White House departures have been predicted in one form or another almost since President Trump took office.  Washington insiders have participated in the spectator sport of watching who’s up, and who’s down, and who’s aligned with whom in the West Wing with the vigilance of veteran horse race handicappers.  However, the determination of who is on the way out next cannot be discerned by developing a rational algorithm.  Instead, the demise of different players is actually governed by an element of chance that is more akin to Russian roulette (how appropriate!).

It seemed that a half-cocked pistol with one chambered round was simply passed among White House staffers to randomly select the next victim when the “firing pin” actually struck a bullet.  In the case of Anthony Scaramucci, it appeared that he was the half-cocked pistol. In the ten days he served, 3 prominent White House officials were shown the door.  Then, unexpectedly, the next time the gun came around, the bullet had his name on it and he was gone.  Who’s next?  “Around and around and around she goes.  Where she’ll stop, nobody knows!”