How Long Will It Take?

By Jack Dallas

Donald Trump was right. He could probably shoot someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it. So far, the former Republican Party has ignored all of his shenanigans. With dalliances of moral turpitude, even evangelical Republicans see no evil.

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

When Trump is caught in a bald-face lie, he is only stretching the truth or joking. When Trump abuses his power and influence to divert tax dollars to his various hotel properties, it’s just business as usual. When congress uses its constitutional authority to investigate matters within their authority, Trump claims to have more executive authority than has ever been wielded by any former president.  He most recently, through his lawyers, claimed that he and those close to him were “completely immune” from any criminal investigation. This claim gained the ire of Judge Victor Marrero of the District Court of Manhattan when he found that claim to be, “repugnant to the nation’s governmental structure and constitutional values.”

Most recently, Turkey got an apparent gift in the form of a presidential mandate when Trump decided to unceremoniously pull our troops from Syria. This last event caught our allies, our military, our congressional leaders, our envoys, and our diplomatic corps, completely off-guard. Turkey and Russia were delighted. The fact that Trump and his sons have bragged that they get “all the money they need” from Russia and the fact that Trump has two hotel properties in Turkey certainly didn’t influence his decision.

Trump Towers Istanbul, Turkey

When even his own party began to rebel at abandoning our Kurdish allies to the mercy of Turkey and their new Russian missiles, Trump rattled his saber and claimed to have super-powers of “great and unmatched wisdom.”  To quote Mitch McConnell, “A precipitous withdrawal of US forces from Syria would only benefit Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime.”  Wow, even Moscow Mitch was upset.  It remains to be seen if the indomitable Republican wall of support is cracking.

Humble Trump Tweet

Mitch missed one other entity that was rejoicing in the president’s decision to bail on our Kurdish allies, ISIS.  Yes, even though Trump in his great and unmatched wisdom has declared ISIS defeated, they don’t know that.  Even the self-declared “defender-of-all-things-Trump,” Lindsay Graham has come forth with his own analysis.  “ISIS is not defeated, my friend.  The biggest lie being told by the administration is that ISIS is defeated,” Senator Lindsey Graham told “Fox and Friends” in a phone call Monday.  “The Caliphate is destroyed, but there are thousands of fighters” still there.  Wow, Moscow Mitch and now Lindsay Graham, who could be next?   If you guessed Representative Peter King, a Republican from New York, you win the kewpie doll.  He tweeted that the move “betrays Kurds, strengthens ISIS and endangers the American homeland.”

Your Kewpie Doll

The latest worry for the White House, however, is Mr. Trump’s request for assistance from both China and Ukraine to further his political interests by digging up dirt on his leading Democratic opponent.  The defiant president has declared the investigation a “kangaroo court” and that he would stonewall all efforts.  This will buy him time in hopes that this will all go away but it also adds another obstruction nail in his political coffin.  We don’t yet have an answer to the original question as to How Long Will It Take, but there seems to be at least some breakdown in The Donald’s support.  To paraphrase Pink Floyd,

We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey, teachers, leave them kids alone
All in all it's just another crack in the wall
All in all you're just another crack in the wall

Another Crack in the Wall