If there’s one thing that makes me laugh, it’s people saying “now that Trump has does Thing X, Group Y will surely turn against him.” If Group Y consists largely of conservative cultists, that won’t happen. Look, credit where credit is due for the small number of conservative journalists who have turned against Trump. But all this crap about how Republicans in Congress or FBI rank-and-file will turn against him…come on, people. Let’s get real. The FBI put Trump in office. Republicans in Congress could bring him to his knees in an afternoon if they wanted to. If he fires Mueller and/or Sessions, zero will happen. That’s a guarantee. Politically, a lot might happen in November but we won’t see a zillion resignations or action in Congress or any of the rest of the fan fiction fantasies we hear about.
Most of the right-wing is now a cult, and Trump is their leader. Goes for Congress, most of the FBI, most conservative media, most of the Republicans you know IRL. The end.
Mary G
Yep.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
He just became president
smintheus
Goes for all too many in the armed forces as well, at least to judge by their displays of fawning over Trump.
khead
Please don’t harsh my UMBC over UVA buzz.
Also, you’re no Michael “Core-Lee-Own”.
Corner Stone
Now who’s being naive, DougJ?
NotMax
Inertia is a feeble foundation upon which to construct a belief system.
Brachiator
Too many people involved for it to be a cult. But I take your point, and agree.
And rather than turning people against him, Trump’s actions are making his core supporters happy. They are wetting their pants with excitement. And the Sunday pundit shows will overflow with slimy bastards defending Trump’s moves. And their odious taint will fill the studios and may even leak out from your TV.
oatler.
Check out Barry Goldwater’s comments on the religious right, and bear in mind all amps are turned to eleven.
CarolDuhart2
@Brachiator: But how many are those core supporters, anyway? Trump is in the White House with a margin of 77,000. And they know it, which is why they do dumb things like poking Hillary with chants of “lock her up”, rather than simply let things be.
Sometimes we liberals start from a defeatist perspective: that we can’t win, that there’s more support for conservative positions, so we overestimate the depth of support for Trump and his ideas. We think nothing he does changes minds or actions. But his support is more shallow than we think-and certainly does not outweigh self-interest. And having him around is exhausting everybody, not just his opponents.
Washburn
It’s okay for people to believe that Republicans will never come around. It’s so much easier to be in favor of what now as opposed to what should be because the latter required great effort. That is what cowardice ultimately is. Just the greatest possible laziness.
And you can’t get mad at people for being lazy any more than you can get mad at them for being alcoholics. It’s who they are.
So go ahead, doubt, say it won’t ever happen – and then one day it does.
Corner Stone
@Washburn: Good Ole Frontier Gibberish. Ptooey!
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@smintheus:
The scary thing is? I truly think a lot of them wouldn’t bat an eye if ordered to kill Americans in the streets of American cities. Times Square Massacre anyone?
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Brachiator:
Too bad there’s not nearly enough them.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Washburn:
Sure you can. It’s a personal failing that’s causing a lot of innocent people pain. And they either don’t care or they’re rooting for it.
KS in MA
We will defeat them in November, and that will totally change the conversation.
Go Retrievers!
Washburn
ANd why isn’t there a McCabe Retirement Fund GoFundme not set up?
Every dollar is a vote to impeach Trump.
Pay attention congress.
Washburn
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
They’re just weak, not evil.
You have compassion for the weak.
RedDirtGirl
@Brachiator: @CarolDuhart2:
That’s a good point, Carol. And I agree with you, B., that his core does get off on the “antics” that we find so appalling. Our nation is defined by consumerism/corporatism. Civil society is for pussies!
The civic realm just keeps shrinking as we (and the world) spend more and more of our time attached to the internet/social media/cyber world. To me, Drumpf really is the essence of this.
eclare
I am as despondent as anyone, but I keep telling myself, a Democrat won in Alafuckingbama, hope is alive.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Washburn:
I have compassion for the innocent. Not the willfully ignorant.
