Flip the Script
There are a lot of things that I don’t like about President Trump, so many that I won’t even start the list. But, there is something that I do have to give him credit for: he is able to find ways to grab the “story of the day.” He can “flip the script” better than any politician I’ve ever seen.
Take yesterday: on Tuesday night, President Trump and the Republican Party suffered a huge electoral defeat, losing the House of Representatives. Even more, it comes at a time when the Mueller investigation of the President is coming to a climax and allows a Democratic House to help protect the investigators. And yet, the President was able to do two things to regain control of the news cycle.
First he picked a fight with the national press in a press conference, staging an altercation between a staffer and “arch-nemesis” Jim Acosta of CNN. The video of that encounter was then doctored (by InfoWars – a right wing website) and the fake video re-messaged by the White House. The President failed to answer questions; insulting reporters instead of responding to their queries. In that process, he directly lied to them and the American people, denying any changes in his cabinet.
He already had fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and replaced him with a man who literally went on television to “try out” for the Trump Administration. Matt Whitaker is now the Acting Attorney General, taking charge of the Mueller Investigation. His appointment is of questionable legality, since his previous job as Department of Justice Chief of Staff did not require Senate confirmation. The law providing for temporary replacement seems to indicate that Senate confirmation is needed to fill a Cabinet position, so that will end up in Court.
And so, the “script is flipped.” The “Reality TV President” did exactly what he does best: he attacked the media, then fed them the “red meat” of a potential attack on the Mueller Investigation. The story of the national Democratic vote, almost seven percent greater than the Republican turnout, and the story of a Democratic victory in the House of Representatives, was drowned out.
His actions have triggered the “Resistance” marches to protect Mueller, with over 900 demonstrations scheduled throughout the nation tonight at 5. And it underlines the emasculation of the rest of the Republican Party; unwilling to stand up for their own statements of support for Mueller just a year ago.
Everyone who hoped to “take a break” after the election – guess it’s not happening. It seems like President Trump’s strategy is to take advantage of the next two months before the new session of the Congress and Democratic House control. What happens next, likely will be a continuing attack on Robert Mueller, as he tries to continue to do his job. I anticipate that more indictments are coming; and I suspect that those charged will be a much closer to the President himself than those already indicted.
That’s likely to trigger an even greater response from the White House. From Trump’s standpoint, the timing is perfect. After an election, before the transition of power, during the holidays; the President is almost literally “by himself” in Washington, able to act with even less checks on his power.
Whew — I guess we should have seen it coming.
Michael Steele, former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, said yesterday that Democrats should “enjoy the moment.” He was right, and Dems should be proud of the accomplishments of November 6th. But President Trump, who has already said that he will be on a “war footing” if the investigations get too close, has begun the fight. So enjoy, but “gear up” as well. It may be quite a ride to Christmas.
PS – what does it say about America, when 13 more are killed in a mass shooting in a California bar, and just barely breaks the surface of the news? It’s common place, 13 today, 11 last week, and on, and on, and on. We have made ourselves powerless to prevent it…
