Since 1980, the presidency on the republican side has been a package deal where the people driving the car are political operatives and the president sits in the passenger seat.

Few people realize that Richard Nixon was Ronald Reagan's key, political operative. Fewer people still realize that Roger Stone is Donald Trump's political operative and the media is consequently always blaming somebody else for President Donald Trump's routine blunders.

That is how accountability is evaded, but the jig is up.

Roger Stone patterns himself after Nixon and that means, he has hijacked the entire government the very same way that Nixon had done in 1980.

How did that work?

Historian, Sam Anson described the manner in which former president Richard Nixon influenced the Reagan white house, in the following manner:

Nixon gets into his office every morning about 7:30. By noon he Will have made and taken 40 calls, most of them to Washington. First he calls the White House and talks to (presidential counsellor) Ed Meese, (national security adviser) Bud McEarlane, and President Reagan. Then he starts working the State Department. Everyone from (Secretary of State) George Schultz on down. He not only gives advice on foreign policy, but on politics in general. What he says is taken very seriously.

And that is the documented history which must be clearly understood to be in a position to understand not only the politics of the 1980's. but also, the Stone-Trump package deal.

It should therefore not be surprising that it is simply not possible to understand the politics of the Trump presidency without dissecting the relationship between Roger Stone and Donald Trump, and when that is done, it is rather clear and obvious that Stone is the driving force behind the government shutdown because Trump does not know enough about how the government works to be able to replace legitimate, negotiating tactics with a devious scheme.

Paul Manafort exposed the partnership between Roger Stone and Donald Trump when he said: "Even after Roger Stone stopped being the principal political advisor to Trump [in 2015], he continued to be a very important advisor [during the 2016 campaign] and is to this day."

The partnership is in fact so close that Stone is essentially Trump's alterego, and that became rather clear and obvious when Paul Manafort said, "Roger's relationship with Trump has been so interrconnected that it's hard to define what's Roger and what's Donald. While it will clearly be a Trump presidency, I think it's influenced by a Stone philosophy."

The Trump White House vehemently denies the obvious because Roger Stone was indicted and according to Sarah Sanders, "The charges brought against Mr. Stone have nothing to do with the President and nothing to do with the White House."

The fact that Roger Stone is the key political adviser behind the longest government shutdown in American history, has not escaped the notice of Robert Mueller or the FBI. In a rare speech to public employees, FBI Director Christopher Wray said he was as angry as he’s been in "a long, long time" over the government shutdown and then Roger Stone was arrested. Do you think that was a coincidence?

You cannot hold public servant salaries hostage and expect the FBI to cave.

Regardless, the game of chicken persists. According to current, GOP propaganda, "Democrats have held our government hostage for weeks, but thanks to President Trump's leadership, the government will reopen and federal workers will be paid in the next few days."

Despite the propaganda, Trump caved, but the White House is still trying to weasel out of the obligation to be responsible and accountable. Speaking on Face the Nation on January 27, 2019, two days after Roger Stone was arrested, White House Chief of Staff, Michael Mulvaney said;

"There really is a humanitarian crisis on the border, there really is a security crisis on the border. I know that some people want to stick their head in the sand and say that's not the case, but we have data that there are actually hundreds of known criminals in the next caravan that is coming up through Mexico today."

The current stop gap, spending measure, which threatens to shut down the government again in three weeks if the democrats do not cave in to Trump's demands, will cave again and if Trump declares a national emergency to bypass congress, he will be like the General who threatened war but nobody showed up to fight.

And if Trump shuts down the government again the FBI should raid the White House and arrest him.

Next: The consequence of dirty tricks.