CT Blue

First of all, I want to make clear that I had the germ of the idea for this post before I read Gail Collins column this morning, in which she suggests it’s time for the genius to throw Rudy under the bus. Parenthetically, the underside of that bus is now so crowded that Rudy would have to be squeezed in.

But I digress. Well, that’s what “parenthetically” sort of means, doesn’t it?

Also, I want to make clear that, obviously, given the above claim and the chronology involved, I did not get the idea after reading that Fox and Friends might have read Collins column and agreed with it, though I’m guessing they didn’t mention a bus.

Anyway, I’m not suggesting that Rudy join all those other guys under the bus, though that would certainly be a good move on the part of the genius. I’m suggesting that maybe it’s time for the genius to join his friends under that fabled means of conveyance.

The standard disclaimer applies. The following assumes that the Democrats don’t do something to blow it in 2020, which would render the following unnecessary.

Let’s look at the facts on the ground. After the testimony this week, and the facts that will be coming out over the course of an impeachment investigation that we can only hope will consume a fair amount of time, Susan Collins will not be the only Republican facing a fatal conundrum: abandon Trump and lose the base, or stick with Trump and lose the sane. Polls continue to show that the sane are a significant (about 55%!) share of the American electorate. You can’t win without at least some of their votes, and any Republican that sticks with Trump and echoes his idiotic talking points puts him or herself at substantial risk. Even McConnell is facing a tough race, in a state where the sane are a far smaller percentage of the electorate than nationwide.

The question, of course, is how does one install the genius under the motor coach without pissing off the base?

There is an obvious answer: Lie to them. They’ll believe anything, provided the lies are properly sourced. What better source than Fox? It seems to me that now is the time for Mitch and the other slime to go to Fox and tell them to start propagandizing against Trump. All they have to do is get a head start on the line they would otherwise have started peddling if Trump were to lose in 2020: that he was never a real conservative and he’s actually part of some Democratic conspiracy. After all, before he incarnated as a right wing Republican, he gave money to Democrats, supported legal abortion, and actually once said he was for single payer. He is obviously a Democratic double agent, who infiltrated the Republican Party with the intent to destroy it from within, with the help of his Russian accomplices. The base loves to be told that it’s been or being victimized, so frame it that way and before you know it, they’ll be backing his impeachment. Are there contradictions involved in this? Of course, but if it’s one thing the base can live with it’s contradictions, just like Walt Whitman!

Some might say that this is more than just a “Hail Mary” and that it’s more like a whole rosary. But such people should be reminded of the wisdom that Connecticut Native Charles Barnum never actually uttered, but is nonetheless true: “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.” And remember, in this case, you only have to underestimate the intelligence of people who watch Fox, which is totally impossible.