Quote of the Day (Joe Klein, on Voters Who View ‘Smart’ and ‘Stupid’ People)

“A smart guy, according to [Donald] Trump, is someone who is wise enough to cheat. Stupid people abide by the law and attend their refugee status hearings; smart ones abscond. Stupid people pay their debts; smart ones stiff their lenders and dare them to sue. Stupid people believe their elected officials; smart people know the game is rigged. The most distressing aspect of Trump’s enduring appeal, even in defeat, is how many Americans seem to agree with him.”—American journalist-novelist Joe Klein, “Honor Code” (review of James Comey’s Saving Justice), The New York Times Book Review, Jan. 17, 2021

Joe Klein’s note of caution following the defeat of Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential election is worth bearing in mind today, even as progressives sing “Happy Days Are Here Again” and celebrate what The Daily Show termed “The Bluebonic Plague” suffered by the President’s MAGA allies at all levels of government.

Certainly Democrats can be glad that the President can no longer run amok with Cabinet and judicial appointments unhindered by spineless Capitol Hill operatives, and that their majorities are so sweeping that they are unlikely to be hindered by Democratic Socialists (far smaller than their GOP counterpart, the Freedom Caucus) or the defection of Pennsylvania’s answer to Lurch of The Addams Family, John Fetterman.

It’s also heartening to see how deflated (if still delusional) Trump has sounded following the resounding rebuke of the midterms.

Nevertheless, multiple obstacles remain if Democrats are to undo the devastation following Trump’s return to power in January 2025. Despite the catastrophes that inevitably befall administrations, he has proven, time and again, to be the Rasputin of modern American politics: a figure who can survive multiple wounds that would be fatal to normal mortals.

So much of that endurance derives from the unscrupulousness that Klein identified nearly six years ago. Learning all too well the lessons taught by his father and his longtime lawyer-mentor Roy Cohn, Trump has become masterful at dodging the law and projecting valid charges back onto accusers.

At the same time, he has administered a massive shot of cynicism that the American body politic, already enervated by this virus, will have enormous difficulty eradicating.

The barriers in overcoming Trump’s certain vetoes are only one example of why Democratic officeholders and the voters who put them in office will need to maintain patience and hard-headed realism before 2028.

Even one of their best potential tools—their investigative power as lawmakers—has its limitations, as expertly outlined in commentator and former GOP speechwriter David Frum in a podcast discussion with Dave Rapallo, former longtime staff director of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Yes, Trump is, by standard measures, a lame duck. But as with everything else with him, all tradition falls by the wayside.

The first assumption is that he will leave office on January 20, 2029. Often, his apologists claim that he doesn’t really mean some of his stunning breaks with precedent, then excuse his attempts to transform his free-floating speculations into actuality.

Nevertheless, it’s notable that in 2016, shortly after he said, “Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," Putin’s intelligence service “began targeting email accounts associated with Hillary Clinton for possible hacks,” observed special counsel Robert Mueller.

In that light, it’s disturbing that he has joked about running again, despite the 22^nd Amendment’s limits on Presidents to two terms. His defiance of a measure that his own party was instrumental in passing 75 years ago, in belated frustration over FDR’s four successful Presidential races, should not be lightly dismissed.

Or consider this: how can he prevent being indicted 2 1/2 years from now? Only two methods guarantee that outcome: supporting a bid to succeed him by Don Jr. (even if his only son is unaware that Ohio is already a state) or keeping the job himself.

A tenacious hold on the party faithful could complicate what seem like efforts by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice-President J.D. Vance to distance themselves from the Iran War. 

In the best of times, a President can wield tremendous, nearly unhindered power in foreign power, and that remains even more the case with a President who launched and continued with an invasion of Iran without even a by-your-leave consultation with Congress.

So pardon me if I part company with New York Times columnist Lydia Polgreen who summarized the election results as meaning, “Decency won.”

A cornered rat remains dangerous, so it’s premature to think that Trump won’t inflict fresh damage. Don’t be surprised if so many of us turn on the evening news, after the current hallelujahs fade, and ask, a la Dorothy Parker, “What fresh hell is this?”