Tag Archives: The President

Would It Be Inappropriate to Call It the Nut House?

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Predictions that, given his warped psychology, the president will become even more erratic as he gets closer to the end of his presidency are coming true. He held a meeting at the White House yesterday. From Axios:

Senior Txxxx administration officials are increasingly alarmed that President Txxxx might unleash ā€” and abuse ā€” the power of government in an effort to overturn the clear result of the election.

Why it matters:Ā These officials tell me that Txxxx is spending too much time with people they consider crackpots or conspiracy theorists and flirting with blatant abuses of power.

  • There are 32 days until President-elect Biden’s inauguration.

The big picture:Ā Their fears include Txxxx’s interest in former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s wild talk of martial law; an idea floated of an executive order to commandeer voting machines; and the specter of Sidney Powell, the conspiracy-spewing election lawyer, obtaining governmental power and a top-level security clearance.

A senior administration officialĀ said that when Txxxx is “retweeting threats of putting politicians in jail, and spends his time talking to conspiracy nuts who openly say declaring martial law is no big deal, itā€™s impossible not to start getting anxious about how this ends.”

  • “People who are concerned and nervous arenā€™t the weak-kneed bureaucrats that we loathe,” the official added. “These are people who have endured arguably more insanity and mayhem than any administration officials in history.”

At Friday’s meeting,Ā first reported by The New York Times, Txxxx discussed making Powell a special counsel for election fraud.

  • The ideas included commandeering voting machines, with Powell as a special counsel to inspect the machines, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
  • White House counsel Pat Cipollone and chief of staff Mark Meadows “pushed back strenuously and repeatedly against the ideas put forth by Sidney Powell,ā€ the source said.
  • The meeting included Flynn, who was pardoned by Txxxx in November and is a celebrity with election-denying Txxxx supporters.

Unquote.

Nobody knows how unhinged the president will become in the next four weeks, but it shouldn’t surprise us if he issues orders to insert Flynn, Giuliani, Jared or Ivanka in the military chain of command.Ā 

What Comes Next for the Creep

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New York Magazine interviewed Michael Cohen. He used to be Txxxxā€™s “bagman and consigliere”, a job that earned him a three-year prison sentence. They wanted to talk about the president’s “ongoing election meltdown”:

Is there a strategy behind the tantrum Txxxx has been throwing since November 3?Ā 
Itā€™s all a shameless con job. He sees his claims of fraud as driving up donations ā€” thereā€™s nothing behind it beyond greed. Txxxx is using the moment to raise money. TheĀ number is actually shockingly large, over $150 million, a majority of it from small-dollar donations. This money is not going to his Election Defense Fund; itā€™s to keep him relevant in the GOP and launch his media brand. Itā€™s all about money and power, and you need one to get the other.

Does he really believe massive election fraud took place?
There is that part of him that cannot accept losing. In his mind, the only way Biden could have won is through fraud. He has convinced himself of a narrative and is being fed back what he wants to hear from sycophants. The only one of these scumbags who truly believes this crap isĀ Sidney Powell, but she is legitimately insane.

What’s next?
The money heā€™s raising is going toward the Save America PAC, which will be the base from which he establishes an entire parallel system of government. I call it the Republic of MAGAstan, and its capital will be in Florida at Mar-a-Lago. Heā€™s also going to have his own 24/7 media platform with Txxxx TV, which will be an unholy alliance between Newsmax, OANN, and whoever he can drag from the swamp looking for relevance. Heā€™ll continue to suck from the veins of his MAGA faithful while chipping away at the Biden presidency, casting doubt on the legitimacy of the election. All of this is in service of a Txxxx 2024 run for president and his return to power. . . .

Yesterday theĀ New York Times reportedĀ that Txxxx has been discussing pardoning his three oldest children as well as Jared Kushner and Rudy Giuliani over concerns that the Biden administration may seek retribution against them. Do you think heā€™ll issue those pardons?
If Dxxxx Txxxx believed the pardons would be a slam-dunk benefit to him, he would already have signed off. Unfortunately for him, he is painfully aware that there are negative repercussions to such an action that could place him, his children, and his company in significant legal trouble. It is why he is proceeding cautiously. [Note: For instance, it’s suggested that you need to say what crimes a person committed as part of giving them a pardon.]

