I feel next Christmas season will be better

[mvd]

I think Trump resigns due to the Mueller probe. Whichever idiot takes over will have problems, because I predict we take at least one house of Congress and maybe two. It's been so depressing and frustrating - politics always nag at me - but better times are ahead.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

[Irish_Dem]

1. I think the odds of this scenario happening is at least 60/40. nt

[mvd]

3. Hi. I have no confidence in the voting populace after Trump..

but I really think it will happen. People are wising up. But we have to make sure the pendulum doesn't swing again after we regain power.

[Irish_Dem]

5. And I have no confidence in the security of our voting system.

Yes I think it is possible that Trump will have to resign at some point.
You would think the GOP is damaged for good, but probably not.

[mvd]

6. They never seem to learn. And I never thought Trump could get elected

But with voting democraphics changing, hopefully there will be an end to the craziness.

[Irish_Dem]

8. Yes I hope so. nt

[Dave Starsky]

30. One thing we can absolutely be sure of...

Is that he will continue to fuck up and shoot his fool mouth off and say things that are ever crazier and even more idiotic. He's been declining steadily since Day One. His future shenanigans won't endear him to anyone new, and more and more of his own supporters are going to continue to get tired of it all.

Barring his having a brain transplant (which he would never agree to; he has the best one, after all) to try to stop the decline, it's going to be harder and harder for the Russian Bot Army, Breitbart, and Fox News to continue to prop his ass up. Eventually, even they will have to cut him loose and hitch their wagons to some other (hopefully, more stable) dickhead. But I don't see him lasting a year.

[Squinch]

2. I, too, think this has a decent chance of happening. Until then, may your days be merry and bright!

[mvd]

4. Yours, too!

Hi Squinch!

[Bleacher Creature]

7. I've always thought that resignation is the likeliest endgame.

Basically the same path that Sarah Palin followed, whereby he'll claim that he can't do anything without the drag of the investigations, declare victory and go home.

[Dave Starsky]

31. Trump is like Godzilla.

Godzilla rises from the sea. He marches through Tokyo destroying buildings, stomping buses, batting electrical towers around... He picks up cars and throws them, and he blasts the pathetic fighter jets attacking him with his searing Godzilla breath. After a few days of creating all of this chaos, sending screaming people running in all directions, he stops. And then Godzilla, inexplicably, marches right back into the sea.

The only way to get Trump out of office is to make him not want to be there. Even Godzilla got tired of just wrecking things.

[caballojm]

9. From your mouth to God's ear!

Hopefully! We can't survive much longer like this. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you!

[Honeycombe8]

10. I didn't think he'd last a year, so I can't guess what will happen.

Now that the Repubs have forsaken their oaths of office and have gone to the dark side full stop.

[Kyblue1]

11. We cannot underestimate the influence of the right wing money machine

Does anyone else remember that after Obama took office following the Bush debacle the media was saying the Republican "brand" was in danger of extinction. And then the "tea party" was created by the infusion of millions of dollars into an Astro turf (not grassroots) movement. Suddenly with the help of Faux news the Obama administration became the source of all ills, reds or perceived.
The lesson: hope for chance but don't count out the Right wing and their moneyed masters to keep the Repugs in power.

[Laffy Kat]

12. Good, 'cause I sure ain't feelin' it this year.

[BadgerMom]

13. I appreciate your optimism.

I think you're correct that things will be better, one way or another. 🤞

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. Trump resigns. Pence is now President.

Exactly how will he be better? Will he roll back the terrible things Trump has already done? Really? What makes you think that will happen?

Winning one house of Congress won't help much. Two won't matter if they are not both veto-proof majorities. And even if they are, Trump has already put people in place at the head of agencies who despise those agencies and have already done a great deal to roll back what they've done of value.

Personally, I have no hope that next Christmas will be any better. Rather, next Christmas we'll be bleating about the coming roll back of Social Security and Medicare.

[mvd]

16. I am more positive than you

We'll see. Pence would be awful, but I would feel a lot better if we have a Democratic wave next year, and I do see that happening. We have to take it in steps.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

18. Do you think that Pence will immediately replace people

like Betsy DeVos and Scott Pruitt? And his new appointees will immediately roll back their rollbacks of regulations?

