General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsscandals don't just happen. they happen for a reason. i think... maybe... donnie may have gone too far.
political scandals usually don't just happen.
no politician has full control over their image. to some extent, they are at the mercy of what others say about them, and what the media decides to publish, what they decide to zero in on, etc.
there's the occassional george santos, who walks onto the stage only to self-immolate, but for the most part, scandals happen what someone decides it's time to attack the victim. don't get me wrong, sometimes some people decide the right time to attack the victim is "always", but if only for the timing, if there's a scandal, there's someone with an agenda.
no one has benefitted more from the support of others in the creation and maintenance of their image as donnie. he's done countless things that would be instant, career-killing scandals, but he's had the support of the media, starting with hate radio and foxnews and spreading to the rest of the media to varying degrees.
to the point where he could get convicted of 34 felonies and the media covered it and quickly yawned after allowing him extensive coverage of his baseless whines about not getting a fair trial, without pointing out the this is the most obvious whine of any guilty person. or noting that they insisted that hillary's career would be instantly over if she was even indicted, when apparently no one cares about even actual convictions.
since getting back in the oval office, donnie has been flexing his muscles in a way he never could before. but did he go too far?
he's actually criticized putin. i honestly never thought i'd see the day. this isn't some sudden realization that putin is a liar, as some have naively portrayed it. this was a power play. putin helped create this monster, and the monster if feeling like he's king of the world, and he's picking a fight with his old master thinking he's now strong enough to break free of his control.
he's taking on the media as well. one by one, he can pick a fight with cbs or the wall street street journal, as he's had success fighting universities and businesses one by one.
but i'm starting to think donnie may have taken on too many too quickly. i think murdoch is fighting back, and looking around, he's now able to find a lot of allies who used to cover for donnie but who are starting to get pissed off and thinking maybe they need to take him down a notch, or three.
then, they say, what to do about it? well, at this point, do they even need donnie any more? i think they figured they needed him to win this last election, and maybe, maybe, they needed him to get the one big bombastic blunder act passed. but at this point, they've got the trifecta even if donnie resigns, and vance would be more predictable. business can't plan with this tariff nonsense and he's not doing anything for the right-wing agenda that vance can't do.
besides, it seems plausible that he's on his last legs. he's visibly lost his mojo, he didn't campaign with much energy at all, in fact his campaign was by far the most lethargic i've even seen for a major party candidate. he's often seated and slow-moving, never mind the mysterious hand bruising and so on.
so the real powers behind the scenes -- the ones who control his image -- could well be figuring it's time to throw him to the wolves. but they can't get rid of him over policy, because they want to keep the entire fascist apparatus in place. so it has to be a very personal scandal.
the epstein scandal fits the bill. note that the media could easily protect donnie as they've already done in the past on many issues and even specifically related to epstein. just the couple images would have been enough to destroy any democrat, but they protected him.
all the have to do is stop protecting him and ask the normal questions, finally treat him like any other politician and stop making ridiculously biased exceptions for donnie.
and donnie is livid because the media isn't playing the game he's used to anymore.
there's no real "news" here. no new testimony or secrets revealed. this is a scandal, and a scandal now, because some key people decided to stop covering for him.
i think he flexed his muscles a bit too far and pissed off the wrong people and they're done with him.
we'll be left with vance in charge of the trifecta and fully functional authoritarian apparatus, so i'm not exactly rejoicing. this is not our liberation.
but it may mean that donnie...
... finally...
... may get a fraction of what he deserves.

bucolic_frolic
(51,529 posts)He's no use to them now. He'll can take the blame for Fascism, and Vance can tune up in office earlier then expected.
sop
(15,254 posts)This "scandal" is being orchestrated from within his own MAGA movement so Trump's diehard supporters can't blame outside forces for his downfall.
PJMcK
(23,950 posts)And well thought out.
Will it manifest? We'll see.
DET
(2,118 posts)The powers behind the scene, whoever they are - Putin, billionaires, corporations, tech bros, religious right, Project 25 wingnuts
- appear to have decided that Donalds cons (so to speak) outweigh his pros. The handwriting is on the wall. The Epstein scandal is perfect since it allows the powers that be to get rid of Trump without alienating much of the base. Im wondering if they might actually make a deal for Trump to retire gracefully in return for a pardon for any crimes for which he can be pardoned. Trump would have to be stifled indefinitely, however, or hed constantly be undermining the new administration.
Of course, then we get Vance, who presents his own problems. But at least the insanity might be less capricious and chaotic. And the base is not going to like their new President, who has zero charisma and comes across more as an effete intellectual than as a hillbilly. Who knows what would happen with Vance in charge, other than a continuation of the authoritarianism that his handlers love.
At some point, however, this whole thing has got to come to a head. Three hundred and fifty million Americans are not going to accept being ruled by a dictator while their future is destroyed by a cabal of crazy people.