CounterPunch
It is one year since an anonymous op-ed appeared in the New York Times. The author claimed to be part of a group of “senior officials in the administration” who are “working within to frustrate parts of [Trump’s] agenda and his worst inclinations.” The op-ed’s portentous title, “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” conjured up an image of a sweating bureaucrat tapping madly away on a laptop beneath his desk in a dark office, darting anxious glances at the door while wondering who will play him in the movie. If only the op-ed could have broken off in a strangled scream, it would have been perfect.
The piece made a huge splash. Speculation ran high as to the identity of the anonymous author (“a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us,” according to the Times). The most intriguing suggestion was that Vice President Mike Pence was the writer because the op-ed uses the word “lodestar,” an uncommon word favored by Pence. We still don’t know the identity of Mr. or Ms. Anonymous.