Heather Cox Richardson: "palpable sense of rats leaving a sinking ship"

[erronis]

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-16-2020

This is a very powerful piece.

The theme of the day was the palpable sense of rats leaving a sinking ship as Republicans, administration officials, and administration-adjacent people distanced themselves from the president.

There was a foreshadowing of that exodus on Wednesday, when Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) let loose about the president in a telephone call with constituents. Sasse was an early critic of Trump but toned down his opposition significantly in the early part of the administration. On Wednesday, he reverted to his earlier position, saying he had “never been on the Trump train.” He complained about the way Trump “kisses dictators’ butts,” and went on: "The United States now regularly sells out our allies under his leadership, the way he treats women, spends like a drunken sailor…. [He] mocks evangelicals behind closed doors...has treated the presidency like a business opportunity" and has "flirted with white supremacists." He said: “What the heck were any of us thinking, that selling a TV-obsessed, narcissistic individual to the American people was a good idea?"

The theme of abandoning the administration became apparent yesterday, when officials leaked the story that intelligence officials had warned Trump against listening to his lawyer Rudy Giuliani. This was a high-level leak, and suggests that more and more staffers are starting to look for a way off the S.S. Trump.

...

Meanwhile, at his rally tonight in Georgia, Trump told the crowd “You should… lock up the Bidens, lock up Hillary.” The crowd then began to chant “Lock them up.” But one thing about a bully: when people finally start to turn on him, there is a stampede for the exits.

Tonight, at his Georgia rally, Trump outlined all the ways in which he was being unfairly treated, then mused: “Could you imagine if I lose?... I’m not going to feel so good. Maybe I’ll have to leave the country, I don’t know.”

Can't imagine which country he and his family could go to.... I don't think vlad would have much use for him and his cohort any more.

[Newest Reality]

1. It may be a good idea...

It may be a good idea for a traitor to leave the country he has totally betrayed. It's less messy that way after you create chaos and division just to hold onto power.

A President who puts himself first and foremost is not only completely betraying his oath of office, he is kicking out the very foundations of our democracy because that is what tyrannical authoritarians do.

He wants four more years to finish that demolition off and he is literally begging for it now because the consequences may be far greater than mere winning or losing the office.

Trump want's his followers to FIGHT FOR HIM. Biden wants to FIGHT FOR US.

That's the real choice now.

[jaxexpat]

40. His fleeing the country would be the best case for Democrats and the country.

The argument makes itself.
1. Lawsuits to contest the validity of the election would evaporate with prejudice.
2. Republicans would be laughed off the stage for at least 2 election cycles.
3. They may be unable to survive their disastrous disadvantage at the local level.
3. They may even try to find safety in siding with Democrats when it comes to USSC impeachments.

A new season in which Democrats would finally be able to abuse their majority like they've been accused of since the 1960's.

[Buckeyeblue]

59. If he left the country we could claim 2016 was illegitimate

And start pressuring those appointed to resign.

[jaxexpat]

75. I like your thinking. It's legitimate after all these years of being forced to pretend.......

That Newt was legitimate.
That Liberal vs Conservative was legitimate.
That "Right to Life" was legitimate.
That "Liberal Media" was legitimate.
That 2nd amendment misinterpretation was legitimate.
That "death panels" was legitimate.
That Ronald Reagan was legitimate.
That trickle down economics was legitimate.
That Hillary bashing was legitimate.
That the White Water investigation was legitimate.
That 3 strikes mandatory minimums was legitimate.
That Ken Starr or John Bolton were legitimate.
That the K Street project was legitimate.
That Fox News and Rush Limbaugh was legitimate.
That the 2000 election was legitimate.
That the Patriot Act was legitimate.
That the Department of Homeland Security is legitimate.
That both Iraq wars were legitimate.
That the "war on terror" was legitimate.
That the "Tea Party" was legitimate.
That anti-Obama care was legitimate.
That birther-ism was legitimate.
That Donald Fucking Trump was legitimate.

There is definitely a swamp to drain. The days of the politician/attorney must end. We need a marshal with terminal disease and a long-list open warrant. I'm very tired now.

[Buckeyeblue]

77. I like your list...

[pandr32]

63. I agree and hope he flees

His choices of where to go would have to be places without an extradition treaty with us, though.
If he flees there will be no pardon.

Putin might give him a job as a clown, but he would likely wind up being invited for tea because he doesn't know how to behave.

[live love laugh]

76. Well said

[UpInArms]

2. He can go exchange love letters with Kim

In NK

[Girard442]

3. He could go hang out at an Esso gas station.

[getagrip_already]

41. I see what you did there......

And I love it.

