"The Trump Presidency Is Over" "He knows nothing will be the same" Peter Wehner, The Atlantic

[Demovictory9]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/peter-wehner-trump-presidency-over/607969/

The Trump Presidency Is Over
It has taken a good deal longer than it should have, but Americans have now seen the con man behind the curtain.

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It took until the second half of Trump’s first term, but the crisis has arrived in the form of the coronavirus pandemic, and it’s hard to name a president who has been as overwhelmed by a crisis as the coronavirus has overwhelmed Donald Trump.

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The president’s misinformation and mendacity about the coronavirus are head-snapping. He claimed that it was contained in America when it was actually spreading. He claimed that we had “shut it down” when we had not. He claimed that testing was available when it wasn’t. He claimed that the coronavirus will one day disappear “like a miracle”; it won’t. He claimed that a vaccine would be available in months; Fauci says it will not be available for a year or more.

Trump falsely blamed the Obama administration for impeding coronavirus testing. He stated that the coronavirus first hit the United States later than it actually did. (He said that it was three weeks prior to the point at which he spoke; the actual figure was twice that.) The president claimed that the number of cases in Italy was getting “much better” when it was getting much worse. And in one of the more stunning statements an American president has ever made, Trump admitted that his preference was to keep a cruise ship off the California coast rather than allowing it to dock, because he wanted to keep the number of reported cases of the coronavirus artificially low.

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“I like the numbers,” Trump said. “I would rather have the numbers stay where they are. But if they want to take them off, they’ll take them off. But if that happens, all of a sudden your 240 [cases] is obviously going to be a much higher number, and probably the 11 [deaths] will be a higher number too.” (Cooler heads prevailed, and over the president’s objections, the Grand Princess was allowed to dock at the Port of Oakland.)

On and on it goes.

To make matters worse, the president delivered an Oval Office address that was meant to reassure the nation and the markets but instead shook both. The president’s delivery was awkward and stilted; worse, at several points, the president, who decided to ad-lib the teleprompter speech, misstated his administration’s own policies, which the administration had to correct. Stock futures plunged even as the president was still delivering his speech. In his address, the president called for Americans to “unify together as one nation and one family,” despite having referred to Washington Governor Jay Inslee as a “snake” days before the speech and attacking Democrats the morning after it. As The Washington Post’s Dan Balz put it, “Almost everything that could have gone wrong with the speech did go wrong.”

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Taken together, this is a massive failure in leadership that stems from a massive defect in character. Trump is such a habitual liar that he is incapable of being honest, even when being honest would serve his interests. He is so impulsive, shortsighted, and undisciplined that he is unable to plan or even think beyond the moment. He is such a divisive and polarizing figure that he long ago lost the ability to unite the nation under any circumstances and for any cause. And he is so narcissistic and unreflective that he is completely incapable of learning from his mistakes. The president’s disordered personality makes him as ill-equipped to deal with a crisis as any president has ever been. With few exceptions, what Trump has said is not just useless; it is downright injurious.

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It has taken a good deal longer than it should have, but Americans have now seen the con man behind the curtain. The president, enraged for having been unmasked, will become more desperate, more embittered, more unhinged. He knows nothing will be the same. His administration may stagger on, but it will be only a hollow shell. The Trump presidency is over

[Harker]

1. It ain't over til it's over. n/t

[nycbos]

6. Yogi was wise man

[tinrobot]

8. A true yogi.

[Harker]

87. Zen like master of tremendous subtlety. n/t

[dalton99a]

10. +1.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

45. The only thing to make Don Ill Dong resign would be a massive tsunami staring him in the face.

How long before Trump-Republicons send a delegation to the White House to tell that if he doesn't resign, not only will they suffer many defeats up and down the ballot, but he will go down hardest.

Will it sway him?

[OMGWTF]

62. NO! Trump's MO is to always blame someone else. He'll never resign.

[Harker]

83. I could see it in a...

"you don't deserve a perfect president like me" sense, perhaps.

