Will “Psychogate” Succeed Where “Russiagate” Has Failed in Left’s Effort to Remove Trump?
“Russiagate,” a package of allegations and insinuations of a Russian government plan compelling Americans to elect Donald Trump as President of the United States is crumbling. The theory, as far-fetched as it may have been, has produced a frenzy of activity involving just about every U.S. security agency, with the FBI at the lead. But Trump remains in the Oval Office and the impeachment shadows have faded.
Bring in Plan B. Let’s call it “Psychogate” or “Mental Gate™.” Perhaps mental fitness might deliver better results than Russian meddling has.
A growing number of Congresspeople, most of whom are Democrats, have consulted and heeded the wisdom of Dr. Bandy X. Lee, a Yale professor of psychiatry, specializing in violence. She’s discussed President Donald’s Trump’s mental state and his ability to serve as president in a recently published book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President.
The Democrats will doubtless also be quoting another new book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, by Michael Wolff, in an effort to discredit Trump. Hey, it’s easier than having to deliver a real political program!
We can expect Democrats now to shift from talking about Russian hacking to expressions of concerns and worry that Trump’s mental instability poses to the country. If left unchecked, we’ll be told, he will worsen and pose a real danger as the pressure of the office gets to him. Is it a coincidence that there are now stories—as Wolff claims—suggesting that Trump’s presidential run was a public relations stunt and that he didn’t want to win? (Source: “Trump didn’t want to win the election because he thought losing could offer ‘untold opportunities’: Book,” The Washington Examiner, January 3, 2018.)
Will the shift from Russia to mental health deliver the political dividends that the Left and much of Hollywood want? Frankly, while it would be best for the Democrats to think about what Americans want and need, if discrediting Trump is their goal, then this is a better strategy than Russiagate. Certainly, the mainstream media has welcomed this shift, and it’s already out running out of the “gate,” as it were. Expect to see ever more interviews and questions about Trump’s mental fitness. (Source: “Video: NBC Reporter Asks White House Press Secretary If POTUS Is Mentally Ill,” Infowars, January 4, 2018.)
Russiagate Has Run Out of Steam
It started in the days immediately after Trump won in November 2016. By December, President Barack Obama himself went on public record to imply that Russians had interfered in the 2016 presidential election, implying that Trump’s election was fraudulent. Rather than focus on her own amateur mistakes—like not campaigning in key Democratic states like Pennsylvania—Hillary Clinton embraced and fueled the Russia narrative.
The Clinton campaign linked Russia collusion directly to President Vladimir Putin. He was likened to a manipulating Lex Luthor/Dr. Evil figure, and many people—of all political colors—bought it. The fact that Putin was fully committed to supporting the Syrian government sustain the onslaught of the “Arab Spring” made the idea of an evil genius meddling with holy and pure American democracy even more credible.
Barely six months into his term, Trump had fired one FBI director (James Comey), a national security advisor (Michael Flynn) and several other officials. He seemed to be losing grip, and many on the American so-called Left placed their hope in an unlikely champion: former FBI director Robert Mueller. Despite having gained a bad reputation during the post-9/11 years with civil libertarians and the so-called anti-fascists, i.e. “Antifa,” suddenly, magically, Mueller became a hero of the Left. He was going to bring Trump down.
So Far, Mueller Has Produced Little of Substance
The indictments of Flynn and Paul Manafort do not reveal anything that could prove Russia’s, much less Putin’s, intrusion in the 2016 presidential election. They don’t even explain exactly how this intrusion could have materialized. There have only been vague statements of Facebook ads and of hackers giving sensitive information (the factual nature of which nobody has denied) to Wikileaks. Then again, they haven’t been able to prove that it was Russian hackers who did that.
Fast forward to the days before Christmas 2017. Trump scored a major political win, getting an ambitious tax plan passed into law. Days before that, agree with him or not, Trump scored major bipartisan points—earning praise even from such “Left’ champions as Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer—when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
In other words, Trump delivered a 1-2 punch sequence that has all but knocked out the Democrats. They have produced nothing in the past year. Rather than challenge Trump on his political choices and preparing candidates for the 2018 and 2020 elections, they’ve focused on Russia. It’s like a Cold War-inspired episode of the Brady Bunch, with “Russia, Russia, Russia” in place of “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha.”