It’s evident that Trump is, as the English say, barking mad. There are an agonizing 44 days to go before Biden’s inauguration, and Trump will only get crazier. We can hope that the generals will restrain Trump, if he decides in a fit of petulance and self-pity to push the nuclear button.
But there are many other ways that Trump could start World War III by degrees. For instance, he could egg on Netanyahu, who is almost as desperate as Trump, to launch the kind of attack or assassination that would produce a counterattack on Israel and then draw in the U.S. Or Trump could opt for one last provocation of China that could lead to a shooting war. Or he might decide to show that little twerp Kim by taking out his missiles, which could lead to a North Korean attack on South Korea. You get the idea. There are two ways to get Trump out. One is the 25th Amendment, and the perfect guy to do it is Attorney General Bill Barr, now in royal disfavor. And the AG needs to move fast before Trump gets around to firing him. Barr is perfect. He is reminiscent of any number of crafty Shakespearian henchmen who turn against the boss. A bit of Iago. A little Brutus. (Et tu, Barr?) Shakespeare often ends not just in the fall of the king but in general catastrophe. That’s why it’s called tragedy. The Times quotes Shakespeare scholar Jeffrey R. Wilson describing Trump’s isolated, wrathful paranoia as "classic Act V behavior." Best to get this done while we are still in Act
IV. The way the 25th works, the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet can remove the president for incapacity. That can happen instantly, as soon as a majority signs an order and transmits it to Congress. Have we ever seen a president more incapacitated than Trump? But can Pence, who would succeed Trump, discover his inner Brutus? The other route is for Trump’s children, son-in-law, and legal advisers to remind him that it’s not at all clear that a president can pardon himself. What if Trump does pardon himself, which is likely, but the pardon is disallowed by the Supreme Court? The high court, speaking of faithless courtiers, has had a bellyful of this guy. Then Trump is really up Schitt’s Creek (which I can now say in a family magazine thanks to the TV series and the general coarsening of the popular culture). But I digress. Many of us have long suspected that Trump’s endgame could be his resignation in favor of Pence, in exchange for a blanket pardon deal. Though Trump
richly deserves multiple prosecutions, I’ve always thought this would be a good bargain. The pardon covers only federal crimes; New York could still prosecute him for state crimes. A Pence pardon sure beats Trump blowing all of us to hell.
