So, Steve Bannon is elevated to the Principals Committee and the DNI as well as the CJCS is removed from automatic attendance for some actions? Ah, well, now we are headed for trouble … Issues "accidentally" arise that involve you when you are not at the table. Flynn will protect the IC's interests? Flynn is essentially a glorified technician in the combat intelligence trade and not a deep thinker. Several of the men appointed to supply Flynn's staff are men like Flynn. We must remember that when these fellows were promoted to their retirement ranks, promotion rates were very high, too high. Would some of them have been promoted that high in ordinary circumstance? Perhaps they would have been but I have doubts.
It was fairly easy to excuse the fumbling "bull in a China stop" style of the first week by attributing it to inexperience, but this indicates a desire to govern by "kitchen cabinet." that is a menace.
Worse things to come are likely. pl
Note: That does not make HC a better candidate than she was.
Sir,
Id say Bannon has American interests at heart more than some of the other members have recently.
How many of the executive’s political appointees have been appointed?
If the President wants to operate with greatly reduced staff levels at the defense-related departments/bureaucracies, at the Pentagon, at the VA, does this make a big military build-up easier, or, more opaque?
Do the service secretaries tend to sweep house when they come in?
It seems to me Trump’s rep for delegating may really be only the ability to delegate to his inner circle. I wonder if there is a boss behind the boss?
From “A. The Principals Committee”:
“The PC shall have as its regular attendees the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, the Assistant to the President and Chief Strategist, the National Security Advisor, and the Homeland Security Advisor. The Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall attend where issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed. The Counsel to the President, the Deputy Counsel to the President for National Security Affairs, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget may attend all PC meetings.”
(emphasis mine)
Historically, it seems like Clinton’s NSC in 1997.
I remember the “kitchen cabinet” that influenced Reagan. That’s worked out well, hasn’t it? /sarc/
The basic question here is; “Can Trump learn from his mistakes?”
The Democrats need to do much better than opposition theatre. Some solid counter proposals are in order.
Col. Lang,
Agreed on all counts.
In addition to the above the inxperienced appointees around Trump want to approve anything put out by EPA and other agencies.
The PC language between NSPD1 of 2/13/2001 and NSPM2 of 1/28/2017 are similar in scope. They’re both up at https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/direct.htm for comparison.
The “Chief Strategist” is added to the PC. The DNI and CJCS have the same status on the PC — as required.
Obama’s NSC directive is up there too, if one cares to look (PPD-1 2/2009). That one has the “Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations” shimmed into the PC.
This move is trouble and put us in real danger…period.
Can this really be worse than Condi Rice and the Cheney crew?
That’s not very reassuring considering what a disaster those two were. We can’t afford another catastrophe of that kind.
Is there a limit to the size of the Principals Committee?
Excluding the DNI & CJCS seems a bizarre thing to do.
Maybe its Mattis that doesn’t want CJCS ‘advisory’ input. Rather, COC direct to combatant CinC’s.
I am more concerned with T’s son-in-law being in the NSC. He is after all the one with the connections to AIPAC and the Likudniks.
BTW, while the media was distracted with the protests, Saudi’s king Salman and the Emiratis agree in call with Trump to support safe zones in both Syria and Yemen.
Saudi king agrees in call with Trump to support Syria, Yemen safe zones: White House
“… but this indicates a desire to govern by “kitchen cabinet.”
Given the proclivities of McCain and Graham of SC he’s likely to have, like Lincoln, a fight with a “Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War”.
On ABC Sunday, Robert Gates said the following: Adding people to the National Security Council never really bothers me. My biggest concern is there are actually, under the law, only two statutory advisers to the National Security Council and that’s the Director of Central Intelligence, or the DNI, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I think pushing them out of the National Security Council meetings, except when their specific issues are at stake, is a big mistake.
If he is correct, then I think that, once again, the Trump administration is showing its ignorance as well as its hubris.
I think what we have to focus on here is the governance side of things. That is primarily risk management in that the President needs to ensure that the principals have done their homework and that there is a plan B.
I share Col. Lang’s concerns that worse may be to come. Groupthink is always a danger and I am concerned that President Trump may be a “messenger shooter” and unresponsive to unpopular conclusions because my own experience suggests to me that the. key to excellent performance is how an organisation responds to its inevitable mistakes.
To put it another way; “Your fired” is not a satisfactory response to a nuclear exchange.
pl — The problem may be that voters thought they were electing a candidate rather than electing a President.
This longish essay makes sense of it all, I highly recommend it:
https://jaysanalysis.com/2017/01/29/why-im-finally-converted-to-pro-trump/#comments
The seventh paragraph of the linked article by “b” on media hypocrisy perhaps covers some of your concerns, Colonel:
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/01/outrage-about-trump-exposes-librul-hypocrisy.html#more
As an outsider I have no way of knowing whether reliance on an inner circle in face of orchestrated media hostility is prudent or evidence of character defect.
Appreciate your last sentence. Yes, Trump likely gets worse, but it is not as if our alternative was any good.
Steve
David,
I pray not.
The Destructor’
And this is what – in broad outline – we already see. Trump’s tweets are “the destructor” element: Creating negotiating leverage through uncertainty. No one can be sure of Trump’s final aims, or his “bottom line.”
