On 8/18/17, Bob Hachey <bhachey@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Agree or disagree, this post should keep folks up nights, wondering if
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5994b068e4b06ef724d61291
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_us-5F5994b068e4b06ef724d61291&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXe
kfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=Zat1gh8B82hsvawUYh
PkPYPUPibmAHO3__ufi3PzMVg&s=Ly0yV4aEdNw8WCQLoqUFBjwRYDEkfDYcA2I4AJNLzHI&e=>
A Divided Country Is Exactly What Trump Wants
He thinks it will save him. It explains his combative remarks about
Charlottesville.
<https://mandrillapp.com/track/click/30489975/m.huffpost.com?p=eyJzIjoiX0V1M
nJhN3phMDJVUzE2ZkU5TTE1dENoU0dvIiwidiI6MSwicCI6IntcInVcIjozMDQ4OTk3NSxcInZcI
joxLFwidXJsXCI6XCJodHRwOlxcXC9cXFwvbS5odWZmcG9zdC5jb21cXFwvdXNcXFwvYXV0aG9yX
FxcL2hvd2FyZC1maW5lbWFuXCIsXCJpZFwiOlwiZmY5YTJhZmUwNzZiNGIzM2I5ODFhNzAxNWFkY
mJmOTBcIixcInVybF9pZHNcIjpbXCI2MDY1NDBiN2JjOTA3MTM0Yjg3ODBjODhjMTFkMDE3YmIwM
GQ0MDVjXCJdfSJ9> Howard Fineman
WASHINGTON - Let's be clear about what
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.huffingtonpost.com_
topic_donald-2Dtrump&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&
r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=Zat1gh8B82hsvawUYhPkPYPUPibm
AHO3__ufi3PzMVg&s=pDBf8PveZ7bM9BlhI0n2csUCLFPKNtG8t3Fl1UOVWP4&e=> President
Donald Trump was up to Tuesday during his
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.huffingtonpost.com_
entry_trump-2Dnews-2Dconference-2Dcharlottesville-5Fus-5F59935814e4b04b19336
105d5-3Fbej&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7
-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=Zat1gh8B82hsvawUYhPkPYPUPibmAHO3__ufi
3PzMVg&s=aeNsvwTmBUQ2ukjQMEYcsXsOoS0dztbYX0tgkBVCgsM&e=> press conference
in
Trump Tower, and what his longer-range plan is for surviving, if not
prospering, in the White House for at least four years.
Speaking publicly in the family fortress in the wake of the violence in
Charlottesville, Virginia, he wasn't trying to convince anyone of the
facts.
There could be no dispute about them if you saw, say,
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_watch-
3Fv-3DP54sP0Nlngg&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=C
K8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=Zat1gh8B82hsvawUYhPkPYPUPibmAHO
3__ufi3PzMVg&s=hSckp7dQaVRICmzn1fce0GY4UZLlGnAIeOeLdnhLDGo&e=> the Vice
video of hideous neo-Nazis, KKK members, generic white supremacists and
rancid anti-Semites in the streets carrying torches and chanting "Jews will
not replace."
No, the president was doing something else: trolling the media,
deliberately
goading reporters he knew were waiting for him in his echoing marble lobby.
He basked in their urgent outrage and determined focus on Charlottesville.
He had scripted himself as the alt-right's Daniel in a "fake news" lion's
den of his own devising.
Was he upset by the resulting headline and denunciations from the likes of
the
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entry_bush-2Dpresidents-2Dcharlottesville-5Fus-5F599464fce4b0e789a94895d4-3F
qds&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDm
B5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=Zat1gh8B82hsvawUYhPkPYPUPibmAHO3__ufi3PzMVg&s
=AveTDTdLSZ8NoWje6PccnzZYO-euVc-NbPqMb_efeEY&e=> former presidents Bush,
father and son? Hardly. He had sought them. In fact, word on Wednesday was
that Trump had been in a good, almost celebratory, mood Tuesday after the
confrontation he'd created. He had unleashed himself, perhaps once and for
all. He was in the fight, and the fight is all.
Donald Trump seems perfectly willing to destroy the country to maintain his
own power.
More broadly and big-picture, look for more of the same. Having risen to
power by dividing the country, his party leadership and even, at times, his
own campaign team, his aim now is to divide or discredit any institution,
tradition or group in his way.
Donald Trump seems perfectly willing to destroy the country to maintain his
own power. He is racing to undermine the federal political system - if not
all American public life - before still-independent forces (for now, the
federal courts, the press and Congress) undermine him.
The goal, as always with Trump, is to win amid the chaos he sows, to be the
last man standing in rubble. And "winning" is rapidly being reduced to the
raw, basic terms he prefers: brute survival. With a record-setting low
approval rating, world crises everywhere and a special counsel on his tail,
the main victory he can hope for is staying in office.
It's not only an emotional imperative for Trump, it's a deliberate ― and
thus far successful ― strategy.
I am told by lawyers familiar with special counsel Robert Mueller's methods
and those of similar investigations that Mueller almost certainly obtained
the president's federal tax returns long ago. Whether Trump knows that
directly or not, he has to assume it - and be driven wild by it. The
counsel
also has assembled an industrial-strength team of experts in international
money-laundering, criminal tax fraud and forensic accounting.
So the survival urge is more urgent.
How does he do it? Here is some of what's ahead:
More white-right protests
Trump doesn't plan them (unless you consider his own rallies), but he also
may not mind seeing more of them take place. He certainly hasn't called for
any group to cease and desist.
