats. Oh, and Pence has a lower disapproval rating than Trump.

Should impeachment and conviction happen, Hillary doesn’t become president, his judicial appointments aren’t nullified and the Dems lose their strongest argument for the presidency, to rid us of this blight on a nation.

Don’t blame the Dems, the media, the outraged swarm of gnats, for what may happen. He can’t be removed unless the Senate Republicans vote to do so, and if they do, it’s not because they want to drive away his base and endorse Liz Warren or Bernie, but because they are well aware of how Trump has been courting dirty since Day One, embarrassing them and America, undermining the vestiges of intelligent conservatism and compelling them to whore themselves to pretend to back his idiotic lies and excuses.

Trump did this to himself.

Even if you believe that the business of America should be business, consider Rex Tillerson, who fled this rat-infested ship like everyone else who thought they could be the grown-up in the room and prevent the loudmouthed fool from doing whatever popped into his self-aggrandizing head. Tillerson was not only an actual successful businessman, but smarter by far, which is why he called Trump a “fucking moron.” Steve Mnuchin called him a dope. John Kelly called him an idiot. These aren’t fighters for the resistance, kids.

Trump was a curious experiment, but the experiment failed. Maybe President Pence will do better. Maybe someone else will come forward who isn’t an idiot, who has some small clue how to be president, who has some goal other than self-enrichment and self-aggrandizement, and will be what you hoped Trump would be, but isn’t.

Even if you truly love Trump, believe in Trump, support Trump, are you willing to die for Trump? Are you willing to kill for Trump? Trust me, he wouldn’t suffer a paper cut for you.

 

69 thoughts on “TrumpWar

  1. jfjoyner3

    Are you over-anayzing this? I do not “love” Trump but I like many things he has done and I suspect the disruption he causes is long overdue for the behemoth administrative state.

    I am an example of why DJT got elected and might get re-elected.

    I was the target of a $10 million lawsuit that was built on aggressive and misleading (sometimes dishonest) claims by an aggressive Federal agency, the DOL. Having been sued for $10 million by ideologues employed within this Federal agency, I directly benefited from DJT’s election because the DOL almost immediately ended their 2-year assault against me (as a pro se defendant I was able to negotiate a settlement of $15k very soon after the presidential election). The DOL trial lawyer admitted they knew the expected political changes would impact their enforcement strategy.

    When I hear the unquestionable crimes of Russian collusion case and now this boorish and overbearing phone call to Ukraine, I sense the undercurrents of an elitist, power hungry management embedded within Federal agencies who want their barely accountable activities — attacking decent Americans, attacking other cultures and countries, obfuscating the destructive outcomes of their actions — to be protected from this Tasmanian Devil president.

    So, I am an example of how Trump got elected and might get re-elected. When I hear the endless bull schiff from Adam and Jerry and Eric, I am reinforced in my belief that their political rule will always lead to corruption and destruction. I believe that if they succeed in impeaching Trump, there will be no turning back the administrative state. What they offer is much worse than what is in place at this time.

    1. SHG Post author

      What if, hear me out, I didn’t disagree with you about anything except that Trump was the wrong horse to back. Find a horse that will take you to the place you want to go, but not by riding through the gutter to get there.

      1. Warren

        You are part of the political aristocracy SHG, that’s why you think common people are rubes and ignorant fools. You make a living (and a good one I imagine) in the most corrupt and arrogant profession as a paid gatekeeper to protect the deep state mandarins by telling folks the lie that you represent them against the “system”. Somehow because you have a law degree you think are superior form of human. Well guess what, your not and we (the common folk) now know it and we are getting mighty tired of it.

        1. SHG Post author

          I think fools are fools, but that’s only because I’m constrained by knowledge, education, experience and the law of gravity. You can be as common as you like, but you get no special dispensation for being dumb. Nobody has ever said, “hey, I want the guy who digs ditches to do my brain surgery because he’s a rube like me.”

          And trust me, I ain’t no part of no political aristocracy. Ask anyone.