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/28/deep-state-vs-donald-trump/
A lot of the establishment Republicans are not going to like this. Can any one see John McCain singing the praises of this move?
I’m not up to speed on the “principal’s committee”. What is the committee’s role and function? Does the president choose what advise to consider and what to disregard?
Well Colonel, I suppose I’ll break with the current liberal orthodoxy by agreeing with you on the alternative order in the first week attributable to rookie mistakes. No telling what will become of assigning Bannon to the NSC duties, other than surmising what he has advocated previously. If destroying the establishment is going to become part and parcel of national policy, something I might point out is not too far removed from the hay day of the Weathmen Underground, then I may have to question the conservative orthodoxy as we have known and loved it all these years.
In any case we can expect some black swans over the next four years and the proof will be in the eating of that pudding, not in the fumble bumbling of the last week. Like Senator Durbin, I hope the office will make the man, for I find it better to be dubious, rather than skeptical, if only for my own peace of mind. For the moment we require more data.
As you may, or may not know, I have always encouraged my fellow liberals, many of them atheists, to read the Bible as a study in human nature instead of as a religious text because it does an extremely good job of that. For every Solomon there are a hundred Nabals. I have also encouraged them to read Will and Ariel Durant’s, “Story of Civilization”, which has been deprecated by many as being archaic history, which it probably is, especially if you skip the forward in the first book and expect it to be a history, which it is not. It contains history to be sure, but it endeavors to tell the story of how a people become a society and how societies become civilizations, so it naturally covers science, religion, political and artistic developments from the heavily philosophical view of Mr. Durant, who was a proto-libertarian as we understand that political philosophy today, and as such springs from the same roots of classical liberalism as modern liberalism.
If we understand what mush conservatism and liberalism are today, then Mr. Bannons desire to destroy the establishment is more understandable, though to call it conservatism is an oxymoron. Whether it is beneficial to mankind in general and Americans in particular is also open to debate. It is one thing to walk out of Plato’s cave and quite another to drag the world entire along with you, especially in a volatile one such as we find ourselves living in.
As I have stated previously, the information bubbles our people inhabit have made it all the more easy and common to use the logical fallacy of appealing to our own collective higher authorities, which lazy minds prefer to actually having to think things through on their own. If we are aware of the disabilities of our own information bubbles, then we should shudder at the one that inevitably forms around a President, for the President’s bubble has power along with an agenda. It is one thing to be the editor of a web site and quite another to in charge of world stability because of that accrued power.
I have to admit to being less than enamored with the public platitudes emanating form various spokes people in the new administration. I can only hope they are fooling themselves at least, if only for their own peace of mind as they get their feet on the ground. We should expect improved platitudes at least.
It should not be overlooked, in my opinion, that the decline of American stoicism has lead many of our people to seek beauty and perfection outside of themselves, instead of within, which is quite similar to the teachings of the Christ, and left our people bereft of any grounding in anything other than materialism, or the love of money is the root of all evil, if you prefer. We are no longer a nation of principles, but of preferences. As the boatman in Jose Wales said, we can sing Dixie and the Battle Hymn of the Republic with equal fervor, as suits our needs.
If we all were to hold to the admonition of; if you have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything at all, I am quite sure our tongues and fingers would atrophy. It ain’t Caesar Augustus, but it’s as close as I’m going to get. I hope to at least equal my batting average when I played ball.
Best regards,
Col.,
As I’ve already pointed out, this is how Trump ran his own businesses. He is a very poor manager who feels most comfortable with a kitchen cabinet. We are headed for chaos.
What’s wrong with this man Trump? My understanding of the PC of the NSC is that it is the last place anyone can say STOP before an action is put into motion.
With Mattis gone there is no one left to nay-say. If I were T I would want the strongest possible voices around me to tell me where faults might be. As the Principals Committee is right now it’ll be Bannon’s ideas that’ll be enacted.
Yesterday T was proposing safe zones in Syria and Yemen to the King of SA. I seriously doubt T has a solid idea of what’s entailed in establishing these – probably he hasn’t much of any idea. But Mattis could’ve told him.
I don’t think this is going to end well.
As others have remarked the language in the Trump NSC memo is similar to the language in previous NSC memos. Nothing changed. The whole outrage about this is manufactured and fake.
Aside from that – I would find it quite appropriate if the military and intelligence complex had a somewhat less say in this administration. Unfortunately that does not appear to be the case yet. The military side is still overweight compared to State and other actors.
The Pentagon and the CIA tend to make an even bigger mess of the world when they are too much in charge. They should execute, not make policy.
A few thoughts on the issue:
1. DNI and CJCS “demoted” from regular members to occasional attendees, which might imply Flynn is supposed to take over both as advisor for military and intel matters. Sounds like a lot to ask for.
2. Homeland Security Advisor (Bossert) is added as regular member and may serve as point man for domestic intel matters. Both Flynn and Bossert are clearly considered a filter between military/intel rank and file on one hand, and POTUS on the other.
3. overall, and especially with the rise to prominence of political advisors (with no relevant prior experience), the balance within the NSC doesn’t seem right and could have serious consequences when members have to take tough or complicated decisions. Particularly missing the cool heads with enough “seen it, done that” experience to prevent things from going off the tracks.