[Tucker08087]

65. I don't think so.

He’s all about self-preservation. If he goes down, he’ll drag everyone else down with him. He doesn’t give a rip about the party. He will think nothing about climbing on top of anyone who is “disloyal” in order to prevent himself from drowning, and eventually he will toss even those who have helped him stay afloat onto that pile. Their biggest mistake has been believing that he cares about anything or anyone other than himself.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

67. Yes, is why I emphasized HIS result. He hates being any kind of loser & resigning might be easier.nt

[Tucker08087]

71. It could happen.

He’s such a narcissist that I think he really believed he could control a virus. Or perhaps he knew he couldn’t but believed he could lie his way through it. Not much foresight, except the cult DOES believe him. I’m not sure what he thought would happen when people started to drop dead. I’m guessing he’s a bit shaken now (and I’m also betting he has the virus) and sadly for the base, germs don’t discriminate, and they are going to be genuinely shocked when it touches their families. I’m surrounded by them here, and as of last night, they were still screaming “HOAX!” I’m not sure how they’ve switched gears to National Emergency today. Somehow, they will justify it. I hope you’re right and he just walks away. After all, that is his MO. It’s the Presidential version of declaring bankruptcy.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

73. The FReak site was about 60% hoax / 30% real a few days ago. It's flipped now.

Yes, they are going to be shocked by deaths of people they know.

I think you are right he is a bit shaken. Amazed that his Wed night address didn't get good reviews.

Good analogy to bankruptcy.

[Tucker08087]

74. I'm going by the school/parent blog here.

Went yesterday for what will be my last chemo treatment until the virus is contained or my white count replenishes (my doctor’s recommendation), so today I feel awful, which is normal, and I haven’t checked the site, but as of yesterday morning, all parents were still declaring this a “Democrat hoax” except one mom, who was mocked and ridiculed. I didn’t have it in me to log on today, but I happen to know that the Board of Education is meeting tomorrow to decide about closing, and most of the nearby schools are closing through Easter, with the possibility of extending the time based on the situation. Teachers are meeting on Monday (school has been closed for the day) to post on-line assignments. These parents are going to be very angry. Like spoiled children, they will rant and rave, only to blame the district for not closing if anyone becomes ill. The school cannot win, so I hope they are brave enough to do the right thing. I should probably check to see the gymnastics that went on today to explain the sudden switch from hoax to national emergency.

[Beartracks]

97. Thought he could bluff since lying is the only tool in his toolbox. n/t

[tclambert]

76. Trump is afraid if he resigns, he will be arrested and sent to prison

for his many, many crimes. The stupid Justice Department rule against indicting a sitting President is the only thing saving him.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

80. Yes, I hope he keeps forgetting that as often I do, oftener even :) . . . nt

[DENVERPOPS]

48. Good one Harker

He won't begin to admit defeat until he, his spawn, Republican Administration and Fascist Republican Corporations have sucked dry every profit making opportunity of this disaster........

Frankly, I'm flabbergasted that he hasn't begun selling Tests on his MAGA product website for a thousand apiece.......of course the processing of the test is another two thousand a piece.......

[Harker]

84. I think they'll ride the gravy train straight to

the end of the line.

[DENVERPOPS]

85. Yea, hopefully. N/C

[RVN VET71]

54. And when you come to a fork in the road

don't take it until November 4. (With deepest apologies to the memory of the great Philosopher of the Bronx.)

[Harker]

86. I usually eat with chopsticks...

but that's a fork I'm not missing for anything.

[Blues Heron]

103. Nov 3rd?

Election day is November 3rd If that's what you were referring to.

[RVN VET71]

109. I meant do not celebrate Trump's downfall until AFTER the election

It ain't over, after all, 'til it's over.

