Propaganda at Work: Trump’s Lying Tweet After Democratic Victories in Multiple Primaries: ““Great night for Republicans! … John Cox… can win… So Much for the big Blue Wave, it may be a big Red Wave. Working hard!”

Mr. Trump has been working hard at one thing, in between those three-day weekends at Mar-a-Lago playing golf and after he absorbs his own early-morning three-hour TV briefing from Fox: propaganda.  He uses his Twitter account like a sword to cut down his enemies and like a shovel to dig up dirt to cover up his losses.  After the Democrats did well in multiple state primary elections on Tuesday, he tweeted: “Great night for Republicans! … John Cox… can win… So Much for the big Blue Wave, it may be a big Red Wave. Working hard!”

The reference to John Cox, a Republican candidate in the top-two primary for governor in California, celebrates his strong showing after he gained the second spot for the final election in the governor’s race.  This is indeed a truthful and encouraging sign, as it will motivate strongly Republican voters to turn out for a protest vote against the virtually certain Democratic winner in that race.  While they are in the voting booth, they will also vote for Republican candidates in House races even though they wouldn’t have bothered to turn just for that.  The increase in Republican turnout may mean the difference between defeat and victory in some closely-contested House races this fall.

That kernel of truth about John Cox, however, is surrounded with blatant lies– overall, it was not a “Great night for Republicans”.  Here is another quote from the article that cites Mr. Trump’s tweet:

“Democrats have to be happy and relieved,” said Dave Wasserman, House race analyst for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. “They have woken up from their nightmare of lockouts, and everything is O.K.”

The Democratic success could affect activity in Congress. Faced with the need to protect endangered Republican incumbents in California, House Republican leaders may determine that they have to move forward with a vote on immigration policy being demanded by Republican centrists who believe the issue is critical to their campaigns.

–By CARL HULSE and JONATHAN MARTIN – The New York Times – Wednesday, June 06, 2018

What is more, John Cox, although he is a pure Republican, has no chance of winning the governorship in California.  So Don the Con’s congratulations are a little premature.  At most, Mr. Cox’s candidacy will inspire pure Republicans (of whom there are many in California) to turn out for a protest vote that might help embattled Republican Congressmen in three House districts.   The big Blue Wave that has been predicted consists mainly of a reaction of disgust against Don and continues to roll on.

It appears from the pace of Mr. Mueller’s investigation that it is nearly complete except for Mr. Trump’s personal testimony.  Based on the most recent leak, probably from Trump forces, of the letter written to Mr. Mueller by Trump’s lawyers in January that asserts what may primly be called “executive privilege”, Mr. Mueller has apparently been pressuring Mr. Trump towards granting that vital interview at least since last winter.  The last resort appears to be when Mr. Trump’s lawyers refuse an interview and Mr. Mueller issues a subpoena to compel his testimony.  The Supreme Court is likely to be asked to decide this issue.

Whatever the Supreme Court decides, Mr. Mueller will conclude his investigation with a report to Mr. Wray and ultimately to Mr. Sessions.  That will inevitably be leaked and will also inevitably be reported to the House, which will inevitably begin another investigation, this time into whether Mr. Trump should be impeached.  This will take us all the way into the summer or fall of 2019.  By then the damage Mr. Trump and his Republican allies have done to the government and the country will become blatantly obvious.  The federal deficit will balloon to over a trillion dollars, and Congress will be forced to raise taxes or face a crisis of confidence in the federal economy.

Bad things will happen, and despite the election of a Democratic House (and possibly Senate) nothing can be done about it without Mr. Trump’s signature.  I suspect that Moral Mike Pence will get into trouble and have to be replaced, as Spiro Agnew was replaced by Gerald Ford.  I remember the collective relief expressed when Mr. Ford was elevated, because he was thought to be a moderate and many knew that he would become the next President.  Little did we know that Mr. Ford had made a secret agreement with Mr. Nixon, to pardon him proactively shortly after he resigned in the face of impeachment by the House.

Back then, the propaganda machine was in full cry against Mr. Nixon’s foes.  Today, Twitter gives Mr. Trump that “bully pulpit” that can reach into everyone’s home– a new propaganda weapon that has far-reaching and unforeseen effects.  We can expect the unexpected– the propaganda war will only get weirder.

(image of woman with sword and American flag courtesy of pixabay.com and Open Clipart-Vectors)