With his back to the wall the POTUS turned to the well worn tactic that helped him win the Presidency - a populist harangue at a Press Conference and a campaign rally where he gets out his playbook and gives it a full go. First he has to tell you awful it is in America, then he has to name the “enemies” and finally claim as a man of the people he can fix it all up. He bullies the “enemy” by insult and belittling. The Republican Field were the initial victims. He still finds some solace in hammering Hillary but it is the media now that are “the opposition”. So prior to setting of to Florida for the first campaign rally for the 2020 Presidential election, (seriously that is what it was designated as), he, to the surprise of his aides, set up a Press Conference. The outcome of the latter, according to those who are on the right side of sanity, was that it was a disaster of humongous proportions. Capital Hill legislators are said to be either disgusted, (Democrats) or scared out of their minds, (Republicans). But that is not the way Donald, his groupies and his hard core supporters viewed it.
The Donald claimed he enjoyed the Press Conference exercise, “He loved this, he was having a great time”, and agreed with his immediate inner circle that it was an unmitigated success. “Donald being Donald”, “Trump on top of his game” and “The POTUS showed who was boss”, were some of the comments that were said to emanate from the bunker. So any assessment of the chaotic shambles must take into account that this was the Trump that gained the crucial constituencies to flip the electoral college. It has been proved again and again that this behavior, alone, will not cause him to implode. On the contrary there is no proof that the vey hard core that voted for him are upset that President Trump is the same as candidate Trump. While he is reported to be shedding support the faithful are hanging tough.
Put another way it is going to take more than his infantile behavior, habitual lying and the fact that he lives in an alternate reality, to effect his removal or result in his subsequent defeat. There is no way that, regardless of what happens that Trump would resign. An unconventional approach would be needed to remove this unconventional candidate.
THE SHAMBOLIC PRESS CONFERENCE IS JUST WHAT THE DONALD WANTED
Donald J. Trump, held the Press Conference ostensibly to introduce his latest nomination for Secretary of Labor but hardly mentioned him in his seventy - five minute disjointed, rambling, embarrassing attack on the designated “enemy” the media, their fake news, hate and dishonesty. Interspersed with the attacks and what passed for content the audience was treated to: the notion that the Russian issue was a ruse - the real news was the criminal leaks of information, his incredible election results, that Michael Flynn was a fine fellow, “crooked” Hillary Clinton and the hopeless court that ruled against him. In the teeth of the reported WhiteHouse chaos he countered that his administration was running like a fine tuned machine and no President has done so much in such a short while. (A short while later his replacement nominee for Security Advisor turned him down because of the dysfunction).The harangue was punctuated by the mandatory lies, non sequiturs, lack of answers and paranoia. He correctly forecasted that the media would report that he had ranted and raved. In fact the reviews were far more harsh with more than one reporter questioning his sanity. At best the critique was that the bedlam was nothing remotely akin to what had even been witnessed.
He also argued that what he was doing at this press conference was exactly what he had done on the campaign trail and he had won. He mocked those assembled who had maintained that he could not reach two hundred and twenty - two electoral votes and he had obtained three hundred and six. He then repeated the absurd lie that this was the greatest electoral victory since Ronald Reagan. Basically he was arguing that his world was reality as the incredulous assembled sniggered and lapped up each answer which would provide tendentious copy to the hungry readership.
Notwithstanding the fact that his polls are rock bottom there has to be some uneasiness that there was more than a grain of truth in Trump’s assertion that this lunacy had not stopped him winning the Presidency. The polls had proved hopelessly wrong before so why should they now provide the reassurance that this “madman” had to implode sooner rather than later?
Trump obviously has his smarts. He may not have any insight but he has an uncanny knack to get into the inner dark thoughts of a mob as well as identifying with their legitimate woes. He skillfully flames fears. He then he uses his greatest skill, salesmanship, to persuade the target groups that he can deliver. None of this has changed. He knew what he was doing at that Press Conference. In fact he predicted the participants assessment that they would report that he ranted and raved. Trump argued, “The Public, (more accurately his public), doesn’t believe you…maybe I had something to do with that. I didn’t win because of what you said”. He taunted that the Press’s favorability was less than that of Congress. The latest Gallup poll shows that only thirty - two percent of Americans trust the Press, the lowest ever.
The bottom line is that there needs to be a reset by the media as to how to deal with the situation and by the real opposition both at the ballot box and in the community. The Republican Party too have to come to a decision in the near future as to whether they are prepared to sink or swim with him.
MEDIA - GET OUT OF THE BOX
The media have gained ratings galore by slavishly following this publicity seeking megalomaniac around. Imputing the highest motives to them it can be argued that post presidency this is done to inform the public in the hope that the electorate would be turned off by him and more importantly they would shame him. Well, nothing shames him and he thrives and wallows in his fake news. During the election the focus was solely on him and he sucked all the oxygen out of the Primary and most of it out of the Presidential election. (Hillary Clinton did not get a fair shake in more ways than one).
The media are falling into the same trap again. They need to follow up on decisions like refusing to have Kellyanne Conway on set because she lies and axe his soliloquies and campaign rallies. In addition to Trump’s lying apologists the President should be covered only in relation to his Office. It is senseless feeding into his narrative and continuing with the billions of free publicity that got him elected. Coverage of him should be left where it belongs on the late night comedy shows and Saturday Night Live. The Huffington Post initially refused to cover him on the political pages and put him in the entertainment section. That is where he belongs.