[uponit7771]

59. +1, it aint over till a good portion of blue voters are dead or sick

[C Moon]

63. Agreed. The GOP is very good at spin doctoring (if that's a word), and the media loves a good fight.

[paleotn]

70. I think he's infected.

so it may be over sooner than we think,

[Harker]

88. Can't rule out his bunker scene.

There are numerous Hitlerian similarities, but I'm not of the mind that he's likely to commit suicide.

His final chapter is bound to be interesting, however it comes to pass.

[paleotn]

100. I'm not talking suicide....

He's at the peak of the most high risk group. His health is terrible. If he's infected, it will most likely kill him.

[Harker]

102. Gotcha.

Humpty Trumpsky will probably die naturally. It certainly seems this virus could do it.

[DENVERPOPS]

89. Regardless

Putin's handmaiden has already successfully fulfilled every single one of Putin's long list of wet dreams.

Putin has single handedly brought America down to our knees without firing a single missile or weapon.......

And THAT is the Bottom Line people !!!!!!!!!..................

Putin was in the hierarchy of the KGB when the U.S. brought Russia to their Knees, causing the end of the Cold War. It also caused great humiliation of Russia in the world arena...........This is merely payback by Putin and he is loving every second of it........

My Russian friend says he has talked to the folks back home and they are simply amazed at how easily Putin has played Trump......
All Putin needed was an American narcissistic egomaniacal psychopath........

[Harker]

91. Trumpsky fits that description...

and I think you're right - Putin played him like a cheap harmonica.

[MagickMuffin]

2. And to think we could have been rid of him but HIS PARTY decided to stick it to US

And they continue to stick it to US.

[shanti]

3. But what mischief

is Billy Barr up to now that no one's looking?

[StevieM]

64. I don't know...but I can promise you he is up to something. (eom)

[bdamomma]

4. it's not over

until he contracts the virus himself. Or infects his own family with it.

[PA Democrat]

5. It should have been over after the Mueller Report.

[davekriss]

30. It's been over so many times, my head spins

[JuJuYoshida]

7. If it was over

We'd have Pence, think he'd be any better?!

[tinrobot]

9. Marginally. But yes.

[Moostache]

18. I have to disagree...

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/02/how-mike-pence-made-indianas-hiv-outbreak-worse-118648

...What happened is that Pence failed to act in response to increasingly urgent signs of a significant HIV outbreak, and he delayed implementation of vital public health measures. Among public health experts, the Indiana outbreak is considered a failure of state response, and an example of how poor political leadership can actually make a crisis worse. How do we know? We closely studied the dynamics of the Scott County HIV outbreak from 2011 to 2015, as well as the policy responses of the state’s leaders. Our full account was published in a 2018 article in the scientific journal The Lancet HIV. Here’s what happened.

By 2013, when Pence became Governor, HIV infection rates among people who use drugs had been declining year after year across the US. However, there was ample warning that southern Indiana might be susceptible to an outbreak of HIV among people who injected drugs. Already, in southern Indiana, there was evidence of prescription drug abuse, overdoses, and an outbreak of Hepatitis C virus among injection drug users.

Experts proposed needle-exchange programs to prevent further outbreaks—providing clean needles to people who use drugs who otherwise might share and spread the disease—but state law prohibited needle exchange. It was hard, if not impossible, for people even to learn they were infected, because the only HIV testing provider in the area had been a Planned Parenthood clinic that closed because of state cuts supported by Pence.

Definitely worth a read over at Politico...Pence is every bit as bad as Trump for different reasons..

[sop]

40. Pence is terrible, but at least he doesn't have Trump's Svengali-like influence on the GOP base.

[Scarsdale]

52. He is a republican,

they stick together no matter what. Look at how they have protected tRump, the worst president EVER.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

81. He'd be the lamest duck ever.

[John Fante]

82. Nobody is as bad as Trump.

[maxsolomon]

21. Irrelevant.

Pence isn't an unstable Sociopath.

[whopis01]

106. Yes. It would be a world of difference.

Pence would be ineffective and not get anything done. That would be a world of difference from Trump who has an amazing ability to achieve things that are in the nation’s worst interests.


