COLUMN: It is coming from inside the White House
I didn't think this presidency could get any crazier.
An anonymous New York Times Op-Ed by a mysterious senior White House official confirms our worst fears and greatest hopes: Trump is as crazy as he seems, and someone is trying to stop him.
“The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations,” the column read.
On its face, this idea should be all positive, right?
This premise worries me for a number of reasons.
For starters, it shows that unelected officials, regardless of political affiliation, are making policy and crafting international relations without oversight from the president.
Based on my past columns, it is no secret I deeply dislike the president. However, my opinions of him do little to change the reality of his position. Trump is the democratically elected president of the United States. He can do whatever he wants within the constrains of the law and government.
This country has systems in place to limit his actions, one of those being public opinion. What public opinion can’t be based on is a mysterious figure or group of figures lurking in the White House.
A second fear I have about the state of affairs in this shadow White House are the motives behind these figures. Those writing this column appear to be working to distance the GOP and conservatism as an ideology from Trump.
While logical, it is irresponsible. The president didn’t “hijack” the GOP, he was a symptom of it. A symptom that is still publicly supported by the party and its base.
If these mysterious people wanted to make a difference, to have real impact, then the solution is not deception and cloak-and-dagger maneuvering.
The solution is action.
“Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis,” the column said.
Unfortunately, we are, by most accounts, in the midst of a constitutional crisis. One that could have been prevented by invoking the 25th Amendment, or a mass resigning by the same senior White House officials who wrote the Op-Ed.
Instead, the country gets a shadow cabinet picking and choosing what policies to block Trump on.
They are not progressives, and progressive Americans should be wary of supporting them. Americans should, for the love of God, reject future pushes from the GOP to repaint Trump as something he isn’t.
The GOP supported Trump, popularized Trump and most notably-- got Trump elected.
They made their bed, now they have to sleep in it. No matter how many anonymous senior White House officials secretly oppose him.