There is a ton of other stuff to cover such as the fact that the country is almost in “status protestus”. The streets are filled daily with one or other protest, the most recent the countrywide outpourings on President’s Day where the peaceful mobs cried, “Not my President”. In addition there is currently scant coverage and information on the actions of the Immigration and Customs officials, the plans of the sanctuary cities, the court challenges and on and on. (Jay H. Ell craves to hear about two of the deportation victims - both who mothers who had American children, had lived here for decades and had minor offenses. Where are they now? Then the activities of groups like Planned Parenthood, the Civil Rights Groups to mention but two as they face the forthcoming onslaught.Then there is strife in many many constituencies where citizens and actions groups are hammering their representatives The pressure they are under needs to be front and center. There are all manner of crises in this country about which nothing is being reported. What is happening in Flint Michigan? The crippling cost of Health Care which like the NRA have armies of lobbyists to protect their business. Find out what the electorate are really thinking? Did those that voted for Donald Trump ask for Tax Reform and decreased taxes for the wealthy? Do they want to see Medicare and Social Security axed?
The media should remember just one point there is only one circumstance that would anger Trump more than the roasting he is receiving now and that would be being ignored.
The real battle is to remove Trump. There is an election in 2018 begin covering it now as there are ongoing election battles between now and 2018. They should be covered as referenda on the Trump Administration.
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY/IES
Ironically it is not the Democratic Party that are imploding it is the GOP. They are stuck with a President who is not a Republican. He is a populist racist whose ideological agenda is to change the value system of America. The GOP is a spectrum of opinions under one umbrella. There is the Party of long gone which includes the Bush’s and the team of intellectuals, commentators and pundits who have not reconciled with the Trump Party. The Republican Congress is betwixt and between. As the standard bearers of Reagan economics they have very little in common with the Trump electorate.
The Trump electorate is a coalition of racists and those who have been economically disadvantaged by the unbridled power of the corporations. In addition the latter have suffered as a result of outcomes of orthodox Republican economic policy. The latter have been hoodwinked. Trump has filled his cabinet with representatives of the very company he typified as being at the cause of their woes - Goldman - Sacks. Then he has been silent on core promises he made to in relation to Medicare and Social Security and is removing every protective regulation against the predators that caused the 2008 economic collapse. When push comes to shove how is Trump going to balance his wall costs, tax cuts, increase in cost of living border tax with his hand outs to the rich.
So the Democrats need to get their act together organizationally and unite behind whoever is elected Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and fight every seat.
DEMOCRATS OPPORTUNITY
The 2018 elections offer the Democrats the biggest opportunity. Traditionally the party in the WhiteHouse take a knock. As it might be imagined the President, even if it’s not Trump, has not delivered on all his/her promises. The elections are thus a referendum on the President. The turn out for the Party in power is always less and the percentage voting is low. As the Press Conference and subsequent rally indicated Trump is relying on his faithful to vote and making no attempt to attract anyone else.
No lesser group of political pollsters then Five Thirty Eight are cautiously toting the Dems chances. Incidentally, while they, like everyone else forecast Hillary’s victory, warned that it could come unstuck just in the States that it did. Trump received forty - eight percent of the electoral vote in 2016. He is now consistently at forty percent approval rating. If he stays at that figure and the Dems come out to vote then the GOP will loose the House of Representatives. Only twenty four seats need to switch.
There is a bye election in Georgia to fill a seat vacated by one of the Cabinet picks. While the Republican incumbent won it by thirty percent Trump’s majority in the district was only one and a half points. The outcome here might be a bellwether as to what comes as the Republicans are largely made up the educated suburbanites that had been touted to switch to Hillary.
THE “CAN’T LAST FOUR YEARS” CONSTITUENCY
As the dysfunctional Presidency gathers speed, the conventional wisdom is that this just cannot be sustained. The latest international crisis needed a full court effort to reassure America’s allies that America had not abandoned them or their own values. A large delegation including the Vice President, Cabinet Ministers as well as a Congressional delegation went to the Munich Security Conference and attempted to do what Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer and the like do everyday - namely interpret what the President really said or means. The world was reassured, inter alia, that America would stand by NATO and hold Russia accountable. It is one thing to spread jitters within the country but another for the most powerful force for stability in world to go rogue. John McCain spelt it out, on the world stage at Munich, as to what he believed America value system really was which stood in stark contrast to the Trump doctrine. He has also announced that Trump would no longer get a free pass in Congress.
This brings Jay H. Ell to the central point about impeachment which is one way Trump could not see out his four years. Another mechanism for the political process to axe Trump is the twenty -fifth Amendment to the Constitution. It needs the Republicans to sign onto both of these alternatives and there is not an iota of evidence to support that at the moment. Speaker Ryan, in particular, is not prepared to let this opportunity pass to enact his economic agenda. He has to be praying that Trump would just go to Mar a Lago and stay there. However every day is a challenge.
The one issue that could bring Trump down is the Russian connection. That is one act of perfidy that would reach the status of treason which the GOP could not tolerate - conspiring with that regime is the very antithesis of what America claims to stand for. The fear is that the GOP is in the position to control the extent of the Congress investigations and what comes out of it. Even more worrying is that the new Attorney General Jeff Sessons the doyen of the Trump campaign has refused to recuse himself from any outcomes of investigations of the FBI.
AT THE END OF THE DAY
Trump got all intellectual and quoted Thomas Jefferson castigating the media at his impromptu press conference. Like in previous circumstances the information dished out was a distortion of reality. Chris Wallace of Fox news argued that Trump maintaining that the media was the enemy of the American people had “crossed the line”. He completed Jefferson’s assessment of the Press, “And if it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a Government, I should not hesitate for a moment to choose the latter”
Jay H. Ell believes that the President should stop watching television and tweeting as his full time job while visiting Mar a Lago and campaigning for 2020 for a break.
Only two hundred and four weeks to go.
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