by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
It appears as though Fascist Republicans settling on a very Putinesque defense of Trump going into the actual official impeachment process. Their messaging into this crucial moment in Trump’s administration is literally the “This is fine” meme. They want the average person to shrug at this egregious abuse of power because “everyone does it” and because Trump did not do something as explicit as the “smoking gun” of the Nixon tapes that, well, lulz.
There are a number of other related defenses involving social media that Trump-friendly people tell themselves to allow a good night sleep, as well. The chief of these being that only because of the excesses of partisan social media is what Trump even a big deal. Other presidents over the years did the same or worse and we just did not know about it or care. This plays into the Stormy Daniels playbook of scandal management quite well.
As I have repeatedly said, a sign that Trump is not, in fact, a political genius is how badly he’s bungling House Trump’s messaging of what he did. If he was smart — which he is not — he would take the L on impeachment itself and hang back for his acquittal in the Senate. All that’s required is a modicum of self-discipline. Don’t get mad. Don’t freak out. And don’t rile people up unnecessarily. Unfortunately for Trump’s allies, he is not known for have any of these traits.
On a strictly political level, House Trump’s, “This is fine,” defense, which aims to frame what Trump did as “bad” but not impeachable is a pretty safe bet. If you essentially tell people in absolute terms that in the end the interpretation of what Trump did should be done through the prism of partisan politics, then, well, Trump survives. There’s no sexxy tape of Trump saying something anything impossible to spin, so lulz. Trump’s acquitted by the Senate and free to turn around and do the exact same thing he was just aquitted for within 24 hours. He will be even more brazen with it, however, because when he inevitably gets caught AGAIN, Republicans will say, “You’re just out to get Trump. Let the people decide.”
And then Trump bribes individual Electors. Or the Russians hack directly into our election systems and change votes. Or Barr indicts Trump’s Democrat opponent in Oct. 2020. We will be nothing more than a Russian-style “managed democracy.” House Trump really will be The Thousand Year Trump and Trump’s vision of American Carnage becomes a reality.
So what could go wrong?
Trump.
While I suppose Gold Boy Jared might be able to stick some thorazine into Trump at some point, Trump is probably going to freak the fuck out at the prospect of even being impeached. He will become transactional with his Twitter offices, telling people what he wants them to do. When people start dying, Republicans will turn around and say, lulz, we can’t impeach Trump because people are starting to get hurt. While the prospect of people essentially dying to save the Dear Leader may make Fox News viewers spooge their pants, for a lot of average Americans who otherwise are raising their kids this would be very, very uncool. They are likely to grow quite alarmed and the pace of impeachment will grow faster, not slower. When the average person is shook awake at what’s happening to their otherwise peaceful nation at the hands of a deranged version of Being There’s Chauncey Gardner, Trump’s fire break of public indifference is likely to evaporate.
Or if Trump goes batshit insane in a very public manner, that, too, is another non-political problem that Republicans will have to deal with. And they’ll defend it without blinking an eye. Trump shooting out a dick pic on Twitter. Or spewing racist obscenities during press conferences will get a big old lulz from Republican leaders. Or they’ll just not comment. If there’s any doubt that Republicans are old fashion fascists now, the fact that this scenario is, while worst case, is not really all that hysterical, gives a good indication of how true my assessment is.
So, as of right now, Trump is probably going to get aquitted. If you frame the facts of the case as an absolute partisan issue then there can be no other endgame. And there does seem to be some indication that Trump is finally letting the Adults handle messaging. Having said all that, there are also a lot of unknowns.
All I gotta say, is, for Trump to actually be convicted in the Senate, the bolts are going to have to start popping of American civil society in some rather unexpected and spectacular ways. We’re going to ender a surreal period in our nation’s political history when anything, anything can happen and does happen on a minute-by-minute basis.
Buckle up.