Pence is not going to have the pull over the GOP in the Congress that Trump does.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

11. Trump has deliberately, knowingly put lives at risk just to shore up his ratings.

[Doreen]

12. One of his followers could be lying in bed

dying and being denied testing ( despite the fact they know they possibly have it ) and being denied pain meds because of this damn opioid ( crisis to them ) problem. Lying there hardly breathing while listening to their orange piece of shit telling them that it is really no big deal and they just have a bad cold. Despite being on his watch he says will do nothing because it is everybody elses fault. After which he will announce he is going to his golf course to play golf and eat a beautiful piece of cake.

I think this could actually happen and his base would still worship him.

[Moostache]

23. It IS happening now...

The willingness of the Right wing ideologue to deny science, embrace propaganda and die if necessary without blaming the dear leader is frightening, but it is happening everywhere. Trump's approval rating right now should be in single digits, yet it hovers around 45%? That kind of brain-washed, zombie-fied "base" is truly unreachable.

People are dying - or very well may be exposed to a deadly virus and put on life's roulette wheel of chance - and yet there is STILL no mass realization that staying the course is literally deadly. I gave up on those people long ago, nothing I have seen this week makes me think anything else...

[NCjack]

27. and, the zombie-MAGAt has a smile on his face, because he is sticking it to Libruls. nt

[Doreen]

50. I was told by some guy today that the Chinese

created this virus to get back at trump for his tariffs.

I know he voted for trump the first round but he has decided not to the next round.

I suspect he still watches FOX spews.

[bucolic_frolic]

13. Trump is a Zombie

The author could have saved a lot of ink

[tclambert]

77. Zombies are smarter than Trump.

And in better shape. And better looking.

[degage]

14. Seems like wishful thinking until it happens.

There is a lot of time between now and November 3rd. I doubt his solid base is ever going to give up on him. There was that lady on TV that said she didn't believe the virus was real. I bet there are still a bunch of people like her out there.

[Turin_C3PO]

24. His base/cult

isn’t enough to re-elect him. 10-15% of his support is considered soft. Democrats can easily pick off a few percentage points off that number. As long as we don’t really screw it up, Trump is toast.

[Ligyron]

49. THIS

I believe we can overwhelm the suppression and the cheating to win this election.

What happens next I'm not 100% sure of though I'll admit ... except that if he is forced to exit he'll attempt do massive damage on his way out.

I'd just love to see him picked up and arrested immediately afterward.

[lees1975]

43. If the turnout among his base is high

it will only amount to between 30% and 35% of the popular vote. That translates into an electoral win for the Democrat of somewhere between 315-350 votes. And in all honesty, I think it is going to be bigger than that. The Democrats will also expand their house majority, my prediction is by at least 10 seats, and the senate where I believe they'll get the stickiest of the Republican seats in Kentucky along with at least six others, and they'll keep Alabama.

[stopbush]

15. The money quote:

“He is so impulsive, shortsighted, and undisciplined that he is unable to plan or even think beyond the moment.”

What that means is that even when tRump has a script in front of him on a teleprompter he is subject to random thoughts flashing through his drug-addled brain and blurting out said thoughts because in the moment - that very moment - he thinks it will help his case.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

16. I see signs of tRump's entire White House organization now being unhinged.

I've always felt he does not have the capability to lead the office of the president, but instead has relied on a large cadre' of hard right-wing staff and department heads to design every thing done there.

I'm betting that organization is now under extremely high stress and conflict, and that explains all the nonsense and confused messaging.

In other words, his big lie and deception machine is failing and collapsing.

[Nasruddin]

35. It would've been fine

If he could delegate work to real experts
If he could've retained really skilled operatives
If he didn't crave praise and adoration even more than Adderall

It wouldn't have mattered that he's a complete, dyed-in-the-wool idiot; psychopath; narcissist.

But he can't. He relies on low-rated dirt bags and his low-wattage family for support.

