Chaos continues to reign supreme at the White House

Chaos reigns at the White House. As with most other facts, this is the case whether Donald Trump can admit it or not; he cannot and does not.

But just in the last 48 hours, we have seen an unraveling of the sort never seen before in terms of scandals, sudden departures, policy controversies, new developments in the Russia investigation and alleged corrupt or criminal behavior that this White House is contending with — and the week is not even over.  

It would be funny, if it wasn’t so downright embarrassing, pernicious and, above all, dangerous to the country’s well-being.  

Enough is enough. Republicans need to be voted out in November since they are incapable of standing up to this unfit president who puts our reputation and our leadership in disrepute every day and with every tweet.  

Just since Monday, we have seen:

• National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn quit his job because of Trump’s insistence on imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which raises the odds of a trade war with allies and adversaries;
• a mystery man talking to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team about clandestine meetings in the Seychelles;
• Trump’s personal lawyer complaining that he was not reimbursed for a payment of hush money he made to Stormy Daniels, the porn actress who claims she had an affair with Donald Trump;
• Stormy Daniels suing the president;
• a Russian “sex coach” in jail in Thailand claiming to have hours of tape that would be of interest to the special counsel in his investigation of alleged collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign and possible obstruction of justice;
• Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s former campaign manager, being found to have violated the Hatch Act by campaigning on behalf of Alabama Republican senate candidate Roy Moore while in her official capacity as counselor to the president; and
• former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci reportedly being given the green light by Trump himself to publicly trash White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly, and Scaramucci does so by calling him “Gen. Jackass.”

I am sure there is more that will surface even before I finish writing this column. That is how bad things are. That is how off-the-rails this White House is.  

Donald Trump knows it. He tries to spin it, but no one believes him — except the less than one-third of voters in the country who are his immovable base. These are the same folks who, as Trump himself has stated, would still support him if he stood on Fifth Avenue and shot somebody.

Trump contends that the White House is full of “great energy,” and that he likes and encourages conflict so there will be different opinions between his advisors. But that is far from what is actually happening.

What Trump describes is more of a Lincoln-esque “Team of Rivals” where high-minded experts argue over the best approach to the difficult problems facing the country, not a knock-down, drag-out “Hunger Games” scenario where the president encourages bloodletting and backstabbing.  

The White House is not full of “great energy.” It is more of a black-hole of secrets, betrayal, deceit and corruption, where good people get sucked into the president’s orbit and get stripped of their humanity, their spine and even their moral compass — if they had any to begin with — and then try to escape before they disappear or get swallowed up for good. 

The staff turnover at the White House is the worst on record. Yes, it is normal to have some turnover in the White House. The work and the environment are intense, and people get burned out quickly. But this rate of turnover is not that.   

Furthermore, let’s be real: No one is lining up to work at this black-hole of a White House. In fact, I know many terrific, incredibly qualified and highly intelligent Republicans who would not touch that place with a 10-foot pole. I don’t blame them.

But I do blame the president, and Americans should, too. He has transformed the most coveted place to work into a wretched snake-pit of lies and indecency that chews people up and spits them out, all for the entertainment, amusement and coddling of the most fragile and self-centered ego on earth — that of Donald Trump.

That is not what America deserves. That is not what America signed up for in electing Donald Trump as president. It is why his approval ratings continue to be at record lows. In the latest Quinnipiac Poll, 41 percent of respondents said Trump was the worst president in the post-World War II era.

Well, Americans can change that, and I believe we will begin to do so in November’s midterm election. If Republicans keep turning a blind eye to Donald Trump degrading, debasing and disgracing the office of the presidency, Democrats will do the job the GOP has been unable and unwilling to do. 

Maria Cardona is a principal at the Dewey Square Group, a Democratic strategist and a CNN/CNN Español political commentator. Follow her on Twitter @MariaTCardona.