THERE WON'T BE A SATURDAY NIGHT MASSACRE BEFORE ELECTION DAY -- THIS MAY BE WHY

This is from a New York Times story about the president's war on law enforcement:

Sam Nunberg, a former campaign adviser, said the president should not fire [Attorney General Jeff] Sessions, [Deputy Attorney General Rod] Rosenstein or Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel in charge of the Russia investigation, because “they’re perfect foils.” They and James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director fired by Mr. Trump last year, have become symbols of the “deep state” that Mr. Trump says he is fighting.

“They have given us every single talking point that we have needed,” Mr. Nunberg said. “All I need to do is quote them. Their mind-set is they know better. It’s this gilded Washington, ‘we know best and you’re just not smart enough to understand.’ ”

I've been thinking that Trump won't fire Mueller (or Sessions or Rosenstein) until after Election Day because he believes congressional Republicans will react badly (even though they won't) or because he thinks doing so would rally the Democratic base, and thus might help elect a Democratic majority in the House and possibly the Senate. But you'd think that might not be enough to restrain Trump, given his impulse control problems and constant need for immediate gratification.

Here, however, Nunberg offers something that, to Trump, would be a positive reason to show restraint: the notion that Trump benefits from the presence of Mueller, Sessions, and Rosenstein. I can easily imagine Trump accepting this argument. In his Fox-bubble world, I'm sure it seems that everyone hates those guys.

If Republicans hold Congress, all these guys will be gone within a week -- reason enough to fight hard for a Democratic takeover of at least the House. But in the meantime, Trump may believe he's helping himself by keeping Mueller, Sessions, and Rosenstein around. He may not be completely crazy -- relentless attacks on the process have improved his favorable ratings. Let's hope his decision to use them all as Twitter foils means that Mueller has plenty of time to unearth the truth.