All the turmoil is taking a toll

It’s not judges or senators who will save us from the worst of Trump, which is most of Trump. His undoing will come from within. Be as cynical as you want about Washington — I certainly indulge myself — but there remain insiders with consciences, and some of them actually work for the president. They’re willing to work against him if circumstances warrant it. Circumstances have been warranting it, and here we are.

 

What we’re witnessing is astonishing. I don’t mean Trump’s actions — including the infuriating reports that he divulged highly classified information to Russian visitors and had asked James Comey to lay off Michael Flynn — though those do qualify. I mean how reliably Trump’s embarrassing or outrageous behavior always reaches journalists, as government officials use the very media that he demonizes to expose his recklessness, ridicule his cluelessness, warn Americans about his intentions and head him off at the pass.

 

This much leaking this soon in an administration explodes the norms of the White House every bit as much as Trump’s own conduct does, and it’s an indication more powerful than just about any other of what kind of president we have. He is so unprepared, shows such bad judgment and has such an erratic temper that he’s not trusted by people who are paid to bolster him and who get the most intimate, unvarnished look at him. Some of them have decided that discretion isn’t always the keeping of secrets, not if it protects bad actors. They’re right. And they give me hope.

 

Blessed be the tattletales in the Trump White House
Opinion, The Seattle Times

 


 

All the turmoil is taking a toll
at the prospect there’s more than one mole
bent on bringing him down.
Will king trump lose the crown
for which he has ransomed his soul?

Lily Beth Baker, 5/17/17

Forty-five wreaks his wrath on his aides

The president’s appetite for chaos, coupled with his disregard for the self-protective conventions of the presidency, has left his staff confused and squabbling. And his own mood, according to two advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, has become sour and dark, and he has turned against most of his aides — even his son-in-law, Jared Kushner — describing them in a fury as “incompetent,” according to one of those advisers.

 

[…]

 

The stress was taking its toll. Late Monday, reporters could hear senior aides shouting from behind closed doors as they discussed how to respond after Washington Post reporters informed them of an article they were writing that first reported the news about the president’s divulging of intelligence.

 

[…]

 

There is a growing sense that Mr. Trump seems unwilling or unable to do the things necessary to keep himself out of trouble and that the presidency has done little to tame a shoot-from-the-hip-into-his-own-foot style that characterized his campaign.

 

At a Besieged White House, Tempers Flare and Confusion Swirls
The New York Times

 


 

Forty-five wreaks his wrath on his aides,
unrelenting, he tears through tirades,
while creating chaos
just to show he’s the boss
as he plots enigmatic charades.

Susan Eckenrode, 5/17/17

 

Nordstrom Was Right

“Despite her prestigious new digs, Trump will serve as an informal adviser to her father, without a paycheck or a job description. She has pledged to adhere to ethical regulations, though she’ll receive little oversight from non-relatives. This has irked some Washington insiders, who have called her rapid ascent an extreme example of nepotism.”

As Ivanka Trump kept her White House plans quiet, a coveted West Wing office stayed open for her
The Washington Post

 


 

Though Ivanka’s not working for pay,
She’s got clearance, and what’s not to say,
If things get too bad
She’ll stand up for her dad,
Instead of the U. S. of A?

© 2017 Gary Zmolek