        2. Howl

          When the “system” puts the screws on you, a good lawyer might be the only thing between you and prison. It could cost you a lot – but it’s worth every penny. As the song goes, “it costs a lot to win, and even more to lose.”
          As far as superiority, yeah, lawyers are superior when it comes to legal stuff. Doctors, medical stuff. Engineers, engineering stuff. Plumbers, plumbing stuff. Electricians, electrical stuff. Mechanics, mechanical stuff. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. It’s called division of labor, and it made civilization possible.
          I try not to express simplistic generalities about subjects that I know little about. It just makes me look like an ignorant fool to those who know a little more about the subject. I’m not always successful, but it’s still a good rule to try to follow.

        3. Miles

          The common folk are mighty tired of the elites telling them what to do, so your hero is a pseudo-billionaire because he says stupid shit? That’s really not as good an argument as you seem to think.

            1. SHG Post author

              The irony, as you know, is that I don’t entirely disagree with the “common folk” perception of the problem, but Trump isn’t the answer to any problem.

      2. LocoYokel

        What’s wrong with the gutter? You find all kinds of interesting things there – pennies, the occasional 1 or 10 dollar bill, jewelry, etc. Not sure I want to troll the sewer with Trump or Pelosi, either one but the gutter’s fine.

        PS, you can pull a handful of hair out now… 🙂

  2. Catherine P Clements

    #1 he was quoting someone. He didn’t actually say it.

    #2 If you still don’t understand why Trump is supported by the majority of the country, then maybe speaking about politics isn’t for you. He’s polling at a 53% approval rating, so you are the minority.

    1. DaveL

      He’s polling at a 53% approval rating, so you are the minority.

      Do you approve of the job President Trump is doing? [ ] Da [ ] Nyet

        1. Ken

          Because I can’t help myself, I went and looked up approval ratings of the last four presidents at about this time in their presidency

          Trump 42.8%
          Obama 39%
          Bush Jr. 51%
          Clinton 45% (an eyeball approximation from a chart – could not find an exact number)

          I could only find disapproval ratings for the last the presidents at this time presidency.

          Trump 53%
          Obama 52%
          Bush Jr. 46%

          Trump’s approval and disapproval rates appear about average for modern presidents (Bush was an anomaly in his first term for reasons we all know). However, the 53% wasn’t the approval rating.

  3. mike parr

    I think Trump’s threat was directed at senate republicans as much as house democrats. Former Senator Jeff Flake remarked over the weekend that if there was a secret vote at least 35 Republican senators would vote in favor of impeaching President Trump. Trump realizes that all it will take is a couple of influential republican senators who want to preserve their legacy to get the ball rolling, and once it starts rolling it will snowball out of control. Trump is scared now, paranoid even. One can only imagine what other evidence of criminal activity that will be exposed during an impeachment trial. For some reason everyone around Trump seems to turn on him, that’s a fact that even he can’t ignore.

    1. SHG Post author

      Senate Reps aren’t (all) stupid. They’re caught between a rock and a hard place, and as politicians, realize that losing an election is the end of their relevancy, so appeasing the base always comes first. The question is what it will take for the base to realize that Trump is neither their friend nor savior.

      1. mike parr

        The way I see it is once it becomes too late for anyone to launch a primary challenge to republican senators up for reelection next year they’ll jump ship and turn on Trump. The republican base won’t vote for democrats regardless of the situation and these senators will win their election. If the impeachment inquiry starts today the house can easily drag it out. Besides, senate republicans have gotten just about everything from Trump they can get. He has served his purpose and it’s time to dispose of him before he causes irreparable harm to the party.

        1. Robert A. McReynolds

          They may not vote for Democrats, but they will stay home. Trust me. I have a pretty good insight into how many of them think because I was one for a long time. They will punish their Party if the Party does anything overtly counter to the base’s interest. They do stay home.

      2. Robert A. McReynolds

        The problem they have with that scenario is that the base does not trust them either. I would say, if there was a way to measure it, the base of the GOP trusts their GOP politicians only slightly more than they trust the Democrats. I know this because I was involved in GOP politics in Texas and in Maryland for about two decades before deciding that it was a wasted effort–both parties are pretty much the same and only use “social issues” as a wedge to divide the people. I will give you a case in point, and I am not saying that this particular issue is correct or wrong: illegal immigration. The GOP base has been pretty much where Trump says he is since 2006 (if not longer). The national GOP has been in favor of “comprehensive immigration reform” since…2006 (if not longer). They are on completely different sides of just about every single major issue. Hence Trump.

