In these last three weeks, Donald Trump has escalated the level of chaos rapidly with no signs of stopping. All anyone says nowadays is, “He did what now?” To give a recap, the first big story was President Trump firing FBI director James Comey, though he neglected to inform Comey directly. Trump’s aides claimed it was because of the completely unfair manner in which Comey treated Hillary Clinton in the weeks before the election, and the president himself blamed Comey’s newfound lust for the spotlight. How ironic. The administration also piggybacked off of deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein’s recommendation that the director should go. Then the next day Trump issued an official presidential decree - otherwise known as a “tweet” - declaring that firing Comey was all his idea and Rosenstein couldn’t have changed his mind at all. Then again in an interview with Lester Holt, Trump admitted that he asked Comey to drop the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s ties to Russia. Trump also asked if he himself was under investigation as well. In a situation where all three US intelligence agencies agree and have proved that Russia meddled in our election, these actions shoot up a red flag for possible obstruction of justice. Trump also had a closed-door meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, allegedly leaking information about new ISIS laptop bomb disguised technology. Trump apparently wanted to impress his “buddies” so badly that he gave highly-classified information to the Russians, which raises another red flag about the competency of a president who said of Hillary Clinton during one of his rallies, “We can’t have someone in the White House who doesn’t understand the meaning of classified information.”
With Trump going behind the backs of his staffers and constituents, defending him every day, how could this bode well for the next three and a half years of Trump’s Administration? Spicer has now resorted to hiding in the bushes. I miss the days when politicians were held accountable for what they said and tried for their actions. I want to go back to a time when Nixon famously said, “I’m not a crook” about the Watergate investigation that took thousands of man hours and a famously named “Deep Throat” informant to bring down the corruption. His political support was so eroded that Nixon had to resign, before evident impeachment, and has left a horrible stain on his presidency. Or when Bill Clinton said with undoubting conviction, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” Yet after an investigation into the matter, Bill was tried for impeachment and the implications also left a black mark on his presidency. But when Trump tweets and boasts of obstructing justice, leaking classified information, and admitting to sexually assaulting women, all with evidence and seemingly dozens of sources from the White House to confirm, where are the repercussions? Hopefully Bob Mueller, special counsel to lead the Flynn and Russia Investigation, can be our Woodward and Bernstein that we so desperately need.
With each new day, the chaos grows, making the first 100 days a distant quiet memory. What will Donald Trump and his cadre do next?
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