WILL WASHINGTON AGAIN BE “CAUGHT UP IN THE WHIRLWIND?”

…Trump trying to escape the White House on the “Marine 1” helicopter

 

Trump is now contemplating how his administration can go forward over the next 1,343 days.

Washington and the White House are all a twitter.  And now, with the death of the man that founded and made the FOX Network the number one rated cable network, Roger Ailes, the conservatives are once again beside themselves.  (BTW: Since Ailes was let go at FOX for sexual harassment, FOX has dropped into the number three position in the cable ratings.)

 

But what has everyone in DC disturbed is a combination of all the negative news stories.

 

>>> The Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed the former director of the FBI, Robert Mueller III as the special counsel to run the Russian election investigation.

 

>>> The word impeachment was uttered for the first time since Bill Clinton on the floor of the House of Representatives.

 

>>> The president of the United States is now contemplating how his administration can go forward over the next 1,343 days.

 

>>> “For President Trump, the drip, drip, drip of scandal has sidetracked, health care and tax reform,” said political author, James Robenalt.

>>> The Dow Jones average fell by more than 370 points this week while former Watergate talking heads flooded the cable news shows.

 

>>> One reason for the stock market fall is that even before the latest negative developments, Mr. Trump’s legislative agenda was going nowhere and the market took notice.

 

>>> At this time, the idea that President Trump would actually be impeached is wishful thinking, but the newly appointed prosecutor represents a serious threat.

 

>>> Washington was all abuzz this week with the sounds of scandal as the Lawmakers were demanding various documents from the White House and the FBI.

 

>>> The current "low-in-the-polls" president with his self-inflicted political wounds continues to be a challenge for his staff.  But he now faces the daunting results of his firing a popular FBI Director.

 

>>> Trump’s disclosure of sensitive information to the Russian diplomats and a report that he tried to shut down the investigation into a former fired adviser is causing havoc.

 

>>> As expected of Donald J. Trump, Mr. Trump expressed total resentment, rather than remorse for his being under his self-inflicted political and media siege.

 

>>> A former Chief Counsel for the Democrats, Julian Epstein, said Mr. Trump did this to himself with his “clumsy & self-defeating” attempts to rid himself of Director Comey during an active FBI investigation.

 

>>>  Per Mr. Epstein: “With the appointment of Mueller, the White House has totally lost control of this train and have very limited ability to manage the widening crisis around it.”

 

>>> Epstein added: “This will go down as one of the most inept and counterproductive efforts of damage control that we’ve ever seen in public life.

 

>>> Mueller’s appointment is even less helpful to the White House, given that Mr. Mueller was a close ally of Director Comey, his successor as FBI Director, who was just fired by Trump.

 

>>> White House employees are worried about their jobs. When Sean Spicer, the press secretary, briefed reporters, he carefully quoted Mr. Trump, answering many questions with phrases like “The president is confident…” “The president has been very clear…” and “The president does not believe…”  Nerves were on edge suggesting concern for vouching for items that may later be contradicted by Trump himself

 

If this White House reacts like those in the past, it will remain in this crisis for weeks and months to come. Mr. John A. Farrell, who just published a new political biography, “Richard Nixon: The Life,” said this is what the White House could look forward to: “Anger. Distraction. Fear. Friends are now viewed with suspicion, as potential accusers. Rumors fly that so-and-so has lawyered up, or is talking to the prosecutors.”

 

In the end, he said, “Everyone will be caught up in the whirlwind.”

 

Copyright G.Ater  2017