It is disturbing to hear anyone say that they believe “Bannon has American interests at heart”.
Mr. Bannon said this in late 2013…
“I’m a Leninist,” Steve Bannon told a writer for The Daily Beast, in late 2013. “Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal, too. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment.”
So now we have a self-described Leninist who wants to bring everything crashing down and destroy all of today’s establishment on the Principles Committee of the NSC.
A Leninist.
On the PC of the NSC.
Well, if your desire is to bring everything crashing down then that’s a pretty good table to have a seat at.
Brannon has his own agenda and Trump can be easily led because he is in way over his head. He doesn’t seem to have a clue what he is doing other than to create chaos, which might just be their plan.
Given the ‘episodic’ nature of mistakes made by each Prez NS/mil team, I doubt it would be any different from any 4 year term of a random prez since the 70s. There’s always some new farce (RTProtect), some new enemy to create or to destroy with actions meant for something else.
Picking on these selected men is pointless; they’d go after ISIS but may end up supporting KSA in yemen fight. then what?
He’s a mess.
“Bannon’s first marriage was to Cathleen Suzanne Houff, born 1955.[87] Bannon and Houff had a daughter, Maureen, in 1988.[88][89] They divorced.[57]
Bannon’s second marriage was to Mary Louise Piccard, a former investment banker, in April 1995. Their twin daughters were born three days after the wedding. Piccard filed for dissolution of the marriage in 1997, and they are no longer married.[90][91]
Bannon was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery and dissuading a witness in early January 1996, after Piccard accused Bannon of domestic abuse. The charges were later dropped when his now ex-wife did not appear in court.[92] In an article in The New York Times, Piccard stated her absence was due to threats made to her by Bannon and Bannon’s lawyer:
Mr. Bannon, she said, told her that “if I went to court he and his attorney would make sure that I would be the one who was guilty”… Mr. Bannon’s lawyer, she said, “threatened me,” telling her that if Mr. Bannon went to jail, she “would have no money and no way to support the children.” … Mr. Bannon’s lawyer … denied pressuring her not to testify.[93]
Piccard and Bannon divorced in 1997. During the divorce proceedings, Piccard also stated that Bannon had made antisemitic remarks about choice of schools, saying that he did not want to send his children to The Archer School for Girls because there were too many Jews at the school and Jews raise their children to be “whiny brats”. Bannon’s spokesperson denied the accusation, noting that he had chosen to send both his children to the Archer School.[92][94][95][96][97]
Bannon’s third marriage was to Diane Clohesy. That marriage also ended in divorce, in 2009.[98]”
You really have to ask yourself, “Does this guy do drugs?” The two milieu he’s been in, entertainment and high finance, are riddled with drugs. His behavior is out of control.
World War III will start by something “little”. Some impulsive act that grows and grows. Like every day of this guy’s life.
b
This is actually a power play by Flynn to increase his own leverage at the Principals level. It has nothing to do with “balance” of interests in the government. pl
hans
Mattis is not Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dunford is CJCS and so far as I know is the one who lost his seat. pl
All
The Principals Committee is the level of the Interagency at which the president/Commander in Chief meets personally with his principal advisers on national security. pl
Pl,
If the Wiki bio of Bannon is remotely accurate, you serious underestimate the “Kitchen Cabinet”.
Clinton may not have been “good” but she did have qualified and diverse advisors not just advisers who have to explain what she was saying because she was incapable of completing a complete or coherent thought.
Tom V
In what way? As a military man I like structure in the NSC, something like the way Eisenhower ran the place. The mental image of Flynn and Bannon sitting around with the boss talking about “the real stuff” is scary especially considering the weakness of many in Flynn’s entourage. pl
So Flynn intends to be the President in waiting. Hmmm….an un-elected President.
From what I have read, it is all the Senior executives of the member organizations of the NSC. Their function is making decisions on plans and operations (national policy level). The real work is done at much lower organizational levels. By the time it gets to the PC, consensus should be a “done deal”. Most of the time the PC just rubber stamps what has been worked out at lower levels.
Vic
I’ll quote Tyler here:
Pres. Trump is doing the same things as President that got him elected. He is pushing the boundaries to see what he can get away with. The inclusion of green cards in the executive order was not accident; it was a deliberate testing of the federal government to see the response. Look for other testing of boundaries. The walk back on the green cards is not a victory for the left because nothing was said about the discretionary power the Pres. Trump has given the DHS. “If you’re traveling back and forth you’re going to be subjected to further screening.” — Chief of Staff Priebus
Nothing was said about the ‘Special Immigration Visas’ for our interpreters.
Mr. Bannon is a very astute player in the use and application of power. We are now seeing it in action.
