Donald Trump's effort to stymie the investigation of possible collusion between his campaign and the Russians has been marked by one utterly foolish self-incriminating breach of common sense after another, many of which involve James Comey. Now it looks like he might have to pay for them.

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Just follow the lies".

"President Trump doesn't understand Watergate; he hasn't learned anything from it." -- Former Watergate Prosecutor Nick Akerman

"The slow rising central horror of "Watergate" is not that it might grind down to the reluctant impeachment of a vengeful thug of a president whose entire political career has been a monument to the same kind of cheap shots and treachery he finally got nailed for, but that we might somehow fail to learn from it." -- Hunter Thompson

With all that is currently unknown about the possibility of collusion between donald trump and the Russians, there are, at this point, a few things that make for fairly easy assumptions. One of them is that Hunter Thompson is twisting in his grave -- again.

Another is that "President" donald trump -- clearly as a result of having learned absolutely nothing from the lessons of Watergate -- is now twisting in the wind.

But perhaps the safest assumption is that as political cover-ups and obstruction of justice capers go, even Richard Nixon, who failed miserably at both, would be appalled at the amateurish dog and pony show being staged by donald trump in his effort at stymieing the criminal and counter-intelligence investigations of his "administration's" possible ties to Russia.

From the incredulous Devin Nunez debacle to the incredible spectacle of a presidential press secretary literally hiding in the bushes, what we've seen thus far of trump's coverup and obstruction of justice campaign seems so devoid of both expertise and finesse that it's starting to look like a purposeful attempt at occupational suicide. Could this be trump's way of providing a fascinatingly illustrative, step-by-step guide to getting run out of office -- the "art of the impeachment" if you will?

It's difficult to ascertain how a bumbling tragic-comedy of such biblical proportions could be interpreted as anything less. The degree of chaos and incompetence in the execution of trump's cover-up campaign should raise questions about whether Steve Bannon's anarchistic "deconstruction of the administrative state" ethos now permeates the very presidential administration Bannon himself helped create to carry out that task. Indeed, from trump on down, it's vividly clear: there's no one remotely capable of running -- if necessary -- the kind of effective, low-visibility cover up and obstruction of justice operation needed to prevent the removal of trump from office.

As a result, trump now faces the possibility that former FBI Director James Comey's testimony before a congressional panel scheduled for June 8, could be the turning point that establishes the beginning of the end of trump's floundering "presidency."

'...does not know what knowing is.'

At this point, perhaps rather than continue to pursue a dopey effort at forestalling the inevitable, Team Trump may want to have their boss hammer out an agreement with impending President Mike Pence for a pre-emptive pardon. Should be a cinch, right? After all, "Tricky Dick" -- despite seeing over 40 officials of his administration either indicted or sent to jailfor their part in the Watergate affair -- was able to work out such an agreement with Gerald Ford and avoid prison time. Therefore, negotiating a pardon from Pence should be easy work for a "big league" deal-artist such as trump,

But just in case the supposedly uber-pious Penceblanches at the idea of a pardon, a fairly decent Plan B could be ramming a hastily-drawn-up sentencing reform bill through the GOP-controlled House and Senate; something that would reduce the maximum time in a federal prison which could be imposed on a former commander-in-chief. But the key here is to get it done in time for trump to sign it into law.

A legislative maneuver of such audacity by this particular "president" is hardly unthinkable. It would just add another episode in the hideously bizarre daily reality show made of the nation's highest office by a "president" who is so frighteningly incompetent and terribly corrupt that he has America's allies calling for regime change.

Apparently, so too are many Americans. With a recent poll showing support for trump nearly equivalent to the level of support for his impeachment, I guess the question for trump is what can be done to give him some basis of hope for surviving removal from office? Certainly, a staff shuffle, which at this writing appears to be on the horizon, makes about as much sense as re-arranging the eggs in your carton in order to get them to fry better.

And ditto the idea of expanding his current staff of clown-esqueappointees -- even if only to help gently lower the curtain on the Trump Show's closing performances aboard the Titanic. Reports are that no donald trump crony of any merit is willing to help right the ship. At this point they are well aware that the greatest threat to the ship's chances of staying afloat for four years is its commander: donald trump himself. They apparently realize that with the largest, most self-absorbed, and least experienced of the ship's officers navigating the journey from behind them on the poop-deck, there's practically zero chance of avoiding a disaster.