Viva BrisVegas
@Washburn:
Right up until they try to tear your throat out with their teeth.
Aleta
There’s a lot of detail in the article at Slate.
eclare
ETA: I live one state over, I know the territory.
Rob Smith
Lamb winning in Pennsylvania with a 20 point turn-around raises the real possibility of pre-Novemeber mid-term polling putting the fear of losing into Republican politicians.
If that happens Trump could well be impeached by the Republicans in Congress and Senate.
If poll numbers favor Republicans then, given their proven ability to munch into organic matter that a coyote would refuse to eat, I think you’re right.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
In contrast to a lot of the sentiment here, very hopeful. The apprent enthusiasm shown for the special elections are indicative of a large blue wave this November. A lot can happen before then, but I’m feeling pretty good. The future is not on the GOP’s side; the activism seen in the Parkland kids and the Women’s Marches is heartening.
Aleta
-LA Times March 16
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
To add to this:
The people who voted for Trump, who fell for Russian propaganda, or stayed home and did not vote (and continue to stick their heads in the sand [lalalala I’m gonna watch football instead of paying attention to politics, I’m privlidged like that. I’m an American, it can’t happen here blah blah blah]) are ultimately responsible for this mess. People have had their lives ruined and ended because assholes were too lazy pay the minimum amount of attention it requires to be a responsible citizen in a democracy.
EM
Getting rid of Mueller is way more difficult than people make it out to be. Especially with, essentially a 50-50 senate now with McCain in bad shape. John Dean summed it up well:
“ Trump probably thinks he can find someone he can control, who will fire Mueller should he get close to information that will truly endanger the president or his family. (Trump seems to think he has an FBI director in Christopher Wray whom he can control, and that is true, Wray did a wonderful job of snowing the Senate Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearing. We will see on Wray.) But if Sessions leaves the post of attorney general, Trump will never get a puppet through the confirmation proceedings. Nixon tried such a ploy, but the Senate Judiciary Committee put so many strings on Nixon’s nominee, Elliot Richardson, that if he had fired Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, it would have ended not only his public career but his private career as well.”
Then, even if he managed to get a puppet through the Senate confirmation hearings there is still the basic problem that even that person can’t go ahead and just fire Muller. Once again, John Dean puts it as the following:
” Unlike the summary firing of Archibald Cox by Nixon, to remove Mueller or any of his staff would require an investigation and proceeding by the Department of Justice, and would be subject to appeal in federal court. Indeed, these regulations were written to make it difficult to remove a special counsel, and I seriously doubt Trump can succeed. These regulations would have to be nullified by Trump, but I have little doubt Mueller could and would litigate that action, and prevail in federal court because a president cannot remove due process to accomplish his goal of removing the special counsel. Nor with a special counsel as experienced and careful as Mueller, can he exercise any control over the investigation.
So yes it’s possible Trump could get rid of Muller but the bottom line is I think the odds of that happening are extraordinarily low.
Redshift
@CarolDuhart2:
Exactly. And there was some reporting a few months ago that when people stop being Trump supporters, they tend to stop identifying as Republicans (at least to pollsters), so the “support among Republicans” percentage can be rather misleading.
Mike J
@Brachiator:
I belong to a religion. You belong to a sect. He belongs to a cult. Number of people involved is irrelevant.
jl
Maybe a lot of Trump support among ordinary voters is like a cult. What they do or say for or against Trump has little impact on their lives and livelihoods (the fact that Trump and GOP control the government has a big impact, but what they say or do now has little impact on anything). That is not true for higher levels of FBI, IC and Congress. They will follow their self-interest. Particularly members of Congress, who will follow their almost nothing but their self interest. If support for Trump diverges from their self-interest, then the Congressional GOP Cult of Trump will vanish in the blink of an eye.
Question is, what will cause a divergence? I’m waiting to see what happens after the GOP primaries are over. GOP members of Congress will be enthusiastic cultists until they cage their Trumpster votes in the primaries and get their admission ticket to the general election punched.
