Is the Political Ground Shifting or is the Universe Messing with Our Heads?

Winston Churchill died at age 90 in 1965; Donald Trump was born in 1946.  Churchill made his famous enigma statement in a 1939 radio broadcast.  It is fairly certain that Churchill was talking about Russia and not Donald Trump when he addressed the difficulty of understanding some geopolitical things.  But there can be little doubt that Donald Trump is, using Churchill’s words “…a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma…”  When one of his tweets goes south, or one of his off the cuff remarks seems unusually strange, or he gets too wrapped up in the moment at one of his rallies and goes off script with over the top hyperbole…when one of these things happen and it does not wear well on our President, he is firmly planted with the blame, derision, and ridicule that goes along with such a faux pas.  He is never given the benefit of a doubt.  However, when he pulls off a successful political maneuver or accomplishment (successful tax reform legislation, common sense deregulation, solid appointments of high consequence, foreign policy victories, winning the Presidency against overwhelming odds, etc.), few people give him clear credit for successfully planning and executing the winning strategy and many, in fact, simply explain it away as dumb luck or stumbling unintentionally into success.  I share this confusion on exactly how it is that he achieves many of his wins.  I am not certain if he is Machiavelli or Bozo the Clown…or some bizarre combination of the two.  Regardless of whether or not it is wisdom or happenstance, he has won quite a few battles since ascending to the Chief Executive’s office and the consequences of those victories are becoming more tangible each day.

A person would be rather foolish to predict with much confidence any political outcome of future events whatsoever.  The American political scene is in as much chaos and turmoil as I have seen in my lifetime and even those who have professionally covered this area for a substantial length of time typically throw up their hands these days and shrink from short or long-term prognostications.  And who can blame them?  But there are two WDC subplots that are simultaneously playing out which might lead to a monumental political earthquake later this year.  And that earthquake, if it occurs, could change the face of our nation for generations to come.

I have often marveled and expressed frustration in this blog over the lack of Democratic criticism towards Obama and his leftward lurching legacy he left behind for his national party. Repeatedly, a Democrat in a position of prominence will say or do something that is clearly and universally recognized as bad/stupid/just plain wrong and not a single, solitary, Democratic leader of influence will speak out against the offender.  The closest any of them have come is the final frustration being vented against Hillary Clinton’s never-ending victimhood tour.   Based on some fairly recent remarks, most of which remain anonymous, the Democrat Party has finally reached its limit on Clinton sympathy and now simply wants her to (in her words) go away.  In their minds, all of the angst energy she is expending on perpetually explaining her loss to Trump is sapping resource that could better be used in the Resist Trump effort.  But with the exception of Hillary, it seems no Democrat can commit any offense worthy of intra-party criticism so long as they remain faithful with blind allegiance to the Resist Movement.  Recent developments in the investigations of the Obama Administration/Justice Department and the cadre of Obama holdovers in the Trump Administration that have apparently been plotting, and executing, some apparent form of political treason appear to be headed towards some convincing evidence of wrongdoing; wrongdoing that may rise to the level of illegality and may thus result in criminal prosecutions.  As this twisted little tale of political intrigue plays out, and the rats begin to leap from the less buoyant Good Ship Get Trump, the players may begin to turn on each other.  The true story and the scope of wrongdoing might just begin to cascade out in unexpectedly major torrents, and those WDC Democrats who wish to continue their futures in national politics might actually begin to state the obvious…Some of our folks did some pretty rotten things.  The distance they can manage to put between themselves and those involved in these escapades might help them survive to fight another day.  But the incontrovertible fact is that if many of these Democrats are found to be complicit in clear anti-Trump wrongdoing, it cannot help but throw some positive vibes towards the President, who will undoubtedly seize every opportunity to scream to the heavens…I told you so!

At the same time these investigations are gaining momentum and the houses of cards are beginning to tumble, Trump is finding some traction in the execution of Presidential policy.  Either through karma or lessons learned from the Obamacare Repeal debacle, Trump and the Republicans pushed through tax reform legislation and spin as you might, it is bound to have an overall positive impact for the President and his Party’s national standing.  Trump has somehow managed to come out looking pretty reasonable on this DACA/Immigration debate also.  Be it ever so humble a beginning, the wall is starting.  North Korea, whether serious or not, appears to be approaching the negotiating table in a way no one anticipated.  Democrats will not be able to resist jumping in on this Infrastructure Legislation that is starting up and that is going to be a big PR effort for everyone involved (never underestimate the capacity of federal spending to unite Republican and Democratic Congresspersons!).  My point is that in spite of porn queen sexcapades, wholesale staff overhauls in this Administration, and the continuing sophomoric anti-Trump bias from the mainstream media, Trump is beginning to get the hang of this Presidential Thang and appears to be finding a rhythm that is leading to some success.  Given the obvious volatility of our President, who knows how his job performance report card will read over the next few months; but it is not beyond conceivable that he could parlay his early 2018 successes into a yearlong record of good economic numbers, domestic policy success, and foreign policy initiatives that can be spun in his favor. 

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And if these two things happen…if the investigative convictions begin to mount as Democrats call out their own crooks, if the country appears to be on the right track for the balance of this year and a case can be made that a major part of that success is due to President Trump and his policies…then how shocking will it be to everyone if the Republicans not only hold their Senate majority in the fall midterms, but miraculously also hold, or build on, their House majority status?  Imagine the enthusiasm, courage, and ambition that would accompany such political food fortune and think about the bold actions that such a Republican Congress might take.  Why, it would not be surprising to see such elusive targets as National Health Care Reform, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and yes…even Entitlements Reform morph into something that resembles obtainable. 

On the other hand, as things stand today, we could also see the Republicans hold the Senate and Democrats seize a narrow majority status in the House; thus leading to at least two long and agonizing years of constant struggle and drama between Congress and the Executive Branch, and highlighted by impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.  My friends, the next seven months will be very consequential indeed.