The op-ed is an exercise in ass covering. Nothing more.

[Whiskeytide]

Someone - or a group of someones - at a senior level in the administration suspects a complete meltdown is coming soon - scandals galore. Enough that even the deplorabase will walk away in sufficient numbers to make trump's stranglehold on the party irrelevant. Resignations, indictments, guilty pleas, possible impeachment - all manner of chaos.

The op-ed will allow them all to claim they were part of the shadow resistance, and are therefore American heroes, not collaborators. It's a get out of jail free card.

I think it's really that simple.

[strangedaysindeed]

1. You could be right!

but I think we're all damn happy Something is happening anyway.

finally, a light in the darkness!

[Whiskeytide]

6. While I generally agree, this may ...

... not be the Something we really want. If trump’s paranoia is stoked enough, he’s likely to fire a lot of the WH staff and bring back psychos like Bannon - the crazy train people who were sort of forced out by the establishment guys during the early months of the administration. It also elevates Steven Miller (who frankly I believe is the most unhinged and scary guy there). I suspect part of the shadow resistance’s primary goal is to keep trump and Miller apart. They leave, and Miller can slither into the Oval Office more frequently.

So I don’t know. I usually prefer a chaotic and dysfunctional environment when the repubs are in office. Much preferable to smooth running, functional republican governance. But damn if it doesn’t make me a little uneasy when trump’s at the helm.

[awesomerwb1]

2. It's crossed my mind

It's opening so they can claim they saved us from WW3 when all the sh** hits the fan.

[ScratchCat]

3. With several people continuing to say

that "something big is coming in the next two weeks", the Sr officials may have already caught wind of what it is and are trying to distance themselves from Trump but not his policies. This is a very plausible explanation that makes the most sense right now. Its either - the "n word" tapes, Jr being indicted, the "Jane Doe" that alleged rape or something along those lines. Even Avanatti continues to say that "when the contents of Cohens files are made public, Trump will be forced to resign".

[RockRaven]

4. On top of that, it is profoundly dangerous. And therefore very, very selfish.

Not only does it advertise the precedent of executive branch officials doing whatever the hell they feel like instead of following the direction of the President (how would we have liked it if Bob Gates had ignored Obama and did whatever he felt like? How would we like it during the next Dem admin if the phenomenon spread throughout the ranks of political appointees and civil servants?), but it pokes a very, very unstable bear. Trump is under siege, being "attacked" from all sides -- sexual harassment and assault lawsuits proceeding, NY AG digging into Trump Foundation financials, SDNY digging into Trump Org and campaign financials, Mueller up to his elbows in the guts of Trump-Russia and campaign illegalities, a blue wave which almost certainly will flip the House by a wide margin making impeachment likely, international *allies* refusing to go along with him if not opposing him outright... And this person thinks that it is okay to risk goading him into truly globally catastrophic behavior (for example, a war w/ Iran) in order to improve their chances of still having a career in politics in the next Repuke administration. Truly sociopathically selfish.

[Whiskeytide]

5. Exactly. They are looking out ...

... for themselves. I really don’t think it’s any more strategic than that.

[haele]

7. Also a distraction from the Kavanaugh hearing. Typical Mob Boss Chaos "leadership" tactic.

Try to keep focus off the real intent d'jour - which is packing the Supreme Court for the Oligarchs. Probably also a bit of reaction to the surprise of Democrats in the Judiciary Committee showing they have a spine and are slowing the hearing down.
Chaos provides the cover for all sorts of crimes.

Haele

[COLGATE4]

8. Color me skeptical

This sounds an awful lot to me like someone who has decided to try and cover his/her ass and is now (anonymously, of course) letting the 'folks' know about how (s)he and his/her band of 'principled conservatives' like an awful lot of what the Sharter has done but are now smelling the stench of a possible Democratic taking the House of Representatives and an almost certain impeachment. So now come the protestations about how "we're really on your side, believe us. It wasn't our fault. See, we told you so in yhe New York Times in September of 2018". Color me dubious.