2 Shares Reddit Email

NWC took a crack at this concept a few weeks ago, but I wanted to give my own take on the “Trump is playing ten dimensional chess” meme.

First, let me define what I mean by “10-D chess.” The idea behind 10-D chess is the idea that Trump is a genius that has never before been seen in modern American politics, and that he has a plan. In fact, this plan is so deep, so far-reaching, so all-encompassing that the average person or even an informed political junkie is simply not capable of figuring it all out.

Every single thing that has happened since Trump rode down the escalator in 2015 has been meticulously planned by Trump and his advisers (who these advisers are precisely often seems to shift in various explanations depending on what blogger or Twitter personality you follow). Even supposed defeats that Trump has suffered are all “part of the plan.”

So when Trump seems to suffer a defeat in the public arena, he hasn’t really been defeated. The problem is with you, who are simply not smart enough to understand the genius of Trump’s scheme.

You simply need to sit back, do nothing, and enjoy the ride while Trump makes America great again. Soon enough, the masterstroke we are all waiting for will arrive – the one where Hillary, Obama, Schumer, and all the Democrats will be put into prison and driven from power forever, and even the GOPe along with them! A new era is coming, it’s right around the corner!

It’s coming. Any… day… now.

Unfortunately, a number of people seem to buy into the above conspiracy theory quite a lot, given the popularity of certain bloggers and Twitter personalities. I strongly oppose the “10-D chess” meme because I believe it breeds complacency and magical thinking on the political right. Trump is a human being like the rest of us, and he is going to make mistakes sometimes.

One of the big missteps Trump made early on was not moving aggressively to clean out the deep state while they were on the back foot, instead trying to cut deals with the various “bad actors” who have plagued our government for years, in both the bureaucracy and Congress. His failure to take decisive action is the main reason he is bogged down in the Russia investigation right now.

The “10-D chessers” are increasingly having difficulties explaining real world events, such as this:

But the President had something else on his mind. “So I just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys,” he said, unprompted, after reporters were ushered into the room. “Here we are talking about Syria,” Trump groused, “and I have this witch hunt constantly going on.” His generals looking on stiffly, Trump launched into a jaw-dropping diatribe against the nation’s highest law-enforcement officers–all appointees of his–and the FBI for its raids earlier in the day of his lawyer’s home, office and hotel room. Trump called the searches “disgraceful” and “an attack on our country.” Trump got the legal facts of the raids wrong–they had been conducted under warrants approved by a federal judge–but clearly appreciated the magnitude of the moment. It is rare for authorities to seize evidence of potential crimes from any lawyer’s office. It is all but unheard of to do it from the personal attorney of the sitting President of the United States. The raids were reportedly related to alleged payments by Trump’s personal lawyer and longtime fixer, Michael Cohen, to the pornographic film actor Stephanie Clifford, who performs as Stormy Daniels. She claims to have had a consensual affair with Trump in 2006. The FBI was also reportedly looking for information about Cohen’s possible role in brokering a deal between American Media Inc., which owns the National Enquirer, and 1998 Playboy Playmate of the Year Karen McDougal, who told friends she had an affair with Trump around the same time.

In no way, shape or form is this “good news.” It can’t be construed as “part of the plan.” Trump’s failure to discipline Sessions and Rosenstein for allowing, if not aiding, in Mueller running roughshod over him has created a huge crisis for his presidency.

Furthermore, Trump will now have a hard time finding adequate legal representatives to defend him since anyone who defends Trump will be subject to these same kinds of banana republic shakedown tactics if they do. Furthermore, Trump has allowed Flynn and Manafort to dangle in the wind for months despite politically motivated prosecutions bankrupting them and ruining their lives.

The assurances of certain Twitter personalities and bloggers that Trump’s “great masterstroke” is just around the corner ring increasingly hollow.

In addition to what I’ve described above, Trump’s appointees are stalled in Congress and his agenda has also mostly stalled with the exception of tax reform. In particular, it’s become clear the wall is a mirage which will probably never be built.

It is my opinion that Republican voters are sitting out special elections largely because they have become depressed and disillusioned due to the Trump agenda being blocked by Congress. Based on the huge wave of special election defeats we’ve seen in the last year, I think we are looking at a severe beating in the November 2018 elections. If that happens, Trump could be impeached and removed from office.

People need to stop listening to conspiracy theorist bloggers and Twitter e-celebs who claim that “this is all part of the plan” and start pressuring Congress and the White House to end the Mueller witch hunt, and also get out and start knocking on doors and making calls for Republican Congressmen.

These bloggers are just taking you for a ride to get clicks, fame and money and don’t really care if we’re crushed in November as long as the clicks keep coming.