Circling the Drain

Donald Trump's administration is coming apart before it has even reached the four-month mark. The Comey firing and Trump's possible obstruction of justice are being investigated by three congressional committees and a new special counsel appointed yesterday, who will operate essentially the same way as a special prosecutor.

Criminal investigations of Trump's campaign and possible collusion with Russia are ongoing as well and at least one federal grand jury is reviewing the evidence. Subpoenas are currently being issued against key campaign officials by federal prosecutors and the grand jury (or possibly grand juries).

Yesterday also brought the extraordinary news that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said to a group of prominent Republican leaders in June 2016 that Donald Trump was being paid by Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin (details here). McCarthy's office vehemently denied ever making such a comment, but when told that a recording had been made of his statement, they conceded it was real but tried to pretend it was a joke.

Nicholas Kristof at The New York Times wrote an excellent column yesterday (link here) with the title "Dangerous Times for Trump and the Nation." He made a really good point in the piece which I'll quote verbatim:

"One crucial lesson here: Pressure matters. It was public opinion that stalled the Republican effort to repeal Obamacare, and it is public opinion in part that will ensure the integrity of this [Trump/Russia] investigation."

People have been calling, faxing, tweeting, texting, and speaking in person with their members of Congress to express outrage over Trump's behavior and possible criminal activity. That works. When politicians receive hundreds of not thousands of contacts every day, they know that voters are angry, and angry voters kick incumbents out of office at election time.

I have been burning up the fax lines to Washington and I hope you're finding ways to speak out, too. Trump was not elected by a majority of voters, and his support since the election has deteriorated significantly.

He's famously incurious about most subjects and reads almost nothing, but he needs to educate himself about failed presidencies of the recent past. The cheering fans at his rallies represent an ever-shrinking minority of voters and are not an accurate picture of public sentiment.

The ever-growing majority of voters who oppose Trump cannot be ignored, and the longer he does so, the more perilous his hold on the presidency.