Even I have to admit, I am astounded by the pace. You know, all Presidents promise to “hit the ground running”. But The Orange Julius is not just any President, he’s a special snowflake. This shlumpf didn’t “hit the ground running”, he hit the ground head first. From three stories up.
Recently I wrote a diary, concerning his ongoing feud with the media, and the potentially disastrous results for him. I suggested that he read a book, and that he should start with “All the President’s Men”, about the media destruction of the Nixon Presidency. But apparently Mein Furor doesn’t peruse the Kos, it must dent the fenders of his jalopy ‘57 Chevy dignity.
Already he has started, if not personally, then through his administration. Multiple departments have been hit with “gag orders”, forbidding them to make any public statements, official releases or social media contacts regarding agency business, even public facing departments. New departmental internet postings have been banned. He has placed government employed scientists in a moral dilemma. Their profession morally moves them to share the findings of their research with their fellow scientists, to increase the knowledge. But now, this disclosure would place them in direct conflict with a gag order passed down by their own government, and employer. This is suicidal politically for The Dumpster Fire, for one simple reason.
Yesterday we learned that the Environmental Protection Agency has basically been frozen in its tracks.Basically all grants and disbursements have been frozen, and this is pretty much how the EPA functions. There is a strict gag order for all employees. Employees with preexisting public engagements are required to disclose them to the administration, and presumably their speeches and remarks will be parsed for the propriety and compliance of their content.
And herein are the seeds of the destruction of Der Gropinfuhror. How did we find out about this? The administration didn’t announce it. We found out about it because a disgruntled employee smuggled a copy of the orders out of the building and gave them to a friendly congressional staffer that they knew. The staffer then leaked it to the media, providing a cutout. And then the media reported it, most notably on MSNBC last night.
This is exactly how it starts, and why I advised the Cheeto Prophet to read the book. Dissent cannot be contained in a vacuum. Chelsea Manning and Eric Snowden are perfect examples. We can save for another diary whether they were treacherous or misguided, but neither did it for the money. They felt legitimate concerns, and felt stifled in having those legitimate in their minds concerns were not being properly addressed, so they took their own steps. Right or wrong, they took the actions they felt necessary.
And now, on day four, we have our first “Deep Throat” of the new administration. And believe me folks, we haven’t seen the last, far from it. In my estimation, one or more of the scientists will be next. They have a code, and hell, most of them could probably make more money in the private sector anyway. And let’s be clear, they are not traitors, no classified material is at risk here, they’re whistle blowers. And more and more of the media, especially the print media is becoming more resistant to the cavalcade of bullshit that they’re being fed by the administration. Now they’ll go nosing for truffles, looking for and trying to cultivate possible disgruntled employees. And the more important the department, the juicier the tidbits will be. And they’ll be coming, maybe not tomorrow, but soon enough.
If this continues, it will be the downfall of The Tiny Fisted Diktator. Trump’s inner circle and cabinet appointees are hand picked lackeys, they won’t desert him. But just underneath the cabinet appointees, and department heads are an army of career civil servants. They have functioned under multiple Presidencies of both parties. But they are not ideological or political figures, they are civil service employees. And they have morals and principals. Just over twenty years from the date of Nixon’s resignation, it was revealed that the unknowable “Deep Throat” of Watergate fame was actually Mark Felt, a high, but not politically appointed official in the FBI. Major leaks seldom occur from appointees, they have a vested interest in the outcome at stake. Instead, it comes from career civil servants that can no longer stomach what they see going on around them, but already know that there is no sense in protesting internally.
And The Orange Tufted Poodle has just sewn an entire farm field of potential whistle blowers waiting to bring him down. And the media will welcome them with open arms. And once the dam springs a leak, like it did yesterday, there will be more leaks. As each leak is successful, and the culprit is uncaught, it will drive more leaks, on different fronts. There have been multiple comments in my recent diaries speaking of The Fuzzy Yam spending his inauguration in “the bunker”. To quote the great band BTO, “B-b-b-b-baby, you just ain’t seen n-n-n-n-nothin’ yet”.