Eugene Robinson: "Trump's bluster camouflages great weakness"

[kpete]

For the new year, critics of President Trump should resolve not to be intimidated by the potential wrath of his vaunted political base. The only one who should cower before the Make America Great Again legions is Trump himself.

And he does fear them, bigly. The latest illustration is the way he chickened out on a bipartisan agreement to keep the government fully funded, instead forcing a partial shutdown over chump change for “the wall.” I use quotation marks because there never was going to be an actual, physical, continuous wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, much less one paid for by the Mexican government. The president is desperately trying to avoid acknowledging this and other realities before the 2020 election.

Anyone who thinks Trump is a master politician is wrong. He’s a master illusionist, which isn’t the same thing. Politicians can’t keep pulling rabbits out of empty hats forever. At some point, they face a reckoning, and Trump’s is well underway.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822071/-Abbreviated-pundit-roundup-How-to-negotiate-with-a-weak-scared-president#read-more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/

[kentuck]

1. I think he is afraid of succeeding.

He always needs an excuse if he loses.

That is why he does not try to expand his base, in my opinion.