# Is the worst of the Trump presidency over?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [November 7, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135 "2018-11-07T15:15:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/41 "2018-11-07T19:45:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> In other words, now that the Democrats are involved the government will start working again. And the President will have to start doing useful work instead of spending all his time complaining.
>
> I’m seeing this as a step forward.
I agree that this would be a step in the right direction, but I’m afraid it’s not going to happen. My fear is that we are about to see Trump turn into a cornered animal as the Mueller investigation, the emoluments lawsuit, and legitimate congressional oversight begin to close in on him. I don’t think there’s a line he won’t cross or an institution he won’t burn to the ground to hit back.
Plus I don’t think he’s capable of doing useful work.
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### Author:  [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/42 "2018-11-07T19:46:42Z")
> [@Akaj](#):
>
> Okay, it wasn’t the blue wave of our dreams, but we at least got the House. The GOP won’t be able to pass any idiotic thing in the dead of night anymore. The ACA (or what’s left of it) is probably safe for the next two years.
>
> Obviously, we have to double down on our efforts (and select a charismatic candidate) for 2020, but is Trump now less dangerous to America’s present and future?
>
> Or will an opposition-led House somehow unleash him to make things even worse?
I just want to comment that the Republicans still control the House until January. That’s plenty of time to do damage.
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/43 "2018-11-07T19:47:12Z")
Wait until Trump starts talking about all the stolen house seats due to illegal voting. We will see but I don’t hold out too much hope. I guess they will get Trump’s tax return and go on from there.
BTW, the way Mueller is protected is that if Trump fires him, the congressional investigation committee will hire him immediately. That cannot do Trump any good.
Don’t be too sure that the demographic changes will help the Dems. The Reps have gotten better and better at preventing the wrong people from voting with full approval of the increasingly partisan courts.
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### Author:  [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/44 "2018-11-07T19:50:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> How is Mueller now protected?
The House could simply appoint him as an Independent Counsel a la Ken Starr and they almost certainly would (although Republicans could try to block that in the Senate.) That would make the optics of the Justice Department canning him look very bad. The White House isn’t stupid (I know, I know, we like to think so, but Republicans play this game way better than Democrats, unfortunately.) so they likely aren’t going to can him just to have him rehired the next week doing the same job.
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### Author:  [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/45 "2018-11-07T20:15:47Z")
> [@senoy](#):
>
> The House could simply appoint him as an Independent Counsel a la Ken Starr and they almost certainly would (although Republicans could try to block that in the Senate.) That would make the optics of the Justice Department canning him look very bad. The White House isn’t stupid (I know, I know, we like to think so, but Republicans play this game way better than Democrats, unfortunately.) so they likely aren’t going to can him just to have him rehired the next week doing the same job.
Never has a prediction been proven wrong so quickly. :smack: Trump just fired AG Sessions, and why else do so except as a first step towards firing Mueller? In other words, there’s a loooong couple of months between now and a House that would appoint Mueller an independent counsel, while Mueller can be fired in a day.
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/46 "2018-11-07T20:22:04Z")
> [@Merneith](#):
>
> Donald has never in his life experienced checks & balances. He’s not going to take to it kindly. Plus, his re-election campaign starts today.
His reelection campaign started on Nov 9, 2016.
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### Author:  [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/47 "2018-11-07T20:22:27Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#):
>
> Never has a prediction been proven wrong so quickly. :smack: Trump just fired AG Sessions, and why else do so except as a first step towards firing Mueller? In other words, there’s a loooong couple of months between now and a House that would appoint Mueller an independent counsel, while Mueller can be fired in a day.
My only guess is that they think the Senate will block an IC and it will force the House Intelligence Committee into being the investigative instrument. It’s a bold move, but I guess that’s how Trump rolls.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2018, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/48 "2018-11-07T20:25:30Z")
> [@Shoeless](#):
>
> Yep - he declared his candidacy for 2020 on inauguration day (or maybe it was the next day). That’s what all of these “rallies” are everywhere he goes – they are campaign rallies for his re-election.
And even when he’s out stumping for someone else, he manages to make that all about him as well.
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### Author:  [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/49 "2018-11-07T20:42:03Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#):
>
> His reelection campaign started on Nov 9, 2016.
Yeah, yeah, I know. But there’s a real difference when the actual election time gets close. You all know that.
> [@senoy](#):
>
> My only guess is that they think the Senate will block an IC and it will force the House Intelligence Committee into being the investigative instrument. It’s a bold move, but I guess that’s how Trump rolls.
The Senate will absolutely block an IC but the House Intelligence Committee doesn’t need the Senate to reopen the investigation that Devin Nunes declared closed and then move on all those subpoenas he refused to pursue. Adam Schiff will see that gets done. If Mueller gets fired, the HIC can immediately appoint him as their own investigator. They could subpoena Mueller to tell him what he knows. Plus all the various sealed indictments Mueller has set up will still be active in the justice system.
