Read on Twitter
When Mattis resigned as Sec Defense because he opposed a haphazard withdrawal from Syria and Afghanistan, elite Republicans put up a bit of a fuss.
When Trump fires Esper for that job in retaliation for his refusal to use military force against civilian protestors, crickets.
When Trump fires Esper for that job in retaliation for his refusal to use military force against civilian protestors, crickets.
Worse than crickets, given that he's in the midst of trying to undermine the legitimacy of the election that voted him out. A uniquely terrible time to make "won't fire on civilian protestors" a job disqualification, and to put in place a Senate-unconfirmed personal loyalist.
And Republicans pick *that day* to-- so to speak-- close ranks around his attacks on state election officials (of both parties) and black voters.
I think, with moderate confidence, that everyone involved except maybe Trump himself thinks "obviously we won't go too far. We'll just push things a little closer to the brink to placate Trump and pwn the libs. A few more inches here; a safety released there."
But Trump shows no sign of being placated; people might put more strain on their part of a system on the false assumption that the rest of the system is operating normally, that backup protections are still in place...
And the whole thing introduces so much *uncertainty*-- where are the new stopping points? Who's bluffing and who's not?-- as to be incredibly dangerous.
I don't think disastrous outcomes are likely. But they're getting likelier.
I don't think disastrous outcomes are likely. But they're getting likelier.
Put some work into imagining downsides, anonymous Republican official. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-republicans-election-challenges/2020/11/09/49e2c238-22c4-11eb-952e-0c475972cfc0_story.html