I don't. I think Pence will happily keep such people in place and cheerfully continue the utter destruction of our society.

[mvd]

19. Of course not. Nothing will be completely fixed next year unless..

..a Democrat becomes President through succession, which is very unlikely. But I am talking about taking steps. A good result in the 2018 elections and the resignation of Trump would mean we are going in the right direction. I would feel much better.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

22. Here's the thing. Trump is not going to resign.

And Mueller's investigation is going to end in a fizzle. Nothing will be changed. And Democratic arrogance and complacency may result in losing seats in Congress, not gaining any.

I really do want to be wrong, but I think there is a foolish optimism here that needs a serious reality check.

[mvd]

24. Well, I do think you are wrong

Really hope so! I don't think it's foolish optimism at all.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

25. I hope I'm wrong.

But the longer this goes on, the more I think that nothing will really come of this investigation.

You might want to read the transcript of the interview Terry Gross did with Jeffrey Toobin earlier this month.

https://www.npr.org/2017/12/07/569080957/will-the-mueller-investigation-unearth-a-crime-legal-reporter-says-it-s-complica

[mvd]

26. Even if he does just issue a report to Congress, there..

could be some very damning stuff in there to Trump. And Toobin's opinion is not the only one. I prefer to think positively - I find things very stressful without positive thinking.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

28. If he issues a report and Congress does nothing,

Trump will not stop tweeting about how this proves there was nothing there.

But more to the point, nothing will change.

[mvd]

29. I kind of doubt it, depending on what it says

Let's just hope I am right.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

32. I do hope that you and everyone else that is putting their faith in Mueller are right.

But Fitzmas is still fresh in my memory, and the longer this goes on the more it feels like that.

[mvd]

33. Well I just hope he's putting in the time needed

And that if there was nothing there, he would have ended a while ago. All we can say is we'll see.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

34. I'm not suggesting there is nothing here, just that he won't actually come up with more indictments,

won't change anything. The investigation will end up with a report to Congress, left up to them to decide what to do. And look at the current make up of Congress and tell me, what will happen?

The fact that it hasn't been ended yet isn't meaningful. How long did the Patrick Fitzgerald investigation last?

[mvd]

36. Again, I don't see our opinions changing

Mueller has a lot more to look into and digest. There is no way to know. Can't we just say we'll see? I need to keep a positive outlook.

[fallout87]

21. Yep.

Next xmas won't be much different from this one. Neither will 2019...

[geogreen]

15. I hope you're right

it is hard to get over Franken being forced out by the senate, when the entire democratic community is against it. The party still acts independently of the wishes of their constituency. Like they never heard why Trump won the election.

[mvd]

17. Welcome to DU

Democrats certainly have not been near perfect, but if we can't message right for 2018 and 2020, we are REALLY in trouble.

[fallout87]

20. Why would Trump resign?

Does he ever admit guilt? They are running an interference campaign against Mueller so that no matter what the report says, they will discredit it. tRump will not ever voluntarily give up.

[VOX]

23. Appreciate the optimism, but I have grave doubts.

I should declare up front that I have a knack for seeing the bad-news side of things first.*

But with that disclaimer, I don’t see His Majesty tRump leaving or being forced out a la Nixon, not with so much recent public genuflecting and boot-sole licking from “mainstream” Republicans. They may not truly like him, but nevertheless, to them, he is like Christmas morning, hot sex and free money, rolled into one ugly package.

In order for tRump to go, congress would have to toss him out (impeachment), but this congress has made it clear that they aren’t going to do that. Ever.

*Note: I am ALWAYS happy to be proven WRONG!

[LeftInTX]

27. A year ago, everyone on DU was predicting he wouldn't last 100 days.

He's lasted almost a year.

I just don't picture him quitting.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

35. Bingo.

There has been a constant drumbeat of "Trump won't last!" "He'll be impeached!" "He's about to resign!" and other such posts.

Listen up everyone. He's not going to resign. He won't be impeached. We will be living with his executive orders and various appointments for years to come. We are on the downward slope of the American Century.