The Col. Jessup Presidency
You're damn right Trump ordered that Code Red.
The very day it came to light that President Donald Trump had withheld $400 million in military funds to Ukraine in advance of asking that country to investigate the Biden family for ācorruption,ā the script was written.
āI did not make a statement that you have to do this or I wonāt give you aid,ā he said on September 24. āI didnāt put any pressure on them whatsoever.ā
He then added: āI think it would probably, possibly have been OK if I did.ā
Either Trump was oblivious to the seriousness of what he was being accused of, or he was telegraphing his strategy to deal with it. The plan would soon metastasize into the president of the United States standing outside of the White House last Thursday, openly pleading with foreign governments to help him dig up dirt on his 2020 opponents.
āChina should start an investigation into the Bidens,ā he said. āWhat happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine.ā
Clearly Trumpās strategy is to go full Colonel Jessup.
By belligerently admitting his lawbreaking in publicāand then doing more of itāTrump is hoping his followers see him as a strongman doing what he pleases and not a confused weakling who didnāt actually realize what he was doing.
You want me on that wall!
You need me on that wall!
And Mexicoās going to pay for it!
But, of course, Trump wonāt be able to get away with it without coaxing other elected Republicans into his vortex of nonsense. Through Twitter bullying, he must mold an army of useful idiots afraid that he might say something unflattering about him.
In fact, the current U.S. Senate reminds me of another movie. Thereās a scene in (the criminally underrated) Billy Madison where Adam Sandlerās character tries to convince the kids on a field trip that all the cool kids pee in their pants. Because if everyone does it, nobody will be embarrassed.
On Sunday morning, Wisconsinā obeisant Sen. Ron Johnson showed up on Meet the Press with a full bladder, anxious to relieve himself on command. A combative Johnson proclaimed he didnāt trust U.S. intelligence agencies and pitched nutball conspiracy theories to exasperated host Chuck Todd, who rightly observed that the senator was just trying to placate Americaās most powerful TV viewer.
Sure enough, later in the day, Johnsonās humiliating lapdog routine paid off, earning him a tweet of approval from the president:
So we now know the price of a Republican senatorās dignity. Itās exactly 278 characters.
Earlier in the week, Johnson had told Wisconsin reporters that he thought it was perfectly okay if Trump had solicited the Chinese for campaign help. Simultaneously he said that he doesnāt trust China āany farther than I can throw them."
"I look at that transcript and I go, it's Trump being Trump," Johnson told a town hall last week, echoing the type of logic that kept Michael Jackson in polite company for 20 years. āI know heās got a thing for sleepovers with kids, but thatās just Michael being Michael.ā
Johnson has had plenty of company. When asked about Trumpās China comments, Marco Rubio said he didnāt think Trump was making a āreal request,ā telling reporters āI think he did it to provoke you to ask me and others and get outraged by it.ā Well, okay. Are you outraged by it, Beautiful Marco?
A week ago, after being confronted by a television anchor who pointed out that the facts in the CIA whistleblowerās account against Trump had been verified, South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham told her āyouāve got an opinion and Iāve got an opinion,ā which is about as convincing as Ron Burgundyās offer to āagree to disagreeā over the founding of San Diego.
This cowardice serves to aid Trump as he floods the media with outright lies. And it to normalizes his overtly criminal actions. A whole generation of young people is growing up to believe the GOP is populated only by maniacal narcissists and gutless opportunists who care only for their own careers. No, really: 62 percent of voters between 18 and 34 approve of the impeachment inquiry and 58 percent of that cohort say they believe Trump has committed crimes as president.
How do Johnson, Rubio, and Graham think this is going to work out for their party in the long run?
Itās funny to think that one day when the history of the implosion of the Republican party is written, historians will note that the calmest period of Trump's tenure were the two weeks during which he drew on map with a sharpie in an attempt to convince people that Alabama really had been in the path of a hurricane.
As the saying (frequently misattributed to Winston Churchill) goes, āif youāre going through hell, keep going.ā But that assumes thereās another side from which to emerge. Trumpās lawless boasting simply drags members of Congress and the American people further into hell. And if you need proof, consider that scotch now costs 25 percent more because of Trumpās tariffs.
At the moment we need it most.
