If they step out of line
Trump’s rage-tweets about Mitt Romney may be intended as an Awful Warning for any other Republicans thinking of failing to back Trump no matter what he does or says.
The acrimonious exchange is the latest turn in the up-and-down relationship between the two men, who share a party but are miles apart on questions of style, propriety, and adherence to institutional norms.
The vehemence of Trump’s tweets also served as a signal to other GOP lawmakers that Trump is willing to direct his ire at them if they step out of line and offer a hint of support to Democrats’ impeachment efforts against him.
It’s not as if they don’t already know that though. Everybody knows that. Everybody knows that Trump will turn on anyone, no matter how loyal for how long.
It’s also possible (though not likely, given their crawling thus far) that the bully signal might backfire. A few of them might get sick of being threatened by this horrible talentless bag of wind, and decide to do what he’s trying to stop them doing.
I’m thinking it might not take too many of them remembering their bipedal vertebrate heritage to stnd up and oppose him, for more of them to follow suit and jump ship ( to mix metaphores). If enough of them decide in their political calculus that supporting him is no longer worth it, that his threats are no longer credible, and that for their own electoral survival that he is more of a liability than an asset, Trump’s toast. A lot of ifs, but one can hope. Trump’s a wounded animal, and with more and more blood in the water, nobody can be sure just what all these minnows, who are potential sharks, might do.
Yes, given that Trump keeps piling outrages on top of each other, a few more outraged Republicans could create a tipping point. If that comes, it will come quickly, with the politicians insisting that hey— their mind suddenly changed!
I suspect this tipping point will track with a tipping point of Republican voters. Trump courting them with Nice Things could backfire, if his supporters think they no longer need his support.
I think Trump can be summed up by looking at the world according to the lessons of the Apprentice.
1) Power is finite. There can only be one winner.
2) Alliances are situational and transitory
3) Lying, backstabbing, and villainy are useful tools and make for better TV
4) People may complain about ‘3’ but without it they don’t tune in
5) If you win you won’t give a shit how popular you were with the viewers
6) There is no future, just stay in the game for another day
7) There’s nothing that can’t be spun through editing
8) People always prefer theater to substance
@Pliny #3;
That was masterful.
@ Pliny – excellent, and not only no future, no history either.
No past, no future, only RATINGS.
New variation on “If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?”
If everybody stopped watching Trump, would he disappear? (SQUEEZES EYES TIGHT, HOPING FOR THE BEST.)