I think the behavior of him and his surrogates lately can be chalked up to the heaviness of having won. He feels invincible; he feels that his past and his behavior doesn’t matter anymore, because if it did, he wouldn’t be in the White House today. So he’s acting as though he’s untouchable, and can fulfill all of his fantasies about being in power without fear of repercussion.
Now, he might be right about that for some things, maybe a whole lot of things, but not ALL things. Heck, I’ve read some people here who actually agree with what I think Trump’s line of thinking is - because he won the election, he’s proven to be bulletproof. I disagree. Even if it’s true for the people who voted for him, that’s still not a majority, and that assumes every single one will believe him and follow him no matter what. And then there are the people in Washington with actual power and/or authority. He’s already upset quite a few, reducing the chances he can do just anything he wants (and as I mentioned elsewhere, I’m skeptical that the relationship between him and the rest of the branches of government will be as harmonious as some think).
I think that the longer he keeps this up, the more likely it is that he’ll slam headfirst into one of the exceptions, and the nastier it’ll be for everyone, including him. I just wonder what sort of issue that would most likely be, if it happens. Perhaps something to do with overseas, where he’s already shown little interest in what the intelligence community says, despite their support of him?
How is this not true? Republicans own the Presidency, both houses of Congress, and even the Supreme Court is becoming packed with hardcore dinosaur Conservatives. The only thing they’re vulnerable to is getting voted out of office by disgruntled voters; but American voters have proven themselves time and time again to be complete fucking idiots.
Uh, yes, I did mean Congress. And I was saying that I don’t think they’ll work together as harmoniously as many people think. They will sometimes, probably more often than not, especially on certain issues, but I think there will be definite and important conflict that’ll affect that relationship.
Plus, there’s the question of how much Trump thinks of himself as a Republican and how much loyalty he has to the party. I suspect the answers are not a lot, and almost none.
Trump and the Republicans do not align on many issues. Trump is anti-Free Trade. Trump is live and let live on LGBT stuff. Trump is full out Nationalist. Trump opposes a free press and thinks he should be able to force people to stop criticizing him. Trump does not support Medicare or Social Security privatization.
Trump is not in position to do whatever he wants. The talk of his impeachment isn’t idle talk–the Republicans would get along much better with Pence. They just need an excuse.
They might indeed prefer Pence. But don’t forget how much the Republicans and Trump are vested in the “winner” mantra. And that impeaching Trump would carry the whiff of defeat. It would, after all, bring endless joy to the Democrats. IMO, he’d have to do something that totally put his interests ahead of the Republican party before they’d consider impeaching him.
The presidency is an extremely difficult job for an intelligent person who tries to say and do the right things. Trump is not a smart man and says and does the things he does based on how it will benefit himself, not the nation. His unfettered rise will not, and cannot continue, and I will take great delight in seeing him crash. I just hope it won’t take too long for us to dig ourselves out of the pit that he’s leading us into.
