Russia can bring Trump down - later. Economics can destroy him now.
Last edited Wed May 24, 2017, 11:49 AM - Edit history (1)
Mueller will not rush the FBI investigation. It will be meticulous, it will be thorough, and it will be damning. It will not be quick though, and until the evidence condemning Trump's Administration is finally presented in full, Congressional Republicans will continue to argue that there isn't any.
The Russian connection may have brought Trump down to his knees, but he can still sign bills into law from that somewhat lowered position. Legally, Trump's peril grows as the FBI investigation continues. But politically it has reached a point of diminishing returns (for now) for those in opposition to continued Republican rule. While a clear majority of Americans regard the FBI investigation as serious, a significant minority (the FOX News demographic) see it as a witch hunt and a coup in the making by a sinister establishment. That is the counter narrative to the truth, the spin that the Right is fanning, and until Mueller is ready to reveal what he has on Team Trump, that counter narrative will continue to prosper - cementing the status quo in place. And that status quo leaves enough of the Republican Trumpian base intact for the G.O.P. corporate agenda for America to proceed forward toward implementation.
As long as the political discussion remains focused primarily on Donald Trump and former and current individuals on his team, instead of on the economic agenda that the Republican Party is now pushing through Washington, enough of Trump's base will rally to his side to keep that Republican agenda on track. The prevailing right wing populist myth is that Donald Trump is fighting for "forgotten" Americans, and that the so called case against Trump is being manufactured by those who seek to thwart him from helping those "forgotten" Americans. His core supporters are already doubling down around it.
The least gullible of Trump's non hard core racist voters have already had their belief in Trump somewhat shaken. That's already reflected in his lowered approval numbers, and in increased Democratic competitiveness in special elections in formerly safe Republican districts. The Republican Congressional agenda is now hanging by a thread. but it remains for now in play. They still have the votes needed to fill the coffers of the few and the coffins of the many. The next 3 to 5 point drop in Trump's approval ratings is critical to breaking their hold. That's approximately 10% of Trump's remaining support. Their defection can shatter the Republican coalition, in a matter of weeks - while the FBI investigation continues to drone on for months if not years.
It won't be another "unproven" revelation about collusion with Russia that will peel those voters away from Trump - they will believe it was all a witch hunt until impeachment is well underway. It will be primal fear that does it. Fear both for their lives and those of their children. And the well spring for that rising fear has just been published. It's called the President's budget plan.
It is so draconian that there's something in it to terrify virtually everyone, once a few dots at most are connected. Most Americans don't yet understand that Medicaid pays for nursing home care, or that the CDC is what stands in the way of a potential Ebola like pandemic ravaging the country. They don't yet understand that when rural hospitals can't keep their doors open regional economies go down the drain with them. They don't know that the next ground wells to become contaminated without the funds needed to mitigate the consequences may be their own. They don't know that, under Trump's budget, the college grants needed for their kids to become employable will be eliminated, and that life saving cancer research will be curtailed. And they don't know that so called "High Risk" insurance pools will make health care for those with preexisting conditions about as affordable as a Rolls Royce after a $100 off storeroom coupon is provided to help "soften" the sticker shock.
I am one of the tens of millions of Americans totally transfixed by the ever widening Russia scandal that someday will take down this White House. That will not come soon enough. Right now we have to reach a few more of those Americans who aren't.
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And in keeping with the reply theme found below, it is hereby kicked again 
