Twitter Questions

Just a brief reminder that the new site (angrystaffer.com) should be fully live early next week, hoping for Monday! Had some good questions as always, so let's get right to it:

Should we be afraid or will cooler (Adult) heads prevail? 

Should you be scared? No. While there is some truth to the quote attributed to Lincoln, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves,” Donald Trump is not smart enough, strategic enough, or popular enough to cause irreparable damage to the fabric of our Republic. Sometimes it may seem hopeless — or that we are going in completely the wrong direction — but it’s always darkest before the dawn; let this serve as a painful reminder that never again should we take an election outcome for granted, and never again should we abdicate our one, most basic civic-responsibility: we must never, ever, EVER, miss another vote. We are going to have to keep fighting, but we’ve already been at it for two years; what’s a little longer? In retrospect, our battle should have started long-before Donald Trump — and it won’t end with Donald Trump — but we’re here now, in the fight, and we’re winning. Two months ago, the nation sent the world an unambiguous, full-throated rebuke of Donald Trump, populism, hatred, and demagoguery. We stayed engaged, and we won. We did that — you did that. Keep at it. We got this. The fight certainly isn't over, but we're going to win. 

Speculation has been raised that 45 will negotiate his resignation in order to spare himself, family, and his business from indictments. Your thoughts on this?

I think he will probably try, but that would be the first successful deal he ever negotiated! On a serious note, I don't like this plan. Yes, it gets him out of the Oval Office, but it also sends the message that the President of the United States is above the law. I would almost prefer to deal with him for another 2 years, and have him be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, if those were the options... maybe. The premise of this theory also seems to rely on the narrative that Mueller is headhunting, which is patently false. Mueller is on a fact-finding mission, and the facts are that the President of the United States is a (bad) criminal. His office shouldn't save him, and it certainly shouldn't save his family, or his business. There are also enough state charges in this mix that I don't believe that negotiation would be possible. I think the most-likely scenario here is this:

• Mueller indicts Jr.
• Trump goes ballistic, fires Mueller (and probably Rosenstein). 
• National outrage (this is your job. if Mueller is fired, we have to mobilize quickly, and peacefully)
• House drafts multiple Articles of Impeachment.
• National outrage continues (again, your job)
• Bridge too far for the GOP. Public whip counts make it clear Trump will be convicted if it goes to trial.
• Resignation

I essentially see the same path forward when the report is released if Trump doesn't fire Mueller. Maybe not so much national outrage in this scenario, but the report should be damning enough that the GOP will have no option.

How long after all the TSA agents go on strike will he cave on the wall?

I think it's optimistic at best to assume all the TSA agents will go on strike, especially after the DHS Press Secretary pulled out the "Fake News" card re: agents calling out of work. It's not fake news, and it's deeply disappointing to see another Government account use their official platform to attack the media. That was a well-sourced story from CNN.

Is it my imagination, or does Trump seem more unstable?

Not your imagination. He's flipping out..

What are some positives the country will learn from the Trump presidency?

I think some of this was addressed in the first question, but I believe the public has realized exactly how important their civic duty is, and I for one am going to do my best to never let them forget it. I hope the country has learned the importance of honesty and transparency during the election process (read: TAX. RETURNS.). I also hope this "hey lets elect the reckless demagogue" thing is a phase and we're over it now, because it wasn't good for me. Was it good for you? Didn't think so.

I'm skeptical that it'll happen, but I also hope the country understands the importance of listening to people with different political viewpoints. I've advocated against echo chambers since I've been on Twitter. I know my opinions aren't always the "popular opinion," but I do appreciate all of you sticking around and continuing to have the conversation. Now that the dumpster fire that is this administration has been exposed for everyone to see, I've shifted the focus of my account (and the blog) to encompass two goals:

• In a small way, I hope that I can give you all a measure of hope that everything is going to be ok, the country is going to get through this, we will fix everything Trump broke, and we'll be stronger for it.
• As importantly, I want to help people learn and stay engaged.  DC is weird. I try to break the nuances down into normal-people language. I hope it's helped at least a little! I also love that so many of you guys are in to the foreign policy/NatSec stuff, because I could seriously talk about that *all* day. 

As always, keep the questions and comments coming. You guys rock!