In my last blog just before the mid-term elections I refrained from giving my opinion on which party would win the House of Representatives and the Senate. The polls were all over the place, as were the pundits, and I had been humiliated in 2016 by my steadfast belief that Hillary Clinton would win the presidency.
On top of that, I came across this quote from the legendary Lawrence Peter (“Yogi”) Berra:
“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”
However, I did make a couple of safe and obvious predictions. One was that if the Republicans retained the House and Senate Donald Trump would take all the credit, but if they lost either one he’d assume none of the blame.
The other was that whichever way the election went things would get worse. If the Republicans won they would eliminate the Affordable Care Act and take away health care for millions of people, as well as gut environmental regulations and consumer protections. Trump’s assault on the Constitution would continue unabated.
But if the Democrats won I foresaw the possibility of Trump imploding and becoming even more unhinged than usual.
Who could have guessed that latter statement would be so prescient and prophetic? The afternoon following the election Mr. Trump gave the most bizarre 90-minute press conference in history. He tried to put a positive spin on the loss of what now amounts to approximately 40 seats in the House of Representatives and claimed he was better off than if the GOP had won by only a few seats. He threatened Democrats if they used their newly-found power to issue subpoenas and conduct investigations of him, his cabinet, and his foreign conflicts of interest. He fought with three reporters and called a black reporter from National Public Radio a “racist,” proof that the man has no self-awareness or sense of irony. Once again he called the American media “the enemy of the people,” a term popularized by Russian dictator Joseph Stalin.
Several hours later he fired Jeff Sessions, his beleaguered attorney-general, and replaced him with Matthew Whitaker, a biased supporter who in the past had called the Mueller investigation a “witch hunt” and listed ways in which it could be terminated or financially starved out of existence. Legal experts are demanding he recuse himself, and many are certain his appointment violates the Constitution. The term “constitutional crisis” has been bandied about for five days since Trump put him in charge.
Trump has been caught lying about his hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, and those are clear violations of campaign finance laws. Donnie Jr. is on the brink of indictment. The walls are closing in and the noose is tightening around the president’s neck.
I ended last week’s blog by saying, “If you thought the country would return to some semblance of normalcy Wednesday morning, think again. Hold on to your hats. There could be a bumpy ride ahead.”
That was an understatement. It won’t be a bumpy ride. It will be a roller-coaster on steroids. Things are going to get real crazy, real fast. Who knows what will happen? It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.
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