[coeur_de_lion]

4. "Could you imagine if I lose?"

Everything on this imbecile's mind eventually comes out of his mouth.

He's telling us that if he loses he will leave the country. Oh please God.

[sarge43]

22. It delights the imagination, Moron. n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

25. Certainly, He Went Off Script

There's no way his speech writers put that in there.
I can hear their grimaces!

[wnylib]

34. Well, that's what foreign agents do

when they are no longer useful to the country where they operate. They move on to another one.

But will he get another assignment or be dropped completely by his foreign bosses? Wonder if he would be useful operating against the US from inside Russia?

With his businesses failing, debts coming due, and no more access to the US government for income to his properties, I hope we see him as broke as all the people he stiffed and those who lost jobs in the pandemic.

[Eyeball_Kid]

53. Subpoenas and warrants will be waiting for Trumpy-Boy the moment Biden is sworn in.

He won't have a chance to board any plane to leave the country.

[coeur_de_lion]

72. Good point

Hopefully they tag him before he has the chance to leave.

[SallyHemmings]

5. Benedict Arnold was a man without a country

May they float around on a beat up boat for the rest of their useless lives...

Except Barron. He can his last name.

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. This isn't how people act when they have a "secret plan" to steal the election...nt

[brewens]

7. Trump is probably worse than I am mocking evangelicals, and I am brutal! I think "W" did as

well. Didn't the guy running the faith based initiatives office complain about being mocked? Seems like I remember something about that.

[Andy823]

8. Take trump and all his cult followers

put them on an island in the middle of the ocean, and let them live their fantasy with trump as their ruler!

[wnylib]

42. Good idea. Let them prove to us that

climate change is a hoax. They should be safe on an island, right?

[DBoon]

78. Saint Helena ?

[Hekate]

79. Drop them off on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It's not sinking any time soon.

[George II]

9. He and Snowden can be roomies.

[PWPippinesq]

10. Great post, brother of mine.

It would be nice if the ship would sink quickly. if they do end up on an island, may it be one at sea level about to be inundated by the hoax of rising seas and climate change.

[musclecar6]

11. One can only hope

That loudmouth evil fool would leave the country. If Joe wins as we are all hoping for, my most fervent wish is, the media would take that microphone away from his mouth and never put it there again. Because after Joe wins who the fuck cares what that national disgrace ever has to say again.

[BarbD]

12. Where was Ben Sasse during impeachment?

These mealy mouthed republicans with no spine are trying to somehow redeem themselves. Sorry, where were you when this country needed you?

There are consequences for inaction and sticking your head in the sand.

Now, step aside and let the true patriots of the United States of America rebuild a better America.

[Cosmocat]

20. YEP - fornicate the POS

he has eyes on the 2024 nomination, that is it.

[wnylib]

48. Yup. Rats deserting a sinking ship

are still rats. They will find another ship to spread their dung and gnaw away at the infrastructure.

[certainot]

61. he's trying to make up in advance for voting for barrett

[BarbD]

65. No excuses and no do-overs allowed.

Sasse is guilty of enabling a traitor. He needs to own it and stand up now, not wiggle away his fear. The entire republican party is complicit in trying to destroy our democracy. Well, they won't get away with it.

VOTE

[certainot]

74. vote is right, but i hope people will do more

[Harker]

13. He could establish a commune in a small

country, and beckon his followers to come with him.

He can be a big shot.

[flibbitygiblets]

17. Epstein's Island has vacancies

Kool-aid for everyone!

[csziggy]

43. It's still US territory so the FBI would have juridiction

Of course, let them believe it is a non-extradition location so all Dolt45's co-conspirators gather there. Then the feds can swoop in and net them all at once!

Or let them drink the Kool-Aid.

[True Blue American]

52. You beat me to it's!

[Chemisse]

31. That would be perfect; Is that why he wanted to buy Greenland? n/t

[Harker]

68. Maybe so...

that's a great place to blather on about climate change being a hoax.

[Escurumbele]

14. I have a prediction...lets see if it happens

I believe that once Barrett is confirmed to the supreme court, "Mission Accomplished", republicans will start throwing trump under the bus, because by then they don't need him anymore, on the contrary, they know, actually, they think that he is hurting the party. I say actually because THEY themselves have been hurting the party for a long time.

Their goal has been to pack the courts, and now that they have they don't need the useful idiot anymore, he is so toxic that the sooner they get rid of him the better.

