NYT Runs Op-Ed from Anonymous Senior Trump Admin Official...

[emailking]

Trump paranoia reaching new highs

https://www.twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1037517032131055616

So we're already at this stage of Trump's presidency:

I'm waiting for GOT to end before watching it. I did the same thing with Lost.

[ProudModerate2]

Need Scooby-Doo and the gang to solve this mystery.

And when they pull the mask off Old Man Trump at the end, it turns out he's really Azathoth. Then he eats the world.

"And if it wasn't for those meddling kids and their dog, I would have got away with it."

https://youtu.be/hXUqwuzcGeU

[Banana Republican]

Trump should line up the entire White House staff tomorrow, line them up, count off every 10th one, and fire them. Like the Romans would have done it.

And then do it again as many times as necessary.

[Koharu]

Trump paranoia reaching new highs

https://www.twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1037517032131055616

So we're already at this stage of Trump's presidency:

I'm waiting for GOT to end before watching it. I did the same thing with Lost.

That's Theoden from Lord of the Rings, though I highly disagree with the comparison. Theoden was ultimately honorable and did the right thing over and over until he died doing the right thing.

[Democrat 2028]

Trump paranoia reaching new highs

https://www.twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1037517032131055616

Note that he says nothing about trusting Melania.

[emailking]

Oops, my bad

[Dr. Arch]

Trump paranoia reaching new highs

https://www.twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1037517032131055616

So we're already at this stage of Trump's presidency:

I'm waiting for GOT to end before watching it. I did the same thing with Lost.

That's Theoden from Lord of the Rings, though I highly disagree with the comparison. Theoden was ultimately honorable and did the right thing over and over until he died doing the right thing.

Yes, of course, but Trump is in the Mad King stage with no hope for redemption because he's there due to his own personality and incompetence.

[Koharu]

Trump paranoia reaching new highs

https://www.twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1037517032131055616

So we're already at this stage of Trump's presidency:

I'm waiting for GOT to end before watching it. I did the same thing with Lost.

That's Theoden from Lord of the Rings, though I highly disagree with the comparison. Theoden was ultimately honorable and did the right thing over and over until he died doing the right thing.

Yes, of course, but Trump is in the Mad King stage with no hope for redemption because he's there due to his own personality and incompetence.

He's his own Wormtongue, so there's no escape. Definitely agree with the mad king bit.

[Kingpoleon]

This is literally the Deep State and should be condemned.

[Crumpets]

Trump paranoia reaching new highs

https://www.twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1037517032131055616

Lol at Trump thinking he can trust his children.

[Hindsight was 2020]

This is literally the Deep State and should be condemned.

So the “deep state” was Trump’s own hand picked cabinet? What a twist

[Statilius the Epicurean]

This is literally the Deep State and should be condemned.

So the “deep state” was Trump’s own hand picked cabinet? What a twist

The writers of this show are geniuses. You have to hand it to them.

[dotard]

Trump paranoia reaching new highs

https://www.twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1037517032131055616

Note that he says nothing about trusting Melania.

She wrote it 😜

[Don't blame me I voted for Harris]

Lawrence O'Donnell thinks it's DNI Dan Coats.

https://twitter.com/ReignOfApril/status/1037531615805820928

[Del Tachi]

All in all, very troubling stuff. Remove the specific protagonists of this story - unelected officials have essentially seized the President’s decision making without his consent.

Uhm, no?  Every President has a staff that is in-place to make mundane decisions concerning the day-to-day functions of the government.  There's literally thousands of these people at all sorts of levels (senior WH officials, cabinet, agency staff, etc.) who each carries out his job according to his own personal agenda.  The fact that these people have turned against Trump is an indictment of the President, not his staff. 

[Yank2133]

All in all, very troubling stuff. Remove the specific protagonists of this story - unelected officials have essentially seized the President’s decision making without his consent.

Uhm, no?  Every President has a staff that is in-place to make mundane decisions concerning the day-to-day functions of the government.  There's literally thousands of these people at all sorts of levels (senior WH officials, cabinet, agency staff, etc.) who each carries out his job according to his own personal agenda.  The fact that these people have turned against Trump is an indictment of the President, not his staff. 

True, but they aren't doing mundane stuff. They are literally stealing papers off of his desk....that is ****ed up.

[Mr. Morden]

Not impressed by the op-ed. These people should be actively working to remove Trump if they think he's a problem, instead of being a literal deep state.