The idea that heā€™s concerned about ā€œretributionā€ is whatā€™s known as deflection. Dxxxx Txxxx knows that he, his children, and Kushner have all violated the law. And itā€™s not about retribution; itā€™s about an investigation that would most certainly lead to a conviction. Heā€™s doing an act in advance of what he knows is coming down the pipeline. Heā€™s already laying the groundwork for the premise of why he believes he must pardon his family: not because of their own dirty deeds but because of retribution. Itā€™s all about distraction and deflection.

In your book,Ā Disloyal, you tell a fascinating story about the socialite Patricia Kluge and how Txxxx slyly leveraged his way into acquiring her $100 million estate by exploiting her weaknesses. You wrote that Txxxx ā€œwas constantly calculating and assessing how to take maximum advantage of every situation.ā€ I wonder if, while most people see the lame-duck period as a time to pack up and go, he sees it as a valuable opportunity to create discomfort that he can then trade for something valuable.
Of course he does. Life is a zero-sum game to Dxxxx Txxxx. Every moment is a moment to dominate and win. Where some would see a lame-duck presidency, Txxxx views an opportunity to leverage power by granting pardons, raising money, and setting himself up for the future.

You also wrote, ā€œIf something didnā€™t work out for Txxxx to his satisfaction, he dropped the whole project instantaneously, or at least after heā€™d wallowed in his outrage and anger.ā€ You donā€™t think this will apply to his political career?
I donā€™t think he views himself as being done with politics. It will be fascinating to follow his second act through the political wilderness of Mar-a-Lago, where heā€™ll undoubtedly try to rewrite history and claim his four years were a miracle of prosperity and success. Heā€™s going to have this massive Twitter following and his own media network to keep himself relevant. If he stays out of prison, he will continue to be a dangerous force in GOP politics until the day he dies.

Do you think he will be criminally prosecuted, and if so, by whom and for what?
I believe he will be indicted, along with his sons, by (New York District Attorney) Cy Vance as part of the widening probe into criminality and fraud at the Txxxx Organization. The bill is coming due, and itā€™s going to be nasty. . . .

As someone who knows him really well, is there something you see him doing in the next two months that will surprise everyone but you?
The only thing surprising he could do at this moment would be to go away and quietly lead his life with dignity and respect. Otherwise, we are stuck with this monster. . . .

Unquote.

We are probably stuck with him, but we don’t have to give him all the attention he craves. I hope the people who cover “the news” will give him the attention he deserves, in other words, much, much less than what they’ve given him the past five years.

On Borrowed Time, Georgia On Our Mindsā 

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From former National Security Adviser Susan Rice in The New York Times:

For now, our democracy has held. It’s dodged a bullet ā€” or, more precisely, multiple concerted efforts by the president of the United States to torpedo its very foundations. . .Ā 

Still, the lesson we must learn is not a reassuring one: A determined autocrat in the White House poses a grave threat to our democratic institutions and can severely undermine faith in our elections, particularly when backed by partisans in Congress.

Perhaps only when the stars are optimally aligned ā€” when voters turn out in huge numbers, when the outcome is not close, when state and local officials and the courts adhere to the rule of law, when foreign interference is thwarted, when the media behaves responsibly and when people remain peaceful ā€” can our democracy endure its greatest tests.

[This president] will leave office on Jan. 20, whether he acknowledges defeat or not. Yet, if his Republican enablers in Congress retain a Senate majority, they will not hesitate to reprise the politics of power at any cost, even by again subverting the democratic process.

So, bolstering our democracy depends in large part on the people of Georgia voting out their incumbent senators on Jan. 5. If the Senate flips to Democratic control, Congress will be able to apply the lessons of our democracyā€™s near-death experience.

It would enact the For the People ActĀ to combat corruption, strengthen ethics rules and improve voter access as well as theĀ John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement ActĀ to restore the protections of the 1965 legislation. Congress would pass theĀ Protecting Our Democracy ActĀ to constrain the power of future presidents who deem themselves above the law and finally adoptĀ long-stalled legislationĀ to shore up our election infrastructure against adversaries, foreign or domestic.