[wnylib]

56. Agree. When Barrett is confirmed

before the election, even some evangelicals might feel free to desert Trump at the polls now that they expect a conservative court to overturn Roe v Wade. Trump could be shooting himself in the foot by pushing her through.

[dchill]

15. They may indeed escape the sinking ship...

... but they'll still be rats.

[niyad]

16. He can join ken lay on his island.

[TexasProgresive]

18. I nominate the Central African Republic.

Just don't let them have any guns.

[Escurumbele]

21. How about Iraq? Just drop him in the middle of a street

Then let him convince them that he has always been on their side.

[Escurumbele]

19. Once he is out of office he will not be of any use to vlad, the usefulness of the idiot will end

And although Kim Jon Un and him exchange "love letters", Kim knows trump is an idiot, so no North Korea for him either. He has no place to go but to put an orange suit on.

[Chemisse]

32. They only "love" him because he has power.

Once that's gone, they will despise him like the rest of us do.

He has nothing at all to offer.

[Chainfire]

23. Too much too little too late

It was the same in Germany. The day after their surrender, there was not a Nazi or a Hitler worshiper in the whole damn country.

There is not an innocent Republican in this country. They are all complicit in Trumpism.

[tanyev]

24. No, I don't think Putin has much use for a disgraced former president who is under investigation.

[dixiechiken1]

26. No, but maybe he'll break up with him over some of that polonium tea he seems to be so fond of...

[getagrip_already]

46. Are you kiddng? Putin would LOVE it....

Think of the spectacle. Trump would become a defacto leader in exile, and continue to provoke anger and violence in the us. It plays right into russia's goals of destabilizing the us and making democracy a mockery.

It would be the ultimate coup. He would have AF1 parked at a museum at Moscow airport and he would build trump a replica of the white house he could "rule" from.

It would be a nonstop stream of negativity and blatant calls to harm others. And sadly, trump would have a following here even as he worked to destroy our country.

[Aviation Pro]

27. Wrong word, Shitbag

Flee not leave, you fucking coward.

[Silent3]

28. I think Putin would offer Trump safe haven, a beautiful gosdacha in Peredelkino...

...and a few days after Trump settles in, serve him a lovely Novichok Diet Coke.

[Vivienne235729]

29. He and his MAGA idiots should move to Russia. Seriously, it is made for their narrow thinking

All white people, hate lgtbq, "strong law enforcement"

[zentrum]

30. Too late.

They will have the SCOTUS.

Will be controlling our racial and economic well being for the next 25 years. Citizen's United on Steroids.

I wish there was a non-violent way to prevent the Senate confirmation.

[Turin_C3PO]

37. There's ways to fix the courts.

Add judges, restrict jurisdiction, etc. Democrats only need the will to do it.

[JHB]

33. "Hallo Amerikaner soldier! I am... ah... Swiss! Yes, Swiss, not German!"

"Ok, Mac. But what's with that clean strip on your sleeve? Looks like there was something covering it until not too long ago, like an armband."

"Swiss" guy reflexively glances back at where he ditched the swastika armband... "Why, I never noticed that. How interesting."

[Chemisse]

35. It would be best for all of us if he fled the country.

If he is here he will just continue to gripe and whine and nurture a following. He needs to be prosecuted for countless crimes, but doing so will prevent the nation from healing.

It'll be a mess if he's prosecuted and it'll be a mess if he's not.

[Illumination]

36. Trump's the one we need to lock up RIGHT NOW so he won't leave the country! Either that, or

the F.B.I. needs to have lots of surveillance on him to make sure that he is held accountable for his long list of crimes...

[usaf-vet]

38. So we can count on Sasse to vote NO on the ACB SCOTUS nomination. That is the best exit route he has

If he doesn't his days are numbered. Maybe not this November but when Roe is overturned with her vote and the ACA is killed with her vote and the gay marriage decision is overturned with her vote SASSE will be remembered for what HE DID.

The SS Trump is not a cruise ship where you can come and go at will.

SS Trump is a place where diseases become rampant and passengers are stuck and have to suffer and die.

[tiptonic]

39. Russia

Benedict donald, could always go to Russia/Siberia and open a chain of gulags. The only requirement would be, he has to be the resident manager.

[blueinredohio]

44. He's telling us he's going to leave the country to avoid prosecution.

[volstork]

45. Great essay!

I've enjoyed her column since being introduced to it here on DU.

