This is the week that time has decided to confront Donald Trump with a choice. The choice is between trying to win the presidency on a continuing basis or getting out while the getting is good. He would love the former option, but events may force him to the second. If he refuses the second, he could face severe consequences. I do not believe he will be impeached, but he could be humiliated. As of now, I would go for a big Deal.
The deal would involve both Trump and Pence. If one is vulnerable, so is the other. Popular will is involved. If things turn against Trump, Pence is not exactly a gift from heaven.
I see him as part of the deal.
The accusation, of course, is that both were involved not only in obstruction but in making promises to the Russians in exchange for help in winning the election.
A week from hell
We are about to see a hellish week. The government could shut down. The Tax Bill could tank. Trump could continue his tweet blow up. This within the last hour, his first of Monday morning, early.
Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2017
There is little doubt Trump is seeking wins.
But this week could spell monster loss -- shutdown agony combined with assaults on a tax bill that is super-vulnerable. There is also the question of whether he dares to fire Mueller. If he does pull the plug, he will end up facing at least a doubling of the trouble that is being brewed by the prosecutor.
Do you see a storm in view?
What would a perfect storm be?
What a shutdown could do
G.O.P. Pushes to Avoid Government Shutdown, but the Path Is Tricky https://t.co/FTgyfRXzmb
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) December 4, 2017
A shutdown would focus the media on its grassroots effects. That would hurt both Trump and the GOP. It could kill tax bill passage or, possibly worse, cause an unseemly race to get it done before a shutdown.
The tax bill is almost universally regarded as a disaster. The only people who are for it are the GOP Representatives and Senators willing to vote for it. How many would be available for that politically death-defying act is an open question.
Where does this leave us?
We are left with the typical Trump drama -- mostly caused by Trump himself, filled with time-eating questions, and al focusing our eyes on who? Donald Trump of course. When he was the principal person on "The Apprentice" we could simply not watch. Today we are not so lucky.
Trump remains at the center even when the most urgent leaks from the West Wing suggest he is losing it and a danger to us all. Psychiatrists corroborate.
The sweet spot
Imagine that Trump ends up having to be humored. Who can do it? Howard Stern. Imagine Howard acting as an agent of a cadre of deal makers drawn from the prosecutor's group and the GOP Congress. I shall continue this in the event there is any truth in it. I will merely say, now, that a deal may turn out to be the way both Trump and Pence are relieved of their respective offices.