Those clowns in the Senate who know better are the ones who should be held responsible, imo. The Senate like the Electoral College needs to be tossed in the trash.

[sprinkleeninow]

53. This what you put forth right here:

"In other words, his big lie and deception machine is failing and collapsing."

[RT Atlanta]

17. #trumpflu

whatever the fuck it takes to end this 'long national nightmare' with donnie-t at the helm.

[malaise]

19. This one is over

Take that to the bank

[underpants]

20. Scathing

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

22. Well for all intents and purposes it is

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. A lot of chicanery can occur in the election.

[Perseus]

25. I would make a correction to that article, I would not call trump "president", he doesn't deserve

the title, he is a con man who, although many of us have seen him for what he really is for a long time, he has shown his incompetence, his vileness, vindictiveness, his stupidity and that of his enablers, and to his dislike, more people are finally catching up to it.

Because republicans are so low life, I would love to think that the article is correct and that this is the end of this administration, I would like to think that current events have finally opened many of his supporters eyes, but they are fanatics, and fanatics don't listen, they find justification where there is none, the have blinders on their eyes. I hope that I am wrong and the article is right.

Anyway, people need to stop calling this thug president, he does not deserve the title, a title he stole, one he has proven time and again is way too big for him.

[tman]

26. Not this shit again

We've been saying this for years.

8 months is a lifetime in politics. This clown might declare himself savior of the nation when the virus has faded and the stock market starts to recover.

Is the public stupid enough? YES

[LymphocyteLover]

32. his whole presidency has been a massive shitshow

and the economy is not going to get better. I don't see how he gets over this.

[Nasruddin]

37. It'll get better

But it's easier to wreck things than rebuild.
It took about 2 years to recover from the Sep 11 2001 side effects & about 6 to recover from the recession after the Apr 2000 peak. It will take time, since a lot of the market is about expectations and that drives everything else.

[Ligyron]

56. ... and the underlying fundamentals aren't great either.

It was probably due for a significant correction but dumbass Dump pushed it into immediate Bear territory with his stupidity, so he'll get most of the blame in people's mind.

[sellitman]

29. He's a very stable genius. How dare you!

And he will tell you that himself.

[LymphocyteLover]

31. this is my feeling but god I so hope this is true

[cstanleytech]

33. Might be the death knell of the Republican party as well since

they irrevocably own everything he has done and everything he might do because they wanted to use him to stack the courts.

[Javaman]

34. My Dad would always say, "a mechanic is only as good as his tools"

the orange asshole has no tools only tools.

[Cirque du So-What]

36. He's like the Night Rider

[mahatmakanejeeves]

38. In that case, he won't be nominating any more judges or justices, will he? NT

[yuiyoshida]

39. I would like to think so, however

Trump is like one of those movie monsters where if you kill one, another two show up.

[lees1975]

41. It should never have been a Presidency

because the election itself was stolen. I knew it was over when Democrats started winning districts and statewide elections in places previously thought to be too Republican to flip. A good campaign add from Mike Bloomberg's pac would remind people of the string of intept, incompetence this President has exhibited from the very beginning of his term.

I'll save the celebration for that time on the clock, somewhere between 10:45 and 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time when the networks announce that the Democratic nominee has carried enough states and won the electoral college.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

42. I've seen way too many horror movies like this.

You think the monster is dead, and then it jumps back to life.

[Kali]

44. it never should have started

so forgive me if I have become bitterly skeptical of the voters in this country

[totodeinhere]

46. Is it really over? We are already seeing elections being postponed. What happens if the CDC

recommends postponing the November elections? Would he remain president until the next election or what?

[LudwigPastorius]

47. Trump is about to assume Emergency Powers.

The moment some of us worried about over a year ago is about to happen.

[Sugarcoated]

96. Yeesh...

Terrifying

[Newest Reality]

51. It has been my view that...

It has been my view that, after watching all of this play out that...

When the Trump Presidency is over, the Trump Regime begins. It is then about, dictatorship or bust.