  4. John Barleycorn

    Yeah, but will Rudy hire the Dersh?

    And if so…. does that mean Streisand is gonna come out of retirement?

    P.S. Can I use you as a reference to get into Iowa’s Navy during the Civil War? I always have wanted float around in the Missouri River.

  5. JAV

    A worrying number of people have fallen into this fantasy about how great/awful Trump is. After spending the last month reading Civil War history, anyone who thinks violence is the best way to resolve this fantasy is unhinged.

  6. phv3773

    I rather suspect that jfjoyner3’s faith in Trump to disrupt the administrative state is misplaced. The chaos around DJT draws attention away from the fact that he is a really terrible administrator and has appointed weak leaders to many positions and left many other vacant. If you want to change a bureaucracy, you need a strong leader, not a weak one.

  7. Ken

    Does anyone really believe impeachment will happen? They’ll “investigate” as long as they can and when this loses steam they’ll find something else to pin on Trump to keep the bad press rolling. The problem is that they don’t seem to realize that is that he’s better at wallowing in the mud than they are.

    As for the civil war language, I’m not sure when Trump took notice of it, but this language has been rolling around the rural countryside for a while. I’m not sure where it originated. I am pretty sure why it got tweeted: it caused a splash among the “elite” who greatly over-reacted and therefore created a counter-reaction to that idiocy among those who compose Trump’s base. As long as he can keep things stirred up he benefits. Imagine what would happen if the press et al. went silent and ignored him. His base wouldn’t have anything to react to and get stirred up about; they would lose interest. He’d have no chance in the next election. However, his opponents can’t help themselves and, as I said above, Trump’s better at wallowing in the mud than they are.

    BTW: I don’t attribute this to Trump being smarter than Einstein and playing 4D chess. I see it as more of a natural instinct/ability in distraction and self-aggrandizement.

    1. SHG Post author

      It’s been suggested that the Dems need Trump to remain in office to have any chance of winning the 2020 election, as he’s the best reason to vote Dem. But this time, he’s done something easily provable, legally clear, and much to my surprise, picking up a little traction. And wherever one falls on the political spectrum, it doesn’t change the fact that Trump’s a special kind of misfit.

      So is it likely? No. Possible? Given the potential for Trump and Rudy to make things worse, you bet.

      As for the civil war piece, I’ve been hearing this as well for a while, but coming from his fingers is a little different. If not Trump, then Pence. No reason for anyone to get too excited.

      1. Robert

        SHG, you come across as if you have not read the transcript of the phone call, but are instead going by the NYT spin on it.

          1. Robert

            I was referring to your reply to Ken, specifically when you said this: “But this time, he’s done something easily provable, legally clear, and much to my surprise, picking up a little traction.” I have read the transcript, and to me it certainly does not support your claim about what Trump did.

      2. B. McLeod

        I think there is a bit of a flaw there in terms of impact on the election. If the Dems manage to put Trump out, and Pence steps up for however many months are left, isn’t Trump still the candidate filed for president (and by that point, probably the Republican nominee)? I think the Dems still get to run against Trump, even if he is ousted, and the resulting electoral chaos will probably seat whomever has become the Democratic nominee. I don’t think the voters will be offered a choice of Pence v. Democrat, but it will remain an “if not Trump, a Democrat” scenario. So, basically the same choice as 2016, pitting the problems of Trump against the problems of a candidate pushing the ideology of political correctness. The voters are screwed proper, no matter what.

        1. SHG Post author

          Nah. Trump isn’t the Rep candidate yet, and if Pence is the incumbent, and for lack of a primary, he’ll get the nomination.

          1. Dave Landers

            If Trump is impeached, convicted, and removed from office he may still seek re-election (as he already currently is doing). For Trump to be stopped from running for re-election he also has to be convicted in his impeachment with being disbarred from seeking future election. These would be two separate votes in the Senate.