Maybe the fumbling is intentional. The Trump model looks like first comes chaos and destruction, then the rebuild and rebrand. I don’t know financial celebrity John Maudlin from Adam, but the guy claims to have seen this from Team Trump: “the plan for one cabinet-level department…appeared to be about 100 pages plus of serious detail as to exactly what executive orders would need to be removed and added, what personnel would have to be replaced (both appointees and regular staff), what policies would need to be changed, and so forth…” And that he heard, “…this level of planning was being done for every department.” That kind of planning doesn’t happen overnight (…if true). During the primary, Trump said he got his SCOTUS candidates from the Heritage Foundation. Googling “Trump Transition Heritage Foundation” reveals this from Politico: “The Heritage Foundation has emerged as a driving force as Trump tries to staff up the federal government.”
My guess is that the blueprint for Trump’s rebuild is coming straight from Jim DeMint’s Heritage Foundation.
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/28/deep-state-vs-donald-trump/
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/trump-transition-heritage-foundation-231722
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heritage_Foundation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_DeMint
Vic
Is that not what I said? pl
I agree it looks like cronyism, but given that the “professionals” at Langley and NSA contributed to the insanely stupid “Assad must go!” policy, funneled arms to Jihadis and in general screwed the pooch quite thoroughly, is it not a good thing to have the neo-cons further removed from power?
Trump seems to be like a bull in a China shop. Lots of fine plates are getting broken, but perhaps that needs to happen.
Chris
Few of the professionals are neocons. A lot of them are boot lickers by necessity but neocons? No. pl
EA
Schumer’s crying stunt on TV was a it much but Trump’s uber-macho reference to it was really worrisome. I have seen a lot of brave men cry. I cry if sufficiently provoked. pl
Vic
The PC is made up of the actual heads of the cabinet departments and selected agencies. pl
I certainly have no crystal ball and perhaps you are correct, but at the same time it brings to mind the description of “eleventy dimensional chess” that was used as an excuse for Obama.
Col Lang
I worry that the airport pandemonium, the protests with all the liberals and foreign-looking people, and Schumer’s tearful response are exactly what Bannon wanted. Trump’s tough guy comment too. The game plan seems to be about confrontation and further inflaming partisans.
My thoughts on this are similar. If the current groupthink of the faction of the Borg that’s been in power for at least the last 16 years is the problem, then the only way to make a change is to shake things up. If indeed the Realist faction is going to make a comeback into power, then Trump would have to have many ‘secret supporters’ within that faction of the Borg. At this point I surmise that he does have that support behind the scenes, that we are not hearing about from the MSM. That’s a good thing, IMO.
It appears the civil war that’s been discussed here is actually already going on within the Borg. The various bureaucratic establishments in the Borg ecosystem will fight tooth and nail to protect their bloated budgets, perks, and missions. They are using the MSM as their weapon of choice. This is why Bannon is quite correct that the media is the opposition. However, if there is enough secret support for Trump’s new missions behind the scenes, then Trump will succeed to whatever extent he can.
Although this Frederick Douglas quote was about a totally different political issue, it is still apt in this case.
“If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
— Frederick Douglass
One of my favorite quotes…
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
–George Bernard Shaw
I find Bannon a fascinating figure. It remains to see if he can successfully apply Machiavellian methods to both redirect Pax Americana to more successful ends AND benefit the American people.
I believe the Heritage Foundation did the hiring/vetting of appointees in the Bush II administration also.
What an expensive mess those 8 years were.
Thus far, he’s doing essentially what he has said he was going to do. The incumbents just chose not to listen, and now are complaining about what they didn’t hear.
Nancy, if you and the Democrats don’t have a come to Jesus moment soon, the next four years will turn into eight.
Col. Lang
This post suggests the opposite that it is to curtail Flynn’s influence.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-30/how-steve-bannon-rose-top-trumps-power-structure
“Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Bannon still regard Mr. Flynn as an asset. “In the room and out of the room, Steve Bannon is General Flynn’s biggest defender,” said Kellyanne Conway, another top adviser to the president.
But it is unclear when the maneuvers to reduce Mr. Flynn’s role began. Two Obama administration officials said Trump transition officials inquired about expanded national security roles for Mr. Bannon and Mr. Kushner at the earliest stages of the transition in November — before the younger Mr. Flynn became a liability — but after Mr. Flynn had begun to chafe on the nerves of his colleagues on the team.”
Bill,
Divorced – just like half the citizens of the Republic. Accusations were made of antisemitic remarks in 1997? Accusation is guilt? Drugs? That’s disqualifying alright:
“When I was a teenager I used drugs, I drank, I pretty much tried whatever was out there. But I was in Hawaii and it was a pretty relaxed place,” Obama told the rapper.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/10/10/obama_talks_addiction_i_used_drugs_i_smoked_i_pretty_much_tried_whatever_was_out_there.html
He looks like a skid row derelict in photographs.
I don’t agree. I think t is how he negotiates against tough opponents. Scott Adams has a nice piece which I think is he Trump does things and can be understood in that light. http://blog.dilbert.com/post/156532225711/the-persuasion-filter-and-immigration
I agree. It is typical Schumer though. If one consider that all Israelis are permently banned from even visiting any of these same 7 nations and any American with an Israeli stamp in their passport is faced with the same restriction, then you can see the hypocrisies here. Trump expanded something Obama did and it is offensive purely as it comes from Trump. I think he doesn’t give a tinker’s damn about what the left thinks and has already abandoned any idea of persuading them ke him. He does believe that once people see the improvements they may swing over but I doubt he is counting on it. I also don’t think he cares at all about a bipartisan government. He knows who his enemies are and is going to just bypass them as long as he keeps his base aligned and happy. So far, it looks pretty good to me.