Now is no time for self-congratulation or complacency. We must act with the unique urgency and courage of those who know they are living on borrowed time.

Outrageous

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It’s a word that’s almost lost its meaning, given that everything from stand-up comedy to mattress sales are called “outrageous” these days. But consider the simple fact that a president of the United States downplayed the severity of a pandemic, while acknowledging it in private, to the point that millions of his followers think the disease is a hoax and wearing masks is a liberal plot. Then there’s the simple fact that Republican politicians, right-wing media types and most of his supporters have gone along with him every step of the way.Ā 

Claiming he won the election except for all the fraudulent votes is outrageous enough. Using his position to make more of us die and suffer from COVID-19 is about as outrageous as anything a person or president could do.

It’s true that the death rate is down, but the virus causes suffering and can cause significant damage even when you survive it, and then there’s the effects it has on the rest of society. This chart shows new cases in New Jersey from March to November:Ā 

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Bye Bye, Bozo

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From The Washington Post:

The Biden campaign has said that should [you know who] refuse to leave on Jan. 20, ā€œthe United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White Houseā€ . . .Ā 

But werenā€™t the Founders obsessed with the encroaching nature of tyranny [e.g. presidents who won’t go away]? Didnā€™t they worry constantly about a president having too much power?

Most of them did, yes, though not all. During the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Alexander HamiltonĀ floated the ideaĀ of presidents serving for life, but when put to a vote, the proposal failed 4-6.

The power that scared many founders the most was that of commander-in-chief.

Though not necessarily tied to an election loss, ā€there was a lot of discussion of the possibility that a president with control of the Army might refuse to relinquish power,ā€ said Michael McConnell, a constitutional law professor at Stanford . . .

At the Virginia ratifying convention, Patrick HenryĀ said, ā€œIf your American chief be a man of ambition and abilities, how easy is it for him to render himself absolute! The army is in his hands, and if he be a man of address, it will be attached to him; and it will be the subject of long meditation with him to seize the first auspicious moment to accomplish his design.ā€

Gouverneur Morris, who wrote the preamble to the Constitution,Ā warnedĀ that if a president was limited to one term, he might ā€œbe unwilling to quit his exaltation … he will be in possession of the sword, a civil war will ensue, and the commander of the victorious army on which ever side, will be the despot of America.ā€

Perhaps most ominously, one prominent Pennsylvanian identifying himself only as ā€œAn Old Whig,ā€ wrote about this inĀ Anti-Federalist No. 70, and is worth quoting at length:

ā€œLet us suppose this man to be a favorite with his army, and that they are unwilling to part with their beloved commander in chief … and we have only to suppose one thing more, that this man is without the virtue, the moderation and love of liberty which possessed the mind of our late general [Washington] ā€“ and this country will be involved at once in war and tyranny.

… We may also suppose, without trespassing upon the bounds of probability, that this man may not have the means of supporting, in private life, the dignity of his former station; that like Caesar, he may be at once ambitious and poor, and deeply involved in debt. Such a man would die a thousand deaths rather than sink from the heights of splendor and power, into obscurity and wretchedness.ā€

Some Founders who supported the Constitution still predicted that it wouldnā€™t stop a president from seizing power.

ā€œThe first man put at the helm will be a good one,ā€Ā Benjamin FranklinĀ said, referring to Washington. ā€œNobody knows what sort may come afterwards. The executive will be always increasing here, as elsewhere, till it ends in a monarchy.ā€

So why didnā€™t the founders plan for this particular scenario, of a president simply denying that he had lost an election? Because they couldnā€™t even fathom it, [according to Jeffrey Engel, the director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University].

ā€œThey couldnā€™t fathom two things: a person who had become president who was so utterly lacking in classical virtue that they would deign or dare to put their own interests above the unity of the country. And the second thing is, I think they couldnā€™t fathom how any president who would so vividly display disdain for the unity of the country, and mock and undermine the legitimacy of American democracy, why that person [wouldnā€™t have] already been impeached and removed from office.ā€

Unquote.

But the Founders never imagined the Republican Party.

Anyway, it’s much more likely our president will have vacated the White House long before January 20th. He now spends most of his time watching TV, all alone, sulking. Next stop, Xanadu.

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