            1. Ray

              Article I, Section 4 prohibits anyone impeached by the House, convicted in the Senate, and removed from office from ever again holding any federal office.

  8. Warren

    Damn, hit a soft spot counselor? So I don’t have knowledge, education, experience and when I drop an apple don’t know where it’s going to go. Oh yea, dumb to. Well, your still part of the aristocracy (ABA) and you will always be despite your protests. I don’t have a special door to go in courthouse, and you as an officer of the court do. I don’t destroy lives and then shrug my shoulders and say sorry that’s my job, and BTW you still owe me. You are a member of the biggest racket, the so called Justice system. If I don’t have a member of your gang with me when I step into the courthouse I’m toast and so is everyone else who tries not to pay tribute to your gang. But I’m from the wrong side of the tracks I guess so my life experiences, successes and failures don’t count to the mandarins.

    1. SHG Post author

      You didn’t hit the reply button or a soft spot. It’s fine that you hate lawyers. Lots of people do. It doesn’t change anything.

      And next time, use the reply button, please.

      1. Robert A. McReynolds

        If you are member of the aristocracy for getting to use a “special door” at the courthouse, then so am I and I am only a legal intern in my last year of school!! Man I can’t wait to get full fledged aristocracy status!

    2. Howl

      Ya know, Warren, last time I went trolling I hooked something big. That fish was stripping so much line off the reel we had to turn the boat around to get some of the line back. Fought that sucker for about 10 minutes before he finally threw the hook. Never got him close enough to the boat to get a look, more’s the shame.

  9. Warren

    SHG, I already got moderated and it was only the second time I commented! BTW, I do completely agree that Civil War would be the most terrible, awful thing that could happen and in no way advocate nor want that. I worry that the left thinks its a viable option. That’s why I wish people would read about it. A really good book is “Tennozan” about the battle for Okinawa. Read that and want war. History is full of things that start for the smallest of excuses and consume nations.

      1. Warren

        Thanks, don’t do this much. I don’t think I’m a wild eyed zealot, and yeah Trump says things that I wish he would have kept his mouth shut (advice I should have taken a few times in my life). But damn, the democrats make Hugo Chavez look like Ronald Regan. They will destroy the best economic engine for everyone that is willing to work, change with the technology and not give up and expect everyone else to take care of them. I’m not rich but I made some good decisions along with the bad ones. I did not turn conservative overnight, I voted for Jimmy Carter two score ago and if you would have told me I would vote for a millionaire from New York city then I would have laughed at you. But I have to say that politics in the US have always been bare knuckle. I think the 24 hour news cycle wears us all out.

  10. mike parr

    Trump is becoming more off the wall by the minute. He just tweeted this:

    Rep. Adam Schiff illegally made up a FAKE & terrible
    statement, pretended it to be mine as the most important part of
    my call to the Ukrainian President, and read it aloud to
    Congress and the American people. It bore NO relationship to
    what I said on the call. Arrest for Treason?

      1. mike parr

        I’m wondering what the senate will do when, because of Trump’s goading, one of the Soldiers For Trump makes an attempt on one of his enemies life. You know it’s just a matter of time before Trump dog whistles his approval of such an attack, but will the senate then react responsibly or ignore it and allow Trump to cause further anarchy..

        In your gut, you know he’s a nut.

        1. SHG Post author

          You just went over the line. This didn’t happen, and now you’re just indulging in fantasy delusions which is no different than the nutjobs on either side. This was a dangerously bad and wrong comment.

          1. mike parr

            Re-read my comment. I never implied it had occurred. I did imply that at some point Trump may make a suggestion like he did back before the election:

            “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Mr. Trump said, as the crowd began to boo. He quickly added: “Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.”

            1. SHG Post author

              No, you engaged in baseless speculation. Deal with what’s real, not space aliens. No more on this, and really should have trashed your comment in the first place.

          2. Cinnamongirl

            There is a bounty of 50K for the whistleblower. This guys life is in danger. That’s ok with Trump.

