Day 503

Day 503 Wednesday June 6, 2018  1,075 Days to Go

I’ve got a premonition that we are at the beginning of the end.

It’s nothing specific. It’s an accumulation of all this stuff, bad stuff that is swirling around this president and his administration. Here’s a partial list:

– Some old lawyers of Trump who handled one of his many bankruptcies said that whenever they met with him they made sure to have two lawyers present, because he lied so much that they needed two people to corroborate what he had said.

– Paul Manafort is in trouble for witness tampering. He was already in trouble and as far as we know what Mueller has charged him with is stuff that happened before the election. That is to say he was already a criminal before he joined the campaign. You have to wonder what he did that was so bad that he was willing to risk witness tampering while under surveillance.

– Rick Gates lawyers quit because of something Gates was doing that they advised against and was probably illegal. The same could happen to Manafort.

– Trump continues to say “no collusion,” while there is ample evidence that there was. The evidence continues to build, every day.

– Trump’s cabinet is made up of some of the sleaziest people. The latest is Scott Pruitt, once again, trying to use his office and his staff to arrange a private business deal. This time it’s for a Chick-fil-a franchise for his wife. Didn’t happen because his wife was too lazy to fill out the paperwork.

– Trump has pulled out of deals with Iran, and NAFTA. He is now putting tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and other allies. This is setting off a trade war. This is hurting farmers in Iowa and elsewhere. Both Senators from Iowa are pissed off at him. Also Imhoff of Oklahoma is saying there’s a lot of smoke, might even be fire. Man, when you got Mr. Climate denier of science against you – that’s bad.

– There’s this sense that Trump will go it alone. That he will be all alone, no friends, no allies.

– There’s the argument set forth by Trump’s legal team, and by Donald himself, that he can pardon anybody including himself and that he can end any investigation at any time for any reason. Nixon tried this; just before he resigned. Additionally, there is the logical flaw in Trump’s argument that he can pardon himself. If you believe, as Trump does, that he can’t be indicted or tried while in office, then he can’t be found guilty. You have to be found guilty in order to be pardoned. He won’t be in office when he is found guilty (by this logic) and therefore can’t pardon himself because there will be nothing to be pardoned for.

– Apparently, the Trump legal team tried this argument of not being able to indict the president while in office and that he can pardon everyone and anyone including himself, about two weeks before Mueller brought indictments against thirteen Russians. This is now seen as a possible safety measure. In order for all the dirt not to come out Trump would have to pardon the Russians. Unlikely, but certainly deserving of impeachment.

Remember Nixon had the backing of his party, right up until the end.

 

1,075 Days to Go

PS A fortress all alone.