Version 2.156

It is not lost on me that what seems to be the straw that broke the camel's back that is the Trump Presidency is a direct consequence of the death of RBG. In his haste to add insult to injury, Trump saw images of President Clinton's announcement of RBG's nomination and decided he wanted the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to look just like it, so he had the Rose Garden decorated in the same manner. Of course, it had to have a big audience because the size of the crowd matters. And that is how you end up with a Presidential event in which at least 23 people are infected, including a Coast Guard Admiral, which triggered senior military officials to quarantine themselves. 

Twelve years ago, we were living under the same kind of stress as the economy collapsed under the weight of the subprime crisis. Come to think of it, we are already October, so we may even see another stock market crash. The 2008 one took place on Sept. 29, so that's how we spent that election campaign. The Bush Administration was completely overwhelmed. Four days before the crash, Henry Paulson, the Treasury Secretary, kneeled down in front of the then, and now, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, to ask her to help Congress pass TARP. The Wall Street Journal called it a moment of levity, but it sure did not feel that way.

After the 2008 election, the Bush Administration entertained the thought of Obama's inauguration taking place before January 20, 2009. Instead, they got their ducks in a row and trained the Obama folks as well as they could to make sure they could hit the floor running. Obama was so impressed with how organized the transition from the previous administration had been that he ordered his administration to leave everything just as good for the Trump administration to take over. What a waste of effort. 

If Trump does leave office, he will do so without a transition plan. If he wins the election, his lunacy will be emboldened. Either he'll be impeached or they'll use the 25th Amendment and take him out. Of course that assumes that he survives; we still have a few weeks to go to see how he fares. It does not seem like he'll have access to a Portuguese nurse, though. I'm sure MRS is very disappointed.