Scary prospect: Trump calmly addressing the investigations
Trump is savvy. He knows that his base is not bothered by the impeachment hearings or Russiagate. He likes his chances in 2020. Sadly, I think he has good reason to think he’ll get re-elected. I say sadly because I think he’s a terrible president who has no real interest in governing, leading, or addressing our most pressing concerns. I also think he has a dangerous affinity for authoritarian leaders and countries. No, I don’t think he’s a Russian asset, despite repeatedly giving people grounds for suspicion.
Trump’s consistent in one area - constantly railing against the deep state and the media. Fox News, the GOP, and his base love it. The government is bad and it can’t be trusted…except for the military (most of the time) and the departments/agencies dealing with border patrol and immigration.
He’s got some legitimate ammunition. Everything about that 2016 election looks bad (including Trump’s actions). Have you read the Horowitz IG report? I haven’t read the actual report, but I have tried to read a lot of different analyses from different angles. The Carter Page FISA application is ugly. Steele Fusion GPS is ugly. The many FBI errors and missteps are ugly.
If I were Trump, I know what I’d do on 2 January 2020. Address the country…calmly. I think it’d improve his election chances. I’m not worried, though, he’s incapable of doing it. Oh, and importantly, it would involve him lying about the Ukraine call, but alternate realities have to obey some norms.
Alternate Reality (vs. Reality TV)
“I ran on the promise to reveal and fix some of the problems that tend to take root over decades in politics and government. These problems creep up on us over time, and sometimes you need someone like me, a political outsider, to clean house.
The House of Representatives is about to impeach me. I strongly disagree with their investigation and their conclusions. I don’t question their patriotism or love of country. I do fault them for 3+ years of what I see as not accepting the results of the 2016 election.
They believe I abused my powers in my dealings with Ukraine. I didn’t, and I disagree with their conclusion. But appearances matter. I acknowledge that I could have pressed Ukraine to address corruption concerns in a better way. I’m a businessman from New York City. I’m rough around the edges. I’ll get better at this DC stuff, but I don’t want to get too good. That’s when the rot sets in.
The House will vote to impeach. I’m confident that the Senate, with its long tradition of steady deliberation, will bring it to a sound conclusion. I won’t say anymore because I don’t want to be seen as trying to influence the outcome. After that, we can move on and get back to the business of governing.
I’ve criticized the entrenched bureaucracy and the media. I don’t apologize for that. I was right to do so. The Horowitz IG report backs me up on this. I don’t care where you stand politically, we should all be concerned that missteps and errors at the highest levels turned the surveillance powers of the USG on a private citizen. Many of the law enforcement and intelligence officials who were involved in that process and in the process of launching an investigation into my campaign then became contributors and talking heads on cable news. For 3 years they claimed daily that the walls were closing in on me, and that any day Mueller was going to reveal that I was in the pocket of a foreign leader. I’ve been pretty successful in life. One nice thing about that success is that I’m not beholden to anyone. Besides, if I thought someone could harm me, I’d have stayed in New York doing what I love.
That all too cozy relationship between intel officials and senior law enforcement officials should also worry everyone. It’s not healthy. Look at all of the journalists who claimed that the FISA application on the private citizen I mentioned earlier was based on solid, robust, credible information, and that it had to be rock solid to get through the rigorous FISA process. A case that they knew would be endlessly scrutinized, and they still made glaring mistakes. Who do you think the journalists were talking to? I hope the media companies engage in some much needed reflection.
It’s a new year. I’ve done what I set out to do in my first term. I’ve exposed the rot and the decay. That’s what we do in the construction business. Before we build on something, we do a structural survey. Is it safe to work with the existing structure, or do we need to start over?
I want to assure you that it’s safe to work with what we have. 95% of federal employees go to work everyday to make the government work better for you and to protect us from threats here and abroad. That definitely includes the FBI. But we’ve identified some significant cracks in the system, and now it’s time to fix them. That’s what we’re going to do in the next four years, and I look forward to working closely with Republicans and Democrats to get it done.”
Me again, no more fake speeches that would never happen. I hope in 2020 we get some leaders who can right this ship. And by that I don’t mean a return to pre-Trump. I need to start seriously thinking about the issues I’m most worried about and identify the candidates who have the best ideas for those issues.