It will be fascinating to see if congressional Republicans finally grow a spine because of this. The odds may be above 0 this time.

I don't find this very realistic.  There may be a small group of anti-trumpers in the Cabinet, but to remove Trump via the 25th Amendment, you need Pence + a majority of the Cabinet + Republicans in Congress to go along with it.  How is that going to happen?  I think this tweet has it right:

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1037470031351873536

If Congressional Republicans found out who wrote this op/ed, they'd more likely want to arrest him than join him in ousting Trump.

You can say "Well, the GOP establishment should collectively decide that Trump needs to go", but the GOP establishment is more than one person.  If you were one of those people in the Cabinet working against Trump, it doesn't matter what you say.  You're not going to be able to convince Pence and Congress to get rid of Trump.  Trying to get them to do it might even backfire and lead to a purge, *decreasing* the chances of Trump ever being ousted if things get worse, since the replacement White House would be full of lackeys.

So, what are your options then?

1) Speak out publicly about wanting to remove Trump via the 25th Amendment.  (This will inevitably fail, but maybe it would make people feel better if someone tried it anyway.)

2) Resign in protest.

3) Stay quiet publicly, but try to undermine Trump from within the White House.

4) Don't resist at all.

That's really about it.

[Sic Semper Fascistis]

What a self-aggrandizing little coward. I honestly almost hope he's outed and his career ruined.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

#RESISTANCE indeed!

[new_patomic]

What a self-aggrandizing little coward. I honestly almost hope he's outed and his career ruined.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

#RESISTANCE indeed!

"It'll have all been worth it because we got our tax cut"

I wish such a sentiment wasn't so common.

[Banana Republican]

Similarly too the Stringer Bell op-ed

...

I Am Part of the Police Department Inside This Bank Robbery

You must be logged in to read this quote.

It goes on. Worth a read for the lulls.

[pbrower2a]

Military or Intelligence.

We are close to a scenario out of Seven Days in May.

[RFKFan68]

What a self-aggrandizing little coward. I honestly almost hope he's outed and his career ruined.

[Mr. Morden]

What a self-aggrandizing little coward. I honestly almost hope he's outed and his career ruined.

Nate Silver hypothesized that maybe he wants to be outed, so he can rehabilitate his image among elites as an opponent of Trump:

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1037438463119945739

[Sir Mohamed]

I hope this guy does go to jail. What a coward

Yup, an orange overall would be a good thing for Trump.

[Wrong about 2024 Ghost]

Not impressed by the op-ed. These people should be actively working to remove Trump if they think he's a problem, instead of being a literal deep state.

It will be fascinating to see if congressional Republicans finally grow a spine because of this. The odds may be above 0 this time.

I don't find this very realistic.  There may be a small group of anti-trumpers in the Cabinet, but to remove Trump via the 25th Amendment, you need Pence + a majority of the Cabinet + Republicans in Congress to go along with it.  How is that going to happen?  I think this tweet has it right:

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1037470031351873536

If Congressional Republicans found out who wrote this op/ed, they'd more likely want to arrest him than join him in ousting Trump.

You can say "Well, the GOP establishment should collectively decide that Trump needs to go", but the GOP establishment is more than one person.  If you were one of those people in the Cabinet working against Trump, it doesn't matter what you say.  You're not going to be able to convince Pence and Congress to get rid of Trump.  Trying to get them to do it might even backfire and lead to a purge, *decreasing* the chances of Trump ever being ousted if things get worse, since the replacement White House would be full of lackeys.

So, what are your options then?

1) Speak out publicly about wanting to remove Trump via the 25th Amendment.  (This will inevitably fail, but maybe it would make people feel better if someone tried it anyway.)

2) Resign in protest.

3) Stay quiet publicly, but try to undermine Trump from within the White House.

4) Don't resist at all.

That's really about it.

The problem with #3 is that it's doing even more damage to our traditions of government than Trump is.

The right thing to do, especially if Trump is as horrible as the op-ed alleges (which would seem to match with a great deal of other evidence) would either be, 1) feed Mueller's team as an anonymous informant (which various insiders may already be doing), or 2) take all the damning evidence you can possibly get your hands on and go public with it, arguing that Trump needs to be removed ASAP.

At a minimum, this would force the Republicans to openly support Trump's insanity and incompetence, allowing the public to make a more informed and less self-deluded choice come election day. (And the public is far from completely powerless - many states support recall of sitting members of Congress.)