I know I'm a naif about this stuff, but I still don't understand why Trump can even consider firing Mueller.

The only reason he can consider it is, he thinks he was elected dictator king and can do anything he wants. Probably he still thinks that firing Mueller will end the investigation, just like he thought firing Comey would end the investigation.

I understand *why* he wants to fire Mueller, I'm just not clear on how it can be allowed that he gets to do that. From all the "take to the streets" I've read, if he does fire him, people seem to think this is an actual possibility. But is it?

I want insulation. And reliable plumbing and central heat/air, and fast Internet, and an electrical system that wasn't pieced together by gentlemen of varying competency.

I do not have those things now! And I can't have a goat or bees. It's the worst.

Speaking of things I want in my house, we were all set to have our driveway expanded and discovered that the gas line coming into our house, rather than being 3' deep as it should be, is only buried about 6" below the surface! So now we have a beautiful expanded unpaved driveway while we wait for ConEd to come lay a new gas line at the correct depth so we won't cause a gas leak by parking on top of it.

I'm going to say that not exploding is the right idea, Jess.

I want insulation. And reliable plumbing and central heat/air, and fast Internet, and an electrical system that wasn't pieced together by gentlemen of varying competency.

Feeling pretty good about having most of those things, since our electric is good now, after a $$$$ total re-wire last year (thanks, mom). And I don't think I need central air.

In the case of Robert Mueller, POTUS can't directly fire him, but he can order Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to fire him (which is the same thing). I think that's what Nixon did.

IIRC, the reason that he can do this is in one of the articles of the Constitution -- POTUS is supposed to (in theory) make sure the laws are faithfully executed. So anyone executing laws on behalf of POTUS have to be removable by him as well, otherwise anyone could go rogue and fuck shit up. (Even though, yes, it's actually POTUS who is fucking shit up.)

Also, does anyone old enough during Watergate remember if there was the same kind of rats leaving a sinking ship mass exodus at the White House that we're seeing now?

I remember it well because voting against Nixon was my very first vote! It was big news of course, but I don't really remember the kind of rats leaving the sinking ship as we do now. The close inner circle thinned out, but that was as a direct result of being directly involved. I could be wrong, but it seems the rest of the government ran normally. Then again, Nixon had regular pros in charge of departments not lap dogs.

Republicans are talking big, but I have no faith they'll intervene if Trump does fire Mueller. They'll mumble things about how they're disappointed or some bullshit, but they won't do anything.

Thank you, Steph.

Thank you, Steph.

I hope I remembered all that correctly. I'm kind of spotty on government/politics/history.

Republicans are talking big, but I have no faith they'll intervene if Trump does fire Mueller. They'll mumble things about how they're disappointed or some bullshit, but they won't do anything.

We have got to flip Congress in the mid-terms. I saw a quote from Ted Cruz that said "Let me tell you right now: the left is going to show up. They will crawl over broken glass in November to vote." No shit, Sherlock. You sound a little afraid of losing your job.

Although maybe he means that literally. At this point, I would be 100% unsurprised if polling places were surrounded by broken glass that people have to crawl over to vote.