OPINION:
So Steve Bannon’s out at Breitbart, the somewhat natural next chapter in the “Fire and Fury” saga that brought — well, fire and fury from the White House for his book-noted criticisms against President Donald Trump and family.
But do the vultures have to circle so quickly?
“Bad hombre deported from Breitbart,” tweeted Ana Navarro, the oft-angry CNN and ABC political pundit who’s never met a border control advocate she likes.
And this, from Joy Reid, who has a new book on Barack Obama’s speeches, a snarky tweet: “Bannon out at Breitbart. He’s gonna need a new apartment … and a new source of income.”
This, from Daily Beast columnist Rick Wilson: “Bannon once promised to destroy me,” he tweeted. “Oddly, I seem to be the one standing while Hobo Steve wraps himself in trashbags on a sewer grate and downs his last plastic-bottle fifth of Olde Oscelot bourbon.”
Then came the trolls.
“Forget ’drain the swamp,’” tweeted one. “[G]etting rid of Bannon is more like draining an abscess.”
And this: “On the bright side, he already looked unemployed.”
And this: “At least Bannon no longer needs to dress up for work.”
And this: “Bannon currently figuring how to let Barstool Sports know he’s available.”
Come on now, people. It’s not as if Bannon’s broke and despondent, hopeless and headed for total irrelevancy. His power to influence the political process has taken a sharp hit, true. But as The Hill notes, he’s poised to launch a nonprofit, Citizens of the American Republican, that will focus on foreign policy issues.
And it’s not as if the political world, or the American citizenry, have long memories.
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford once disappeared on an “Appalachian Trail” of sexual scandal — only to come back as a congressman for the same state. Washington, D.C.’s most famous mayor, Marion Barry, smoked crack, served prison time and came back to win a City Council seat. And David Vitter managed to emerge from a prostitution scandal to serve in the Senate for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017.
Who’s to say Bannon’s crime of criticizing the president is worse?
Likely, Bannon will suffer. He’ll be shunned. He’ll be blasted. He’ll be mocked and derided and scorned. But if U.S. political history proves true, it’s just as likely he’ll be back, at least to some degree.
Cheryl Chumley can be contacted at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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