When there’s proof that a staffer has called their employer “amoral,” “ineffective,” and “anti-democratic” but that employer can’t narrow down the possibilities of who made those quotes to less than a dozen employees, it’s not really a good sign.
Increasingly Trump is sounding like a third-rate dictator – demanding loyalty oaths, possibly using lie detector tests, trusting only his children.
Our country is in danger and vulnerable, and the GOP continues to be silently complicit. https://t.co/PZuC1pgfsN
— Amy Siskind ?️? (@Amy_Siskind) September 7, 2018
Panic and chaos has ruled the White House even more than usual as Trump rages and searches for the writer of that anonymous New York Times op-ed, in which the author confessed to being part of a group of people who have “vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”
Rand Paul urges Trump to use lie detector tests on aides to root out author of anonymous New York Times essay https://t.co/O5bSMzkHEq
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) September 6, 2018
One congressman who has recently become a close friend and sycophant for Trump had a suggestion and Trump actually considered taking it, according to The New York Times.
‘Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, an ally of Mr. Trump’s, recommended that the president force members of his administration to take polygraph examinations, and there was at least briefly some discussion of that among advisers to the president. Another option mentioned by people close to Mr. Trump was asking senior officials to sign sworn affidavits that could be used in court if necessary. One outside adviser said the White House had a list of about 12 suspects.’
NEW: Donald Trump wants staff to take lie detector to find who penned op-ed, and have writer arrested #DworkinReporthttps://t.co/mUwHa6b37L
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) September 6, 2018
Thus far, the White House and the GOP reaction has been solely to denounce the writer and call him or her a coward who should resign. None of them have acknowledge the fact that the writer says it is not one, but an entire group of people committing constitutional violations to thwart the president.
John Kelly has a list of a dozen people who could have written the NY Times op-ed. Trump is considering making them take lie detector tests and signing sworn affidavits.?
It Wasn’t Me: Pence, Pompeo and a Parade of Administration Officials Deny Writing https://t.co/TlHnk4Q2kc
— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) September 7, 2018
It goes without saying that they haven’t acknowledged or addressed all the reasons why members of Trump’s team would find it necessary to do so.
Featured image via Flickr by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under a Creative Commons license