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__abc7news.com_alt-2Drigh
t-2Dprotests-2Dto-2Dbe-2Dheld-2Din-2Dbay-2Darea-2Dfollowing-2Dviolence-2Din-
2Dcharlottesville_2310374_&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBg
q5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=Zat1gh8B82hsvawUYhPkPY
PUPibmAHO3__ufi3PzMVg&s=s8cuvu7I3_hMOHxNVY5AmCeqDxUGGIhIlZZvRlNH050&e=> San
Francisco is next, with the Patriot Prayer group leading the way. Those who
worry about the coming SF event note that it is scheduled for a park
controlled by the National Park Service.
Focus on anti-Trump protesters
Trump avoided Vietnam with a medical deferment, which is perhaps why he now
sees glamor in being The Leader Under Siege. Federal prosecutors have
obliged this story-line by
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entry_feds-2Dseek-2Dvisitor-2Drecords-2Dwebsite-2Dlinked-2Dto-2Dtrump-2Dprot
ests-5Fus-5F59935b66e4b0e789a9476e78-3Fd5u&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38Yxd
rPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=Zat1gh
8B82hsvawUYhPkPYPUPibmAHO3__ufi3PzMVg&s=aTFz4MCn-NpKXjh4kKeoKP5PKb27uwCMDl5J
4w9rawg&e=> issuing sweeping subpoenas for the internet records of possible
demonstrators at his inauguration.
Focus on 'voter fraud'
This isn't a substantial problem, but it is a substantial opportunity for
Trump not only to try to limit Democrat-leaning votes, but also to force
Democrats to spend extra time and messaging on the cause of minority
rights.
When he says "they" about the Democrats, he wants his own base to see what
he means.
Goad the press
In his first tweet on Wednesday, Trump
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p-2Dattacks-2Damazon-2Dfor-2Ddoing-2Dgreat-2Ddamage-2Dto-2Dother-2Dretailers
_&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5
orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=Zat1gh8B82hsvawUYhPkPYPUPibmAHO3__ufi3PzMVg&s=H
V3GXyqBUK08IHB37lsAJ-ZW4k59OPcESIba0GfZy4k&e=> took aim at Amazon, which is
owned by Jeff Bezos, also the owner of The Washington Post. The president
accused the site of "doing great damage" to main-street retailers. But
regulatory or tax threats aside, Trump will continue to troll the news
pages
and airwaves of the Post and other major outlets, knowing that the more
righteous indignation they show, the less his hard-core base will believe
them.
Muscle witnesses
Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, denied in a filing that he
was "cooperating" with Hill investigators who are looking into whether the
campaign colluded with Russia to influence the election. The message was
meant for Trump. Manafort, who had extensive dealings with Vladimir Putin
allies in Ukraine, didn't want his vindictive (former) boss to think that
he'd "flipped" to the other side. But the president's allies sent a message
back just in case. The National Enquirer, with close ties to Trump,
recently
published a long piece claiming that Manafort had had a "sick affair" with
a
younger woman and had somehow been "betraying his country."
Stack the courts
This is far from the headlines, but it's critical, and influences the
places
in which the Trump administration's attempts to dismantle the regulatory
state, civil rights laws and voting rights will literally be judged. It is
also where Mueller will ask for any prosecutions of those in the Trump
circle. And unlike most of the rest of the Trump administration, where
disorganization and understaffing are the rule, the judge-picking process
has largely been left to the Federalist Society, which is efficient in the
extreme. As of now, Democrat-nominated judges still predominate, but in
another year or two Trump could well have created a firewall for himself in
most circuits.
Drain Obamacare
Even many Republicans want to infuse emergency cash into strapped health
care markets; that is, to shore up Obamacare unless and until it is killed
off. But Trump will favor benign neglect at the most, and not just because
he wants Obamacare to "fail." The program's problems offer the added
political benefit of dividing the Democrats on a key issue. Sen. Bernie
Sanders (I-Vt.) and company are now making support for a "single-payer,"
Medicare-for-all system
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nytimes.com_2017_0
8_14_opinion_single-2Dpayer-2Dor-2Dbust.html&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38Y
xdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=Zat1
gh8B82hsvawUYhPkPYPUPibmAHO3__ufi3PzMVg&s=cO8IJSBUG4j8MbdXVPQ5sZO667iTV-veHE
MBORq5jqg&e=> a litmus test for candidates. But it is a test that other
liberal Democrats warn is divisive and unrealistic. Music to Trump's ears.
Thirty-four
Trump must keep the allegiance of this many Republican senators to defeat
any attempt to convict him in an impeachment trial in the Senate, if there
ever is one. You can be sure he knows this number, and that much of his
strategy is made with it in mind. He'd rather have a small number of
hard-core "locked and loaded" supporters than a larger number of unreliable
moderates; it's the impeachment version of his 2016 Electoral College
strategy. Trump
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.politico.com_story_
2017_08_16_alabama-2Dsenate-2Dtrump-2Dmcconnell-2Dstrange-2Dmoore-2D241678&d
=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orN
TVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=Zat1gh8B82hsvawUYhPkPYPUPibmAHO3__ufi3PzMVg&s=Ntly
b5zKOmVtTsWD3VULKL0Ae84SptuH-BMRzpj7nzI&e=> evidently regards Kentucky Sen.
Mitch McConnell, the GOP Senate leader, as too weak to be reliable. But the
president had better think twice about trying to have him replaced. The
Louisville-based senator