Helsinki--the Tipping Point?

[Dill]

(07-18-2018, 12:25 AM)hollodero Wrote: I guess you're right about Trump's personality, I can see him lashing out and tweeting awful things, I'm not so sure it matters much. With Congress, I suppose that's right also, but with these Republicans I don't see it happening. A neutered party is what I see, that already took so many steps into the mess for Trump that it's hard to suddenly stop and admit all the dirt. Especially when most republican voters won't appreciate it.
And the step that would be needed is conservatives voting democrat for the good of the country in those Midterms. Which I'd say would be the right thing to do, but already I saw the question posed who else to possibly vote for, so I guess others don't agree with that stance.
After all, hey the economy is good.

As some conservative journalists have come to understand, the great success--and disaster--for the Republican party has been to convince the electorate that nothing is worse than a liberal politician.  That is why there is such paralysis among them--Trump is terrible, incompetent, a vulgar and mean person, a pathological liar, but who else could they possibly vote for if he is the Republican candidate?

Trump's now-more-fragile personality will only indirectly affect Congress. The immediate effect will be upon his staff and cabinet. Let us see if the volume of leaks and resignations/firings increases over the next month. If that happens, it will pose governance problems, problems for Congress. Remember that next week a weakened but still uncontrollable (by his lawyers and advisors) Trump will deliver a whole new set of errors to dominate the news cycle, as the steady, focused and disciplined Mueller grinds on with with the Russia investigation, pushing Trump to still riskier behavior. This cannot end well.

Pundits still speak of how Congress is fearful of the Trump base in coming elections. But some of that base is peeling away--especially military and ex-miitary. They could swallow "strong" Trump, but not weak Trump and Putin.  Republicans within the party continue to oppose Trump and work to "save" it. Helsinki made their job much easier.  The bubble is breaking.

NB: more from Fox: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/07/17/ohio-gop-leader-resigns-over-trump-putin-helsinki-summit.html
And Dems are pushing to subpoena Trump's translator.https://www.rt.com/usa/433572-democrats-trump-putin-translator/. Will some GOP support this?