Trump and the Democrats? Don't Be Ridiculous

After Donald Trump made his deal to sabotage House Republican leadership, the press has been full of the most arrant nonsense about his turning to the center, or becoming Presidential, or other such rubbish.  You would think that by now, there would be nobody left that had any illusion that Trump would ever make a move that was not both self-serving and piggish.  But here the pundits are again, falling for his crap, or at least pretending to.  You'd think that it would be obvious that Trump is not siding with the Democrats; he is siding against the Republican leadership in the house, in the person of one Paul Ryan.  Here's a little from a post at Daily Kos:

"Trump is not happy with Paul Ryan, and he doesn't care who knows it...As much as popular vote loser Donald Trump likes to tweet his feud with Mitch McConnell, it's the other Republican leader—House Speaker Paul Ryan—that he really seems to have it in for. First we saw reports that Steve Bannon—banned from the White House but still reportedly on Trump's cell phone speed-dial—is plotting with the Freedom Caucus maniacs to oust Ryan. Now AP is reporting that Trump is basically fed up with him."

Trump isn't happy with Paul Ryan?  Bullshit; he is scared to death of him, for the obvious reason:

"Ryan controls whether and when the House takes up articles of impeachment. Anyone thinking strategically about future consequences would not go out of their way to alienate the person who holds your future in their hands."

Unless you can remove him. And there is the answer to everything.  Ryan, the only politician in Washington that can match Trump's self serving treachery, is the person with his finger on the impeachment button.  Trump is not siding with anyone, he is trying to crush Ryan out of existence.  From the Washington Post today:

"Several influential House conservatives are privately plotting ways to use the legislative calendar this fall to push their hard-line agenda — including quiet discussions about possibly mounting a leadership challenge to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan.  The group has gone so far as to float the idea of recruiting former House speaker Newt Gingrich or former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum as potential replacements for Ryan (R-Wis.) should there be a rebellion. The Constitution does not require that an elected member of the House serve as speaker."

And why has this become so urgent?

For an answer to that, I suggest you take a couple of minutes to watch the following video by Keith Olbermann, who explains in his typical blunt fashion just how close to impeachment Trump really is; and as you watch this, remember that it is all based on what is known in public at this point- none of us really knows how much more Mueller knows at this point.  And pay particular attention to the role of Mike Pence in all of this, putting him in the impeachment frame too:



Well, leaving the impeachment process in the hands of a treacherous monster like Ryan, who is just salivating at the prospect of making himself President is something that even the monumentally stupid Trump is not going to allow.  He needs to replace Ryan almost immediately with a totally captive right wing toady who will never allow impeachment to go forward; a role for which Gingrich or Santorum would be ideally suited.  And that is what this is all about.  At this point, Trump will side with anyone who might have the ability to help lever Ryan out of his position, because Trump recognizes a fellow rat in Ryan, and knows what will happen the minute Ryan sees his path to the Presidency open up.