It looks as though Axios had the same impression that I did yesterday when I posted an article that more or less said things had changed. The message was that there was no more benefit of the doubt left for Donald Trump. Today Mike Allen of Axios has unloaded a laundry list of reasons why Trump's performance should not be seen as normal.

Here s Allen's entire text. It amounts to an indictment and it is hardly without legal ramifications.

The dumbing down of normal is Allen's blanket phrase for making clear that the Trump events in progress are beyond the pale of behavior that is acceptable.

His list leads off with the abnormality of Junior's meeting to get dirt on Clinton and the President's public effort to cover it up. He moves on to a Cabinet meeting with members "gushing" over the president

Undermining and public waffling

Allen proceeds to Trump's continual undermining of his staff by asking friends their opinions and having them leaked. He moves to a dramatic notion of creating a cybersecurity behemoth with Russia and then rescinding the idea after GOP scorn was heaped upon it. This is all recent, live and damaging.

Trump's abnormal media obsession

Trump's abnormality, Allen says, extends to critiquing his own press briefings on "Sports Center" and obsessively reacting to stories without checking their accuracy,

Allen also faults Trump's tendency to criticize allies and then weeks later relent a bit after the damage is done.

He concludes by noting Trump's egregious and inaccurate attack on the Mayor of London and his assaults on American journalists by name. He does not mention but refers to Mika.

Why does this matter?

We are in a delicate transition from print to online journalism. Axios was founded on a notion that short is sweet. It was also resolutely determined to be middle of the road without sacrificing accuracy.

It was and is notable for sending out material with sponsors as questionable to progressives as Koch Industries, Allen himself has been criticized for caving to corporatism.

This matters because even Axios cannot avoid dealing with the actualities of the Trump incursion.

Trump is a separate problem

Dealing with Trump is dealing with abnormality and seeking legal remedies.

Dealing with our divided nation and the GOP's refusal to make democracy a primary value is equally grave. We need to deal with each. The Mueller investigation will deal with Trump. In the case of the GOP, we must defeat them at the polls or pray for their repentance and amendment.

Maybe Axios will say how abnormal the GOP has become.
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