Trump is now inveighing against marginalized groups like gay and transgender Americans in such a broad and blind way that it is almost terrifying, but those of us who are offended by this persecution and dislike this vulgar man must stand back and look at the big picture and take courage in the lineaments of the situation:
Trump is demonstrably doomed: all of these victimizing policy shifts are desperate diversions and distractions for his base. He himself is hopelessly boxed in. He and his cabal have been behaving with such consciousness of guilt on Russia that even his supporters know he is covering up a crime. Special prosecutor Robert Mueller, legendarily relentless, is on the case, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions can be of no aid (which is why Trump is attacking him), and yet Trump cannot remove either without triggering a constitutional crisis. Trump's abuse of Sessions has proven the point those of us who argue for the politics of inclusion warned conservatives about: sooner or later, Trump will turn on someone from your group, and you'll realize nothing is sacred for him. If you digest a wide range of news sources, you have already picked up the shift in tone, and stirrings of awakening. Conservative commentators in the media are starting to turn on Trump: Shep Smith of Fox News now routinely condemns him; NYT columnist Ross Douthat called for his removal yesterday; even hacks like Rush Limbaugh and Matt Drudge are said to be "disturbed" by Trump's recent behavior. They are coming into that sinking feeling we have long had: Trump is a manipulative, criminal anarchist, who somehow fooled the American people into getting elected. Whispered discussions will soon turn to whether the intelligensia on the right should turn on him, bolstering the weakened but still present mechanisms for the removal of such a fiend, or whether they should stay quiet and wait for the voters themselves to figure it out. But make no mistake: Trump's days are now short. Darker days may yet come while the wounded animal flails, but dawn will break, and all his contemptible policies and statements will then be invalidated.
In my ideal future, Donald Trump is impeached for treason by the U.S. Senate, but refuses along with a small group of die-hards to vacate the White House and surrenders the real accesses of power, whence he is forcibly removed by federal marshals, and as he is frog-marched to an awaiting armored car, he catches a glimpse, perhaps only illusory, of Justin Trudeau and Angela Merkel similing and enjoying cappucinos on a nearby café patio. Justice.
