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Trump’s train wreck express

The good ship Trump is taking on water in a sea of falsehoods barely deep enough to keep him afloat

Watching the Trump presidency derail is like watching a slow motion train wreck. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, another boxcar brimming with bull crap careens off a cliff.

For those of you who may have looked away, Trump used last week’s lull in the news cycle to dismiss Jim Comey, the FBI director leading the investigation into possible collusion between the Russians and Trump’s campaign.

Trump then made a bad situation worse by repeatedly changing the rationale behind the dismissal during the 48 hours that followed the firing. He even hung his right-hand man, Vice-President Mike Pence, out to dry by making a liar out of him on at least five occasions.

During all of this, Sean Spicer, Trump’s twist the truth communications director, disappeared for a couple of days. Not an issue for the Donald, however, because he simply threw Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy spin doctor, under the wheels with Pence.

Watching those spokespeople flounder to find answers that avoid the original question has become appointment viewing for the fifth estate, fake news aficionados and this pundit as well.

The Donald, a stranger to the notion of damage control, ended the week by warning Comey that there would be retaliation if he leaks any information to the press. Why just kick Comey to the curb for looking into whether Trump cuddled up with the Commies when you can try to scare him with a muzzle him as well. Painting him as incompetent showboat could backfire big time, however, if Comey decides to slam that door back into Trump’s face.

Overkill, however, is modus operandi for this president, especially when it comes to a media he describes as the enemy of the people. The man who takes pants on fire to a whole new level is now toying with cancelling White House briefings to further obscure the truth.

The Comey fiasco has raised the spectre of obstruction of justice, according to legal experts left aghast at what’s just happened. Even if you ignore the few Democrats starting to drop the impeachment word, there’s no arguing that Trump has done more damage to the presidency in three months than Richard Nixon did in three years.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to trot out his fable for the umpteenth tweet that he was wiretapped by president Obama, despite denials by the CIA, the justice department, the FBI and a host of people on his Rebublican team.

The good ship Trump is taking on water in a sea of falsehoods barely deep enough to keep him afloat. Let us pray, because it’s going to take an act of divine intervention to get this reality star leader on the right track. As Canadians and next door neighbours, we should all be very worried about what Trump’s remaining tomorrows may deposit on our doorstep.

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Rick Stiebel is a Sooke resident and a semi-retired journalist.