Horny's Ghost Will Not Be Going Away: Who and Where are the Ghostbusters?
Pamela Williamson????????????
Narrative Strategist??Geopolitical Analyst??Narrative Intelligence ?? Influence & Resilience Expert?? Knowledge Synthesiser?? Geopolitical Satire??Narrative Magic (Owl of O.W.L.)??Lawyer (Ret.)??CEO Sky Canopy Consulting
Silver-backed gorilla Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay
Outgoing President Donald J. Trump is used to being the gorilla in the room who sits where he likes. He even has a new silver gray hair colour to show it. But his new *ghostly appearance indicates he does not intend to fade away just yet. Trump has not formally conceded his loss of the 2020 US Election yet, even after President-elect Joe Biden just took Georgia and has soundly defeated him with Electoral College votes to spare (360:232), and may never do so as a middle finger gesture to Biden and Democrats. He has decided instead as a strategic move to become obstructive about President-elect Biden's access to intelligence briefings, has instructed his staff to be uncooperative about the transition (many of whom are ignoring him), has dog-whistled and incited far-right extremists The Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers to create MAGA havoc in Washington on the weekend, and will no doubt find any opportunity to show contempt and discourtesy to the norms of handover.
This all may simply be another Trump feint and distraction despite his implied threats (and the actual violence resulting), and his nuisance-value doomed legal challenges.
Because he may already be plotting to return, whether in 2024 himself, or via a surrogate adult child, Don Jnr. or Ivanka (God Help Us All!). The 'Dynasty of Trump Tower' has to go on. They have all had a taste of power, despite initially regarding the presidency as a step down. His grip on the Republican Party remains secure for the foreseeable future given 71 million plus Americans voted for him. His approval rating remains high, according to pollsters FiveEightThirty (44.8%) But he has ended up with a mirror image of his own victory in 2016. He will now concede "nothing", although he just shot himself in the foot with a public "almost concession". Enabling a smooth transition to at least facilitate urgent work on the #coronaviruspandemic is unimportant to him as he remains indifferent to the escalating crisis as it doesn't affect him. His deliberate failed response to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria (still making little progress) gave an early warning of his callousness and cruelty.
So, why would he want to return? Because he can. He likes being an authoritarian and reckons his base is strong enough for him to be an even better one next time. Power corrupts and Trump was corrupt already. But above all else, the safest refuge for Donald Trump is actually the White House. There prosecution is delayed due to the constitutional rule/convention that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted or sued while in office ie "presidential immunity".
Trump has been not only trying to outrun Biden but New York prosecutors as well. The tortoise is catching up with the hare! Yes, Aesop found that the race is not always to the swift.
"The Tortoise and the Hare", from an edition of Caleb's Fables illustrated by Arthur Rackham, 1912
"The President has survived one impeachment, twenty-six accusations of sexual misconduct, and an estimated four thousand lawsuits. That run of good luck may well end, perhaps brutally, if Joe Biden wins":
- Jane Mayer, The New Yorker
Who and Where Are These 'Ghostbusters'?
The Attorney-General of the State of New York and the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance will be waiting for January 21, 2021, hopefully with indictments (or at least full speed and fully-powered investigations) for ex-President Trump for his business practices and taxes. How likely are they to succeed?
- The Washington Post, dated 22 September, 2020
But the Supreme Court may end up ruling on the matter. With a court stacked with Republicans (the latest being Justice Amy Coney Barrett), Trump may be free to run again. Or else he may not and be contending with criminal prosecution.
So, what other "ghostbusters" might be in the wings? There is of course the A-G for New York State, Letitia James, a Democrat, who is investigating the Trump Organisation which has stonewalled her repeatedly. She has sought court assistance to get Eric Trump to comply with her interview request:
- AP
Who Else Is Out To Get Donald Trump?
"We the People" in an original edition; Detail of Preamble to Constitution of the United States
Attorneys general in both Washington, D.C., and Maryland.
The emoluments clause of the US Constitution prohibits those in public office from accepting gifts from foreign governments: Congressional Research Service
Benefitting from the presidency?
The irony is that Trump himself, a psychopath, has been a vexatious litigator frequently threatening and filing lawsuits. He has coerced NDA's from his female victims.
- USA Today
Finally, will Horny's ghost come back to haunt us all? Yes, that is highly likely even as tortuous investigations (which may or may not lead to actual prosecutions) and civil suits roll on like an enveloping fog. The evidence is there already. At least the Mueller Investigation did that groundwork and dispelled the myths that Trump enablers comforted themselves with at night while wide awake scared of the Ghosts of Trump Past and Present and Their Futures.
"Edward Kelly, a Magician. in the Act of invoking the Spirit of a Deceased Person." (engraving from the Astrology by Ebenezer Sibly, 1806)
* Horny's Ghost is a Great Horned Owl character in "The Classified Adventures of Owl of O.W.L."
??READ Chapter 4 of Season 8
GO to: the Owl of O.W.L. page for Owl information and links.
AND Go to "The Classified Adventures of Owl of O.W.L." page for the evolution of a strategic narrative (the backstory of its creation) and previous chapters.
Pamela Williamson
Sky Canopy Consulting
17 November, 2020
Auckland, New Zealand
? All Rights Reserved