Turning the control of the National Security Council over to the three stooges? Sound like a good idea? Or maybe just Curly and Moe, that’s better?
Flynn, who retweeted references to the DC pizza shop as headquarters of an international paedophile ring run by Hilary Clinton?
And yesterday was Holocaust remembrance day, and the White House in its press statement on this made absolutely no reference to the murder of the Jews or anti-semitism of that era??
Look, you will not find a more sincere critic of Israel and the Jews than yours truly, but that clearly deliberate omission is an utter outrage. A national disgrace pure and simple.
Apparently impeachment is underway from what I’ve gathered reading this morning’s papers. Can’t happen soon enough, IMO.
Perhaps the Saudi Air Force alone should be tasked to enforce. The Plethora of aircraft replacements would be a boon to our aircraft manufacturing.
Yes. Their goal is the de-establishment of the liberal democratic government.
I’m sorry, I misspoke; Mattis remains as Sec. of Def. and I’m thankful for that. Very thankful.
Trump surprised Mattis on Friday with EO of Friday afternoon blocking immigrants. Used him as a stage prop. Frankly, I’m appalled by this. One doesn’t treat anyone like this, much less a man of Gen. Mattis’ stature:
“Jim Mattis, the new secretary of defense, did not see a final version of the order until Friday morning, only hours before Mr. Trump arrived to sign it at the Pentagon.
“Mr. Mattis, according to administration officials familiar with the deliberations, was not consulted by the White House during the preparation of the order and was not given an opportunity to provide input while the order was being drafted.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/29/us/politics/donald-trump-rush-immigration-order-chaos.html?_r=0
Freuden,
So pronounceth a guy who’s probably never had a checking account with more than four figures in it.
lmbo you do realize how ridiculous you sound right?
RA,
What disingenuous horsesh*t. The context of the quote was regarding the globalism infecting the world right now.
HawkofMay,
Congratulations. Unlike many here, you begin to realize that Trump isn’t “in over his head” but knows exactly how to leverage power. The people are watching Trump accomplish more in one week than the last few presidents have accomplished in a year and wondering what those other schmucks were doing.
You think America cares what people wearing vagina outfits while screaming about “human dignity” think? You think Trump does? All Trump has to do to win in 2020 is keep his base, the people who voted for him warts and all and didn’t delude themselves that “he REALLY doesn’t mean that”. They voted for the screening, they voted for the wall, they voted for more law and order.
And they’re going to get it. And love President Trump for it. And the Left will have to cry on live TV more because he doesn’t need them.
The Trump Executive order salient phrase (image):
https://twitter.com/ArmsControlWonk/status/825741454093922305
The Obama Executive order salient phrase (image): Same link: CLICK THE RIGHT ARROW
https://twitter.com/ArmsControlWonk/status/825741454093922305
_____________________________________________
From the Bush 43’s NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE-1, February 13, 2001
Page 3
https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/nspd/nspd-1.pdf
The Director of Central Intelligence and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall attend where issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed. The DNI post hadn’t been invented then.
_____________________________________________
Tyler,
Scornful ad hominem attacks are the last refuge…
I’m retired at the age of 50 after selling my business. My wife keeps me on a strict allowance via a checking account. Must not buy too many guitars. 🙂
I’ve never done business with Trump, but have done business with people who have done business with him. From the stories they tell, he reminds me a lot of Mickey Segal, with whom I did some business in the mid 90’s. Big company with offices overseas and around the country, but run like a rinky dink mom and pop shop.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.insurancejournal.com/magazines/coverstory/2004/01/12/35648.htm?client=safari
“I’ve never done business with Trump, but have done business with people who have done business with him. From the stories they tell, he reminds me a lot of Mickey Segal, with whom I did some business in the mid 90’s. Big company with offices overseas and around the country, but run like a rinky dink mom and pop shop.”
I’m curious at what level these people did business with Trump? Doesn’t seem plausible Trump would “do business” much below the billionaire level. And the billionaires who’ve done business with him over several decades went to the mat in support of him during the election. Carl Icahn, Andy Beal, Tom Barrack, John Paulson, Harold Hamm, et al. I found a new respect for these billionaire business guys who never waivered throughout the campaign and especially during the rough storms. Meanwhile the political and talking heads types would throw Trump under the bus before kissing up to him to then throw him under the bus, etc., etc.
“The idea that the DNI or the CJC is demoted is utter nonsense” as stated by the White House Press Secretary today. After reading the memorandum and googling a 2001 statement on PC membership plus above comments I came to the same belief. Utter BullCrap. I agree Bannon is the Grand Wizard here but tend towards the Flynn babysitter angle.
Now seeing our airports in an uproar over the weekend and a Senator turn emotional because a few hundred individuals were either delayed or sent home and others need to wait ninety days to go to Disney.
Come on people! You have been had by the Liberal media who will write anything and slant it anti-Trump just to satisfy their deviant needs as they LOST and they know more is coming a lot more is coming. The man was elected to Do Something and he is compling with the electorate.
