The Kill

Like vultures circling a wounded prey, the four constituencies I noted in my last post, are descending and moving ever closer for the kill. The media, now nothing more than an adjunct to the Democratic party, are unsatisfied to allow Special Counsel Robert Mueller to do his investigative job. So-called "journalists" hyperventilate about every small discrepancy in "time lines," every inconsistency between what administration spokespeople say and what Trump (inadvisedly) later tweets, and every connection between Trump and Russians (no matter how far fetched, far removed and insignificant). The "Russian Collusion" meme will be served and to the obvious glee of the other three constituencies, the media will make sure it never, ever goes away.

Much of this feeding frenzy is Trump's fault. His imprecision, his seeming inability to use political common sense, much less political discipline, is astounding. Coupled with a combative personality, a coarse affect, and an inability to moderate his timing or his behavior, along with a seemingly superficial understanding of his circumstances, he makes political mistake after political mistake, destabilizing his administration and giving the four constituencies daily ammunition to bring him down.

Sadly, it seems that the Congress can only do one thing at a time, and right now, that thing is circling Trump for the kill. Meaningful and necessary reform to a broken healthcare system and a ridiculously complex and anti-growth tax system are unlikely because the vultures can only circle. A federal budget that can and should reduce the size of the federal government is DOA because any political capital that Trump had is now gone. Draining the swamp ... not a chance. Immigration reform ... never.

One can only wonder whether, given the same unhinged accusations from the four constituencies, Trump had moderated his behavior on January 20th. Instead of non-stop tweeting (often inaccurate, always imprecise, and rarely illuminating), he became more politically astute. Rather than whining about a witch hunt by the four constituencies (accurate, but beside the point) he acted like a leader, brushing off his opponents like insects and proceeding with his agenda. Rather than contradicting his spokespeople, he had the political acumen to back them up with a consistent story. Rather than picking fights with a series of lightweights, he realized that as president, those fights are beneath his office. Rather than worrying about crowd size or the polls, he did his job.

But of course none of that happened. Trump is Trump—a man with solid core policy ideas (e.g., grow the economy, secure the borders, stand firm with our enemies, support our allies, improve the lives of working people) who simply can't get out of his own way. As a consequence those ideas are unlikely to be fulfilled. Behind closed doors, the four constituencies shake their heads in amazement and quietly celebrate.

Can Trump recover and be a successful president? The chance of that happening becomes smaller by the week. It would be truly remarkable if he did. But then again it was truly remarkable that he upset Hillary Clinton, derailed the progressive juggernaut, and in so doing, made the heads of each of the four constituencies explode.

Maybe that's why an unprecedented level of vicious opposition is being leveled by the four constituencies. Deep down they remember the upset and they can't let it happen again. They're working every day feeding the memes that will allow them to get close enough for the kill.

UPDATE-1:
---------------
Let's take just one of the latest parts of the Russian collusion meme. Two days ago, the trained hamsters in the media, along with the other three constituencies discussed in my last post, hyperventilated about the claim, by unnamed sources, that Trump divulged something important to the Russians when he held a public meeting with them. Kurt Schlichter enumerates the things we'd have to believe to accept the validity of their hyperventilation:

[The strategy of the four constituencies] is brazen. It’s bold. It’s insulting to our intelligence. They aren’t even trying to hide their lies anymore. Truth is irrelevant; this is a choreographed dance routine and everyone has his moves. Call it Breakin’ 2: Electric Leakaroo, except instead of trying to save the community center they’re trying to save their power and prestige.

To buy the media narrative on this latest Russian nonsense, you must believe:

1. That whatever was revealed was super-secret, though we don’t know exactly what it was. When in doubt, assume it’s on par with the nuclear codes!

2. That there was no good reason to share this info with Russia, like coordinating our fight against our joint enemy or to prevent another Russian airliner massacre. Because why would we want another power fighting ISIS or civilians not to be blown out of the sky?

3. That LTG McMaster, who literally wrote the book on soldiers standing up to misbehaving civilian leaders and displayed immense personal courage in battle, turned chicken and sat there silently as Trump monologued about this unknown mystery info of doomsday-level import.

4. That LTG McMaster lied on camera. Twice. And that Secretary of State Tillerson lied too.

5. That random anonymous sources in an intelligence community that hates Trump with a burning passion must be believed without question, though we don’t know their identities or their motives.

6. That these anonymous randos must be believed, even though they were not actually in the room to, you know, actually hear what happened. The traditional bar on hearsay is apparently now just a bourgeois conceit.

7. That when the Washington Post and the rest of the media publishes classified stuff (including intelligence provided by allies) leaked by anyone not named “Donald Trump,” it’s awesome.

8. That the Washington Post and the rest of the media, which has been wrong over and over again in their reporting, are not wrong again.

9. That the Washington Post and the rest of the media are objective and have no anti-Trump bias, even though they are literally cheering the hits on the president.

10. That there are unicorns.

What!? Unicorns don't exist? Gosh ... here I thought that fantasy was the new progressive reality.

UPDATE-2:
---------------
Peggy Noonan comments on the machinations of the four constituencies:

Mr. Trump’s longtime foes, especially Democrats and progressives, are in the throes of a kind of obsessive delight. Every new blunder, every suggestion of an illegality, gives them pleasure. “He’ll be gone by autumn.”

But he was duly and legally elected by tens of millions of Americans who had legitimate reasons to support him, who knew they were throwing the long ball, and who, polls suggest, continue to support him. They believe the press is trying to kill him. “He’s new, not a politician, give him a chance.” What would it do to them, what would it say to them, to have him brusquely removed by his enemies after so little time? Would it tell them democracy is a con, the swamp always wins, you nobodies can make your little choices but we’re in control? What will that do to their faith in our institutions, in democracy itself?

These are wrenching questions.

The "obsessive delight" that we see as the media and politicians conduct an quasi-coup is like nothing I've seen in my lifetime. It goes beyond partisan politics and moves to the edge of sedition. Even those who question Trump's policies or his ability to lead effectively should be disgusted by the 'gotcha' tone the pervades the media, the unhinged and often hysterical reaction to even the most minor blunders, and the leaks that indicate that the deep state is more interested in protecting itself than the welfare of the nation.

If the media and political coup succeeds—and it might—there will be unintended collateral damage. I can only hope that that damage rains heavily on the constituencies that are cheering the coup on.