Trump Unbound
Article by J.R. Dunn in "The American Thinker":
One major point is being overlooked concerning the “impeachment”: now that the impeachment weapon has been unsheathed, and swung, and shattered into myriad pieces without so much as scratching its target, the Dems have absolutely nothing to use against Trump. In fact, it can be doubted that they will ever again have anything to use against Trump.
Impeachment is over – Pelosi admitted as much when she issued her pro forma State of the Nation invitation to the President only days after the impeachment vote. She has still failed to present the articles to the Senate, but it’s all anticlimax at this point. Only a few hysterics on either side of the spectrum have any doubt as to how this is going to work out.
So what do they come up with next? Well, nothing much. Al Green (I’m convinced that he got most of his votes from people who confused him with the great gospel singer) may bluster all he likes about “another impeachment,” but it’s all gas. A second impeachment on the heels of a failed first attempt would simply be a plunge into the depths of absurdity. If impeachment is an awe-inspiring spectacle of a democratic government arisen in wrath, a second attempt scarcely rises to the level of a joke. Best just to appoint Green to the chairmanship of the Permanent Trump Impeachment Committee and be done with it.
No – they hit him with an attempt to subvert electors, with the Mueller investigation, with the emoluments clause, with the 25th Amendment, and then with impeachment. And all of it simply bounced off. As it stands, Donald Trump is now beyond any legal, procedural method of harassment. He has been investigated to a fare-thee-well, and less has been found than would on you, me, or the Dalai Lama. Consider how much we know about his persecutors – Pelosi, Tlaib, Omar -- and then look at Trump.
Like one of Lister’s patients, he is now immune. They can caper, shout as loud as they want, call up all the demons there are, but they can’t get at him. (True, they could – and very well may – try to kill him, but that’s something we’ll confront at another time).
That puts Trump in an interesting and unique position as a second-term GOP president. For the first time since Eisenhower, a Republican president faces his second term with nothing at all blocking his road. Consider the three two-termers since Ike.
Richard M. Nixon’s self-destructive paranoia ruined what promised to be a triumphant second term. Nixon had nothing to fear from George McGovern, an old-line fellow-travelling political hack with the charisma of a moldy sponge. But he took counsel of his fears, and turned loose his gang of screwball staffers who (most likely with no knowledge on Nixon’s part) hired lowlifes to burgle the DNC only to be caught. Nixon’s Boy Scout sense of loyalty, which dictated an attempt to cover up for his wacko assistants (who included such luminaries as G. Gordon Liddy, John Dean, and H.R. Haldeman), took him down, leaving the country in turmoil and paving the way for the new left to enter conventional politics.
Reagan’s second term was not as successful as his first for similar reasons: a “scandal” triggered by congressional interference in the Executive’s prerogatives (specifically foreign affairs, as involved Central America). While efforts to bring down Reagan (the cry for “impeachment” was being thrown around then as well) were curtailed by loyal subordinates – Oliver North above all – the uproar wasted time and undercut Reagan’s authority.
George W. Bush’s second term was crippled by the blowback against his foreign policy, particularly the bungled Iraq occupation, which made him a target for every last mutt in the left, the media, and the Democrats. This was further complicated by his utter refusal to either explain or defend himself and his policies by as much as a single word. This left the public stage completely open to his enemies (who also happened to be America’s enemies). In short order, his administration was bogged down, and whatever plans W may have had – which we can only guess at, W being a scion of the “no vision thing” Bushes – were stifled in the crib.
That sad record sums it up for the GOP on the past half-century. But for Donald Trump, the road is wide open. There are no lurking scandals. All the questions have been answered. His enemies have launched their warheads only to see them bounce off. In the upcoming term – I don’t think we need to discuss reelection here – they would be reduced to shouting, capering, and banging on their shields. For the first time in a long time, a reelected Republican will have perfect freedom to accomplish whatever he wishes.
And there is plenty to be done.
The wall needs to be finished. Here too, the opposition has run out of ammo. There’s a limited number of times that the same court can be presented with the same case without judges losing patience. Crippling the sanctuary movement is yet another imperative. The clearer it has become that unlimited illegal immigration holds absolutely nothing but the prospect of chaos, the more its supporters have doubled down. They need to be swept aside.
There’s unfinished business as regards the destruction of the Swamp. A sweeping purge of the bureaucracy, particularly as regards the Department of Justice and the “Intelligence Community,” needs to be carried out. Amid all the anti-Trump rhetoric, the gravity of the current situation has been completely overlooked. A group of mid-level bureaucrats attempted to remove the country’s chief executive on specious grounds. It could be that this is so hard to grasp because it’s unprecedented – no pencil pusher in any previous administration would have dared to contemplate this. That they even attempted it is prime evidence that the entire crowd needs to be cut down quite a few notches. A mammoth task, but who better?
Going beyond that, we need to have many -- probably most -- of the departments and agencies decapitated and their personnel cut by something on the ordered of 50%. Obama was able to get away with his “Phone and pen” ploy solely because the Executive branch had become so bloated that it has tentacles in virtually aspect of American life. It needs to be cut down to restore the governmental structure to a vague semblance of what it was intended to be, and also remove the drag of government from the country as a whole. This will not be easy – few are aware that by law not only can civil service workers not be laid off, but if their position is somehow eliminated, a place must be found for them in some other agency at the same GS level and salary. The federal bureaucracy is not only corrupt, it is deliberately designed to be unreformable.
Is Trump up to the challenge? I think he is. Moving agencies out of the Beltway is a brilliant ploy to overcome bureaucratic metasticization and inertia, but it ought to be expanded. There are many government agencies and departments that need to be transferred to Nome and Point Barrow. Trump is the man for the job.
Beyond even this are things we don’t even know about. Donald Trump is a man of surprises (as Qassem Soleimani learned). I have no doubt that he has moves in mind that nobody yet knows about – or would even be able to guess.
One thing for sure: Donald Trump’s second term is on line to be as ground-breaking, monumental, and successful as his first.
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