#DrainTheSwamp? Newsflash: The Swamp is Still There, and They've Elected Swamp Thing

One of the late additions to Trump campaign rhetoric was #DrainTheSwamp a hashtag for social media, and a commonly repeated phrase by Donald Trump and his surrogates. It was part of Kellyanne Conway's late-in-the-game efforts to make Trump seem more "presidential." Was it what pushed him to his unlikely victory? I don't know, to be honest. But it's just one more promise that Trump can't fulfill, and has in fact shown every sign of ignoring.

Trump Thing

Because the swamp is still there. Most career politicians will keep their jobs, or segue into different ones during the (hopefully brief) Trump reign. Mitch McConnell will still be Senate Majority Leader, and may finally complete his transition into a tortoise. Most of the Senate and House is intact. And the new White House? Well, looks like the cabinet is going to be crammed full of an otherwise hilarious melding of Trump's inner circle, and the cartoonish political faces that drive liberals crazy: Sarah Palin, Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, Rick Scott, undoubtedly Kellyanne Conway herself, and a rogue's gallery of other familiar faces. Still pretty swampy, and headed by Swamp Thing himself, the rotted pumpkin faced, lumbering ogre with the bad combover.

The one consolation that Democrats, liberals and progressives have is, that if Trump fails, it will be entirely, utterly of their own doing. He's got every available piece of government on the same side. He's got his crew all running it, and Kellyanne to play disciplinarian. If this thing goes off the rails (and I will be shocked, moreso than Tuesday night if it doesn't), they'll own every bit of it.

But, make no mistake. They're going to shed some of their current fan club regardless. Trump can't possibly deliver on a wealth of his promises. His "day one" pronouncements are impossible to achieve on day one. He's not going to #DrainTheSwamp. If he gets his wall, it's not going to be what he promised or envisioned. He'll likely get a recession or depression on his (again, hopefully brief) watch, and has no real tools to fix it. He's going to piss off the base by either shifting gears, or simply not being able to do what he promised to do. And he'll have a boatload of insiders as advisers and cabinet members. 

I have a lot more to say about this, but I'm going to have to do it in batches. More to come.