In his new book, “A Higher Loyalty,” James Comey states that dealing with Trump reminded him of dealing with the head of a mob family. Trump has certainly given every appearance of being the godfather of a massive international crime syndicate. He has close ties to criminal syndicates in the U.S., and other countries with which he appears to be engaged in laundering vast sums and is immersed in the usual culture of casinos, beauty contests, prostitution, pornography, etc..
Trump seeks to rule his empire, as well as the U.S. government, unilaterally, unencumbered by ordinary democratic laws, institutions and processes. He is at war with the “fake” capitalist media and the bourgeois separation of powers with its Congress, independent Department of Justice and its special prosecutor.
Trump would prefer an authoritarian fascist-like government with all its trappings of racism, male supremacy, nationalism, etc.
Fighting the Trump gangsters is obviously far more difficult than fighting an ordinary crime family since Trump is president and has enormous political resources at his command including control over one of the two capitalist parties.
Trump also has unlimited financial resources.
This brings us to a second peculiar challenge, which goes to the heart of the battle now taking place within our country’s ruling class. As big and powerful as the Trump mob family is, it is operating, at least at times, as a subsidiary of a foreign clique of gangsters headed by Russian godfather Vladimir Putin. The details of Putin’s control over Trump are not fully known, but the fact seems clear enough. James Clapper, Former National Director of Intelligence, stated that “Putin manages Trump as if he were a Russian intelligence asset,” according to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman (April 3).
If true, this is obviously unacceptable to many the entrenched institutions of U.S. imperialism, especially its foreign policy and intelligence establishment, the so-called “deep state.” This would explain why there is such an open and concerted effort to take Trump down through the Mueller probe and its spinoffs. The leader of the so-called “free world,” cannot, in their eyes, be the puppet of a competing imperialist power.
Trump has caused deep splits in the U.S. ruling class. There are three main groups. First, Trump and his ultra-right supporters, who would happily take our country to fascism. Second, a larger, more centrist group that supports liberal democracy and capitalism and is unwilling to turn U.S world dominance over to Russia. There is a third much smaller group, including people like hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer, who oppose fascism, support liberal democracy as the best guarantor of their class interests and call for Trump to be impeached. Republican politicians are funded by billionaires in the first two groups while establishment Democrats are often connected to the second two. Many of the groups representing labor and its allies, of course, also contend for power within the Democratic Party. Some seek to do that while at the same time maintain their political independence.
Trump is driving the country towards a constitutional crisis.
Should one develop an important question would be the attitude of the Pentagon, which is not always clearly on the President’s side.
The U.S. response to the alleged but unproven use of chemical weapons by Syria was minimal. Secretary of Defense James Mattis apparently prevailed for now over the war-fiendish National Security Advisor, John Bolton. Mattis told Congress only days before the illegal U.S. bombing that he did not know who was responsible for the use of chemical weapons. Such a blatant violation of international law was certainly not in the interest of Bashar Al Assad, who had already pretty much overcome his opponents in the civil war.
Defeated rebels and Israel might have had an interest in provoking worldwide condemnation of the Syrian regime and an inevitable military response by the United States. In any case, Trump has declared “Mission Accomplished” and can, hopefully, continue his stated policy of pulling out of that conflict.
The other major and of course crucial factor in Trump’s future is the attitude of the broad masses of the American people. They have held repeated and unprecedented protests against Trump’s views, policies and actions from the day after his inauguration on a wide variety of interlocking issues. Counter efforts by the president’s supporters have paled in comparison or backfired as was the case of the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville. The noose is tightening and time is running out. Indictments and guilty pleas have already piled up with more coming at any moment. If the streets continue to belong to the anti-Trump majority and that majority expresses its will in the November elections, then Trump’s goose is cooked. He will be impeached or forced to resign.
CONTRIBUTOR
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