Ted Koppel's rather depressing look at a post-trump America

[Va Lefty]

"There is a disarming innocence to the assumption that whether by impeachment, indictment or a cleansing electoral redo in 2020, President Trump will be exorcised from the White House and that thereby he and his base will largely revert to irrelevance."

"It imagines that, for some reason, Trump in defeat or disgrace will become a quieter, humbler, more restrained presence on Twitter and Facebook than heretofore. It assumes further that CNN and Fox News and MSNBC, perhaps chastened by the consequences of their addictive coverage of Trump the Candidate and Trump the President, will resist the urge to pay similar attention to Trump the Exile."

"It is all but inevitable that whoever succeeds Trump in the White House will be perceived by 30 to 40 percent of the voting public as illegitimate — and that the former president will enthusiastically encourage them in this perception. Whatever his failings, Trump is a brilliant self-promoter and provocateur. He showed no embarrassment, either as candidate or president, about using his high visibility to benefit his business interests. Untethered from any political responsibility whatsoever, he can be expected to capitalize fully on his new status as political martyr and leader of a new “resistance” that will make today’s look supine."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dont-expect-trump-to-go-quietly/2019/01/14/d8104e3a-1458-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html?utm_term=.3829a8a3bc6a

Depressing because it strikes me as true.

[sagesnow]

1. Sad but

Koppel's is a totally accurate assessment. TrumpHumpers can't change or learn from their mistakes.

[flibbitygiblets]

21. It's incredible watching them crying on TV about being furloughed. So confused!

They're all over the news: "well, yes I want a wall, but I can't pay my bills..."

Followed by a fleeting look of realization that the big hero doesn't give a rat's ass if their family starves on the streets.

[Brawndo]

2. It's hard to tweet from a prison cell

but unfortunately right-wing media will fill the vacuum.

[MLAA]

12. You saved me from typing the same comment! Thanks!

[Pepsidog]

20. Me too.

[Canoe52]

31. +1

[Adrahil]

3. Trump will be ruined, IMO.

By doing all that he did, he has drawn intense scrutiny on himself. He'd dirty. WE all know it. Even if he never found personally criminally responsible, his business is going to be ruined, IMO. It's always been a house of cards, and it cannot withstand even a stiff breeze of scrutiny.

[mn9driver]

4. This is why Trump and his entire crime family need to be

actually charged with the crimes there is evidence for, tried, and if convicted, jailed. The “let bygones be bygones” philosophy doesn’t apply here. These people have ripped apart whatever was left of our political practice of not pursuing executive wrongdoing once they are out of office.

There is no doubt at all that Trump will continue to attack his replacement in office and weaken our system further if he is allowed to. The law needs to land on him. Hard.

[Pacifist Patriot]

6. Absolutely!

[Pacifist Patriot]

5. I think you're right. And after reading this...

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/10/25/suffocation-of-democracy/

I'm rapidly approaching clinically depressed today.

[trotsky]

7. Trump is also in his 70s, eats fast food, and does not exercise.

Whatever he does after he's booted from the presidency, it won't last long.

[Merlot]

13. The meaner they are, the harder they fall.

Case in point: cheney.

[trotsky]

14. Cheney is evil, but smart.

I'm sure he is following a strict diet and is on some kind of exercise program.

[Blue_true]

16. Strict diet.

Wild pheasant shot with a gun balanced on his friend's ear. Braised wild greens on the side.

[MFM008]

32. Exactly

Hes NOT living to be 200 like that clown suggested.
🍔🥤🍟

[tblue37]

8. Another reason why he needs to do prison time. nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. The real long term problem is how agencies have been gutted, with totally incompetent

people in charge.

Read The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis.

[Va Lefty]

11. And the rw judicial appointments

[spanone]

10. yea, well, fuck trump.

[KPN]

15. Which is exactly why the orange f-wad needs to end up in jail ... or worse.

He needs to be turned off permanently. Where's the switch?

[Andy823]

17. Maybe around 25%

But no way close to 30-40 percent would would think the next president was "illegitimate"! No matter what some polls are saying his diehard base is not that high, and he is losing support, not gaining it.

[Va Lefty]

33. He said "30-40% of the voting public" sounds about right to me

[Andy823]

34. He didn't get that many in 2016

So I can't really seem getting that many to defend him in 2020.

[SunSeeker]

18. Not as depressing what we have now. Let him try playing the martyr FROM JAIL.

Last edited Tue Jan 15, 2019, 03:12 PM - Edit history (1)

[watoos]

19. Trump needs to be charged with espionage.

If he is charged with espionage, even if Pence pardons him, it's pretty hard for his base to be very large, it's pretty hard for "real" Americans to back a spy. Charging him with all of the other crimes he has committed can be forgiven by his base, but I don't think espionage will go over well.

[Pepsidog]

22. Trump had a good life before being president. If he doesn't resign or get impeached I don't believe

he will run in 2020. Why? He will act like he is running, raise tons of money and at the last minute decide to drop out of the race after having funneled all the campaign money back to his personal account somehow. Also, somewhere out there is proof Trump took a huge payoff be it The Panama Papers, Inaugral Fund or Rosfnet sale. Someone will find the money trail leading back to Dotard. I’m reading Michael Lewis’s book Fifth Element and he says that Trump sees all the money raised as HIS own money. There is no way he wasn’t paid off thinking he would never win the election. Follow the money and then Dotard is done. It’s to tempting and the money grubbing POS couldn’t resist taking it. Find the money!

[James48]

23. Well, he IS 72 years old already- in 2 years he will be 75.

And overweight. And still have lots of anger issues. None of that is healthy.

And lord knows, he doesn’t eat as well as, say, the other former Presidents.

I really think the man will be in prison, and, if he does get out, won’t be in mental or physical condition to do much.

[infullview]

24. Koppel gives tRump way too much credit

It has been proven that he is not a good business man. The facts show that if he'd simply held on to his father's assets in NY he would have been a far wealthier man - so he squandered his inheritance and then metaphorically got into bed with some rather nasty Russians to bail his own ass out. He's nothing but a cheap mobster. Some people might still be willing to listen to him, but I think he's going to have the legal shit kicked out of him, and I don't think he'll have a lot of fight left in him to make too much noise.

[Perseus]

29. Agree, I think the orange buffoon and his family are done

their name is too toxic, I don't think anyone will wnt to negotiate with any of them, they have been outed of what they are, crooks.

[mahannah]

25. Incarcerate the motherfucker.

[SCVDem]

26. How many are like me?

I lost it all in 2008 and am 63 and unemployed. Here we go again. The complete lack of empathy.
How many of us will choose suicide instead of living under a bridge?

Donnie's America. Abandon hope all who live here, unless you are rich!

[Perseus]

27. I tend to disagree on a point

He will not profit from this experience, his name is toxic, who is going to buy his crap? the deplorable? They don't have the money to stay at his hotels, or buy his ties (they don't even use ties), he owes money to the Russians and those people do not forgive, in my view he and his family are done.

He better get a lot of money for his golden toilets because he is going to have to pay a lot. I mean, what can he do with that 30% of deplorable that support him? They will move on, and he will be left behind. As shameless as the media is, they will also forget him, he is too toxic for the world in general for them to continue pointing the cameras at him.

[PeeJ52]

28. Hopefully I'll have immigrated to Canada by then...

I'll be so glad to be away from this madness.

[Hassler]

30. Koppel and Nightline helped make Reagan and all that follows, including Drumpf possible.

[lunatica]

35. If Koppel's assessment of Americans were true we'd still have slavery

And women wouldn’t have the vote.

Fuck him.