Trump: In like a Lion, Out like Lamb Stew

It must feel to sensible Americans like ten years. Alas, President Trump has been tweeting and “stepping on his own d---” (an expression I learned in boot camp at Parris Island in 1968) for only ten weeks.

If the man wasn’t such a buffoon, you might feel sorry for him. But he is a buffoon, a sad fact, increasingly clear. Even many supporters think a grown-up should be put in charge to keep the President from tweeting stupid s---. He said he was going to repeal and replace Obamacare and he and the Republicans managed to actually craft a plan only 1/3 as popular as the plan they spent seven years reviling. Not only was their plan less popular than herpes, they couldn’t pass it anyway.

They controlled the House. They controlled the Senate. They had a President ready and able to sign.

They couldn’t even get a vote. And who was to blame for putting a match to their flaming pile of manure?

Trump blamed Democrats.

What else has gone wrong in just ten weeks? Trump agreed to settle fraud charges involving Trump University—which he insisted he would fight to the death while he was running for office—and hoped no one noticed. His travel ban was rolled out with all the skill you might expect if planning was done by the main characters in Dumb and Dumber. Then it got shot down by the courts.

Twice!

His National Security Adviser, General Michael Flynn, warned that Iran “was on notice” after the Iranians fired off missiles in the Persian Gulf. This warning was meant to scare Iran; but the President decided not to tear up the nuclear deal with that country, which he promised would be his first priority in office. Apparently, like health care, it dawned on him that dealing with Iran (and North Korea—which has also tested several long-range missiles) was harder than it looked.

Meanwhile, Flynn turned out to be a liar, and very possibly a tool of the Russians during the campaign. Now the man who chanted, “Lock her up,” in reference to Hillary Clinton is trying to cop a plea.

We can’t know yet what Flynn knows, but indications are that if the FBI or Congress or Judge Jeanine will only grant immunity, he’s willing to spill some beans. As his lawyer put it, “General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it.”

This leaves it to President Trump to keep tweeting in hopes stupid people will believe a sewer is a pristine mountain stream.

Something smells fishy.

If you’re old enough to remember the Watergate Affair, however, you are excused if you are already thinking: “John Dean.”

When a mysterious story about a burglary at the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Building broke in June 1972, President Richard M. Nixon’s press secretary scoffed at the idea of any link to the White House. “A third-rate burglary,” was all it was. Yet, in weeks to follow the press kept digging, leaks kept coming, including from inside the FBI (where top agents like Mark Felt, of “Deep Throat” fame, had ample cause to suspect a White House cover up).

By spring 1973 the spreading investigation was making headlines daily. Various participants in what would prove to be a giant cover up were sweating ways to save themselves—if nothing else to cut time they’d likely spend in jail. John Dean, Nixon’s White House counsel, was among the first to break. Once he began testifying in front of Congress, the story blew up completely. Dean had participated in, and had direct knowledge of the participation of others, in a wide-ranging effort to hide damning White House ties to the burglars. It was part of a campaign of deceit involving massive destruction of evidence, witness tampering, bribery and perjury on an epic scale.

So, no: There’s no realistic reason to think General Flynn’s willingness to cut a deal is good news for Mr. Trump.

The Tweeter-in-Chief came into March looking like a lion. He’s going out more like lamb stew.

These poll numbers suck! At least people think Congress sucks more than President Trump.