I’m sorry, but the person who wrote the anonymous op-ed for The New York Times is the idiot — not Donald Trump. Obviously, the system for vetting such a piece broke down and is leaving “The Gray Lady” exposed. It all fails over the ridiculous assertion that “there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment.”
Now stop and think about that for a moment. Under the 4th section of the 25th Amendment, the vice president of the United States and a majority of cabinet officers and agency heads, and two thirds of the Senate and the House, must agree to remove the president. Huh? Really? There was talk about this?
Impeachment in the House and conviction in the Senate is a walk in the park by comparison.
Keep in mind, all of this supposedly happened without the president or the media being tipped off for the last two years. No opportunist among the conspirators could try to get rid of a rival by spilling the beans. Or gain some advantage by leaking it prematurely. This piece of dynamite just sat there, an early point of discussion, “within the cabinet,” until anonymous chose to mention it in his op-ed.
“Hi Betsy, this is Mad Dog Mattis. A bunch of us are organizing to remove President Trump from office. As you may know, we need the Vice President and a majority of the cabinet to get this thing started. I want you to think about this and then get back to me.”
“Oh, I will. I will.”
“And needless to say Betsy, don’t talk about this with anyone. It could hurt the country if it got back to the President, himself. No one should use this information for personal advancement. No leaks whatsoever. And Betsy, don’t even tell Dick.”
“Of course, of course. I understand, Mad Dog. Not a word. I think you know that I will be loyal to the resistance. Oh Mad Dog … I should alert you that Dana is on the line with me but she is very, very discreet. You know Dana?”
Imagine. For two years, through all of the transitions, from Rex Tillerson to Steve Bannon and all of the books, from Michael Wolf to Bob Woodward, no one knew about this early conspiracy until this “high level” figure reported it in an anonymous, New York Times-vetted, op ed.
Here are some simple guidelines to help you identify “the idiot.” It is like an Agatha Christie who dunnit?
#1) It can’t be vice president Pence or anyone in his office.
The late Lee Atwater, master of Washington politics, often said that an anonymous source can always be identified as the person who benefits from the article. Pence would not benefit. He is already next in line. He has only one important political task. Do nothing. If he keeps his head down, he wins.
#2) And yet the author uses the word “lodestar” an odd word that is used frequently by Pence. Which may mean that anonymous may want us to suspect that Pence is the culprit. In fact, CNN was sure of it. Another reason why it can’t be.
#3) This is not the killer’s first victim. It is not likely that the Times would take such a chance and print this op-ed, anonymously, without already using this same source in other numerous pieces. Review past articles for verbal fingerprints.
#4) The author is very likely in the pack of those who have already publicly denied the crime. Remember, Agatha Christie’s “Ten Little Indians”? The killer staged his own death so he would not be suspect and could surreptitiously finish off the others. Carefully, read the words of the denials to see who left a door open by a deft choice of words or use of a spokesperson.
#5) The author cannot be Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He was the first to publicly deny writing the piece. The author would want to be lower profile, back in the pack.
#6) Anonymous is probably out of town. If they lived in Washington, D.C., they would see the bitter rivalries and deep divisions among the cabinet and Capitol Hill and thus the absurdity of their idea. Only from a distance would such a coup look possible.
Whoever penned the op-ed did a great service to the President. It did more to unite his White House and his government than anything Donald Trump, himself, could have ever done. It forced a confession of public loyalty.
If there ever was any contemplated resistance inside the Trump administration it is surely over now.
The op-ed failed miserably. The “resistance” is dead. Trump has won again.
Doug Wead is a presidential historian who served as a senior adviser to the Ron Paul presidential campaign. He is a New York Times best-selling author, philanthropist, and adviser to two presidents, including President George H.W. Bush. He is the author of "Game of Thorns: Inside the Clinton-Trump Campaign of 2016." Read more reports from Doug Wead — Click Here Now.
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