The \u201cmantra\u201d of the first Trump Administration – RESIST. Resist the Nation altering changes that his Presidency represented. Resist the atrocity of child separation at the border. And, Resist the mind numbing litany of hate and disrespect uncovered by his presence. And Resistance was effective (not futile, for those Star Trek fans \u2013 he ain\u2019t the Borg). But it wasn\u2019t half as effective as Trump world falling all over itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump was unable to make systemic changes in America in large part because he, and his minions, couldn\u2019t get it together. They constantly stepped on their own messages, fell over their own ideas, over-reached when the shouldn\u2019t, and fell back when they should have \u201ccharged\u201d. They knew it, and so did the larger \u201cMAGA\u201d movement. That\u2019s why the \u201cgood folks\u201d at the Heritage Foundation laid out almost 1000 pages of explicit plans for the second Trump Administration, \u201cProject 2025\u201d. They don\u2019t want to miss their \u201csecond bite at the apple\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He’s not the President, yet. But Trump is already starting his personal brand of \u201cchaos theory\u201d. The latest example is the general disorder of the House of Representatives and the current government funding bill. It\u2019s all pretty simple: if the House (and the Senate, already on board) don\u2019t pass a spending resolution before tomorrow (Friday, 12\/20), the government will shut down. Well, not really, but those parts of the government deemed \u201cnon-essential\u201d will shut down. Paying Federal employees for example is not essential (according to them), especially the week before Christmas. Many will still be required to come to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s still a big deal, and the Republicans in the House of Representatives know it. So they negotiated a bi-partisan deal with the Democrats, one that most of both parties could support, to gain the majority needed to fund the government until March. Part of that bill is emergency aid for disaster relief to places like North Carolina and Florida. Yesterday morning, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson woke up secure that the bill would be passed, and he could send his Congress home for Christmas secure the government was still functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s when Trump, and his new side-kick Elon Musk, decided to tank the deal. Musk (in Trump\u2019s name) demanded that a debt limit be included in this piece of legislation, a \u201cpoison pill\u201d to any bipartisan legislation. And Trump backed it up, saying he would support a primary challenge against any Republican (that\u2019s his own Party) who dared to support the \u201cold\u201d bipartisan bill. Musk followed up with a pledge of financial support to those challengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If that sounds like good, old-fashioned political blackmail, it is. Blackmail from two men who currently hold no office in American government, who are operating from their own \u201ccapital\u201d at Mar-a-Lago, and who completely undercut their own, elected, Speaker of the House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s the plan? Is this really about shutting the government down, or is this more about sending a message to the Senate? Pete Hegseth, Bobby Kennedy Jr, and Tulsi Gabbard all are highly problematic appointments to the prospective Trump Cabinet, each with multiple Republican Senators questioning their fitness for office. Is Trump and his \u201cmuscle\u201d Musk flexing to make the point to Murkowski, Ernst, Collins and Cassidy: this can happen to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s pretty clear, the only path to keep the government open would require Speaker Johnson to make a deal with Dems, a \u201cpoison pill\u201d for him that may well cost the Speakership in January\u2019s House vote. Johnson can\u2019t depend on Democrats to pull him out of the fire on then. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is more likely to let the vote go for days, demonstrating how weak and divided the House Republicans really are, with only a couple of votes to the majority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And maybe that\u2019s what Trump wants: a Speaker wholly beholden to him. Hard to imagine Mike Johnson as some kind of \u201crebel\u201d, but he is theoretically the most important Republican in the government right now. Maybe Trump needs to disable him first, though no one can top Johnson for his sycophancy to Trump. It doesn\u2019t matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Close the government. Dump Mike Johnson. Make Elon the \u201cQ\u201d (another Star Trek analogy) behind the throne. It doesn\u2019t really matter. The second Trump administration seems to be starting where the first Trump administration left off. Sure, we need to RESIST where we can. But, at least this far, Trump and his minions aren\u2019t \u201cthe Borg\u201d, an immense, immutable force. Instead they\u2019re more like the Feringi, in for the profit, and often \u201cthe gang that can\u2019t shoot straight\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the long run, that\u2019s good for everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"