Posting this as someone who writes about politics independently, I’m looking at the tea leaves and I am concerned.
Recent attempts by the Republicans in Congress to embrace and more importantly, promote, conspiracy theories that end up getting debunked only to be followed by others. The assault on Institutions such as the FBI and the rule of law. Placing generals in key cabinet positions. A complicit media, in this case Fox, willing to act to offer propaganda cover to confuse the public. If you look at history and how democracies fall, we are watching the playbook for it right now. This is exactly how Erdagon pulled this off in Turkey and Putin in Russia. Below are some things to watch for, if you see these things this situation is moving toward a constitutional crisis. If they get shut down, I think we dodged a bullet.
1. Release of a highly cherry picked Devin Nunes written memo where Republicans will assert that the Obama White House and the FBI under Comey illegally surveilled Trump staffer Carter Page (who is in line for an arrest warrant of his own). Cited in this accusation will be FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Rosenstein, the sitting deputy attorney general who is overseeing Robert Mueller’s investigation.
2. More Republican Senators will join in the chorus of attacks on the FBI alongside calls for Clinton to be further investigated. A special council appointed to review the FBI and Clinton to deflect and spread the blame. Attacks on the DOJ itself.
3. Firing of Rod Rosenstein (McCabe is already on his way out) If this happens it will stymie the Mueller investigation as they name someone at the DOJ to oversee the investigation who does not require confirmation as they take their time filling that spot.
We are living in strange times. It may appear that America could not possibly be in this kind of jeopardy. We are the “good guys”.
To those folk who are comforted by this, I point to Watergate and the fact that if the White House didn’t have those tapes, Nixon would have gotten away with his crimes. The rule of law is all that protects us right now.