Donald will undoubtedly work around to firing Mueller. It won’t save him. That’s even more true today with the Dems in charge than it was yesterday.
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2018, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/50 "2018-11-07T21:33:14Z")
The caravan conspiracy theory worked. It bought Trump 3+ bonus seats in the Senate.
We’re heading out of “No collusion with Russia!” territory and diving straight into the realm of “Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia”.
I’m hoping for a miracle of some form, but I’d say that we’re basically fucked.
The only question left at this point is: What does Trump actually want to do as President? He’s ascertained that conmanship works just fine and the Republican party will back whatever horse is winning if it keeps them in power.
I’d probably expect his next step would be to gut the DOJ, bring in someone completely unethical as AG - Eric Prince? - and start arresting Democratic congressmen. And realize, as I say that, that I’m listing that as the light end of the foreseeable scope of futures. I don’t see Trump attempting to do less than that. He basically has to, to keep his legal problems from ever arriving on target and he now has good reason to think that he can get away with it.
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### Author:  [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/51 "2018-11-07T21:40:30Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#):
>
> It’s the end of the unchecked, rubberstamped Trump era, but it’s also the beginning of cornered, desperate Trump era.
Well I’m sad to say my prediction didn’t take long to come true. [Rosenstein no longer overseeing Russia probe.](https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/415591-acting-ag-to-take-over-oversight-of-russia-probe? __twitter_impression=true&__ twitter_impression=true& __twitter_impression=true&__ twitter_impression=true& __twitter_impression=true&__ twitter_impression=true)
I guess anybody with half a brain was expecting Trump to ram through his shenanigans before the next House is seated, but doing it the day after election day seems especially… obvious?
I’m just glad we’re getting on with the constitutional crisis, the suspense was frankly a bit much to bear. I hope the reality of an unmuzzled, irate Jeff Sessions will be as damaging to Trump as one might imagine.
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### Author:  [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/52 "2018-11-08T14:18:11Z")
Thanks, everyone, for this range of answers. Considering Trump’s actions since the OP, I’m leaning toward the answer to the question being “not by a long shot.”
It’s going to be an ugly couple of months with this lame duck Republican House. Once the Dems take over, I do expect we’ll see serious investigations into Trumpfoolery, which will no doubt amp up the overall ugliness.
At the same time, maybe the Dems can take advantage of Trump’s pathology for approval. Someone mentioned a massive infrastructure initiative. Are there other good ideas we might be able to get the doofus-in-chief behind by convincing him they’ll make him more popular?
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### Author:  [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/53 "2018-11-08T14:33:38Z")
Reports this morning that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized after breaking three ribs in a fall. You tell me if the worst is over.
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### Author:  [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/54 "2018-11-08T14:38:10Z")
> [@flurb](#):
>
> Reports this morning that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized after breaking three ribs in a fall. You tell me if the worst is over.
FML can we just have one day to kick back and take a breath. Goddamn.
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/55 "2018-11-08T14:58:56Z")
Even without the fall (and I do hope she’s okay - I like RBG), the odds against her making it a full 4-year term were 50/50 at best. This probably takes those odds a bit south of that now. But consider what damage Trump and the GOP are already inflicting on the lower courts - that’s something that doesn’t get much attention, but a good chunk of the district courts are going to be loaded with conservatives.
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### Author:  [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/56 "2018-11-08T15:57:44Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#):
>
> FML can we just have one day to kick back and take a breath. Goddamn.
What he said.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/57 "2018-11-08T16:04:15Z")
> [@flurb](#):
>
> Reports this morning that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized after breaking three ribs in a fall. You tell me if the worst is over.
a broken hip would be much worse. A lot of elderly people get in a bad health spiral after a broken hip and die within a year. It’s not known why a hip break leads to other health problems but it’s common that it does.
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### Author:  [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/58 "2018-11-08T16:26:32Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> a broken hip would be much worse. A lot of elderly people get in a bad health spiral after a broken hip and die within a year. It’s not known why a hip break leads to other health problems but it’s common that it does.
A broken hip keeps the patient fully or partially bedridden longer than other fractures, even if it can be repaired with a replacement. As a generally healthy and vigorous veteran of a hip replacement at age 64 (five years ago) I can attest that the recovery keeps one debilitated to a greater or lesser degree for months – and at RBG’s age that has serious consequences for overall health.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/59 "2018-11-08T16:46:27Z")
Broken hip is not as long a recovery as a hip replacement. My father broke his hip and he was doing OK after a few weeks and he was 87 when it happened.
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### Author:  [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-worst-of-the-trump-presidency-over/824135/60 "2018-11-08T18:11:32Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> Depends on “worst.” Now that the Republicans have an expanded majority in the Senate, they’re likelier to ram in a far-right judge to the Supreme Court, should Ginsburg or Breyer depart, than before. They can afford the defection of a few moderate Republican senators (such as Collins and Murkowski) on it.
As if they were NOT doing that already? Seriously??
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