Why Hasn't The NYT OpEd Been More Effective.....

[global1]

One would think that given the message Anonymous was conveying that this OpEd would have been the final nail in Trump's coffin. That the Repugs in Congress would finally get the message and move to remove Trump from office.

Instead most of the interest in the OpEd revolves around the identity of 'Anonymous'. It was made a game by the MSM and people are still putting in their guesses as to who wrote this OpEd.

Now why wasn't this OpEd more effective? My guess is how Trump handled the furor surrounding this OpEd. We always hear in the background that he is furious. He is volcanic. He is obsessed with finding out who the author is and punishing him/her.

Well - when we finally see Trump - he never looks volcanic or furious. He acts his normal insane and lying self and we never see him flying off the handle. Therefore - in the eyes of his supporters - he maintains some credibility.

Just once I'd like to see him - in public - go off the deep end with anger, fury and with a volcanic reaction. However, we people never see him in that state. He has a way of controlling himself when he appears in public. He may lie. He may say outlandish things. He might peck at people. But he never flies off the handle in public. As a result - we never get to see the behind the scenes described person.

Until we see Trump melt down in public - he'll continue to maintain the upper hand in these situations.

Now he has 'deep state' and 'treason' messages going for him with this OpEd.

And the more that comes out about his own treason or treasonous acts - he's able to flip in around and use that to counteract any accusations against him.

[onenote]

1. Because it told folks what they already knew.

[Brainstormy]

4. Exactly.

No real revelations there.

[bitterross]

15. Correct. It's not a surprise or news. Just another confirmation.

It's just ANOTHER confirmation of what every thinking person knows.

The Trump cult won't believe anything other than what he says so it doesn't matter to them.

[Guilded Lilly]

22. Totally agree. Most of the so called ...

“Bombshell “ bs that litters the media is a huge “nothing new”. They are mostly meaningless drama queen verbiage.

Apparently (except the dense and hideously dimwit Reality Show Infected Media) everyone was well aware of the corruption, lies, law breaking, treason embracing, collusion riddled, Putin-stained, self-preserving, wretchedly anti-humanity dung heap that is the Republican Party in America.

“I told you so”s are pointless. Sarcasm, while it gives some personal relief, doesn’t cure anything about the (non) revelations of Breaking News.
We already knew. From day one. We are the ones living the daily lives of the nightmare.

The ineffective and hesitant resistance and delayed OMG outrage of too many Democrats in Congress has almost broken our spirit countless times while we seethe in impotent frustration.
Almost.

We see warriors emerging.

But the pain is palpable. The continuing damage is extensive and deep.

Yeah. We already KNEW.

[Pope George Ringo II]

34. Absolutely agree

Trump voters are no more interested in reality than they were in 2016 or 2017. A highly-placed source inside the White House, Woodward doing a methodical take-down, these things are just annoyances. Breitbart and Fox are trustworthy, though.

[Chemisse]

23. The only real surprise

Was the fact that somebody wrote it and the NYT published it anonymously.

The content just confirms what is evident to anyone paying attention.

[Hortensis]

32. Exactly to all above. PLUS, half the nation supports

Trump's presidency. That's enormous power.

They voted for the man, with all his emotional and moral pustules dripping in front of the cameras for all to see, as a way of opposing both Democrats and those who control their own party. They won and those goals haven't changed. Why on earth would just another condemnation of their choice have a major effect on them?

[Wounded Bear]

2. How would we know if "Trump melts down in public?"

Just askin'

[global1]

6. I Know That When We See Him At A Rally - He Talks Through His Hat.....

He lies. He says off the wall things. He gets his facts convoluted - but he never really flies off the handle and blows a gasket. He might call the press the enemy of the people. He might ask for the DOJ to find the author of this OpEd. But we never see him really get red in the face mad and act live a raging madman - like we hear of the descriptions of him behind the scenes in the WH.

We need to see him go on a rager. We need to see him completely lose it in public - yet he always acts with some semblance of control. We need to see Kelly or one of his handlers come up on stage to control him or march him off. However, he's too smart to let that happen.

[bearsfootball516]

3. Because those Republicans in Congress need the votes of Trump supporters to get reelected.

They'll never turn on him, because they know doing that means political suicide in their next election.

[LonePirate]

5. Elected Republicans fear 45's voters more than they love the country and the Constitution.

[underpants]

7. That's true but they also are riding him to push through their deeply held agenda

Tax cuts for the rich, deregulation, and filling the courts with hard right republican judges.

[LonePirate]

9. Pence would support that same agenda. But the deplorables would not because of 45 being ousted.

The deplorables don't give a damn about tax cuts for the rich or deregulation or right wing judges. They care about their racist leader. If Republicans turn on 45, the deplorables will turn on the Republicans and they won't be able to accomplish any of their goals.

[underpants]

14. Good point

If we look back, Trump really seized onto the Teabaggers and they pushed him to early wins and the ball got rolling. The establishment thought they'd quieted the baggers and only had to deal with the loose nuts mostly in the House - BTW they've done a really bad job of that. But they poked their heads back up and Trump got early wins with 20-25% (if that) of the vote.

Trump is the only person to have "won" without receiving a majority of the votes in the primaries AND the general election.

[hlthe2b]

8. Woodward is likely to echo some of the same so it might get more traction...

Unfortunately the "anonymity" aspect is hurting it, even while I find that to be more "spin" than anything. It lets MSM (as well as R Congress) off the hook, at least partially, from taking it as seriously as it ought to be.

