I’m gonna call the op-ed what it is: Damage control. Woodward’s book excerpts hit like a bomb in the White House ranks, as they likely expected it to drop after the mid-terms when the damage would be limited to Donny’s reelection chances and would coincide with the release of Mueller’s report. But they dropped just two months from the midterms, time enough to damage the GOP’s chances by hurting any Republican associated with the man (not as if his endorsement is not already toxic itself).

Denying the book’s contents wouldn’t be very successful because of Woodward’s reputation and the odds of his having the receipts to support his claims. And Donny isn’t going to help himself by staying quiet, he’s only going to provoke Woodward into releasing those receipts. So a plan formed: Spin the whole thing as a “positive,” the chaos and sabotage not as the work of frightened underlings but of an organized “resistance” whose mission is to “protect” America by being the real power behind the throne.

Why isn’t this “resistance” helping the Dems in limiting executive power/reach or even removing him from office? “Well…you know…it would cause a ‘constitutional crisis’,” which is really them admitting that running him out of office would piss off their base something fierce and get them nothing in return from the opposition. So instead we’re supposed to trust this cabal to look out for us, that that paternalistic instinct in modern conservatism will steer this nation into better times while keeping the Mad King in check.