Op-Education

I love the anonymous op-ed yesterday in the New York Times for what it is, a very public, authoritative takedown of Trump and the personal dangers he poses.  I’m less admiring of some of the specifics, though they pale compared to what this signifies
 
I completely understand why it was done anonymously, and wouldn’t have expected otherwise.  As David Jolly said on MSNBC though, and many others have said subsequently, the author would have done a greater service to the country if he or she had spoken on the record.  Being anonymous allows for so much wiggle room and finger pointing that it risks distractions from the larger point.
 
Also, when the author writes, “The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House. Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful” – that sounds great, and there’s a lot of truth to it.  But…while covering up Trump’s worst tendencies and his most dangerous ones, it’s also served to normalize him for the past year-and-a-half and let him keep his approval as "high" as it is (even though it’s quite low).  It’s allowed him to keep support in the middle ground and among Republican officials, as well as put into action disastrous policies that otherwise might have been checked.  It's also not how the United States government is supposed to work, having administration staff members -- high high-ranking ones -- undercutting an elected president, even an unstable dangerous one.  If a president is that unstable and dangerous (as I believe Trump is) he should not be protected just so you can get across the immigration policies you like, and appoint the judges you want.  This was an important op-ed, and the actions that officials and staffer took had benefits, but none of it is "heroic."
 
Don’t get me wrong, I love that the op-ed was written, and love the angst it must be causing in the White House, and love the cover it’s giving Bob Woodward’s book.  And love that it might push some Republicans to be less aggressive in their support, since the hole it might put them.  So, I’m very glad for it.  But there are things that bother me about it, too.  Even though they pale in comparison to the far-bigger picture.

A friend asked me last night if I thought the New York Times should have printed it anonymously, if it perhaps let people on the right complain about the paper being biased.  I don't know if they should have printed it anonymously -- but that's on general principle.  But as I said to my friend, op-ed pages of all newspapers are subjective, that's the point of "opinion."  Its' the news pages that are supposed to be objective.  And besides, anyone on the right who might think the New York Times is biased in its reporting on Trump has come to that opinion long along.  This didn't change anything.  Also, as much as an anonymous op-ed allows Trump to whine about that, by now that's a case of the Boy Who Cried Wolf -- if the op-ed has been signed and had a full page photo of the author, Trump would have called it fake and found every reason to demean it.  In the end, the author will be revealed at some point, and all that will be remembered about it as the administration teeters is that it was written, and was an important voice.  So, while it would have been best by far to not have been published anonymously, I don't have a big problem issue with it.
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What I'm as much interested in, though, is the Republican Party reaction to it.  And the response by Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) stands for much of it, even with him being one of the few occasionally-critical GOP officials.  He said, "This is what all of us have understood to be the situation from day one... I understand this is the case and that’s why I think all of us encourage the good people around the President to stay. I thank General Mattis whenever I see him..."

Note to Bob Corker and all Republicans in Congress: If indeed ALL Republican senators and congressmen knew this from Day One (and I'm sure they did, because word spreads fast in those halls), and did nothing about it, but rather enabled this sick man to lead them, it reinforces how complicit they are in being Russian assets.

As pretty much all things are in Washington these day, this story is not about Trump.  It is about the elected officials of the Republican Party

We should encourage the good people around Trump to show how dangerous he is, not cover up for him