Trump – without a life jacket

He came into office promising to drain the swamp but now he’s up to his ears in filth. Never in our glorious history have we witnessed such a quick and dishonorable descent. Will he soon blow bubbles from below, or make another Houdini-like comeback?

Each day brings another jolt to the norm. How low can he get when he flounders in the hurricane brought on by himself.

He thought he could replicate his swaggering, intimidating style as a tycoon but that only wreaked havoc in the walled-off West Wing.

And his future looks bleak indeed if it is true that he knew all about his son’s meeting with Russians, and then dictated a misleading statement about that contentious and secret discussion. That is prima facie evidence for further investigation.

Count the casualties during his brief rule. The latest is a now jobless communications director, Anthony Scaramucci. Had he not been fired we would have been deluged with much more of his verbal scum.

Lethal arrows felled other holdouts in the squabbling administration. First to go was the lying national security chief, Michael Flynn, followed by the deputy chief of staff, Katie Walsh. Then Michael Dubke, a forgotten director of communications. Then ethics chief Walter Shaub slammed the door in disgust. Press Secretary Sean Spicer stormed out of the bushes just before the terminator fired chief of staff Reince Priebus.

Earlier, far away on the West coast, FBI director James Comey learned of his dismissal when told to watch television.

Now the target is attorney general Jeff Sessions, whose loyalty all through the topsy-turvy campaign is rewarded by a warm-up of saber rattling by Trump.

Hold your breath, for everything points to Trump moving towards similar reckless vengeance against Robert Mueller, for probing too deeply into claims that Russians manipulated our elections.

Such a move will bring matters to a head, sparking the constitutional crisis that may lead to Trump’s fall from office.

Don’t forget that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham warned that sacking Mueller would be “the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency.”

Many of those running for the hills by the loathsome spectacle in the White House are praying that the bull lowers his horns and charges the special counsel. It is bound to end in the beast’s gory demise amid a crescendo of whoops and applause.

Jerry Springer’s television guests drew hoots and howls from a degenerate audience spurred on by humans going at each other like fighting cocks. But then even they were sated and ratings declined.

Notwithstanding, neophytes brought this rough and tumble slugfest into the White House itself, where fists and feet compete with the lingo of drunks to entertain Trump’s die-hard squads.

Meanwhile we can be sure that journalistic sleuths with contacts deep within the circus are busy writing books on the inside story. Watch for Bob Woodward of Watergate fame, who hopefully will bring out a bombshell book in time for the Christmas trade.

Or perhaps those with footprints on the back of their pants are busy scribbling down what they saw and heard from their ringside seats.

Will Reince Priebus or Sean Spicer ditch their safety nets with Republican stalwarts and tell all to an eager audience? Who knows, but we live in expectation.

Meanwhile we endure the squalor and sordid scene as if detailed by an officious sergeant to scrub clean the latrines. We go about our allotted tasks – but in vocal fury.

—

Anthony Pitch is a former journalist in America, England, Israel, and Africa, and author on non-fiction history books, with 17 appearances on national television.