How are things structured in France, in the French Government?
Patrick Bahzad, Your concern about the “demotion” of DNI & CJCS echoes what Robert Gates emphasized in an interview I saw on FOX News. Gates didn’t
seem too concerned about adding folks like Steve Bannon but was highly
concerned about omitting DNI & CJCS. Having worked for 8 presidents it’s
difficult to ignore his opinions.
Prem up-thread also had concerns in this matter & called them “bizarre.”
I have no experience but instinctively agree with you, Prem & Robert Gates.
ambrit,
Well . . . we won’t get them from the Clintobama wing of the Democratic Party.
Gary,
We’re talking professional service vendors and folks in financial services. If you think all that Trump did was sign development or licensing deals with other billionaires, that’s a very colorful view of how business works. Perhaps you got your idea of how business works from “The Apprentice?”
Nancy K,
Her qualified and diverse advisors all supported Cold War 2.0 with Russia and its risks of H-bomb war, supporting the NaziNazi Banderazi coup regime in Kiev, supported the GAJ and the CLEJ in Syria, and probably supported all the Free Trade Treason Agreements as well.
I will agree with eakens and go further by saying . . . unless every cell of malignant Clintonoma and every Yersiniobama pestis plague bacterium can be purged and burned from out of every last corner of the Democratic Party, the next four years will turn into eight.
If the Clintobamacrats nominate another Clintobamacrat like Corey Booker, for example, for President; I will vote for Trump all over again.
Since Trump said today that he is going to announce his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow rather than on Thursday, here is a paper that tries to analyze how similar his list of potential nominees is to Judge Antonin Scalia, whose vacant place the selection is to take. You can download the 21-page paper or see it if a pdf viewer will display in a web browser. A few on the list who did not have a sufficient paper trial to compare it with Scalia are not included–
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2874794
The list of 21 is here–
http://www.businessinsider.com/president-elect-donald-trump-supreme-court-list
Article 3, section 1 of the constitution creates the supreme court–
“The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish….”
Article 2, section 2 authorizes the president to appoint judges of the supreme court–
“He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law….”
It has been said that Congress can establish the number of judges to be on the supreme court (the “necessary and proper clause”), and it has done so, but the constitution does not expressly say that. The only power given to congress in Article 1, section 8, is “To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court.”
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
Gary,
Now that we’ve established that there are lots of vendors and companies of various types and sizes “doing business” with the Trump companies, we can move on to your next question. Why would he get involved at a level below that of “billionaire?” Apparently he oscillated between disengaged and micromanaging. Micromanaging a large organization doesn’t really work. That results in a lot of disfunction.
Gary H — perhaps they supported him because they got the better of him and figured they, at least, would do well under his regime.
Oh…that makes this move even more scary. Bannon sort of reminds me of Rasputin…it must be the hair.
Bobo — Schumer lost family members in the Holocaust. He may well have actually felt sad…it that really too hard to imagine? I’m guessing you are pretty sure that you don’t know anyone with a green card. It is a big deal. There are still two sides to the issue but the issue is not that people are upset.
Trump is doing something for sure!
FourthAndLong
Sorry, but impeachment’s a fantasy. Trump doesn’t have much to fear from elected GOP officials as long as they get their tax-cuts and entitlement “reforms.” It’s about the base. As long as they’re happy, things will continue as they have been.
Pat
Principal Committee meetings are chaired by NSA.
NSC meetings are headed by President.
Note the NSPM states that DNI and CJCS are statutory participants in NSC meetings. This is as it should be.
What if the President decides not to hold NSC meetings?
The NSA then becomes the principal conduit of the process to the President.
In this case, this is a bald power play by Flynn.
Should Flynn decide to short circuit the NSC process, CJCS Dunford should start exercising his statutory responsibilities and ask for meetings with the President outside the normal process.
The political ramifications of turning down Dunford’s request, or his resignation, would be profound.
This is incorrect.
These are busy people. If consensus is achieved at the DC level, there is no need for a PC.
HOM,
The liberals and the MSM are being driven insane by Trump and his norm breaking style. First they wanted to run against him in the general. Then they believed their massive attacks on him would derail his campaign and the Borg Queen would romp home on election day. They even had all the polls pointing to their landslide victory. Then the unexpected happened. That became the rallying cry for the electoral college to knock him out.
They are definitely going off the deep end when Trump does exactly what he said he’d do during the campaign. But the problem they have is all they’re doing is whining. How many were they able to gather for the protests on the temporary travel ban?
Vallisa provided a link to a very insightful column by Peggy Noonan.
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/47019
Those of us who voted for Trump are pleased with many of his first week actions. We’d like him to go further. His travel ban should include all the countries that shipped jihadis to the west and there shouldn’t be any time limit. The ban should only be lifted when the government is confident that their vetting procedures are sufficiently stringent. Likewise some of us would prefer more than just a hiring freeze but a meaningful reduction in headcount of federal employees and contractors. We’d like him to develop a cooperative relationship with Russia and eliminate an existential threat and if that will drive McCain go apoplectic even better.
Let’s face it the liberals and the MSM are going to use their platform to drive hysteria. Just like they did during the campaign. Will it change the opinions of Trump voters?
