Thread by @PalmerReport

So you wanted Pelosi to goad Trump into going off the deep end and taking himself down? Well, this is what him taking himself down looks like. Firing off every deranged option he has left, like arbitrary declassification, insane indictments, vowing to put his enemies on trial...

These are not tactics that will magically allow Trump to become emperor. No, these are things that will convince the average nonpolitical American that, yeah, he has to go. But Trump will do great harm to others while destroying himself with this stuff. That’s just how it works.

A lot of what Trump is vowing to do right now, won’t happen. We see this all the time. He bluffs on things he’s never going to do, just to distract us. His people merely pretend to do some of the self-harming things he really wants them to do, just to sate him.

But he will do some of the horrible things he’s suddenly vowing to do. And that’ll be nothing new. He’s already improperly fired every FBI/DOJ person who exposed his crimes. Why not try to put them on trial on false charges too?

But this is the kind of thing the average nonpolitical American has no stomach for. It’s what creates broad support for his ouster. If he takes it that far, it won’t make him stronger, it’ll make him weaker.

So do you want to see Trump backed into a corner such that he’ll do the kind of truly grotesque damage that’ll get him prematurely ousted, or do you want to just ride out another 1.5 years of the usual evil Trump?

Neither of those is acceptable, but one of them will happen.

Trump is deranged, but some of this is surely theater. Trump wants Pelosi to think that if she keeps coming after him, he’ll respond by harming innocent people. But think about how many horrible threats Trump doesn’t carry out. Remember when he was going to nuke North Korea?

I’ve been telling you for 2.5 years to think of this as a metaphorical war. The losses are always unacceptable for both sides. The winner is the side that can stomach the losses and keep fighting, instead of cowering.

Trump’s most effective weapon is when he falsely threatens to do Horrible Thing A, thus paralyzing everyone with fear, so we don’t notice he’s instead quietly doing Horrible Thing B. It only works because we choose to fall for it. This guy’s a liar. Stop taking him at his word.

Oh, and if you think his attempted/threatened power grabs are insane this week, imagine how he’ll respond when they actually open an impeachment inquiry. But then that’s partially the point: drive him so batty, he finishes himself off.