Trump, Mika and Morning Joe

Trump on Morning Joe during happier times

Mika just may turn out to be Donald Trump's Monica.  It all seemed innocent enough at first, our president firing back some angry tweets after she and Morning Joe lit into Trump's latest embarrassing episode - fake Time covers hung in several of his country clubs.  No less than eight framed copies according to a Washington Post article, which also had our tweeting president fuming.  But, the whole thing got ratcheted up a notch when he vented on Joe Scarborough, Mika's paramour, bragging that Joe begged him to stop a National Enquirer article that threatened to expose his illicit love affair with Mika.

Not that it was exactly secret.  SNL had already spoofed their on-screen romance, but apparently Joe and Mika weren't quite ready to go public so the White House thought it would put a little pressure on them to ease off on their attacks.  Joe apparently decided his journalistic integrity was at stake here and said, fuck it, go ahead, make my day, or words to that effect, so the NE article ran.

To make matters worse, Mika looked just fine New Year's Eve, the infamous night in question.  Not only had she had a successful nip/tuck to get rid of her "turkey neck" but Trump was apparently complimenting her on it all night, as were others at his gala event.  This Vanity Fair article goes into more detail if you feel the need to explore the subject deeper.

What makes this nasty episode particularly interesting is that when the Time cover story broke, Trump threatened Jeff Bezos with "internet taxes" for allowing his paper to publish such "fake stories."  Yep, amazon owns the Washington Post.  Bezos bought it for $250 million back in 2013 and has revitalized the paper into a national force.

It doesn't matter that amazon already pays sales taxes in all 50 states, Trump was ready to impose an "internet tax" as he felt amazon didn't pay enough.  Either that or he wasn't aware that such federal "internet taxes" don't exist.  Probably the latter, once again demonstrating how terribly misinformed he is.

Republican leaders did take pause, but Paul Ryan and others offered the same faint reprimands they did for Trump's previous sexist comments and blatant ignorance.  Very few were willing to speak out, I guess worried they might face the wrath of the National Enquirer or worse an angry twitter tirade.  This left it up to Ana Navarro to launch one of the most virulent attacks on the "Lunatic Man Baby" on mainstream television.  Ms. Navarro is a Republican strategist, having worked for Jeb Bush, John McCain and Jon Huntsman.

So why are Republicans so sanguine about Trump's brutal misogyny?  It's understandable that Elaine Chao would be reticent given that she is a member of his cabinet, but Condoleeza Rice has no such close relations and continues to give Trump a free pass.  It's moved beyond language, Condi, to actual threats of intimidation, and that's putting it kindly.

It is easy to see why James Comey and others were nervous when they confronted Trump because this is a guy who will resort to whatever means it takes to get his way.  The events of June 28-30 were bad in themselves but ominously point to a pattern of behavior that fully justifies Comey's concerns, which he presented at Senate hearings earlier this month.  Remember that?  Trump appears to have channeled Tony Soprano and is running the White House like a New Jersey criminal den.

At what point do Republican leaders say enough is enough?  Democratic Congresspersons are already looking to the 25th amendment as a way to remove Trump from the White House, as it does appear he is mentally unfit to continue as president.  An elementary school teacher wouldn't allow such behavior in her classroom, why should we accept it in the White House?

Unfortunately, there is an underbelly in America that seems just fine with the President's angry tweets, more upset that Julie Banderas has the audacity to question their "Pres" than they are Ronna McDaniel, the RNC chairwoman, who defended Trump in this recent Fox News segment.

So, it doesn't matter that our president is a serial misogynist, or has no idea how our tax system works or sees the White House as the Bada Bing!   Anything goes in the minds of a substantial portion of the Republican Party because he still "stands for our values," whatever they might be at this point.  Condoleeza Rice, Elaine Chao and Ronna McDaniel should all be deeply embarrassed and hurt that they have to issue such statements to defend our "Lunatic Man Baby" in the White House.