The Republican Party and its members in Congress are caught up in a dilemma of their own making. We might say that they are stuck between a rock and a hard place, i.e., they have put themselves in a very difficult situation where they have to choose between two courses of action, neither of which is very desirable.
In the following we will show exactly why they have lapsed into this situation, this mess that is an indication to the American people that they are so afraid of offending Trump and his supporters that they are, along with this president, unfit to carry out their governmental responsibilities.
We’ll present two options that they have before them to try to free themselves from this dilemma and also one other that might be their best best.
This all started when Trump was running for the presidency in 2016. At that time there were many Republicans who disliked him immensely, including a large number of other GOP presidential candidates. He was very critical of the GOP and its role in the Washington political swamp, which he promised he would drain.
Actually he didn’t drain that swamp of the alligators, he just retrained them to follow his will and refrain from questioning any of his decisions and judgments. And they meekly accepted that dictate.
While he was making enemies in the Republican hierarchy, he was also attracting an increasing number of angry, disillusioned Republicans, together with some Hillary-hating Democrats and Independents, who saw him as the latest version of an agent of change. They believed that he had the potential to turn this country in new directions. And with this rabid support a minor miracle happened; he was elected.
After he entered the White House it took some time for the Republicans in Congress to fully accept their role as his political servants. They grudgingly did so because they were well aware that he had this extremely loyal and very powerful support group that they also needed on their side when election time came.
They became his stalwart followers who did his bidding with no questions. And that’s where the trouble began, that was the starting point for entry into their current predicament.
Trump’s actions and behavior are worsening with every passing day. Check out this article from Axios.com which reports that there are now “17 known investigations targeting President Trump’s world from various federal, state, and local prosecutors.”
Democrats are now in control of the U.S. House and they will, no doubt, open up any number of their own investigations into him and his family members.
So the future for Republicans is certainly not bright and, in fact, is very dark and dismal. Here are the two options that Republicans have to try to get out of their mess. :
Option #1: If they stay with Trump through thick and thin no matter what he does, being blindly loyal and forgiving, and then Mueller presents concrete evidence implicating this president in collusion or obstruction, they are going to be in big time trouble. At that point, if they remain loyal to Trump and ignore or totally dismiss Mueller’s findings, if they refuse to take part in any impeachment proceedings, they will be toast in the next elections. They will go down with their Dear Leader.
Option #2: on the other hand they could decide that they are simply not going to take any chance of going down with him by beginning to cooperate with Mueller and the Democrats. The danger in doing that is that Mueller may lack solid, incriminating evidence against Trump. If that’s the case then, if he presents nothing of substance, they will have to face this president’s zealous supporters who will, in subsequent elections, enlist other Republicans to primary these Republican “traitors” all over the country.
Neither of these options would appear to be good for Republicans. Then what must they do? There may be another way to get out of this dangerous situation. It has its risks, but it could work and it may be their only way out. Suppose that certain trusted Republicans set up some sort of secretive meetings with the Mueller team to see what kind of evidence they have, if any, that would implicate Trump.
Let’s call this third option, “Let’s make a deal”, a deal in which this could be a win-win situation for both parties. Republicans will know that options 1 and 2 are most certainly not in their best interests and will be looking for some other alternative.
Mueller might immediately reject their overtures but who knows, he might not. That’s because, even if he might have strong evidence to implicate Trump, he may have great concerns that Trump, Republicans, and the acting Attorney General, Matthew Whitaker,would ignore the evidence he presents or just put it out of sight so that it would never be made public. If that happened he would find himself tied up in a long and messy legal battle that he could lose. So he might well be interested in such a deal.
With both sides having something important to gain then certain top level Republicans could arrange such a meeting with the Mueller team to see if their if their separate objectives could be met. If things could be worked out both sides would score a victory.
So, yes, this could be a win-win situation for both sides. Republicans would finally be doing what is best for their country and, at the same time, doing the right thing to protect themselves politically. Mueller could feel that there was a good chance that his findings would be acted upon and not blocked.
And, best of all, Democratic presidential candidates who may be preparing to run against Trump in 2020 should get him off their minds because he won’t be running. Where he will be is uncertain but he won’t, any longer, be an occupant of the White House.
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