While I agree, it does make me nervous that someone with the nuclear codes may get desperate for attention.
Oh, I’m wholly in agreement with that concern. But Trump has already made his ambitions to be known as the “Nuclear President” clear. On that account, I think Congress should be pressed to enact reform in the nuclear weapon oversight and authorization process such that the President cannot unilaterally initiate a launch without verification of an imminent threat or without consensus of independent approval by the JCS or another responsible body.
Stranger
Technically, there already is such a mechanism, but it depends on the JCS finding such an action illegal.
I originally postulated two reasons for Trump to resign:
- He gets tired of being treated like an idiot every day, by everyone he meets with.
- His business comes under investigation and he needs to trade a stop of the investigation for stepping down.
I’m not sure which way the Bannon departure affects #1. On the one hand, it means that Trump’s last fellow crazy has left, so he’s all alone with all the smart people. On the other hand, with Bannon out and Kelly running everything, Trump’s standing with the general public and the media is liable to improve. In a sense, he’ll be treated like an idiot in-person, but treated as (more) reasonable outside of his circle.
For Trump, public glamor probably counts for more than private shame. But person-to-person interactions still seem like they should have to count for a lot.
The JCS has no operational authority to issue or countermand orders to the services since the 1986 Goldwater–Nichols Act. The chain of command is from the President to Secretary of Defense, and thence to the major strategic and combatant commands. And Presidential authority over the permitted use of nuclear weapons is so vague and plenary that it would be difficult to argue that any order is illegal unless it could be demonstrated that the President was under duress or without control of his or her faculties.
Stranger
I for one am shocked that President Trump had a Committee on the Arts & Humanities.
I figure sometime next year the pressure will be too much. That said, it could happen any time. I think the pressures on him are mounting daily at this point, and the self inflicted wounds are growing and bleeding more and more. A lot of groups seem to be rethinking their support, and the groups that are all for him are hurting him and his administration. The Republicans seem to me to be on the verge of outright rebellion against this fool. I think he could pop any time.
Of course, he might have a heart attack or some other health issue or something really juicy could come out that makes impeachment a real option. Somehow, though, I don’t see him lasting out his full term at this point. 
With respect to what I bolded… whut?
Kellyanne Conway is still there (the other Mercer mole besides Bannon). Sebastian Gorka and his wife, Catherine, are still there. Stephen Miller is still there. Cory Lewendowski is still around, as is Katrina Pierson. There’s no shortage of crazies still hanging around and influencing the idiot in the Oval Office.
The investigation is not going to stop or go away. Trump’s corruption runs wide and deep. Much of it is already documented – and what we already know is due to a diligent free press.
Trump’s Business of Corruption
Interactive Timeline of Everything We Know About Trump and Russia
Fortunately, Mueller has so many more resources at his disposal. Mueller’s is a counter-intelligence investigation, meaning it’s less about Trump personally and more about shutting down Russian intrusion into our democracy. Agencies like the CIA, NSA and FBI take this stuff pretty seriously. They will mean to make Trump and his posse an example of why it is important to preserve the norms of American elections and not try to corrupt them. And that’s all before they get around to evening the score against Trump himself for attempting to undermine the integrity of those agencies, as well as firing one of their own in such a cruel, callous way.
I don’t believe Trump will resign, because he views the presidency as his only shield against actual impeachment/prosecution for these crimes he knows full well he has committed for decades. In his attempts to derail impeachment/prosecution, I believe he will go so far as to: 1) attempt to fire Mueller; 2) throw anyone under the bus he deems necessary to stave off a conclusion of the investigation; 3) pardon anyone (including himself) in an effort to bribe people from talking or protect himself (it won’t work); and 4) escalate or start a war as a distraction.
Trump is dangerous and crazy. He will not willingly leave office, in my opinion. Without the presidential “cloak of invincibility,” as he sees it, he may go to prison. He will avoid that at all costs. Trump doesn’t quite grasp the particulars of what makes Mueller’s investigation so toxic to him, but he well understands the general concept that he is in serious peril.
That completely cracked me up… because it is so true!!
I think that’s what will eventually do it. He’ll be offered a chance to resign in exchange for what amounts to a get out of jail free card. And frankly, I’m OK with that; getting him someplace he can do no harm is way more important that having him in prison, and it’s the closest we’re likely to be able to come to a compromise his supporters will accept.
It seems like things are accelerating now, though. My pool entry is November, 2017, partly just because “a year from the election” seems like a nice round interval.
So was he.
Stranger
Senator for life. It worked for Pinochet.
I wouldn’t think that’d be much of a stretch where president Dilbert is concerned.
I had meant within the inner circle.
I’m hearing Gorka’s about to be the next one booted out.
My thoughts all along have been Trump will not make it through his term and will resign.
I’ve been actually hoping he will stay in long enough to irreparably damage the Republican party, but not long enough to destroy the world.
Of those mentioned, Gorka and Miller are probably the two fringe thinkers with any real pull, and as Bannon’s exit showed, nobody really influences Trump to begin with; they just exist to reinforce and disseminate whatever bat shit notions he has fluttering around in his brain. Bannon was fired not really for disagreeing with the president but for mistaking his influence on Trump and raising his profile.
Yep, there’s clearly a reason Donny didn’t want those tax returns and financial records released. And yep, he’s Mueller’s got all kinds of resources at his disposal.
Yeah, this is how I see it as well. Trump probably already hates being president, but he now probably sees his powers to being essential for immunizing himself and his clan from prosecution.
It does raise the question about the lengths to which he is willing to go to avoid personal catastrophe, especially since it is pretty apparent that he is a narcissist.
ISWYDT.
Oh, yes I did.
Oh, yeah, a Pence presidency would be a HELLUVA birthday present. Maybe you should also get her a chador. :dubious: