Unraveled Bolero

 

I've used the idea of Trump's "bolero jacket" before to describe my skepticism that he actually has "coattails" in the traditional sense. Part of Trump's appeal just never had anything to do with what he brought to the GOP--it's a personality thing unique (I think) to himself. I also don't know whether it was really established that he added anything in terms of endorsements to his Republican cohort--Trump voters are GOP voters. And in 2020, senators overperformed their poll numbers and so did Trump--but he still lost, didn't he? 

Now that he he manifestly tried to stage a coup, though, he's just not quite as popular a character as he used to be. There's a desire out there for Trump's conviction in the Senate, and it should be clear that he's injured the party. The man doesn't even still have a Twitter account, and we've been assured, it isn't coming back, even if he runs again in 2024. (Although my wager is that for a variety of reasons, he'll be battling being broke and busy by then.) So I'm here again to ask, what's the play? 

See, in the name of unity, this trial, rather than being "a complete waste of time" as FL Senator Rick Scott would have it, offers the biggest of all offramps. Democrats are giving an opportunity for some Senators to consider that they are going on record with an endorsement of what Trump did, and to, well, not do that. This is in part political theater, and AK Sen. Lisa Murkowski is correct to say that regardless, Trump's 2024 chances are likely shot, but Republicans could try to work with it instead of whining that this should be a criminal matter instead (right, and then they would complain that Trump is being pursued by a partisan witch hunt from Biden's DOJ--I'm not brand-new here, and they better act like they aren't either). 

Of course, we know very well why some of them won't, can't, etc. The House managers displayed yesterday that Republican senators were just as imperiled by the mob that Trump turned lose on the Capitol, and know also that Trump didn't lift a finger to stop the violence but was still trying to unleash a plan, co-opting Republican senators themselves. They could try to act more angry at Trump for trying it than at Democrats for pointing it out. I mean, for the unity, right?

Ha. I expect a lot of things I won't get. But I don't think for a minute that the House managers are any more naïve than I am and here's the other thing that happens: people clinging to Trump's bolero fringe, or the unravelling thread of his bolero jacket, are about to get dragged.Oh that's so terrible, those mean Democrats, kicking the GOP when they're....if they are down, that was a choice. They could stand up at any time--that's the point. They want to fob this off by blaming anyone but Trump and his co-conspirators--with some conservative pundits going so far as to blame Pelosi for the mob that came after her calling her name and looking to kill her. "We had to acquit--look what you made us do!" they are fixing to explain, like the blameless little party of personal responsibility they are.

It's bullshit, and they should be called on it. Here are the choices--take the offramp or take the dragging. That's all.