Aleta
Citizens for Ethics sued to get Mnuchin’s travel documents after the Treasury Dept. refused their Freedom of Information request.

https://www.citizensforethics.org/press-release/crew-gets-mnuchin-travel-documents/
https://www.citizensforethics.org/travels-treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin/
Fair Economist
@Rob Smith: I don’t think bad polling will get the Republicans to impeach Trump. They will just have a choice of whether to lose by not impeaching and getting turfed by Democrats or impeaching and getting turfed by Republicans. Given that choice, they’ll just follow Ryan and McConnell into treasonous support for Russian agents.
Librarian
Looking around Twitter, one of the big arguments that his defenders are making is “But the FBI recommended the firing! Trump had nothing to do with it!”
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Mike J:
Agreed.
hervevillechaizelounge
@Washburn:
McCabe’s unjust firing is awful but he’s in this position because he leaked a story that was harmful to Hillary.
He’s just like Comey in so many ways—neither one wanted their beloved FBI to look bad so they smeared Hillary, thereby helping install Trump and ultimately screwing themselves.
Of course, their personal screwing is negligible compared to the subsequent screwing of the poor and the environment, but we all know that’s not keeping white republican males up at night.
If you create a gofund me I’ll send McCabe my thoughts and prayers.
Yutsano
@Mike J: There’s an old BC cartoon that defines “cult” as “The church down the street from yours.”
Also: I’m seeing signs for optimism everywhere.
Mike in NC
Cult of Trump update: Not too long ago I spotted a car in a parking lot that had a life-size profile of Trump’s bloated, ugly mullet head as an image stuck to the back seat window, as if the pathetic asshole driver was his fucking chauffer. How little self-respect did that goddamn person have?
Sadly, I didn’t have a baseball bat or golf club with me to smash in that car’s window. These are the same mentally ill morons who buy those fucking Trumpy Bear dolls and coins and similar shit. Why not just create “Trump Bonds” like the government did during WW1 and WW2 to collect money from the populace to finance the war effort?
sukabi
@Yutsano: it’s not just that he dropped out of the race, it’s that after he slandered the Parkland kids he got a challenger for his previously unopposed seat and then dropped out…
Mike J
@Yutsano:
Holy shit! hadn’t seen that. I knew he had drawn a virgin opponent, didn’t know he dropped out. I hope the Rs can’t find a replacement.
Yutsano
@sukabi: So now he looks like a blowhard and a coward. That’s awesome.
@Mike J: Came across my FB feed randomly. Ran off to get confirmation. Have to check filing deadlines now.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
No Doug, you are being paranoid. There is one thing and one thing only conservatives have true locality to, their own money. It’s like it was the Right who forced Trump to back off on his insane trade war, they got motivated because it was bad for their businesses. Russia doesn’t hurt conservatives personally and makes those awful liberals upset, so it’s good to them. Trump taking money from REAL Americans (as in white, male, Christian Republicans), that’s that bad to them.
I mean seriously Doug, if the entire Right was full on North Korea dear leader on Trump there would be no Muller investigation at all.
Mnemosyne
I spent most of the evening revising the first two chapters of my novel and missed all of the foofaraw.
Probably for the best, really.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Mike in NC:
Seriously, do you not understand Trolling when you see it in action? Does this driver love Trump or does he love how Trump upsets people? Ever considered “economic anxiety” is code talking for “cowered who is scared of everything and desperate to lash out to hide it”?
