Merry Christmas Rush
It’s not a small group that listens to Rush Limbaugh, or gets their daily “news” from “Fox and Friends.” It is in the millions, nearly thirteen million weekly listeners for Rush, and one and a half million morning Fox viewers. That’s a lot of Americans, and for the President of the United States, that’s a lot of Americans who agree with him.
The Mueller Investigation has placed the Trump Presidency under a microscope. Already several of the “President’s Men” are convicted felons, clearly more are coming under scrutiny. Who knows when the next “shoe will drop” from the Special Counsel, perhaps members of the President’s own family are soon to be in the dock.
The Democratic House of Representatives will join-in come January, taking away Trump’s biggest defenders, the Freedom Caucus. No longer will Jim Jordan, Mark Meadows, and Trey Gowdy be able to distract with Hillary’s emails or Stzrok’s love notes; now it’s going to be all Trump, all the time. Intelligence, Judiciary, and Oversight Committees are just a few that will be sending subpoenas and demanding answers.
The President’s only choice is to maintain strict control of his base. The support of the “Trumpers” allows him to blackmail the rest of the Republican Party. His control is so great that the Republican National Committee is going to merge with the Trump 2020 campaign (and we thought the Democrats were bad to Bernie.) It’s kept Speaker Ryan in line; he is willing to end his Speakership in a government shutdown. He can’t do much more than laugh (not so funny to the millions impacted.) The President’s got them all by the votes.
So when Rush and the “guys” on Fox and Friends speak, the President needs to listen. He can’t afford any cracks in his base. He sold his base on a single concept, from the moment his came down the golden escalator in Trump Tower back in 2015 and announced his candidacy: WALL. (Somewhere, somehow, we lost the articles that go with it, it’s not THE WALL or A WALL or SOME WALL, it’s simply WALL, the way a two-year old would say it. Secretary of Homeland Security Neilsen even stated it that way in Congressional testimony; “…we need WALL.”)
WALL started out as “the Great WALL of Trump” like the Great Wall of China: a shining concrete edifice that would stretch from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. And, of course, for some inextricable reason Mexico would pay for it. No matter that it wasn’t the best way to secure the border, or that it would destroy many natural wonders along the way, or that it would take thousands of acres of private property, or that the President of Mexico said “F**K no we’re not paying for it.” Trump sold his base WALL, and now he has to deliver.
Rush Limbaugh and Fox and Friends may have a better understanding of the future than the President. After two years of not being able to get WALL through a Republican controlled House and Senate, now the House, where WALL got the most support, is going to be Democratic. It’s WALL now or never!!!!! When President Trump went along with his Congressional leaders and agreed to sign a continuing resolution pushing WALL debate into February, Rush and “the Friends” raised “HELL.” So, after sending Vice President Pence to the Senate to reassure them that the “clean CR” was fine, and that they could vote and go home; Trump woke up to “HELL” on his favorite shows. Rush was screaming from his studio just down the road from Trump’s Mar-A-Lago home, and the “Friends” were scourging Sarah Huckabee Sanders from New York on the morning show. How could the President let this chance go by to get WALL?
It’s not a sign of Presidential strength, but weakness. The President of the United States is under investigation, abandoned by “the adults” in the White House, and looking at possible impeachment. He’s only got Don Jr., Jared, Ivanka, Eric and his base, a base represented by Rush and Fox. Now no matter what he told the Senate, Mitch or Mike; he has to make a stand for WALL.
The government didn’t have to shut down. There was a deal on the table before Trump made his public spectacle with Leaders Pelosi and Schumer. $1.6 billion for “border improvements,” the Dems could call it repairs, the President could say he got WALL. That deal is still on the table, though Dems are now strengthened by the President’s actions. He’s GOT to WIN, for Rush, Fox and his base. So he’s got to get something, and the Dems will get more in return. It’ll happen, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe as a Christmas miracle. But it will happen, and Dems will get a present they didn’t expect.
Merry Christmas Rush – you’ve delivered again.
