Bannon believes the Trump regime is going down hard.

[Tom Rinaldo]

All this happy talk among Republicans about finally ridding themselves of Bannon, which the media seems to fully echo, only holds true if Mueller doesn't bring the hammer down on Trump and all those who conspired with him. It is a binary possible future. If Trump survives politically, then Bannon doesn't. But what if the Trump regime self destructs and gets fully swept away? Virtually the entire Republican Party is now publicly in bed with Trump. To seize their chance to marginalize Bannon they've just embraced Trump even tighter.

"Fire and Fury" is just beginning to break and the Republican Party just tied itself to the mast of the Trump ship of state, believing that Bannon will get swept away in the storm that is rising from it while they ride it out. They've thrown Bannon overboard, but "Fire and Fury" gives him a life jacket that can keep him afloat if that ship goes down.

Yes if Trump stays afloat it will be Bannon who drowns. But by openly disassociating himself from the Trump team's crimes and treason in "Fire and Fury", Bannon is gambling that all the right wing populists and racists who now gravitate to Trump will have no one left to turn to after the entire Republican Party, including the right wing insurgency, has become tangled up in a disgraced Trump presidency, except for Bannon. He has positioned himself as the one right wing nationalist smart enough to realize that Trump is a total loser. In the short run that clearly puts him in a terrible place politically. But what about in the longer run? What if Bannon is reading the handwriting on the wall and is already a few chapters ahead of his political enemies in doing so? What does that say about what Bannon believes that Mueller must already know and the rest of us will find out shortly?

[Phoenix61]

1. Bannon's not stupid

He would have known about Twitler's involvement with Russia if for no other reason than Twitler's inability to keep from bragging about it. He's as much a narcissist as Twitler and saw an opportunity to garner some power and money. No reason to think he would be loyal especially after he was fired.

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. Exactly. Bannon is taking a high stakes gamble and it may not work for him

But the media is buying into the narrative that Bannon just shot himself in the foot, turning off his followers, alienating his financial backers, jeopardizing his platform for reaching voters etc. The conventional wisdom is that he badly misjudged his power in attacking Trump and now he is left with nothing. But Bannon is now on public record calling out the Trump regime for criminal behavior while remaining a true believer to the political vision that Trump is identified with. The way things are shaking out that puts Bannon in a unique position. He's placed his bet on Trump imploding.

[Kaleva]

3. Bannon may be the one playing 3-D chess

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. He's not brilliant, but he's not stupid either

Bannon has chosen to tie himself to Trumpism but not to Trump. He hasn't changed his stripes, his beliefs remain the same ones that he kept pushing Trump to embrace. But IMO Bannon has come to the conclusion that Donald Trump is going to become a disgraced public figure in the eyes of a strong majority of Americans and therefor there is no political future (outside of cultish Trump circles and extreme right wing media) in being seen as personally loyal to Donald Trump the person.

"Fire and Fury" will be the most discussed political book of the year and very widely read. Wolff has tapes backing up the quotes he attributes to Trump Administration insiders. After a year of twitter madness and grandiose narcissism to public is adequately preconditioned to accept the picture of Trump that emerges from "Fire and Fury", and all of those Republican leaders who as recently as last week gushed so enthusiastically about Trump in public will be fully exposed as craven self serving hacks or utter idiots or both.

Bannon can't repudiate Trimpism, he tookcredit for helping create it. So the only path forward for him if he harbors illusions of being a national political leader is to wrap himself in it's so called "ideals" while simultaneously bemoaning how all of that was betrayed by the people surrounding Trump the man. When it becomes politically unfeasible for any leading Republican to continue to stand by Trump Bannon will have already staked out that turf for himself, without repudiating what Trump stood for in the eyes of Trump's currently loyal base.

That is the gamble he is taking, but essentially it is his only viable path forward, given his ambitions, after he realized he could not control this President from a perch inside the White House.

[Qutzupalotl]

4. Wasnt Ezra Cohen-Watnick a Bannon ally?

He’s the one who showed Devin Nunes raw intelligence, so my guess is that’s how Bannon knows so much.

[oberliner]

6. Who cares what Bannon believes?

I really wish people would stop giving him the attention he craves.

[Tom Rinaldo]

8. Two things

One: In this case it is compelling circumstantial evidence that the evidence exists to indict members of the Trump Administration and inner circle (including members of the Trump family) on charges far more serious than "Obstruction of Justice" or even a conspiracy to cover up evidence of wrong doing vis a vis the Russians. It is one thing to get lured into a trap by the Russians and be dumb enough not to call the FBI when it happened and then try to deny any wrongs were done, it is another thing to be fully in bed with the Russians. Bannon intentionally injected the word Treason into public debate. He also explicitly suggested that Donald Trump engaged in criminal money laundering with the Russians. Those charges are far more pointed than vague comments about some troubling pattern of behavior. That Bannon has calculated that he should attempt to position himself as a whistle blower regarding all that is stunning as a political choice. And unlike you and me and Rachel Maddow, Bannon has an insiders view of events, and facts.

Two: Know thy enemy. Bannon believes that Trumpism can survive the loss of Trump. We need to anticipate how that attempt will be made.

[oberliner]

9. Makes sense

Appreciate the response.

[Laxman]

7. So If His Plan Works Out....

Bannon will be king of the rats. Good for him.