There are important elections coming up in Europe this year. There maybe more with Trumpian attitudes winning.
All
If this is true it will be explosive and Tulsi Gabbard will become enemy of liberals and the MSM as well as all neocons and R2Pers.
https://mobile.twitter.com/i/web/status/826080029692002305
“BREAKING: Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard told CNN that she has proof the Obama administration was funding ISIS and Al-Qaeda”
Sir
Apparently Schumer had a different stance in 2015.
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/schumer-2015-pause-syrian-refugee-program-may-be-necessary/
But…he’s just a politician. Theatrics is an important element for them. Of course the MSM and liberals were not hysterical then.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_affairs_of_Donald_Trump
mishkilji
“Principal Committee meetings are chaired by NSA” Here what is meant by mishkilji is the National Security Adviser, not the National Security Agency.. I have appeared before many such meetings. pl
Edward Amame
How long do you think the Democrats will be out of power? Do you still believe that demography is destiny? pl
Google is your friend…
“(a) …
The Council shall be composed of—
(1) the President;
(2) the Vice President;
(3) the Secretary of State;
(4) the Secretary of Defense;
(5) the Secretary of Energy; and
(6) the Secretaries and Under Secretaries of other executive departments and of the military departments, when appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to serve at his pleasure.”
“(h) …
(1) There is established within the National Security Council a committee to be known as the Committee on Foreign Intelligence (in this subsection referred to as the “Committee”).
(2) The Committee shall be composed of the following:
(A) The Director of National Intelligence.
(B) The Secretary of State.
(C) The Secretary of Defense.
(D) The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, who shall serve as the chairperson of the Committee.
(E) Such other members as the President may designate.”
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/3021
Pretty straightforward. Personally, I don’t like Bannon on the NSC but we won’t know for months what the consequences are. Right now, I’m monitoring how Iraq, Russia and China respond to Trump’s administration. My spidey senses tell me it’s BOHICA time.
Sorry for jumping in since you asked EA directly, but I’d like to give my two cents. The Democrats will be in the wilderness for the next eight years at least because:
1. They ignored state and local government for too long in favor of big national elections, and now do not have a pipeline in the majority of states;
2. Sitting back and waiting for people to vote for you based on demographics is not a strategy…see number 1 above;
3. Although polling may show most Americans like many of the legacy Democratic programs, sitting around expecting them to vote for you because of it is not a strategy…see number 1 above;
4. Blanket TV advertising in the modern age is no substitute for on-the-ground retail politics…see number 1 above;
5. Focusing on esoteric cultural issues while ignoring how your trade policies have devastated huge portions of the country is not a winning strategy (have any of these jokers taken Amtrak through North and South Carolina and seen the hollowed out towns?);
6 Abandoning and ignoring your traditional blue collar constituency for decades is not a winning strategy;
7. And then the *worst belief in the history of mankind* that Hillary losing was a Black Swan Event guarantees no honest self evaluation by the party leadership.
Sure doesn’t look good. And there were plenty of voices out in the wild warning them of this! But they were in their DC bubble.
Liberal Democratic government lost the election. Mission accomplished.
mauisurfer
I told Hersh that at the time and have since changed my mind. The man he has hired as ME/NA chief used to hang around my Pentagon office as a captain trying to learn something and never seems to have done so. pl
David Lentini,
I perceive Steve Bannon as being a strictly Karl Rove type figure. He will mistake his brilliance at the politics and optics with understanding of deeper longer range facts and trends and needs. He will always give advice based on what will enhance the political power of the Trump Right Movement on the domestic American scene.
FourthAndLong,
That could be a very carefully planned and tailored look, designed to project an “ordinary guy man-of-the-people” image.
Bannon’s own appearance could be his finely crafted version of Henry Kissinger’s serious glasses and international-man-of-danger accent. ( Which started out as real, no doubt . . . but has been carefully nurtured and maintained all these many decades).
Laura- we all express our emotions in different ways and at different times. My comment certainly was not intended to be derogatory to the good Senator only to highlight where it occurred and possibly why.
As to the Green Card comment I spoke earlier today to two individuals I know who presently have Green Cards and they both laughed. As they relayed that it was so difficult to obtain that status and that they are in pursuit of Naturalization so why would anyone in that status leave this country which could jeopardize that pursuit. Just their view as I’m sure there are others.
I’m quite cognizant of the Blot on History due to the Holocaust but in leaving I give thought to the millions of potential legal immigrants who passed on in pursuit of their dreams of coming to our great country.
She’ll be a hero to the Sanders people, and it is pretty clear that she hopes to be their standard bearer in 2020.
Ad hominem makes one feel better about themselves … that’s important!
Trump’s a brand, not a CEO.
Jack,
I don’t know how closely you’ve been following Tulsi. Between her “Stop Funding Terrorism Act” and her trip to Syria, she is creating quite a coalition. She is strongly identified with the Sanders wing of the progressive Democrats, but among the cosponsors of her bill are Dana Rohrabacher and Walter Jones, both conservative, libertarian Republicans. Both have been described as batshit crazy, but I know Rohrabacher. He’s good people.
