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"Bottom line," writes Reich: "It's not over." Not even close. (Photo: Kena Betancur/AFP/Gety Images)
Will Trump Survive?
Be sure of this: this superb conman will not go easily... or quietly
Aug 23, 2018
Many of the "insiders" I talk with are convinced that Cohen's virtual naming of Trump as an criminal co-conspirator, combined with other bombshells Cohen can set off, and Mueller's likely findings of Trump's collusion with the Russians, his longstanding business fraud, and obstruction of justice, will all spell the end. Democrats will take back the House, begin an impeachment, pile up overwhelming evidence of impeachable offenses, and put enough pressure on Republican senators to convict him and send him packing.
"We'll be lucky if he loses in 2020. And even if he loses, we'll be fortunate if he concedes without being literally carried out of the Oval Office amid the stirrings of civil insurgency."
I think this is way too optimistic. No president in history has been convicted by the Senate of impeachment. Regardless of what happens to the House, Republicans will almost certainly remain in control of the Senate after November, anyway, and so far they've displayed the integrity of lizards. Fox News and the rest of the right-wing sleaze media will continue to distort and cover up - convincing 35 to 40 percent of America that Trump is the victim.
And Trump himself will never voluntarily resign. He'll lie and claim a conspiracy to unseat him. Most Americans already knew he's a crook and a liar. After all, he's spent his whole career engineering scams and riding above the law. But he's a superb conman, an entertainer-demagogue capable of sowing so much confusion and instigating so much hate and paranoia that he has already survived outrages that would have broken any other loathsome presidency - Helsinki, Charlottesville, firings and coverups, racist slurs, clear corruption.
We'll be lucky if he loses in 2020. And even if he loses, we'll be fortunate if he concedes without being literally carried out of the Oval Office amid the stirrings of civil insurgency.
Bottom line: It's not over. All of us who care about the fate of this nation and the world will continue to be in the fight of our lives.
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
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Robert Reich
Robert Reich, is the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. His book include: "Aftershock" (2011), "The Work of Nations" (1992), "Beyond Outrage" (2012) and, "Saving Capitalism" (2016). He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good" (2019). He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.
Many of the "insiders" I talk with are convinced that Cohen's virtual naming of Trump as an criminal co-conspirator, combined with other bombshells Cohen can set off, and Mueller's likely findings of Trump's collusion with the Russians, his longstanding business fraud, and obstruction of justice, will all spell the end. Democrats will take back the House, begin an impeachment, pile up overwhelming evidence of impeachable offenses, and put enough pressure on Republican senators to convict him and send him packing.
"We'll be lucky if he loses in 2020. And even if he loses, we'll be fortunate if he concedes without being literally carried out of the Oval Office amid the stirrings of civil insurgency."
I think this is way too optimistic. No president in history has been convicted by the Senate of impeachment. Regardless of what happens to the House, Republicans will almost certainly remain in control of the Senate after November, anyway, and so far they've displayed the integrity of lizards. Fox News and the rest of the right-wing sleaze media will continue to distort and cover up - convincing 35 to 40 percent of America that Trump is the victim.
And Trump himself will never voluntarily resign. He'll lie and claim a conspiracy to unseat him. Most Americans already knew he's a crook and a liar. After all, he's spent his whole career engineering scams and riding above the law. But he's a superb conman, an entertainer-demagogue capable of sowing so much confusion and instigating so much hate and paranoia that he has already survived outrages that would have broken any other loathsome presidency - Helsinki, Charlottesville, firings and coverups, racist slurs, clear corruption.
We'll be lucky if he loses in 2020. And even if he loses, we'll be fortunate if he concedes without being literally carried out of the Oval Office amid the stirrings of civil insurgency.
Bottom line: It's not over. All of us who care about the fate of this nation and the world will continue to be in the fight of our lives.
Robert Reich
Robert Reich, is the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. His book include: "Aftershock" (2011), "The Work of Nations" (1992), "Beyond Outrage" (2012) and, "Saving Capitalism" (2016). He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good" (2019). He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.
Many of the "insiders" I talk with are convinced that Cohen's virtual naming of Trump as an criminal co-conspirator, combined with other bombshells Cohen can set off, and Mueller's likely findings of Trump's collusion with the Russians, his longstanding business fraud, and obstruction of justice, will all spell the end. Democrats will take back the House, begin an impeachment, pile up overwhelming evidence of impeachable offenses, and put enough pressure on Republican senators to convict him and send him packing.
"We'll be lucky if he loses in 2020. And even if he loses, we'll be fortunate if he concedes without being literally carried out of the Oval Office amid the stirrings of civil insurgency."
I think this is way too optimistic. No president in history has been convicted by the Senate of impeachment. Regardless of what happens to the House, Republicans will almost certainly remain in control of the Senate after November, anyway, and so far they've displayed the integrity of lizards. Fox News and the rest of the right-wing sleaze media will continue to distort and cover up - convincing 35 to 40 percent of America that Trump is the victim.
And Trump himself will never voluntarily resign. He'll lie and claim a conspiracy to unseat him. Most Americans already knew he's a crook and a liar. After all, he's spent his whole career engineering scams and riding above the law. But he's a superb conman, an entertainer-demagogue capable of sowing so much confusion and instigating so much hate and paranoia that he has already survived outrages that would have broken any other loathsome presidency - Helsinki, Charlottesville, firings and coverups, racist slurs, clear corruption.
We'll be lucky if he loses in 2020. And even if he loses, we'll be fortunate if he concedes without being literally carried out of the Oval Office amid the stirrings of civil insurgency.
Bottom line: It's not over. All of us who care about the fate of this nation and the world will continue to be in the fight of our lives.
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