Flip the Script<\/p>\n
There are a lot of things that I don\u2019t like about President Trump, so many that I won\u2019t even start the list.\u00a0 But, there is something that I do have to give him credit for:\u00a0 he is able to find ways to grab the \u201cstory of the day.\u201d\u00a0 He can \u201cflip the script\u201d better than any politician I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n
Take yesterday:\u00a0 on Tuesday night, President Trump and the Republican Party suffered a huge electoral defeat, losing the House of Representatives.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 And yet, the President was able to do two things to regain control of the news cycle.<\/p>\n
First he picked a fight with the national press in a press conference, staging an altercation between a staffer and \u201carch-nemesis\u201d Jim Acosta of CNN.\u00a0 The video of that encounter was then doctored (by InfoWars \u2013 a right wing website) and the fake video re-messaged by the White House. \u00a0The President failed to answer questions; insulting reporters instead of responding to their queries.\u00a0 In that process, he directly lied to them and the American people, denying any changes in his cabinet.<\/p>\n
He already had fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and replaced him with a man who literally went on television to \u201ctry out\u201d for the Trump Administration.\u00a0 Matt Whitaker is now the Acting Attorney General, taking charge of the Mueller Investigation.\u00a0 His appointment is of questionable legality, since his previous job as Department of Justice Chief of Staff did not require Senate confirmation.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
And so, the \u201cscript is flipped.\u201d\u00a0 The \u201cReality TV President\u201d did exactly what he does best:\u00a0 he attacked the media, then fed them the \u201cred meat\u201d of a potential attack on the Mueller Investigation.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
His actions have triggered the \u201cResistance\u201d marches to protect Mueller, with over 900 demonstrations scheduled throughout the nation tonight at 5.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Everyone who hoped to \u201ctake a break\u201d after the election \u2013 guess it\u2019s not happening.\u00a0 It seems like President Trump\u2019s strategy is to take advantage of the next two months before the new session of the Congress and Democratic House control.\u00a0 What happens next, likely will be a continuing attack on Robert Mueller, as he tries to continue to do his job.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s likely to trigger an even greater response from the White House.\u00a0 From Trump\u2019s standpoint, the timing is perfect.\u00a0 After an election, before the transition of power, during the holidays; the President is almost literally \u201cby himself\u201d in Washington, able to act with even less checks on his power.<\/p>\n
Whew — \u00a0I guess we should have seen it coming.<\/p>\n