Blast #210

                                                                                             Buckshot Blast
 
           The past few days have been so filled with events that I’m having trouble focusing on just one thing --- so this BLAST is kind of a shotgun/scattershot approach to the news of the moment (which may change by the time I’m done writing it, of course).  It all starts with the Comey “termination” and goes from there.

1. Trump-22

         A seminal novel in my formative years was Joseph Heller’s Catch-22.  The book was a best seller and the phrase, “Catch-22,” became a common idiom to describe the “rock/hard place” (and crazy) situations we find ourselves in.  The term is described in Chapter 5, page 55 of the novel and I’ve adapted it here to fit our current circumstances.

 There was only one catch and that was Trump-22, which specified that a concern for one's own job safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Comey was crazy and could be fired. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to continue. Comey would be crazy to continue the Russia investigation and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to continue. If he continued the investigation he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Rosenstein was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Trump-22 and let out a respectful whistle. Then Trump fired Comey.
 
Interestingly, the (supposedly) “recused” Attorney General Jeffrey Beauregard (Foghorn Leghorn) Sessions --- he of the Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak September, 2016 phone calls --- was behind the firing of Comey, even though it was enacted by New Stooge on the Block, Rod J. Rosenstein.  Insult to Injury: right after Comey is fired, Trump meets with Russian ambassadors!

2. Party Over Country: the Republican Cowardly Lions

          That only a few Republicans in the House and Senate will even consider appointing an Independent or Special Counsel investigation when all the evidence points to Trump firing Comey because he would not drop the Russian investigation is serious dereliction of duty.  We have watched Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan suck up to Trump since January 20th and even yesterday Lindsay Graham, who once had choice words about Trump during the campaign, fell right into line denying the need for any Special Prosecutor or Independent Counsel.  Shame on them all.  Profiles in Cowardice, once again.

3. Deep Throat Redux?  Trump and the FBI.

        Those of us who remember the Watergate scandal and the stellar reporting of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (if, somehow, you haven’t seen the Redford/Hoffman All the President’s Men, that’s your homework) know that an FBI agent named Mark Felt --- identified by “Woodstein” as “Deep Throat” (after a popular pornographic movie of the era) was crucial in revealing evidence that undid the Nixon Administration.  Given Trump’s firing of the FBI Director James Comey, do not be surprised if at least one new “Deep Throat” emerges in the next few weeks, revealing the deeper and deeper connections between the Trump team (and the President’s finances?) and Russia.

4. Obstruction of Justice

        Firing the man in charge of the investigation smacks of “The Saturday Night Massacre” of Richard Nixon and points to a possible bill of impeachment regarding obstruction of justice.  This, of course, cannot happen while the Republican majority falls in line behind McConnell and Ryan, who are proving themselves to be first-degree Trump lackeys.  It is sad that John McCain and Lindsay Graham, Republican leaders with clout, have what Theodore Roosevelt described as “the backbone of a chocolate éclair.”  Trump is beginning to make the case for impeachment through his narcissism, bungling, and childish demand for loyalty from all.

5. Digital Acceleration and Impeachment

         Back in 1972 it took over two years to 'gin' up the bills of impeachment against Richard Nixon.  That was in an analog world that relied on shoe leather reporting and the power of newspapers --- and, later, televised hearings.  The Watergate story broke in June 1972 and Nixon’s resignation was in August 1974  --- 26 months! In today’s world of instant, digital news delivery (“fake” and otherwise) the process will accelerate.  With subpoenas already being issued to Michael Flynn and the now private citizen James Comey possibly testifying by early next week, who knows what will hit the fan by a week from today.

In Conclusion
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         We may be approaching another Constitutional Crisis, like the one we saw in the early 1970’s.  Trump’s approval numbers are cratering, he’s grasping at “voter fraud” straws, just as he did with the fraudulent “Obama wiretapped me” assertion.  Firing Comey is the tip of the Trump iceberg.  Stay tuned, boys and girls, as the USS Trump-tanic plows ahead.