[Mr. Ected]

47. Frankly, Putin will likely be indifferent when Trump loses

Trump is no asset. He's a pushover. He wanted respect from dictator-types, as they genuinely best reflected his leadership temperment. There's no democracy vs. fascism vs. monarchy vs. whatever going on in Trump's addled brain. Only a political structure with Trump on top, everyone else sprawling below, and little gold stars for whoever said something complimentary of him that day. What a simple, stupid, overmatched loser. But THAT is a perfect reflection of the typical Trump voter: simple, stupid and overmatched. Add foolishly gullible.

Trump was a tool for Putin, but Putin will have no use for him after he leaves office in shame. In fact, Putin may revel in the damage wrought post-Trump, with the hearings and the evidence and the totality of anti-democratic, anti-American behavior that will be exposed. Trump helped to rip America into 2 distinct pieces and pissed all over one of them. We get to relive this in the litigation that will inevitably follow.

At least we'll have Biden to guide us through the torment. What an absolute luxury for the American people.

[NBachers]

49. I met a man recently who'd been a young teen in Germany in 1945. He said when news of Hitler's death

reached his community, the whole population took all their Nazi uniforms and paraphernalia and threw them into the river that cut through town. He said the river became clogged with the cast-off remains of Nazi participation.

I had to wonder- was everyone so glad to see Hitler gone that they wanted to get rid of all his crap; or were they disposing of all evidence of their participation in his atrocities?

[colorado_ufo]

50. The Bush family bought property in Uruguay.

Does anybody remember that? Maybe one Republican can help another and give him a place to live in Uruguay.

[mnmoderatedem]

51. and so it begins

republicans finding a way to distance themselves from trump. I can't wait for the "if only I knew what he was like I never would have supported him" rationalizations.

[roamer65]

55. He will flee to his favorite place.

Underneath Putin’s desk.

[h2ebits]

57. Our historian on Facebook

I discovered Elizabeth Cox Richardson about a month ago. She writes a "column" every evening about the events of the day and frequently puts the events into historical context. I consider her a MUST READ daily.

She posts (in written form) the current daily news and adds some historical references to help understand the goings on. She also does live presentations and, I hope, that I have posted the link correctly so you can listen to her explain a tweet made by Mike Lee (R) wherein he downplayed the importance of democracy. She does a gallop through history from the Civil War to today so we can follow how we are becoming a fascist state.


I highly recommend her!

https://www.facebook.com/241446929332714/videos/397973521598016/

[erronis]

62. For those of us who avoid fb, she also posts on substack

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/

Her about page:

About Letters from an American

Historians are fond of saying that the past doesn’t repeat itself; it rhymes.

To understand the present, we have to understand how we got here.

That’s where this newsletter comes in.

I’m a professor of American history. This is a chronicle of today’s political landscape, but because you can’t get a grip on today’s politics without an outline of America’s Constitution, and laws, and the economy, and social customs, this newsletter explores what it means, and what it has meant, to be an American.

These were the same questions a famous observer asked in a book of letters he published in 1782, the year before the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War.

Hector St. John de Crevecoeur called his book “Letters from an American Farmer.”

Like I say, history doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure rhymes.

[h2ebits]

66. Oh, thank you! I'll follow her there.

[erronis]

70. It's always my pleasure to recommend away from fb. HCR Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Cox_Richardson

She's quite a scholar.

Also, you might be interested in Marcy Wheeler's blog (very legal heavy): https://www.emptywheel.net/.

[h2ebits]

73. Thanks again.

I made Facebook my political page long ago to try and inform people of what was happening. It's my attempt at counterbalancing the lies and downright attempts to overthrow our government. I am planning to wean myself off of FB in the next couple of weeks as I will be quite busy working as an Election Judge here in Denver.

[Efilroft Sul]

58. FYI, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and UAE don't have extradition treaties with the United States.

[scarletwoman]

60. Let the Saudis take him in - and his whole grifting family.

[abakan]

64. Oh he's such a child...

Except what he doesn't understand is while making what he sees as a threat, we see as a promise.
Go ahead donny boy take your ball and family and darken our shores no more. We will have a big party and parade
when you're gone.

[muriel_volestrangler]

67. I think the UAE is the most likely place of exile

Kushner has put in the work setting up mutual risk of ratting each other out. It is happy with luxury spending by westerners. They can live in the gilded tackiness to which they're accustomed.

[dweller]

69. I heard Iran wants him

would pay handsomely I’d bet ...
🤔

✌🏻

[erronis]

71. Could always extract oil from his well-larded body.

[Cha]

80. Poor Bully Victim trumpVirus.. such a Sad Sad

song.

Lock him the fuck UP.

[Wednesdays]

81. Sasse never was on the Trump train, huh?

Oh, I am suuuuure he was leading the attack during impeachment, right?
Right?