For those who haven’t seen it, the op-ed in question is here, and it’s absolutely worth a read, if for no other reason than the fact that this is something unprecedented in modern American history. A senior member of the administration is saying that the sitting president cannot be trusted to uphold American interests or the rule of law, and that the president’s own staff works against him to prevent him from doing irreparable damage. The fact that the author makes a point of saying they support many of the administration’s policies doesn’t leave me with a high opinion of their politics, but does make them more credible in terms of the clear and present danger that is Trump.
As for whodunnit…. here are a few of my theories:
Crack Theory: Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Realistically, there’s no way that this is true. But you have to admit, it would be hilarious.
The Last Person You’d Suspect, But It Makes a Strange Kind of Sense When You Think About It Theory: Mike Pence. He’s been largely above suspicion, both from Trump and from most of the theories in the media. He’s also been largely quiet in this administration. But Pence is an experienced politician and the kind of extremist that the mainstream Republic Party is much more comfortable with than they are with Trump himself. Whatever else you can say about Pence, though (and you can say a lot), he does appear to be someone who values the norms of government and who shares most traditional Republican stances when it comes to foreign policy and trade, in particular. Those are the two things Trump is most obviously overturning, and the two things the anonymous op-ed writer mentions specifically. Also, if Pence wants to put himself in a better position to claim the presidency should….something see Trump removed, he needs to start distancing himself from his boss. He can’t do that in any kind of public way right now, because he’d then face the wrath of Trump. But anonymously, so that he could out himself later when the time was right? Maybe.
The Boring But Likely To Be True Theory: Somebody we haven’t really heard of. The Times describes the writer of this op-ed as a “senior official” in the Trump administration, but that could mean a lot of things, and the Times is pointedly refusing to clarify their definition. So the odds are probably pretty good that the anonymous author is someone who hasn’t actually made much news, and therefore isn’t a household name. Yet.
The Reasonable But Not Especially Exciting Theory: Jim Mattis. Mattis more than anyone else still left in the administration values the norms and traditions of American government, and is particularly concerned with foreign policy (a main focus of the op-ed). He’s also spent most of his time as Defense Secretary carefully managing foreign policy responses (particularly in relation to Russia) that are largely in line with traditional American policy, while at the same time paying public homage to Trump and carefully managing him so that the president won’t upend those policies. Which…is basically exactly what the op-ed writer describes doing.
If I Had To Put Money On Someone Theory: John Kelly. Tbh I nearly talked myself into putting my money on Pence up there, but ultimately John Kelly just makes so much sense. We know he despises Trump (though every time there’s a story about this fact he puts out a statement about how very much he respects the president – me thinks the general doth protest too much). He was first a cabinet secretary and then chief of staff, so we know that he’s been present and involved in pretty much all of the situations the anonymous writer describes. We also know from James Comey’s book that Kelly very much sees his role as preserving the institutions of government from the destructive impulses of this president. (Kelly, of course, can’t publicly admit that, but all of the reporting since then has served only to back up Comey’s report of Kelly.) And we know that Kelly is enough of a traditionalist that he’d be very hesitant to take an unprecedented step. (Such as invoking the 25th Amendment, which the anonymous writer says the cabinet considered in the early days, before ultimately deciding that they weren’t sure if it would work and they didn’t want to provoke a constitutional crisis.) Also, importantly, we know that no matter how much Kelly sees himself as working to preserve the institutions from Trump, he also hates his job and probably wouldn’t be heartbroken if he was asked to leave. This is important because, of course, it’s extremely unlikely this op-ed will remain anonymous forever.
cisphobeofficial 