Whither Trump?

Caught the tail end of an NPR story yesterday where they were interviewing some Trump supporters, asking them "Why?"

The universal answer was, "Because he's not part of the establishment.  He's an outsider.  He tells it like it is.  He's a breath of fresh air."

I get all that.  The American public is so sick of politicians that they're willing to "torpedo the ship of state to get politicians out of the wheelhouse."  Politicians have an approval rating just south of Ebola and toenail fungus.

But the story made me wonder two things.

1.  Could Trump be a stealth candidate, secretly funded and abetted by Koch brothers dark money?  There isn't much indication of this, but A) he is a rich guy who pays little or no taxes.  He can probably, no definitely be counted on to reduce or eliminate taxes on rich guys, and regulations on businesses, and restrictive trade deals.  He may not LOOK like a Koch stooge but he acts like one. B) He's a reality TV star, a lovable buffoon who acts silly in public so people love him.  This has been the mold for the past three Republican presidents.  Trump's emergence seems a lot less like an accident, looked at this way.

2. What would happen if Trump was elected?  Despite all of the gloom & doom predictions, a Trump presidency would probably be not much worse than George W.'s presidency.  He'll hire some cabinet members with government experience, maybe pick a seasoned politician for his Vice, and THEY will run the country while The Donald plays golf and makes occasional incoherent speeches.  There will be a few new wars, more financial bubbles, social services will be cut, and rich guys will get richer.  So what?  We've lived with that for 35 years now.

NoCoPilot wrote:

The universal answer was, "Because he's not part of the establishment.  He's an outsider.  He tells it like it is.  He's a breath of fresh air."

WTF? Donald Trump is the establishment. And the worst part of it. He's only an "outsider" in that he has no connection with the 99.9% of the rest of us.

He seldom "tells it like it is." He tells it his way, which is to reinforce the bigotries and misconceptions of his audience. That is seldom the way it really is.

He's as much a "breath fresh air" as the pig farm down the street.

That universal answer shows stupidity, dishonesty, and ignorance on the part of his supporters.

NoCoPilot wrote:

There will be a few new wars, more financial bubbles, social services will be cut, and rich guys will get richer.  So what?  We've lived with that for 35 years now.

"So what?" I know you've heard the one about quit digging if you ever want to get out of the hole.

The Republicans have gone from a candidate who looks like a chimp to one who is as smart as a chimp, as their own people recognize (per the Daily Kos).

GOP strategist Mike Murphy on MSNBC wrote:

...he is a stunning ignoramus on foreign policy issues and national security, and he said one, stupid, reckless thing after another, and he's shown absolutely no temperament to try to learn the things he doesn't know, and he doesn't know just about everything.
The guy has a chimpanzee-level understanding of national security policy.

Serious question:

The GOP launched a half-hearted Stop Trump movement, but by then it was too little too late. The disaster of having 17 candidates running had already allowed a man with 12% approval ratings to get more votes than the other 16 candidates.

Now Republicans are reluctantly lining up behind Trump, begrudgingly, saying "they will support the candidate" without any enthusiasm. Except for those who received cash to endorse.

However, despite having the requisite delegates, and despite every other candidate dropping out of the race, Trump is not officially the Republican candidate until the convention. Something could still change. Trump could withdraw if subjected to enough pressure, or a sniper could take him out.

However -- and here's my serious question -- let's assume the convention nominates Trump and he's officially running for president.

Is there a mechanism in place, is there some "impeachment" procedure or something that could be used by the GOP if Trump goes so far off reservation that they're no longer comfortable with him?

As far as the Republican nomination is concerned, the Party can fuck with the rules of the convention to eliminate Trump. They won't do that.

Keep in mind that the only concern of the Republican Party is maintaining power. That is their only goal. Governing is not even on their radar. If they think Trump is the best chance they have to get the White House, they will go with him

If he gets elected, impeachment is the only recourse. Or the sniper you mentioned.