The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson, a very fine journalist and gentleman who often lends his avuncular presence to the various shows on MSNBC, highlighted something truly bizarre while speaking to Brian Williams tonight: the President of the United States has been kicked off of Twitter and Facebook for the night because it isn’t safe to give him the opportunity to incite more violence, but he’s still sitting in the White House and still has the nuclear codes.
One hopes that whoever has custody of the “football” is making himself scarce tonight, and that the Joint Chiefs have decided that illegal insubordination would be preferable at this point to taking any sort of orders from the White House with respect to the use of America’s atomic arsenal – or for that matter, any other part of America’s vast military and security apparatus.
Meanwhile, Trump lurks tonight somewhere within a literally darkened White House, probably stewing in his own fetid juices, and for all we know plotting his next move. What happened today was literally an attempted coup incited by the outgoing President. Unbelievable – and is that it? Is this over? Is he to be allowed to sit there, scheming God knows what for two more weeks? Two painfully long, nerve-wracking weeks?
The only sane thing now is for the Cabinet to assemble and invoke the 25th Amendment. Congress should certainly impeach him too, just to prevent him from ever again holding office, but we can’t wait for that sort of process. Trump must be removed, immediately, not as overdue punishment for his myriad sins, the worst of which, incredibly, have occurred within the last four days, but because it simply isn’t safe to let him stay. He’s nuts and he’s dangerous, and thinks he has infinite power. The time to teach him different is now – right now. Tonight. Before he can get back on to social media. Before he starts issuing orders to possibly compliant members of America’s military and security establishment, or to the brainstems in his MAGA army, almost none of whom have been accounted for, much less arrested, after being dispersed today. Maybe they’ve gone home. Maybe not. Maybe they’re all hanging around town waiting for the next directive from Dear Leader. It’s idiotic to wait and see.
I wish I believed that Pence, Pompeo, and whoever else is left had both the balls and the wisdom to act.
My God. What will tomorrow bring? And there he sits…
the needlefish 