500 Words on Trump's Future
TRUMP IS NOT GOING TO MAKE IT. I’m not sure which way he’ll go down—impeachment, resignation or whatever. Naturally, I have no crystal ball, and thus could be wrong, but as a relatively astute observer of the goings-on in our upper crust for 50+ years now. I’m put money on it.
We on the left, of course, have a long list of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ we would pin on him, starting with the white supremacist way he entered politics, with his ‘birtherism’ and anti-Mexico chauvinism, as well as blatant misogyny, just for starters.
The upper crust, however, will likely take him down for another reason, his sleazy mob ties, maybe even being a ‘made man.’ Of course, many presidents have made silent partners on one level or another in their coalitions with mobsters. Nixon and ‘Bebe’ Rebozo come to mind. But Trump’s ‘made men’ are not quite the same. In the past, presidents and other politicians have made pacts with ‘our own’ mafias, and despite their operations in the ‘underground economy, at least it was OUR underground.
Not so with Trump. His guys are based in the illegalities of a rival power, Russia, and thus he crosses a line, taking him on the road to perdition.
The signs were first visible at the GOP convention. Besides having divergent views with the GOP on any number of political matters, the Trump team only made one change in the GOP platform. Hillary’s neocon team in the Ukraine had worked for ‘regime change’ there, and Trump’s change was to ease things a bit for the other, pro Russia side. But no other changes. Many reporters remarked on how odd it was, but it took a while before they dug deeper.
So now our Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller is forging ahead, following the money and digging up all the Russian mob dirt covering years of Trump’s business, and Trump rightly sees it as an existential threat. He’s flailing about, blaming first the FBI’s Covey and now Attorney General Jeff Sessions for not stomping out the fires. Sessions recused himself because he had a hand in blowing on the flames. He’s more like a gangster pleading the Fifth than any great hero for this.
Now from our perspective down here at the progressive grassroots, none of these characters have many virtues for our side. Sessions especially is trying to ramp up mass incarceration and deny more minorities the right to vote, rooted in a long history of white supremacist baggage in Alabama. Thus proclamations from the Senate on his noble character makes you look around for a barf bag.
Still it would be a good thing for Trump to go, despite the Pence problem. But for the future credibility of the left and progressive forces, we have to mark out our own turf in this upheaval. We have to independently offer our own priorities on what’s wrong with Trump.
Otherwise, we weaken our position in shaping the next crew to contend for power. So get a good grip, and get ready to find a zig-zag route to higher ground.