But shipwreck analogies aside, the bitter fact is that trump -- he, of the prestigious Wharton Business School -- is running his cover-up/obstruction of justice operation like he ran his casinos; into the ground. Instead of fulfilling a strategy that holds at least some hope for somehow making an irksome problem go away, trump's overall cover up and obstruction of justice effort has turned the smoke of mere suspicion about collusion with the Russians into what's now an out-of-control inferno.

Within the trump "administration," that which passes for thoughtful insight seems analogous to the abstract renderingsof Italian painter Mino Argento. In other words, it's a minimalist form of art. But it's an art-form rendered further barren by the tactless hubrisof a group of big-headed political neophytes who don't know what they don't know, and simply don't care to find out. Indeed, conservative George Will recently editorialized that he views trump himself as someone who "doesn't even know what it is to know ." That's a worthy assessment. And to be sure, all the president's men, Pence, Bannon, Jared Kushner, Stephen Miller, Jeff Sessions, et al, aren't very far behind.

So, after a brief period that some Americans had devoted to "giving his presidency a chance," it appears that Americans overall have become more noticing of the furtive aura lacing trump's "strategy" for avoiding removal from office. By late May, a Quinnipiac poll showed that more than half of America is not just unhappy about how trump canned Comey, but also consider trump to be abusing his office. The same poll showed that two-thirds support the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate both the Comey firing and all other matters pertaining to the trump/Russia investigations.

It bears noting that trump has now lawyered up, thus effectively taking heed of a suggestion he made to Hillary Clinton throughout their campaign. Chief among those he selected was his bankruptcy and divorce attorney, Marc Kasowitz. Much respect to attorney Kasowitz -- who, we are told, is extraordinarily talented at what he does. But choosing a divorce lawyer to handle a major political corruption case in which the client stands a fair chance of being slapped with a criminal indictment would seem a bit odd. But who knows? Maybe "not knowing what knowing is" will be central to Kasowitz's overall defense strategy.

And why not? After all, trump's coverup effort has been marked by one utterly foolish, self-incriminating breach of common sense after another. Therefore, coming from someone who seems not to know his ass from his elbow, the copping of a "stupidity plea" is something that should easily withstand a test of plausibility.

The Art of the Impeachment

Whether he resigns, is found guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and impeached, or perhaps even convicted and jailed for treason or criminal obstruction of justice, the prospects of trump completing his "term of office" seems to be diminishing by the hour.

And, like most corrupt or incompetent politicians, trump is the "architect" -- to borrow a word so excessively misused by Ivanka Trump in her recent book -- of his own demise. He alone is most responsible for what his narcissism, incompetence and breathtaking hubris has wrought.

But, despite whatever lies ahead, trump will hopefully find some time to pen a memoir about his demise after a short stint in politics. It could be a fast-moving, blow-by-blow account of his rise from buffoonish New York business tycoon to utterly clueless U.S. President. A cautionary tale that revolves around the his own role in his removal from office and also chronicle the completion of a cycle that began with trump's entrance into the public consciousness through publication of "The Art of the Deal."

Trump would certainly be entitled to crow about how his was an unprecedented accomplishment: the rise of a businessman with no political experience to become "president" of the United States is something he could rightfully claim to be an historical event. But if it's to be an accurate mea culpa, it's important for trump to note that the historical nature of his achievement stems not from it having never happened before, but because it happened with the assistance of a foreign adversary.

Clearly, the most obvious title for such a memoir should be: "TRUMP: THE ART OF THE IMPEACHMENT" mocked up in giant, shiny, solid gold lettering under a large mug-shot of trump. Such a title is a rather adroit take on a process that may now be part of trump's future, you know; the articles of impeachment.

Of course, there is little doubt that even from prison, donald j. trump -- the Grand Poohbah of grandiloquent mendacity -- would hype his latest memoir as the "best and greatest rise and fall story in the history of rise and fall stories."

And for a change, he probably wouldn't be lying.

Authors Bio:

Anthony Barnes, of Boston, Massachusetts, is a left-handed leftist.

"When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world." - Unknown Monk (1100 AD)