CT Blue

This is all over the internet I guess, but for my purposes this description, from the Palmer report, will do.

At around 10:00am eastern time, Trump posted a factually questionable three-part tweet about Corker: “Senator Bob Corker “begged” me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee. I said “NO” and he dropped out (said he could not win without my endorsement). He also wanted to be Secretary of State, I said “NO THANKS.” He is also largely responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal! Hence, I would fully expect Corker to be a negative voice and stand in the way of our great agenda. Didn’t have the guts to run!” About an hour later, Corker decided to hit back.

Senator Corker tweeted “It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.” (link). Although Trump has around three hundred times as many followers as Corker does, Corker’s tweet has already received far more likes and retweets than Trump’s got. This may mark a serious turning point in the inevitable downfall of Donald Trump, due to the unique situation Corker is in.

This is the sort of thing that makes you think that he needs really intense day care.

If Trump actually cared about accomplishing anything of substance, he would utter such a remark only if he was also so stupid that he was unable to even contemplate the consequences of his actions. I used to scorn people who insisted that Obama was playing three dimensional chess in his dealings with other politicians, but he was certainly able to look ahead more than a few moves. Trump is more like the guy who blunders so badly that he clears a path for his opponents pawn to become a queen, rather than take the pawn.

Corker is not running again, but he will be a senator for another year in an almost evenly divided Senate. That means that he and any other random Republican Senator can stop anything that Trump wants to do. Even if what Trump tweeted was true, and it clearly is not, it was an unbelievably stupid thing for him to do. For the rest of us, it’s good news and bad news. The good news being that Trump is less likely to wreak havoc legislatively, the bad news being that we are now more sure than ever that the man with his finger on the button is both mentally ill and …well, … a “dotard”.

Of course, Trump doesn’t really care about any of the policies he’s pushing. He could be selling the exact opposite of each, and be perfectly comfortable with it. He just wants to win, but it’s hard to see him winning when he goes out of his way to insult someone who has nothing to lose by opposing him.

By the way, I’ve written before that I’ve often had my doubts about the reporting in the Palmer Report, but I must admit it’s a guilty pleasure. So long as you reserve judgment, and take none of the factual assertions as gospel until confirmed elsewhere, it’s a fun read. My own take is the facts are usually right, but the conclusions drawn are sometimes suspect. If you keep your mind engaged it’s worth reading.