[bluewater]

55. K&R

[yellowdogintexas]

57. one thing about Pence that just popped into my brain

His abominable actions re: the needle sharing project contributing to the worst AIDS outbreak in the state were because AIDS is considered an illness of immoral and unBiblical failure. He could not bring himself to condone doing anything good for these morally depraved and sinful people.

COID-19 is an entirely different matter, and it's possible that he may handle it differently because it is not a disease of low morals.

Of course I could be totally wrong, and I will admit it.

[luvallpeeps]

93. I think you might be wrong because

I think he calls himself a Christian, but like so many of his kind, (I call them Huckabees) they pretend to follow Christ. They conveniently forget about the judge not part. Just like how they proudly wear the flag pin on their lapels and they haven't a clue what it means. Remember, Manafort asked for him. There's a clue.

[Hekate]

58. Not until he is escorted out. Sorry.

[The Blue Flower]

60. The Atlantic is providing free coronavirus coverage

As is the NYT.

[The Mouth]

61. I've read some stupid shit on the internet

This is right up there.

[Robert U]

66. It ain't enough

I want more than Trump defeated. I want the Senate flipped as well. The Republicans have betrayed their political beliefs to promote Trump and have lost the trust of the people they supposedly represent.

[Poiuyt]

69. Welcome to DU!

[Rhiannon12866]

95. Well said and welcome to DU!

You sure won't get any arguments around here!

[live love laugh]

68. It is not over. For the thousandth time... nt

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

72. It won't be over until Joe kicks his ass out of the WH.

After the way he handled that union guy, I have no doubt that Biden will stride up to Fat Donnie and tell him, "Get the fuck out of my house, motherfucker, and take your grifter family with you!" Then he'll show Trump the baseball bat he's carrying.

[Sugarcoated]

98. The day Joe makes the phone call to pry that leech off of us

what a day that will be...champagne will be pouring

[Blue Owl]

75. Stick a fork in that fat fuck

n/t

[doc03]

78. I hope nt

[hay rick]

79. Nonsense.

Based on zero factual evidence, the Republicans will blame the spread of the coronavirus on Democrats and the media will feed the narrative enough oxygen to keep the presidential race alive. There is no bottom to either Trump Republicans' moral depravity or the media's complicity.

[SMC22307]

90. I'm not convinced. And they're coming for Social Security HARD...

and Democrats need to stop with this "he's done" nonsense.

[luvallpeeps]

94. Oh how I want to believe this.

But we've seen a helluva lot of bed shitting in the last couple of years, and still, his deplorables eat it up. I am too wounded to come out from under the bed just yet. I SO want it to be true though.

[dajoki]

99. I never recognized it as legitimate from the start...

but hopefully the masses will now see the total incompetence, corruption and illegitimacy.

[colsohlibgal]

101. I Hope It Is Curtains For That Idiot

His core, his most devoted fans would not abandon him even if he did coldly shoot someone on 5th Avenue.

But you would think educated suburban moderate Republicans , particularly Women, are abandoning him daily. This crisis has underscored he is not fit at all to be President. He has solidified his position as the worst President ever and by a wide margin.

[Martin Eden]

104. "a massive defect in leadership that stems from a ...

... massive defect in character."

That's it, in an orange nut shell of a sorry excuse of a human being.

[Thomas Hurt]

105. It ain't over until they drag the amoral pig from the WH and toss him into a limo back to NY.

[Sophia_Of_PlanetX]

107. This is "He's Done!" #88532

This has been proclaimed so many times, it's impossible to take it seriously. Trump was done when Stormy Daniels came out. He was done when he locked kids in cages, and killed an Iranian commander. He was also done when he was impeached, and when he ruined American farmers' lives with tariffs.

It was not so then, and it's not so now. Like before, Americans will simply make excuses and rally around him. There is absolutely nothing he could do to lose support. Everything now is "Obama's fault" or "the media's fault."

[NNadir]

108. I would truncate the title sentence to read "He knows nothing." n/t.