The Wrecking Ball Is About To Swing

When Donald Trump was declared the president in the last election, I described him as the wrecking ball that was coming to Washington. A wrecking was coming, albeit it was not clear what would be wrecked:

… there has never been an inauguration speech like this one. Contrary to Pogo, Trump defined the enemy and it was not us. This wrecking ball clearly differentiated between the average man and the parasites who inhabit Washington. The speech was populist all the way. It was anti-establishment all the way. Clear demarcation lines were drawn. I sense that war was declared on Washington, DC today. There will be no compromise. Either Trump will be destroyed or he will dismantle much of the Washington establishment. [emboldening added]

Trump supporters were overjoyed with his win. Few understood that a Death Match had begun and their candidate was overwhelmingly favored to be destroyed.

The Wrecking Ball’s Secret Weapon

Donald Trump is unpolished and crude. He is not dumb. His multiple business successes were more than just luck.

To understand Trump, the Austrian School of Economics concept of “entrepreneurship” is useful. For Austrians, the definition of entrepreneur is narrow and pertains to vision. An entrepreneur possesses an acute anticipative understanding of the future.

The following suggest that Trump has this unique “entrepreneurship:”

Trump is viewed as a great negotiator. But what is a great negotiator? It is someone who understands the opposing side’s needs, wants, strengths and weaknesses as well or better than they do. These are not provided; they must be discovered. An “acute anticipative understanding of the future” is necessary to ascertain them. Then, the ability to play off these to obtain your objectives (the easy part of negotiating) comes into play. The 2016 Republican primary field was arguably the strongest in history. Despite this, Trump saw something and decided to make it his first foray into politics. What others saw as stupid or grandstanding, Trump correctly perceived as an opportunity. Once in the primary race, Trump employed a style and method of debating and campaigning that violated every accepted norm. Political experts ridiculed him and said he wasn’t serious. No one gave him a chance of getting the nomination. Then pundits were sure he could not win using his self-designed tools and methods against Hillary Clinton. Ms. Clinton was considered a certain winner and deemed likely to embarrass Trump who was expected to lose by historic proportions.

Few are entrepreneurs in the Austrian sense. We cannot see what true entrepreneurs see. To us, Trump’s decision to run for political office seemed foolish, likely an ego trip.

Most people his age would be slowing down and enjoying their wealth with family and grandchildren. Instead, Trump became the only man in recent history to take a pay cut and less luxurious living conditions to become President.

The Death Match

Trump entered politics to win. He always expects to win, regardless of the venue. Did he realize the implications of winning?

As an outsider, he likely knew he would never be accepted by an elite ruling class. The fact that he was decisive and outspoken made him more onerous. No man of action is welcome in a realm dominated by pomposity, imagery and inaction.

Trump did not run to become a part of this exclusive Club. He openly despised their pretensions and incompetence. He came to break things. His opportunity to be co-opted by the Deep State and become a part of it was renounced years ago. That was not an option he wanted nor one that would be offered.

The fact that he was brazen enough to run made him a target. What if others were encouraged by his impertinence? Winning made matters worse! He had to be made an example and destroyed quickly.

Perhaps Trump knew all this when he dared compete with the professional crime syndicate we call public servants. Regardless, he knows it now and knows he is in a Death Match with the Washington establishment. Only one will survive.

It appears to be the kind of contest that Trump loves.

Who Will Come Out Alive?

That Donald Trump or anyone else could ride into Babylon alone and take on a well-equipped army of professional criminals is literally quixotic. At least it was in the beginning.

Today, after almost two years, it looks like a David and Goliath replay. The establishment (Democrats, Republicans, the bureaucracy and the media) has fired its big guns. The modern day version of Don Quixote is unscathed. The massive offensive has not touched him and has further exposed the Deep State.

All Trump has done is keep his head down while marching forward on his campaign promises. Victor Davis Hanson summarized :

… he was elected to pursue a conservative populist agenda without too much worry what the Washington establishment said or did, whose record on the economic front since 2008 and in foreign policy was not especially stellar. In that sense, he is far more principled in carrying out his promises than many past presidents whose stump speeches on taxes, illegal immigration, trade, educational reform and a host of other issues were either never reified or flat out broken.

Trump has not fired a shot in the Death Match. Meanwhile, his opponents may be out of bullets and may have sealed their own fate trying to desperately destroy the interloper. The FBI and the Department of Justice are viewed as corrupt at the very top. At last count, 15 top members have either resigned, been demoted or fired. None of this (save perhaps James Comey) can be attributed to Trump.

Evidence continues to bleed out by the day suggesting things are worse than originally thought. Corruption and collusion are rife although its full extent is still expanding. Also unknown is how high in the previous Administration the malfeasance goes.

What appeared to be a Don Quixote fantasy two years ago now looks real. The man who could not win the nomination, could not win the election and could not bring down the Establishment has closed out the first two and appears to hold all the cards in the Death Match. Don Quixote is now the hunter and the Establishment the hunted. And, Quixote has not yet fired a shot!

All of this happened without help from Jeff Sessions or John Huber. Whether both are dead or merely playing possum does not matter. If they are playing possum and accomplishing things behind the scenes, then the Deep State is in deeper trouble. But, even if they are doing nothing, Trump holds all the cards.

To blow up the Deep State all he has to do is declassify the documents the corrupt are trying to hide. He can do this at his time and pleasure. Trump the strategist is as clever as Trump the entrepreneur. He will orchestrate this take-down when it will have maximum effect.

Those who do not believe that Trump will retaliate should not forget Trump’s rules of engagement which go something like the following:

Leave me alone and I will leave you alone. Attack me and you will be attacked back in a manner that will make the initial attack look like child’s play.

I anxiously await the Trump counterattack! I hope it is issued with “Take no prisoners!” as an addendum.