            1. Cinnamongirl

              It’s not baseless speculation. It’s all over right-wing social media. Trump all but said execute him. Lawyers are not the problem. The rule of law is the only thing holding us up at this point. When that goes thin thread is gone, it will be a civil war.

            2. SHG Post author

              Why didn’t you say so. Certainly nothing that’s spread all over right-wing social media could possibly be complete horseshit. I keep trying to save you, but you bring this rain of shit down on yourself when you spew this hysterical fringe nonsense.

            3. David

              “It’s not baseless speculation. It’s all over right-wing social media.”

              Did you read what you wrote? Even you can’t be that blind.

      2. Ray

        My mother is 81. She has lived awhile and knows something about life.

        In her opinion, he’s just that nuts.

        She says it almost every morning when the news comes on, usually followed by “what kind of president do we have, he’s ill.”

        Mom is pretty much apolitical, non-partisan, and regularly splits her vote.

  11. albeed

    I do not care if you publish this comment. This exhortation is intended for you and only you.

    Please do not write about Trump anymore. You have called many people ignorant and lesser human beings on this matter mainly because of their lack of a narrow focus of knowledge, namely the law.

    If you do not see that the House is lying so frequently to many media sources, they cannot get their stories straight, then I do not know how you think. They have gone so far as to criticize anything Trump says or does, no matter how common (or trivial) it is. It is like the prosecution trying to throw all the shit it can against the wall to see what sticks without any judicial gatekeeping. There really is serious damage being done to this country and it is the Congress doing it, abetted by useful idiots..

    Yes, Trump is for Trump and a clown. I’ll take that any day over deliberate liars who can lie directly to you and believe how smart they are.

    I am done. Please reconsider your positions, but my focus was not to change your mind but to broaden it.

    1. SHG Post author

      There are separate things that can happen simultaneously. I’ve argued against TDS and TrumpLaw, but that doesn’t mean Trump gets a pass because the other team is full of shit as well. As bad as the Dems may be, Trump is responsible for his own improprieties, just as they are.

      To turn a blind eye at anyone, Dems or Trump, out of team loyalty or hatred of the other team is to be a hypocrite. I will not be a hypocrite.

  12. Joseph Masters

    There’s a monster romping about that isn’t mentioned in your post but is the driving force on the conservative side if the aisle–Republican congressional primaries. Primaries animate both political parties, of course, but the dynamic will stymie the Republicans and prevent both Trump’s removal by impeachment or the 25th Ammendment–the evidence of this is clear-cut. The same dynamic has already caused the cancellation of several Republican presidential primaries, which indicates that the probability that Trump will be the nominee next year is exceedingly high.

    Since 2010, the TP Awakening has taken down “RINO” apostates by the bucketfull–even their Majority Leader to Dave Brat. Any Senate trial prior to Super Tuesday 2020 will open any votes to convict to a fight for that senator’s political life. By all accounts, the House impeachment plan will end on 15 November 2019.

    Even if Senate Republicans wish to remove Trump, will they risk being primaried in response? Will their leadership allow such an evolution, as Cantor’s loss to Brat culminated with a loss to Democrat Abigail Spanberger in 2018? Will McConnell risk his majority after 2020, given the devastating (for Republicans in Congress) 1974 and 1976 elections that followed the last Republican president forced from office?

    The comment section to this post seems to speak volumes. Republican primary voters are fired up, and their loyalty to Donald Trump makes them a force (and a terror) to be reckoned with. Knowledge, education, experience and expertise are all well and good, but the forces that will determine the outcome of this saga are electoral, not legal.

    Imagine instead what happens if Trump, once again, sails through unscathed. No combination of successive Republican presidents since Benjamin Harrison (1889-93) has served less than eight years in office. Instead of falling because of Ukranian and Australian shenanigans, Trump gets EMPOWERED. This is the statistically likely outcome, isn’t it?

    1. SHG Post author

      Will Trump voters upset by the “disloyalty” of senators vote Dem or stay home and let the Dems take the Senate?

  13. Rendall

    I suspect changing Leave a Reply” to “Post a Comment” might leave less of a chance for people to confuse the two kinds of “reply”. Some of us are more used to forums than others.

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