The lodestar memo

Mike Pence has been variously described as the author of the anonymous editorial in the (failing) New York Times.  Indeed there is a veritable cottage industry on who wrote the memo.  For example, according to Slate, a contextual analysis of the memo reveals that the author is US Ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman.

But what does the memo really mean?  And what does it really say?  According to late-night television comedians, the author is not doing anyone any favors.  That is, the memo is not so much about allaying the public’s fear that no one is in control in the White House, but rather is a self-congratulatory statement that the author and others do not want to be judged harshly by history.  Other than that, the memo only says that the author believes in the principles for which Trump stands for, even if he or she despises Trump the man.

But maybe the lodestar memo will come to represent the fact that people in his inner circle do not fear Trump.  It is almost a certainty that Trump made everyone in the White House sign one of his idiotic non-disclosure agreements.  And it is also clear that such NDAs would not stand to legal scrutiny, making them worthless.  So the lodestar memo stands as a statement to Trump that a non-insignificant group inside his inner circle are ready to go public with all the crazy stuff they know about him.

It is also possible that the author of the lodestar memo will not quit because they have had a taste of power and they enjoy power.  However, the author may also believe that the NDA (which has substantial monetary penalties) makes quitting quixotic.  It could be, however, that the lodestar author and others are motivated by more mundane concerns.  This is where Omarosa Manigault comes in.

Trump tweeted that Manigault had broken her NDA with him when she published her tell-all book.  Trump subsequently filed an action against Manigault claiming she was in violation of her NDA.

Whatever one may think of Manigault’s politics or her behavior on a television show or in the White House, one thing is certain.  If she prevails in this legal action, and proves that the NDAs are unconstitutional, then the lodestar memo will represent the beginning of the end for Trump’s villainous need for absolute privacy.