For science geeks, the Big Rip refers to a hypothesized future astrophysics phenomenon in which atoms themselves rip apart as the Universe expands.
But for my purposes, this news, a continuation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool debacle and the arrest of David Hearn for vandalism of same, may be a big red flag:
The felony indictment that [former Fox News host and current District of Columbia U. S. Attorney Jeanine] Pirro’s office brought alleged that Hearn had caused more than $1,000 worth of damage to the Reflecting Pool. It was a facially absurd claim when it was made on July 2 in a Pirro press conference that was roundly mocked at the time.
Unsurprisingly, the indictment did not stick.
Less than a month later, Pirro and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Spence filed Friday’s motion to dismiss the indictment against Hearn. [Law Dork]
President Trump violently disagreed with Pirro’s activities, and you can find that at the Law Dork link.
When analyzing this incident, it’s important to keep in mind that US Attorney Pirro, when she was a Fox News host, was an avid Trump fan, even agreeing with his election-denial position, regardless of the lack of evidence; no doubt that and her former position as a judge led to her nomination by Trump, and her confirmation by the Senate, as US Attorney for D. C.
Now he’s shriekingly angry at her for withdrawing a false accusation[1] and admitting the whole incident is a farce, all because it thrusts the fault for the embarrassing and expensive incident back on the President.
Chasing away your most ardent fans is not a path to success; this is how those he counts on for loyalty and protection suddenly find a reason to turn on their sugar daddy and melt him in a pot. This could be the precipitating incident for Trump loyalists in the Cabinet, in the House, and in the Senate to quietly consider how to remove him from office and from influence.
Nothing may happen. Heavens knows the loyalists have had to ignore fallacious economic theories, fallacious war theories, humiliating Cabinet meetings, and a petty, boastful, grasping President who makes decisions based on personal loyalties rather than objective merit; many of them no doubt revel in their elevated, and often unearned, social positions. Some may have used their positions for grifting.
But realizing the society in which they exist is being put through a cheese-grater will occur to some of them, and that the consequent loss of national prestige among the community of nations is damage to themselves. I’m guessing there’ll be a delay as folks organize, and one day Trump will be dumped out of the White House on his ass, and his Secret Service detachment either replaced with a smaller group or even, in extreme circumstances, withdrawn.
All ignited by this small incident.
1 A not unknown phenomenon in Trump’s life, as those who remember the shameful Central Park 5 accusations are aware.
