By Steven Jonas
At the end of August (2017) I published a column that focused primarily on the
four-way Presidential election of 1860, while presenting it as a forerunner of
what may well be seen in the U.S. election of 2020. This was about two weeks after Steve Bannon had been "fired" from the White House
staff. I put "fired" in quotes because
at the time I saw this as the beginning of a set-up for things to come. (No less a reactionary than Robert Kagan seems to agree with me.) I suggested at the time that as things got
tighter and tighter for Trump in the various investigations that, waiting as
long as he could, but surely before the trap or traps was/were sprung, after
granting pardons far and wide, including to himself, he would resign from the
Presidency. (Trump likely has one or
more spies within each of the bodies investigating him, and thus has a very
good idea of how far along they are.) He would then immediately set up a new Far-Right
party, with himself as, let us say, The Leader, and Bannon as his Consigliere
AND Underboss.
Trump's Party would be to the Right even of the
present pretty-far-Right Republican Party, the product of the next stage of the
Right-Wing Imperative which has
governed Republican politics since the 1960s.
As of this date (Oct. 12, 2017 --- interestingly enough, the real
Columbus Day), one cannot be certain that this is what will happen. BUT, very
briefly here, consider the following.
Bannon backed a far-rightist (even in the Repub. sense) in the Alabama
Repub. Senate primary, seemingly against
Trump's candidate of choice. But in his
speeches Bannon was sure to say that "Judge" Moore was really the Trumpite
(although Bannon did not use that term) in the race. Trump allowed that Moore would be OK with him
too.
And now, separating themselves from the
Bannon/Trumpites, the Republican "establishment" in the Senate is beginning to
turn against Trump: see Bob Corker and Ben Sasse. (Ironically it happens that Corker was elected
to the Senate for the first time in Tennessee very likely because at the last
minute he ran an openly racist ad against his
Democratic opponent, Harold Ford, Jr.
Until that time, Ford had been ahead.
The DLC-Democrat Ford declined to challenge Corker's racism, lost the
election, and in recent years has spent a lot of time on MSNBC's "Morning
Joe.")
Bannon has now declared that he will be running
primary opponents (or trying to at least) against every sitting Repub. Senator,
other than Ted Cruz. Why not Cruz? Because Bannon (and Kelly Anne Conway) was an
integral part of Cruz' staff before he dropped out of the race for the Repub.
nomination. When he came over to Trump
he brought Cruz' Mercer Money
with him.
And it is Mercer money which is now at the center of Bannon's new
initiative. So what is happening, very quickly? Might not Bannon's
prediction that Trump
would have only a 30% chance of finishing his term, rather than
resigning being removed from office under the provisions of the 25th
Amendment, play into all of this, with Trump resigning under
pressure first?
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