[SMC22307]

10. Because Don the Con will be able to convince his meathead base...

that Social Security and Medicare need to be "fixed" and they'll gut it, privatize it, something... but we'll all be hosed. Plus, they're gonna get their permanent tax cuts for the wealthy. They're getting what they want -- they don't care how insane, erratic, whatever he is.

[OnDoutside]

11. We don't know what Anonymous intended. They could just be doing a CYA exercise. I think it has

added to the narrative of the WH being a clusterfeck, and Trump demanding an investigation made him look like a dictator. Also remember the effect this could have on the vital independent voter (which is who Dems need to reach).

[Nay]

20. That was my take on the letter. They still want all their shitty policies to get shoved on

through, but they want a figurehead who's not as visibly demented. Like Pence.

[OnDoutside]

33. Yes and that is the unspoken question : If they dumped Trump, would the never Trumpers jump back on

board ? Or have things gone to such a point that anyone who has moved away from the Republican Party, would not consider rejoining until the GOP is "repealed and replaced" ?

[tblue37]

12. The "who did it?" game is more entertaining , like the horserace focus on elections,

while ignoring policy positions.

[marylandblue]

13. Even a video of him flying off the handle wouldn't matter

His supporters like him because they think like him. They too get very angry in private but not in public. They too value loyalty over principles and professionalism. They watch reality shows and pro wrestling for these very moments. So they will enjoy any video. Or ignore it.

[underpants]

16. His rallies are a wrestling act

He plays "face" and "heel" with some violence (protestors) or threat of violence sprinkled in.

[fallout87]

17. It was the scandal of the day.

By this time next week, there will have been 3 more scandals for the Media to fodder over. This is the MO of this administration. Distract Distract Distract!

Meanwhile EPA regulations, judges being appointed, etc.

But nope! Let's all talk about a NYT's op-ed for hours and hours and hours.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. "... the final nail in Trump's coffin ..."

Attacking the parents of a dead soldier should have been the final nail. Belittling McCain's time as a POW should have been the final nail. "If your a star, you can grab 'em by the pussy" should have been the final nail.

His coffin is full of final nails.

And yet he abides.

[RhodeIslandOne]

19. Because everyone has dug in

This is not changing any minds. 70 percent of the nation knows he sucks. 30 percent are as fucking stupid, arrogant and racist as he is.

[Kaleva]

21. I fail to see any evidence that Trump has the upper hand in these situations.

Your comment:

" he'll continue to maintain the upper hand in these situations."

Primarily because of Trump, the Repubs are looking at losing the House and maybe even the Senate. Mueller is picking off associates and maybe even closing in on him, his family and The Trump Organization. Trump has made himself the laughing stock of the world. Only the RW nutters in Congress are publicly defending Trump.

His world is collapsing in on him. He cannot trust his own staff. He does not have the upper hand.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

24. Because it only confirms what had already become known

through months of leaks, Wolff's book, Omarosa's book and the pre-release parts of Woodward's book: that Trump is nuts and the WH is completely dysfunctional. "Anonymous" isn't any kind of hero - he and a few others are just propping up Trump and trying to keep him from starting WWIII or causing some other disaster while they make sure the GOP agenda is protected. If they fail to keep his tiny fingers off the big red nuke button they can at least pat themselves on the back and say, "Hey, we tried!" In the meantime they're implicitly begging Congress to impeach Trump so they can get rid of the nutball who's embarrassing them and at the same time keep their tax cuts.

[Garrett78]

25. The point was to say there's no reason to remove him. "We got this."

And, as others said, there was nothing new in the op-ed. The op-ed itself is unique; not the content.

[dlk]

26. The GOP has a Bigger Lock on the Media Than Anyone Will Admit

[aikoaiko]

27. I don't know anyone who thought the OpEd would be the final nail in Trump's coffin.

[Rustynaerduwell]

28. Until he actually shoots someone on Fifth Ave

Nothing is going to happen to him. And if the victim is an unarmed black man, nothing even then.

[Trust Buster]

29. Because the country has no idea who wrote it. Could have been anyone including the NYT.

[CentralMass]

30. It seems like slight of hand to create a diversion to take the focus off of Bob Woodward's book.

Also, despite trump appearing to be unhinged, incompetent, and bat shit crazy, there is something improper about penning an op-ed on how you are secretly working against a sitting pResident that you are working for. It could throw fuel on the fire for the deep state conspiracy theorists.

[emulatorloo]

35. I don't understand how a "Trump is Crazy" op-ed is a 'diversion' from a "Trump is Crazy" book

even though I’ve seen several here argue that.

If anything, the OP-ed supports the book.

Ymmv of course.

[CentralMass]

36. When it is penned by someone working for the administration it opens the door to a number of things

Whether you hate tRump or not an individual working for any administration who has openly admitted that he/she and others working for the Administration are secretly working against the pResident is unprecedented. Any administration would rightfully seek out such people and I suspect that the admission and acts are a serious matter. This ceded the issue to tRump and possibly compromised any efforts to keep the nutjob in check.

[ProudLib72]

31. I wish NYT had not published the op ed

I agree that it hasn't had a positive effect at all. Strange how anyone hand picked by Rump who is disloyal can be turned into a traitor and it isn't Rump's fault at all.