Season One of Survivor: Trump White House has been nonstop fun. In this week’s episode: Spicer out. Reince Priebus out. Anthony Scaramucci in, then out.
Scaramucci was brought in to get rid of leaks and clean up the White House. Trump reasoned that a Scaramucci from New York should know how to protect a Don. But he didn’t last long. I am not one for long political honeymoons, but the job of a White House Communications Director should last longer than a carton of milk.
In the wildest episode of The Apprentice yet, Trump goes after Reince Priebus, a man whose name sounds like a carwash for hybrids. Priebus is the establishment do nothing, “go along to get along” Republican that Trump is “draining the swamp” of. Just when I learned how to spell his name, Reince Priebus is ousted. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is in the crosshairs too, which is unfortunate because Sessions and Priebus look like father/son dentists.
Trump is nothing if not loyal. He takes care of his people. He is already in discussion to get Priebus and Scaramucci spots on The Apprentice or Dancing with the Stars, whichever one is filming now. Do not expect too much post-termination public “kiss and tell.” Priebus’ post-firing interview looked like a Kim Jung Un video orchestration of a captured American.
America wanted a businessman president, and this is what it looks like. Without a party behind him, he is on his own and is one of us.
All this drama tramples the message of an otherwise good week for Trump. Foxconn, the Asian maker of Apple products, announced that it is opening a $10 billion plant in Wisconsin. The stock market reached new highs, with S&P 500 companies reporting two consecutive quarters of double digit earnings — the first time in six years. Yet the unnecessary palace intrigue will be the distraction the media use to divert public attention from all the good real news.
And the tumult is over frustration with the non-fact-based Russian probe. If and when the Trumps are — or were ever — in negotiations with Russians, they could only be over a mail order bride.
Like most of the Russian nonsense, Don Jr’s “small private meeting” with that Russian honey-pot has turned out to be another nothing. Nine people crowded into the (not-so) “secret” meeting. CNN is not giving up, and is now looking at getting them arrested for fire code violations.
Since that didn’t work, the media will quickly pivot and discover in a “breaking story” that the now-defunct Soviet Union also had ties to Russia.
Trump had a fledgling good relationship with Putin that the Democrats, for political reasons, have sabotaged. Now tensions escalate with Russia, and Putin has ordered 755 U.S. diplomatic personnel expelled from his country. Democrats are perfectly willing to risk World War III with Russia in order to hurt Trump and score political points.
It all comes down to the media willing to decimate their integrity to “get” this president. A media which had in November already commissioned plans for the Hillary Clinton Presidential Library still have not gotten over their loss. They daily seek to destroy this president in what Ben Stein calls a “media coup,” like what they did to Nixon. I think Taylor Swift will get closure sooner than the media.
This animus might backfire. If Jeff Sessions can take a hint, Hillary and the DNC under Debbie Wasserman Schultz could get indicted for real crimes. Trouble follows the Clintons; the day they were born the doctors slapped them with subpoenas.
As a result, Republicans are quivering, even though they have the House, Senate and Oval Office. Now Republicans say if we give them the Knesset and the British Parliament in 2018, they will do something.
Spineless Republicans could not get enough votes to even “skinny down” ObamaCare. Yes, these brave men and women like Senators Collins, Murkowski and McCain were fine about voting for repeal when they knew Obama would be there to veto it.
But Obama is not there anymore. He is body surfing with Richard Branson in Bali. That’s perfect for Obama; body surfing is a sport where you do not have to stand for anything. You just lie there and let other forces push you along — just like the insurance and healthcare lobbies pushed along ObamaCare.
A syndicated op-ed humorist, award winning author and TV/radio commentator, you can reach him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or Twitter @RonaldHart.