The Trump Administration: Is There a Slow-Motion Coup Underway?

 

By Steve Jonas

Last September I published a column on the famous Op-Ed "Anonymous" that was published in The New York Times on Sept. 5, 2018. I quoted several of the many responses to it, both positive and negative. One that I still think is most apt came from a friend and political colleague of mine:

"Written by a senior official of the Trump administration who prefers wisely to remain anonymous in order to protect the sub rosa 'resistance' to the capricious whims of a president with an incapacitated sense of morality this Op-Ed breaks new ground in world history. For the first time in our history, a high-ranking insider reveals the determination of a broadening group of patriots who are committed to protect and defend our nation from the moral, professional and personal insanity of President Donald Trump." 

I then noted the following from the text of the Op-Ed:

"Don't get me wrong. There are bright spots that the near-ceaseless negative coverage of the administration fails to capture: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more. But these successes have come despite -- not because of -- the president's leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective."

And then, a major "however" from one of the letters to the New York Times commenting on the column: 

"Conspiring to keep an unfit president in office in order to promote the political agenda of his advisers has not avoided a constitutional crisis, but created one [emphasis added. President Trump's attacks on Congress, the judiciary, [his own FBI and Justice Department], and a free press are the threat to our democracy, not his removal."

And quoting from my earlier column further, this time from myself:

"I think that this person is firm right-winger somewhere in the Administration, White House most likely. Trump has gotten done the three main Repub. policy goals which they have never been able to achieve to this degree before: the tax cuts for the rich and the large corporations, the massive de-regulation program and vast curtailment of other Federal government programs (e.g., in housing, education, and the protection of the environment --- what Steve Bannon termed 'the Deconstruction of the [Federal] Administrative State'), and (to invent a term) the 'Right-Winging' the Federal Court System.)"

"So, in the thinking of 'Anonymous,' because Trump is so stupid, ill-educated, and difficult to work with, and is now deviating from some of central policies, it is time to dump him, if that is at all possible certainly before 2020. For if, in their view, he were to somehow survive Mueller as well as his terrible state of physical and mental health, enough to run then, he would get the nomination courtesy of his racist base but would then be destroyed in the general election, along with the rest of the Party."

Click here for the full article. 

Source: OpEdNews.com