As we march along the path of craziest, it’s time to let you know my outrageous, though possible, predictions. In the past, I tried to be somewhat careful. However, a few have been rattling in my head, that I would not say is likely to happen, yet I would not be surprised if the did. So, let me get these out now before they do happen, and you miss how much of a genius I am.

Now, just to say again, none of these are likely. Just credible.

OK, you might not find this that outrageous. Noting that I have no basis to judge anyone’s relationship, you must admit that Donald and Melania do not appear to be a happy couple. They look like they’re separated in fact. And who can blame her? Donald well-known behavior would justify any divorce, and she might know of more. Even if that was their relationship, Melania might not be OK with the amount of humiliation she must feel.

Still, Presidents with unhappy marriages is not new. In fact, it’s common. However, most wives, by the time their husband becomes President, are adjusted to his misogynistic and philandering behavior. When revealed, they already made the bargains of political life and are ready to deal with it as a politician’s wife.

Then again, it’s not that Melania didn’t know the scrutiny and perils of winning. More likely she was more aware than those around.

I would not be the first to suggest that Trump did not expect to be President. In fact, the book, Fire and Fury, Melania reached a point the campaign where Trump made his wife “a solemn guarantee: There was simply no way he would win”. This is a rumor, of course, and Fire and Fury is in parts a questionable source, but if Trump does decide to run in 2020, she might not want to go through that again.

            OK, maybe not the pee tape. However, if Putin does have compromising information about Trump, he might, one day, find his purposes served better by releasing it. This would not be that unusual. Once an asset is no longer useful, an intelligence agency might ‘let him be caught’ if it provides some benefits. Agencies often don’t because, besides the assets, they also want to protect how they obtained the information (sources and means) and hid what they know.

However, Russian interference in our election did not follow those conventions. Putin’s goal was not to find secrets about us that give him a diplomatic, economic, or military advantage. It was to bring distrust into American Democracy. So, any information obtained was released in full. There was not as much concern about finding out that they interfered because knowing that democracy can be tampered with does just as much damaged. By that reasoning, finding out that our President was always under Russian control would bring all our future elections into question.

There are many ways Trump’s usefulness will end. When or just before Putin may want to show how smart he has been and how stupid we were.

Here’s the thinking. Before being President Trump’s Vice President, Pence’s career was over. His flip-flop on a controversial homophobic bill made him enemies on both sides. He was unlikely to win another term as governor and was probably headed off to where all failed politicians go: punditry and lobbying. Becoming Trump’s Vice President turned this all around. All he had to do was engage in the most insincere string of lies, I have ever seen a politician do. (And that’s saying a lot. And yes, even more than Ted Cruz.)

However, you’d have to be a fool to believe that Trump’s Sycophant and Chief was doing any more than a show of perfunctory loyalty. Pence’s actions only serve himself. So, why not be President.

Not an unusual thought. The typical path would be for Pence to be a loyal advocate for the President and the Republican party. Then when President Trump is done, run as the presumptive nominee. But, we aren’t in normal times. That Pence could win the Presidency in an election is unlikely. Even if the Trump Presidency is not a failure, he has no real bona-fides with Trump’s base, and I would strongly argue he could not win without them. However, what if Trump were not to finish his term?

Well, then we have President Pence. As Ford after Nixon showed, his time would be short, but he would be President. Far more than a governor most known for arguing over who could use a bathroom.

Now, this does assume Pence is self-aware, a lot to ask of a politician. And, while the mechanics are clear, they do require preparation. Either Pence needs to convince the Cabinet to invoke the 25^th Amendment or the Congress to convict on Impeachment. Though, this is all within Pence’s skill set.