Subject: Re: Trump is Good at Being Bad at Presidenting

Right. That's exactly my point. There are different levers of power that come with the office of President. Different "tools" you can use.

I don't think Trump the Great and Perfect is using tools in the Presidential toolkit, unless you include John Yoo's "unitary executive" theory that the POTUS has powers that are *not* enumerated in the Constitution, even though the Constitution says the POTUS has *only* the powers enumerated.

I think it's interesting that Trump has really shifted away from using the other tools of the office,

He has no need to use any of the normal tools of the office, because he knows he is not accountable to anyone.

he's doing it through the most ephemeral channel,

To believe that, you would need to believe that the US would recover to where it was in the 1970s, as a for instance. I don't see that happening, ever. He will build monuments to himself, both physical and legal, that will endure.

Steve