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Congratulations!
piratedan
i really have a hard time believing that the GOP isn’t going to Slim Pickens their way all the way down to ground zero with Trump…my reasons below
1) There’s still all of that Russian money that’s been laundered into their coffers, via the Russian penetration of both the NRA and the evangelical PAC’s… so they’re already in bed with Vlad financially, hence campaign finance violations
2) There all of those GOP e-mails that were supposedly hacked (or likely hacked) at the same time that the DCC was, so I would expect that there’s a fair bit of potential Krompromat lurking in those folders, so there’s some RICO stuff here to mine
3) Then there’s the actual social media campaigns that are coming to light where the GOP used their information coordinated with the Russian troll farms to influence the elections by driving the social media narrative wherever the GOP told them to focus it and the money that drove that as well…which is where the treason comes into play.
which probably explains why nobody over there on the GOP side has had a sudden case of the guilty conscience to start to work with the Dems to oust him… Flake will likely garner a LOT of attention as the “Last True Republican” but until that guy starts actually voting against the GOP, its all fucking kabuki.
once Trump is gone/indicted/arrested, the rest will unravel quite quickly and while we have to then depend on the state courts to levy their findings; because you know that the federal courts will likely be bypassed because their stooge Gorsuch is sitting there waiting to say “nothing to see here” as he knows full well who put him into that position and what he’s supposed to do (I certainly don’t expect him to be impartial or recuse himself).
Its pretty fucking sad to see a political party subvert itself to another fucking country, but for them to do it for Russia.. cripes, if we had castle walls, their heads should be on pikes and their carcasses picked at by crows. Just a complete and utter betrayal of the laws and ideals and the very foundations of the country itself.
mike in dc
I do think that the GOP will stand foursquare behind Trump…this side of the midterms. It will take a few things to shake that up:
1. A massive defeat in November
2. Accumulated scandals of the Stormy and other variety, exacerbated by Democrats with newly acquired subpoena powers.
3. Accumulated damage from the Mueller investigation, culminating in his referring a full bill to the House Judiciary Committee.
Only the prospect of a resounding defeat that may put them out of power for a VERY long time will get them to move off the dime. We’ll probably still have to purge some of the bastards, though.
Crusty Dem
Every failing Republican President has 4 stages:
1) ______ looks bad to some, but his actions are those of a great leader.
2) while this outcome isn’t ideal, President _____ didn’t do anything wrong
3) I don’t want to talk about President ______
4) President ________ wasn’t even a Republican
To determine the stage of our current president, simply watch Fox News.
Aleta
@Yutsano: I wanted him gone, and at the same time I wanted to see him and his GOP associates shredded into fish bait before the vote. But they removed him.
sukabi
@piratedan: isn’t the fence @ 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. rather pointy? Pretty sure it would work for those purposes.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Oh, nooooooooooooow he has no comment.
The reason McCabe is in this mess is because Comey couldn’t keep his preening mouth shut.
Mnemosyne
@hervevillechaizelounge:
The reason not to make deals with the devil is not just because it’s morally wrong — it’s because the devil inevitably cheats you out of what he claimed he was going to provide.
Exhibit A: Comey
Exhibit B: McCabe
Corner Stone
@piratedan: I just can’t read this much.
MisterForkbeard
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: It’s the smart thing to do. Legally, Comey can only make his own case (and McCabe’s) worse, from what I understand.
Major Major Major Major
@Mike J: @Yutsano: I always liked the phrase “fringe religion.”
pattonbt
Personally, I think the gop doesn’t really care anymore. They got healthcare crushed, they got tax cuts, they got banking regs gutted, the government beuracracies and agencies horribly wounded etc. in one too long a year. They’ll probably be happier to be back in the minority (and one house in minority is enough for them). Sure it will be good to have brakes on Trump in a D house, but watch the media whiplash themselves back to the R bandwagon against those ever so obstructionist Ds. You may get a few more R retirements and pick up the house, which will be good, but not the destruction of the R party that is needed.
I won’t go full Sarandon and say let it fail catostrophically, but the Rs losing the house in November before being fully destroyed is only a stop gap (a much needed and worthy one, but that is all it will be). We may be able to stop things, but we won’t be able to fix things.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
I’m entering another writing contest tomorrow. This one is specific to the historical period I’m writing in.
