Trump's Downward Slide Is Accelerating [View all]

[MineralMan]

Slip #1: Nancy Pelosi begins impeachment investigations in the House, and some of Trump's minions are defying his orders and showing up to testify. The downward slide begins. We learn more and more about Trump's illegal acts as President on a daily basis. Polls show that a majority of the U.S. population favors impeachment and a trial in the Senate.

Slip #2: In an effort to distract from the bad news on impeachment, Trump tries a classic "wag the dog" trick in Syria. He remembered that he promised to "get the troops out of the Middle East," so he listens to Vladimir Putin and Erdogan and gets the troops out of northern Syria, where they are working with the Kurds, our allies in the fight against ISIS. Since Turkey hates the Kurds, and would like to see them all dead, Erdogan sees this as permission to carry out an ethnic cleansing of northern Syria, a territory that does not belong to Turkey. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds are evacuating, but have no place to go. The news does not sit well with anyone. Trump has made a critical error in judgment. Even Republicans in Congress are horrified and are saying so in public. His downhill slide continues to pick up speed.

Slip #3: Since the Turkey/Syria/Kurd thing is not going well, Trump decides he'll announce that the G7 Summit will be held at one of his own properties in Florida. Unfortunately, this idea is received poorly by one and all, who see that he is trying to provide an economic boost to his own property and fatten his own wallet. Trump tries to bluster his way through this poor decision, but is forced to retreat, probably because someone pointed out that he could be impeached on Emoluments Clause grounds, as well. So, he pulls back from his announcement, and will probably hold the G7 at Camp David, a place he abhors. Of course, he tries to blame the media and Democrats for his decision. The slide gets steeper and faster.

Slip #4: In a classic Trumpian faux pas, Trump directly disses Nancy Pelosi in a gathering with administration officials and congressional leaders. He calls the Speaker of the House names, leading her to stand up and point at him with a sharp, intelligent retort. She then walks out on the meeting, taking her congressional delegation with her. Trump, in his idiotic lack of wisdom, posts an official White House photo of the confrontation, which Pelosi immediately makes the banner graphic for her Twitter feed. The photo gets national and even international press coverage, embarrassing Trump, since everyone agrees that Pelosi got the upper hand. Trump forgets that she is running the impeachment inquiry and oversteps his mythical authority, and the slide picks up even more speed.

Slip #5: Who knows? Trump, no doubt, feels that he must regain his composure and retake control of the situation. So, he is very likely to execute some other venture shortly. However, he is now on a steep slope with uncertain footing. A misstep could send him tumbling down the side of Mt. Disaster, head over heels, in an irrecoverable, out of control descent.

Can Trump recover? I don't think so, actually. I think the next stupid step he takes will be the last one. He could, perhaps, put an end to all of it with a sudden resignation from the presidency, but he is unlikely to do that. Instead, he'll try one last hopeless shot at putting a stop to his downhill calamity. Truly, he is not clever enough, though, to pull off such a step. More likely is a terminal mistake that ends his presidency in a spectacular and particularly disastrous way.

We can only hope...