Robert Reich: The End of Trump Is Near

[kpete]

This morning I phoned my friend, the former Republican member of Congress.

ME: So, what are you hearing?

HE: Trump is in deep sh*t.
ME: Tell me more.

HE: When it looked like he was backing down on the wall, Rush and the crazies on Fox went ballistic. So he has to do the shutdown to keep the base happy. They’re his insurance policy. They stand between him and impeachment.

ME: Impeachment? No chance. Senate Republicans would never go along.

HE (laughing): Don’t be so sure. Corporate and Wall Street are up in arms. Trade war was bad enough. Now, you’ve got Mattis resigning in protest. Trump pulling out of Syria, giving Putin a huge win. This dumbass shutdown. The stock market in free-fall. The economy heading for recession.

ME: But the base loves him.

HE: Yeah, but the base doesn’t pay the bills.

ME: You mean …

HE: Follow the money, friend.

ME: The GOP’s backers have had enough?

HE: They wanted Pence all along.

ME: So …

HE: So they’ll wait until Mueller’s report, which will skewer Trump. Pelosi will wait, too. Then after the Mueller bombshell, she’ll get 20, 30, maybe even 40 Republicans to join in an impeachment resolution.

ME: And then?

HE: Senate Republicans hope that’ll be enough – that Trump will pull a Nixon.

ME: So you think he’ll resign?

HE (laughing): No chance. He’s fu*king out of his mind. He’ll rile up his base into a fever. Rallies around the country. Tweet storms. Hannity. Oh, it’s gonna be ugly. He’ll convince himself he’ll survive.

ME: And then?

HE: That’s when Senate Republicans pull the trigger.

ME: Really? Two-thirds of the Senate?

HE: Do the math. 47 Dems will be on board, so you need 19 Republicans. I can name almost that many who are already there. Won’t be hard to find the votes.

ME: But it will take months. And the country will be put through a ringer.

HE: I know. That’s the worst part.

ME: I mean, we could have civil war.

HE: Hell, no. That’s what he wants, but no chance. His approvals will be in the cellar. America will be glad to get rid of him.

ME: I hope you’re right.

HE: He’s a dangerous menace. He’ll be gone. And then he’ll be indicted, and Pence will pardon him. But the state investigations may put him in the clinker. Good riddance.

MORE:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/22/1821088/-Robert-Reich-The-End-of-Trump-Is-Near?utm_campaign=trending
https://www.alternet.org/robert-reich-end-near-trump

ALSO:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/23/us-economic-precipice-donald-trump-government-shutdown

[Golden Raisin]

1. Been hearing this for the last 2 years. Still waiting.

Mofo is STILL in the Oval Office. Still Putin's puppet and spreading even more chaos. Goddamn complicit Republicans do nothing.

[area51]

9. +1 n/t

[barbtries]

21. i think this scenario is very possible.

trump keeps on shooting himself in the foot. yes he has a base that would follow him straight to hell, but it is shrinking. Dems will have the house. the news on trump keeps coming and it's never good. he's clearly in deep to putin, a would be strogman dictator, lawless and mentally ill. he's in such deep shit that by the time impeachment comes up i believe it quite possible that enough republicans would vote against him.

having said that i think it's beyond time where impeachment must happen even if it loses in the senate. he's so, so bad.

[lunatica]

27. Mueller's report is not out yet

If Trump is personally not deeply affected by the time the report comes out then your argument will be valid.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. "he's fucking out of his mind". Indeed!

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. Mike Pence is not innocent in all this shit.....

He was in charge of the Transition Team after Chris Christie was ousted. The investigation into the Trump Transition team just might implicate Pence in wrongdoing. What did he know and when did he know it?

Watch this space.

[2naSalit]

5. I've suspected him all along.

I was wondering what role he played in this coup. here's not one person marching in the cheatolini's parade who is not filthy with the oobleck that coats their world. It reminds me of that algae-slime that gets all over every last thing in a slimy swamp, even if you get the surface scraped off, there's still that tattletale stain.

Pence is going down too and I hope it's before the idiot has a been removed. It's a delicate dance with time right now.

[Just a Weirdo]

12. Nitpick....

Telltale.

Tattletale is what Donald Trump is doing to "insulate" himself from the trouble he made.

[2naSalit]

24. It's a combination

of two things, one being the proper term, telltale and something I recall from and old cartoon, "...tattletale grey". I put them together to make that term. It's mine and I own it.

