Special Counsel: Checks and Balances Working!
“I think it in one sense it is bad news for Trump and it is good news for people who want a robust investigation because Mueller is definitely a straight shooter and he has a good reputation as an FBI director,” said Jens David Ohlin, a Cornell University law professor. “It means that the investigation goes on. It is not going to be stopped and it also means that the Deputy Attorney General doesn’t want to do Trump’s bidding on this.”
The checks and balances of democracy, in other words, hold.
Mueller’s arrival on the scene represents another learning experience for a President determined to wield wide executive power but who has been thwarted by checks built into the nation’s political infrastructure, for example, the courts that blocked his travel ban for people from Muslim nations.
–CNN article, Now it’s up to the special counsel, 5/18/17
Okay, who had six months in the pool? You just might win. Or, more importantly, the American people win when the system set up by the Founding Fathers protects us from tyranny.
And, of course, Trump takes to Twitter to proclaim himself the victim. Yet more narcissistic behavior from this “president” who never should’ve made the nomination, let alone the election. Does he really think that anybody–other than his core group of supporters–takes him seriously?
He gets dumbed-down intel reports which deliberately use his name to hold his attention. His aides are afraid he’ll screw up while meeting with Middle Eastern leaders, because he doesn’t understand the intricacies of the politics there. (Source here.)
Meanwhile, he uses the authoritarian tactic of accusing the press of falsehood, so the people will put their trust in him instead–taking away our constitutional check on presidential power, a free, unencumbered press. See Historian Timothy Snyder: “It’s pretty much inevitable” that Trump will try to stage a coup and overthrow democracy. Also below, as Snyder explains that first you lie, then you claim all your opponents/press are lying, then the people don’t know what the truth is, and the game is over:
I’m still not sure if Trump is a buffoon who’s so narcissistic that he stumbles into behaving like an authoritarian leader because he keeps “suffering” narcissistic injuries and lashes out…or if he’s purposely trying to become an evil dictator.
I am up to nearly page 300 of Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, however, and note that Hitler was much smarter than Trump. Hitler would not have needed dumbed-down intel reports, for example. He also lived/breathed politics since his youth, and had long-term plans for carrying out his agenda and taking over the country.
I get the impression that Trump was–like many people–saying, “If I were president I would do such-and-such,” you know, armchair presidenting. And didn’t realize that being President is not at all the same as running a business, or as being a king. That you don’t suddenly have everybody in the country jumping to do your bidding no matter what, and that it’s not just about knowing top secrets or getting awesome chocolate cakes or the best seat. That it’s not about giving your family cool positions, nor is your family running the country now like some dynasty. That if you screw up, somebody could actually die.
Maybe next election, people will stop decrying “career politicians” and recognize that some political experience and knowledge in a president is crucial!
As for Mike Pence taking over–I’m ambivalent about that. On the one hand, yeah, he could become the next Scott Walker and screw over the country. But then again, at least he seems to be a grownup. I don’t think he’d be egging on North Korea into a nuclear war. I’m impressed by how he treated this autistic kid who got bopped in the nose. (Apparently now people on FOX are calling this poor kid a “snowflake” for standing up for himself. Geez, people, he’s 8, and learning how to be assertive despite challenges, not a “snowflake”! What bullies, picking on an 8-year-old!)