The Trump Presidency Is Over

[catbyte]

It has taken a good deal longer than it should have, but Americans have now seen the con man behind the curtain.

March 13, 2020
Peter Wehner
Contributing writer at The Atlantic and senior fellow at EPPC

When, in January 2016, I wrote that despite being a lifelong Republican who worked in the previous three GOP administrations, I would never vote for Donald Trump, even though his administration would align much more with my policy views than a Hillary Clinton presidency would, a lot of my Republican friends were befuddled. How could I not vote for a person who checked far more of my policy boxes than his opponent?

What I explained then, and what I have said many times since, is that Trump is fundamentally unfit—intellectually, morally, temperamentally, and psychologically—for office. For me, that is the paramount consideration in electing a president, in part because at some point it’s reasonable to expect that a president will face an unexpected crisis—and at that point, the president’s judgment and discernment, his character and leadership ability, will really matter.

“Mr. Trump has no desire to acquaint himself with most issues, let alone master them” is how I put it four years ago. “No major presidential candidate has ever been quite as disdainful of knowledge, as indifferent to facts, as untroubled by his benightedness.” I added this:

Mr. Trump’s virulent combination of ignorance, emotional instability, demagogy, solipsism and vindictiveness would do more than result in a failed presidency; it could very well lead to national catastrophe. The prospect of Donald Trump as commander in chief should send a chill down the spine of every American.

It took until the second half of Trump’s first term, but the crisis has arrived in the form of the coronavirus pandemic, and it’s hard to name a president who has been as overwhelmed by a crisis as the coronavirus has overwhelmed Donald Trump.

snip

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/peter-wehner-trump-presidency-over/607969/

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Be that as it may, that stool sample in a cheap suit still blights the White House.

And a pathetic assortment of poltroons and grifters is still propping him up.

[eleny]

3. Thx for my first real LOL moment of the day!

..... .....

[luvallpeeps]

4. I'm not in the mood to laugh.

But the stool sample in a cheap suit got me. Ya got the luvall.

[magicarpet]

13. Some people here are just so funny.

Out of the blue you find yourself laughing while having a wet stain on your pants.

[spanone]

11. Bwahahahaaaa

[onecaliberal]

20. Omg, spewed my water...

[calimary]

31. That made me laugh!

Virtual hug!

[2naSalit]

35. Perfectly articulated.

[pat_k]

2. Don't be so sure. Overconfidence suppresses turnout.

Declarations that Trump is "dead" politically could end up being a primary reason he ends up winning.

We have a hell of a lot to overcome with the systematic and massive level of voter suppression going on in the form of utterly inadequate resources in "certain" areas, leading to obscene lines that many people are unable or unwilling to stand in (particularly if they think "Trump is a dead candidate walking).

Let's not have a repeat of 2016, where a vast majority of dems were absolutely sure Hillary would win.

His simple lie -- that his travel ban on China kept the Chinese virus out and saved us from a far worse fate -- has more "legs" than the truth. It sounds reasonable to anyone who doesn't know or fully understand how the failures in the first, most critical, seven weeks were devasting. This is a case were a more complex truth could win over the simple lie. No matter how bad it gets, it would have been worse without his ban. His supporters will buy it, and they won't be the only ones.

[eleny]

5. There's this that I heard the Republicans are considering

"Electoral College & Indecisive Elections

“…and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President…”
— U.S. Constitution, Article II, section 1, clause 3"

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13204927

[pat_k]

7. Yep. Just posted over there...

Thanks for the pointer to that thread. Just posted this over there.

Of course they are.

Undoubtedly the ones who railed the loudest against any thought of tossing the unlawfully appointed FL electors on Jan 6 2001, and railed the loudest against tossing the unlawfully appointed Ohio electors on Jan 6 2005, will be at the front of the line to toss out blue state results on some feeble excuse or another.

[SoCalNative]

9. So let them

since Dems have the majority in the house.

[eleny]

12. It's not the House of Reps who do that voting - it's the State houses and the Rs now hold about 33

[Aristus]

17. If God Himself came down to Earth and told me there was a 100% chance that Trump would lose

the election, I would still cast my vote.

I'm not taking any chances...

I was confident that Hillary Clinton would be President, but not, I think, overconfident. I cast my ballot for her just the same.

Speaking of God, anyone trying to prevent me from voting in November will end up meeting Him a lot sooner than they expected...

[customerserviceguy]

30. Agreed

Trump's political demise has been predicted frequently over the last four years.

[Blue_true]

33. You nailed it. He will lie in plain sight. He will take obvious failings and make them look like

he was masterfully on top of things. And you know what, a vast number of Americans will buy into his lies, even after they lost friends and relatives to his incompetence and narcissism.

I watched his press conference today after a DU member posted it in this thread. It is scary how Fauci and Birx are actively lying about the job that Trump is doing, a lot of Americans will look at what those two are saying and say "maybe Obama left Trump a bad system and Trump has done as best he could", that is my concern, the guy is masterful at corrupting people.

Joe Biden should have two people that on Day 1 can replace Fauci and Birx and not miss a beat, they simply have to go, they can't be trusted.

[doc03]

6. Last time I checked he is still in the Whitehouse nt

[Chainfire]

8. You can't write him off

Until his previous voters bail on him. Ain't happening yet.

[magicarpet]

16. Brad Parscale has been recruiting new Nazi youth,...

... voters at the Fascist Christian schools and colleges, also at regular universities they have been tapping into the Young Republican Clubs on campus and registering these little impressionable Nazis to vote for His Royal Virus-ness and down ticket candidates.

This Team trDumpie re-election crew of Fascist Nazis knows how to stack the electoral decks in their favor.