I realize I probably rub some linguists and grammarians the wrong way sometimes but I can't seem to help making up my own absurd terms at times. I learned to be really good at it after studying linguistics, I hold back a lot since most wouldn't get what I mean.

[Just a Weirdo]

25. I'm not an linguist but do have nitpicks

For common misspellings. Thanks for the explanation.

I have a mother who was a good English teacher l

[2naSalit]

26. I was actually taught

proper English and grammar in school, grade school, and have retained most of my language skills. I even worked a s a proofreader once, but as I age, I realize that I'm slipping, and my fingers are going blind and can't read the keypad all that well anymore.

[Harker]

29. Also, "ringer" for wringer. n/t

[UniteFightBack]

10. We have to be prepared that he might be somewhat innocent...would you want him in on

your wrongdoings? I certainly would not. But it would be wonderful if he is caught up in this somehow someway...I mean why did Manfort want him?

Pence will pardon rump.....Hmmm wonder how that will sit with the American people ? 2019 is gonna be a hellava year.

[MrsCoffee]

17. They handpicked people they could control.

The country was already aware of how dirty Christie was. They had something on Pence, made him play along, and now he is in deeper shit than when he started. They thought they could sneak the choir boy in without anyone looking much deeper. I have no doubts that Mueller knows exactly why Pence was chosen.

My take anyway.

I am impatient as hell to find out details.

[Scarsdale]

18. Yet this morning on

"Press the Meat" there was Christie defending tRump. We do not know what is really going on. Remember tRump had Christie picking up his fast food, making fun of his girth and insulting him in general. Now, here he is on national TV talking about tRump as though he is "normal".

[SHRED]

4. How long have we heard this now?

[USALiberal]

7. THANK YOU! This BS gets posted weekly and yet nothing happens. Just speculation. nt

[safeinOhio]

15. "Patience, young grasshopper"

We ain't seen nutting yet. The straw that breaks the camels back is not far off. There will be no doubt when it falls.

[Bleacher Creature]

6. I've stopped giving these kinds of stories much credence, but would love to be wrong.

Trump is like a toenail fungus, he never quite goes away.

[USALiberal]

8. I agree, ignore this stuff. Just gossip. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. And yet he's still there. The imminent end of his maladministration

has been forecast now for a year, but he's still there. I won't believe it until I see federal marshals forcibly dragging his orange ass out of the White House.

[MyOwnPeace]

13. "until I see federal marshals forcibly dragging his orange ass out of the White House."

And THAT day should be declared a National Holiday!

[Grasswire2]

14. where is the professor's copy editor??!!

put through a "ringer"?????


PLEASE, Dr. Reich!!!!!!!!!

[duforsure]

16. Unless he attacks us

For his diversion to declare martial law , and bypasses Congress with it, and fire Mueller and everyone coming after him. HE could already be setting us up with putins help for a cyber power grid attack or EMP attack on the country. He's capable of doing anything , and he's evil to the core . As long as he's in the office we are all at great risk from him and his buddies like Putin.

[BlueJac]

19. interesting

I guess we will see

[trueblue2007]

20. this should have happened BEFORE the election

Should have found the PEE Tape and the 2 hooker women should have told their story.

[lunatica]

28. Melania would have said it's all just locker room talk

and his base would have envied and idolized him for that pee thing too.

His base are prurient.

[lilactime]

22. I'll believe this when I see it and even then I won't believe it!

[AlexSFCA]

23. they want pence; always did

gop will work with rw media to build a case against trump and for pence to prep the base. Trump and family get immunity from prosecution and blanket pardon from pence; all state investigations get appealed to federal courts and halted after that. Pence is promoted by rw media and ‘both sides’ corporate media as the man who saved the country and wins 2020 presidency. That’s the pessimistic scenario but very likely.
Just ask yourselves this: What is the difference between Biden vs. Sanders and Clinton vs. Sanders in dem primaries. As far as I know, Biden’s positions are 100% aligned with Clinton’s. Expect same or more bitter division then.

[John Fante]

30. I'll believe it when I see it. Having said that, Trump pulling a Nixon

seems very possible at this point. The base wasn't enough to save the house (despite showing up in bigly numbers) and it won't be enough in 2020. Once Mueller releases his report, I could see the GOP showing Trump the door. It's plausible.