by James Wallace Harris, Thursday, March 30, 2017
Like most liberals who are horrified by Donald Trump, we’re wondering when his reign will be over. Many of us assume even the conservatives will eventually tire of him, looking hopefully to 2020 as the light at the end of the tunnel.
Now that Ivanka Trump will become a federal employee makes me question that hope. I assumed Trump wanted his family members working with him because he knew he wasn’t always rational and needed his family close by to keep him in check. Most liberals worried about nepotism. I’ve also read powerful, paranoid men trust their families more than outsiders. But what if Trump has bigger plans?
What if Trump hopes to found a Trump political dynasty like the Kennedys, Bushes, and Clintons? What if he hopes Ivanka will be the first woman president? Is that any crazier of an idea than Trump becoming president?
We liberals have to admit that the conservatives have us routed. However, Trump isn’t a traditional Republican, so our only hope will be conservatives and independents turning against him. Independents are why Trump succeeded in 2016. Basically our country is roughly one third diehard liberal, one third diehard conservative and one third switch hitters. Trump succeeds as long as he maintains a coalition between conservatives and independents. Liberals can only regain power if they can get independents to embrace our causes. Trump proved most independent voters don’t.
I have to assume with an ego like Donald Trump’s, becoming president is very validating. Having your kids succeed you would be even more ego boosting. Will the independents go along with that? Conservatives follow Trump because they think he’ll get them what they want. How many years can Trump keep his coalition going?
2020 might not be the tunnel exit.
JWH
Auxiliary Memory 
Trump is going to have to do some things right and things that work for the American people before he’s able to get any kind of dynasty going. He’s got a LONG ways to go.
Becky, I’m only trying to guess what he’s thinking. Trying to figure out what will actually happen is much more ambitious, and probably impossible.
What’s going on his his head? – lol! Yes, I really wouldn’t put it past him to be thinking along dynasty lines, but it’s a total pipe dream – he’s not “planning” anything rationally. He wants his family members (except for Melania) close because, imo, he’s very insecure and paranoid.
I doubt he’s capable of thinking that strategically, or that long term … at least not on his own.
So, are you saying Ivanka is the brains behind Pa?
I was thinking more of the carpetbaggers he’s surrounded himself with, but Ivanka? If she was that aware, I’d’ve thought she’d distance herself from him, and the hedonistic/’celebrity’ lifstyle further than she has. Time will tell though, eh? 🙂
When I wake up screaming in the night I will call YOU!!! One more thing to worry about! 🙂
Whether or not our democratic Republic has the resiliency to survive a purely ego driven leadership (uneducated in the fine points of politics) is yet to be known. Andrew Jackson has a popular history as a maverick President, but much of his other political life is seen differently. And those were very different days compared to 2017.
Much more important is the new aristocracy that is becoming embedded into our “republic’s” fabric. Corporations are “people”, and can influence elections with almost unlimited power (wealth). It might be important to know just how those corporations make decisions regarding political issues that can affect their “bottom line”. Since most of us do not have access to the inner workings of corporate planning and investment, we may never know what a giant corporation actually wants. It might be useful to know just what it is that the very few powerful and rich people who own and or direct those corporations want. But that is is unlikely.
I urge anyone worried about that to research the history of how that undefined definition of “people” made it’s way into our current understanding of the Constitution. Here’s a start: http://www.thomhartmann.com/unequal-protection/excerpt-theft
Yes, it is long and winding, and it doesn’t reveal an actionable smoking gun about how something that was never alive can be a “person”. It is however, very interesting. But don’t stop there. Keep looking.
Whatever happens in the next month or two, we may be in for an interesting experiment: how does the entrenched government respond when leadership tries to undo years of past policy and practice, and then embark on a completely new path, regardless of the consequences?
Most importantly, how does the American Public (voters, non-voters; citizens, non-citizens; Baby Boomers and Millennials) respond to the outcome?
Got your plowshares handy?
Love or hate him you have to the admit the gnashing of teeth is hilarious.