These are well practices con men that know how to manipulate the political landscape so they walk away with another win come hell or high water.

Fabricate, cheat, deceive, project, diversions, and steal are all tools customarily found in there bag of trick and tool chests.

[tman]

10. Nah, it aint.

2020 will be razor close in the swing states. Former Obama campaign people have been warning of this for a while. Read any David Plouffe interview.

Trump has a crazy well funded organization to ensure his turnout will be strong and he has a base that is unwavering in their devotion, backed up by an extremely sophisticated digital media campaign that is unlike anything Democrats have ever faced. Trump is weak. Trump is beatable, but he aint even close to 'over'.

He's also a lucky SOB. It would not surprise me if the economy started to recover just in time for the election November.

[magicarpet]

19. Team trDump, trDumpie, Parscale, Kushner, and Miller are so good at manipulating the media....

... as pertains to connecting with their Fascist base, we are behind before any one has really left the gate and the real Dem/ReThug race to the White House even starts.

Of Biden comes across as a weak candidate we are toast. The trDump team is vindictive, relentless, entirely without ethics and ruthless.

[TomSlick]

21. Agreed.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

14. Just to be clear, Trump controls the largest nuclear arsenal in the history of the world.

I would hate to live in Tehran right now. Emotionally unstable Fat Donnie needs a huge event to distract from his coronavirus mess, and the Iranian population is literally living at Ground Zero.

[jimlup]

15. God I hope so.

This article counts on several key assumptions.

[Miguelito Loveless]

18. Nope,

because he is not going to relinquish power. He will disrupt, suppress, and directly interfere in the election. If he loses, he will sue, and GOP will back him. He will call forth his batshit insane supporters to “defend him”.

[bullwinkle428]

22. He just out-polled Biden in "trusted to handle the pandemic". I know, it's just sickening.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-americans-trust-trump-more-181200250.html

[HipChick]

25. You trust a Faux News Poll?

Good luck with that..

[Bernardo de La Paz]

24. The Trump Catastrophe. The virus killed people, tRump made it a Catastrophe. . . . nt

[Chicagogrl1]

26. I wish this was true but

His approval ratings are up! How can that be? It seems absolutely nothing will take him down. I sm so bewildered

[calimary]

38. Welcome to DU, Chicagogrl1.

Eyes on the prize, my friend. Eyes on the prize.

This is temporary. As the death toll rises, even the red states will have to notice. It'll be directly in their faces. Who knows? Pox Noise insiders are reportedly becoming worried about legal liability, because they've been non-stop cheerleaders for everything trump has said, including all the moronic ideas that it's a hoax, it'll all "just go away, it'll disappesrit's like a miracle," and dragging his feet on everything he has done, and what he has done has been far short of what's needed and thoroughly half-assed.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

27. You Underestimate Joe Sixpack's Ability To Forget All About This

The election is 7 months away. By then, most people will have forgotten all about this for like 4-5 months. The public's attention span is as short as Trump's fingers.

However, if Biden makes it a point to keep hammering on the things going on now, and reminding people how terrible Trump has handled EVERYTHING, then he should win. In particular, he needs to keep reminding folks in Michigan how badly Trump has treated them, and how he accused doctors and nurses of STEALING. It's all on tape. The Biden campaign should have a good half-dozen TV ads of nothing but Trump's own words by now. They should run those on a continuous loop for the next 7 months.

[Tree-Hugger]

28. That's been...

...declared almost daily on DU since the day he was elected. Yet, he's still around and his approval rating is up.

[LudwigPastorius]

29. Yeah, we knew a national, or global, fuckup of epic proportions was coming as long as Trump...

was in office. I just didn't know it would lead to so many dead Americans and the smoldering ruins of our economy.

I figured it would be a needless war in some other part of the world, started by Trump to feed his ego.

I guess I'd better hold my tongue. He's not going to be out of office until next year. There's still a possibility he'll compound this shit tsunami.

[BamaRefugee]

32. Seen that header 300 times in the last 3.5 years here

[GeorgiaPeanut]

34. Absolutely true and well-written

However, republicans only care for power at whatever cost and they will keep clinging to that putrid excrement as long as they get theirs.

[calimary]

40. Welcome to DU, GeorgiaPeanut.

All we can do about it is try not to become disheartened to the point that you throw up your hands in disgust, and give up.

Whenever I start thinking like maybe I'm feeling a little discouraged, it helps me to remember that such a glum feeling is EXACTLY what the republi-CONS want. They want us dispirited and disheartened. They want us feeling hopeless. They figure we'll be less likely to go vote, to fight back, to keep pushing back. And that will make it easier for them to steal it again. Remember, that's the only way the opposing team can win: by CHEATING. By trying to rig the game. Because their numbers are shrinking and ours aren't. And they know it. Why else do they go to such lengths to tilt the playing field via gerrymandering and voter suppression of all kinds? Because they know they can't win fair 'n' square. The numbers aren't there anymore.

It'll be another close election, and Vladimir Putin will undoubtedly try to help putting a thumb on the scale. But if WE turn out to vote, in whatever way we can in our states, if ONLY we turn OUR numbers out to vote, we'll have this. And we'll send him off to face the crimes for which the statute of limitations in New York holds til 2022.

Don't lose hope! If for no other reason, THAT'S what THEY are hoping you'll do.

[In It to Win It]

36. Shots fired

[MFM008]

37. Tonight

On Brian Williams show Nancy Cook said maggot was
Very concerned about his reelection prospects.

He better be.

[Hekate]

39. Not by a long shot. I see no sign of him leaving.

[FiveGoodMen]

41. But is the Trump dictatorship just beginning?