Writing contests are a big thing in the romance world because RWA chapters are able to get agents and editors who are willing to read the finalists.
pattonbt
That said, I still believe the long term outlook is good. It’s just going to be a long slog to get there.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: cool. I was totally about to wonder where you were finding all these!
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
RWR (Romance Writers Report), the official members’ magazine of the RWA, publishes lists of contests offered by the various RWA chapters nationwide. It’s handy to be in a trade association.
ETA: I belong to 3 different chapters, plus the main organization. One of the chapters is an online-only one that specializes in the Regency Era, which is my wheelhouse.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Mueller will be fired before month’s end, and we’ll be in a headlong rush to wars in Korea and Iran by July.
JPL
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: UGH
Citizen Alan
@Washburn:
If we are referring to Trump voters, then they are weak AND evil. I consider the creatures who voted for Shitgibbon to be among the worst people who ever lived in the history of the world.
rachel
@Mike in NC: If I got a Trump doll, dressed it in bondage gear and tied it to my front bumper, would you like that better?
Aleta
Wa Post
raven
Holy shit I wake up to the greatest upset in sports history!!!! A 16 finally beat a 1! Go Retrievers!
raven
Steeplejack (phone)
@raven:
Yeah! I did a spit-take when I saw that last night.
raven
@Steeplejack (phone): I’m bummed I one to bed at the half and then ff-‘d to fast on the DVR and saw the result!
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@JPL:
The potential for ratfuckery is extreme.
Steeplejack (phone)
@raven:
Need some stickum on that remote!
Sometimes I have to FF/RW while sort of squinting through the fingers of my other hand so I don’t see a spoiler.
Aleta
This at the Guardian explains why Ivanka may get a date with Mueller. It’s not her hair.
danielx
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
If John Bolton becomes National Security Advisor, It won’t take until July.
rikyrah
The post is truth
evodevo
@Crusty Dem: WONDERFUL! Can I steal this?
Litlebritdifrnt
It is hilarious to me that Sessions has the audacity to call out McCabe for not being truthful, when Sessions has been proved time and time and again to have lied under oath to Congress. Talk about pot and kettle.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Litlebritdifrnt: Projection is a well known Republican value.
Barbara
I don’t know anyone who says that and you have provided no examples. People don’t change in blocks and they will not admit that they were wrong. That doesn’t mean they won’t change their vote. I really hate free floating anxiety.
Barry
“Projection is a well known Republican value.
Name the accusation they’ve leveled which was not 100% projection.
DougJ
@Barbara:
I’m not anxious. We will win in November
Barry
@Barry: I tried to edit it, but failed. I wanted to say ‘I can’t think of a single accusation the right has made which is not a confession’.
Barbara
@DougJ: Let me say, I don’t actually expect people like Jeff Flake or Susan Collins to do more than wring their hands at this point. I can only guess at the golden handcuffs they and others like them are wearing, but they seem to be pretty tight. We do need to stop measuring results by what they do, or by what those voters who have shown the highest level of allegiance to Trump — e.g., evangelicals — end up doing. They are all willing to go down with the ship, although as with Flake, some of the politicians will quit first.
Another Scott
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Dunno.
It’s very hard to fire Mueller. (And there are reasons to think that he won’t fire Sessions, also too.)
Trump is a bully. But he’s also a coward. He’ll continue to make noises against Iran (and Rocket Man), but he doesn’t have the available manpower and equipment to start two (more) shooting wars. And he thinks he can get what he wants with bluster so he isn’t really anxious to start actual wars.
It takes a long time to get an actual war started. Look how long the ramp-up for the Iraq War took (September 2002 – March 2003). I’m not saying that Donnie might not decide to short-circuit the usual planning and do a quick bombing campaign to “punish” Iran (and maybe even the DPRK) like he did in Syria, but it seems very unlikely to me that there’s actual “war” planning going on. And note that everyone (including Donnie) sees that the Syria attack didn’t accomplish anything except burn about $100M.
We still have protections against such things – especially inertia.
We’ll see.
Cheers,
Scott.