DAN RATHER: “PARANOIA MOUNTS. A PRESIDENCY CAN QUICKLY SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL

Dan Rather saw the Johnson administration take its licks during the Vietnam era and God knows he was there for Watergate.  Despite that, Rather says that, “there has never been anything quite like what we’re witnessing with Donald Trump.”  Rather goes on to say that there is “already civil war in his own party,” and that Trump doesn’t have the wherewithal that Johnson and Nixon had as seasoned politicians surrounded by Washington insiders, to combat his downward spiral. Paranoia is running deep and Rather sees it as getting worse rather than better:

But as he careens from one crisis to another, the chaos and havoc this President creates is engulfing himself as well. We have seen no evidence to suggest that this Administration can stabilize itself. There seems to be no ballast of seriousness or sober mindedness to right the ship. The list of enemies, perceived and real, will almost assuredly grow in Mr. Trump’s mind. His Twitter rantings will likely further fan the flames of division and dissent. An Administration that feels cornered often lashes out in ways that are almost always more destructive to itself than to its targets.

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Watergate got interesting when John Dean showed up in the guise of the fall guy.  In the Trump administration the Dean role will be enacted by either Reince Priebus or Paul Ryan, because neither one of them is exactly noted for their loyalty to Trump. My instincts tell me that Priebus is the more likely candidate and the fact that his deputy, Katie Walsh, just resigned under circumstances which are less than convincing (to join a non-profit?) may point to Priebus’ ascension to scapegoat in the very near future. One can only generalize when making Watergate analogies for the simple fact that Nixon had people in his camp like Hunt and Colson, who went to prison for him, and Haldemann stuck it out with Nixon for a very long time. The Nixon team had been in place for quite a while before Watergate. Trump, on the other hand, being a mere figurehead for the devices of others who are in fact seasoned politicians, does not have the backfield of loyal minions that Nixon had. Trump, truth be known, doesn’t even have any friends.

It will be interesting to see how the next chapter in this saga plays out. My instinct is follow the leaks.  Innuendo has it that with Katie Walsh gone the leaks will stop. I don’t think so.  Keep your eyes on the leaks, they are the bouncing ball that will take us in due course to what we want to know. My good buddy Murfster35 did a diary today wherein he said basically to follow the leaks and also to watch the resignations — the higher up they go the more revealing. www.dailykos.com/…

I concur. There is a common perception that Trump and his cohorts are above the law somehow. I don’t think so.  What I think is that the image of the frog in a cold pot of water is applicable here. The frog sat in the water, which was cool, even though there was a fire under it. The water got a little hotter, but no big deal, the frog was still fine. Then it so happened that the water eventually reached boiling and the frog went to his death.  Also bear in mind that paper burns at exactly 451 degrees fahrenheit.  The paper is just fine at 450 — it’s when the temperature rises that crucial one degree to 451 that the paper ignites, seemingly suddenly. That’s what is happening here. The Trump administration will go, seemingly suddenly, and when it goes it will be pyrotechnic.