She has definitely made herself an enemy of the Neocons and R2Pers, but I think the time is right for her. The Clinton Democrats are well on their way to destruction and the Republicans will never be the same. Her coalition will be the progressives and libertarians. I truly believe this coalition will learn to work together on what they agree upon and learn to compromise on those issues on which they disagree. Just like the in the old days.
Sir
If you were given carte blanche to hire the NSC team, would you find the people with the intellect, deep knowledge of history, excellent judgment and of course honor?
It seems to me that through decades of politicization and careerism, only mediocrity have survived. Excellence at bureaucratic infighting and budget gathering is what gets rewarded. Is that a correct assessment of our current government national security personnel?
Karl Kolchack,
I am certainly well-predisposed towards Tulsi Gabbard. It would take a number of Very Bad Things to un-well-predispose me.
If she got nominated, I would expect many millions of Clinton supporters and nostalgiasts to vote against her in a bitter spiteful effort to make her lose. The ClintoFeminists would be most hateful against her. They would adhere to Madeline Albright’s stated belief that “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” They would vote their bitter rage over Tulsi Gabbard daring to try becoming America’s “first woman President”. Hillary was supposed to be “America’s first woman President.” Hillary! HILLARY! HillaryHillaryHillary!!! How DARE the brazen upstart Gabbard DARE to think that she could usurp (after the fact) the throne that rightly belonged to . . . !Hillary!
That is my conditional if-this/ then-that prediction. If the DemParty nominates Gabbard, millions of Hillarrhoids will vote against Gabbard one way or another.
Laura
Where were the liberals when Obama & Hillary were destabilizing Libya and Syria? Their “Arab Spring” left chaos & anarchy and millions of displaced people – the refugees that Schumer is now shedding tears for! Yes, the Obama administration used Al Qaeda as the spear to ravage those countries all in the name of “regime change”.
The hypocrisy of the liberals and Democrats leaves no room for any credibility now on this topic.
Jack
The hypocrisy of the Democrats is so unbelievable.
It is their Dear Leaders, Obama & Hillary who created the anarchy and the refugees in the first place by funding and arming Al Qaeda and orchestrating the “rebellion”. Now they want to shed crocodile tears. Gag me with a spoon!!
The Democrats have ZERO credibility.
Here’s the CNN interview of Tulsi Gabbard.
https://youtu.be/ID223ToMVxM
What do all the “progressives” & Democrats wailing about Trump have to say about this report from Syria by Congresswoman Gabbard?
Who perpetrated this genocide? Who backed this? And how did the so called “progressives” oppose this travesty when their Dear Leaders were the people behind it?
And now the sanctimonius lecturing about Trump!!! Please.
Tyler – knock it off. Stop with the ad hominem attacks on fellow members. Have you no sense of decency? Our host just shut this site down to ban some correspondents in order to improve the decorum.
“I am not going to further tolerate those who indulge themselves here in personal scorn and abuse.” – PL
Tyler – I’m uncertain how you can claim to know the context of the Bannon quote. Bannon himself states he has no recollection of making it. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/22/steve-bannon-trump-s-top-guy-told-me-he-was-a-leninist.html
Without spewing invective can you provide documentation of the context you claim?
Tyler – you don’t seem to have a very long memory.
I have decided to suspend both “Gulf Coast Pirate” and “Tyler” indefinitely for ad hominem attacks and shrill remarks unsuitable to SST. pl
In some cases, having lost debates on substance, these people then turn to ad hominem attacks. I am tired of that. Such people are banned from SST. pl
I was never very tolerant and am less so now. Some of you both Left and Right think you can crowd the limits of my toleration of incivility. You are wrong. In particular Tyler, herb and Pacifica Advocate are at the top of my list for expulsion or suspension. pl
Walrus,
Funny you should say that. Now we need a new AG!
Col.Lang,
He was crying about his wallet
Chuck Schumer is King of ‘Pay to Play’ in the corrupt, rigged system of Washington, D.C. Today’s example is how he exploits immigration law for wealthy real estate developers through the EB-5 visa program, which allows investors to pay $500,000 in exchange for a green card, in return for plenty of campaign cash given back to him,” New York attorney Wendy Long said.
http://thetruthdivision.com/2017/01/breaking-chuck-schumer-busted-pay-play-scheme/
OM,
Jews from those places on the temp vetting list can’t come here either. Bibi didn’t think that through before he becoming happy about Trump and The Wall
FAL,
President Pence?!?! Oh, NO!!
Jack,
This is something we all knew years ago. She better share it while she can!
Cold War Zombie
According to section (a)(6) of federal statute 50 U.S. Code 3021, a civilian like Steve Bannon will in fact need to go through Senate confirmation and approval in order to serve on the National Security Council because he doesn’t fit into any of the five listed pre-approved categories. That obscure law, which has remained obscure because no president has ever tried to put a political hack on the NSC until now, was dug up by MSNBC analyst Jonathan Alter late on Monday night.
Col, to your point about a Kitchen Cabinet… What was once an informal group of trusted friends of a prez to provide a respite from excess formal structure has morphed into an extra-constitutional means of exercising power in order to circumvent the balance of power among the Branches. More evidence of our Republic morphing into The Empire. Trump is over his head in understanding governance or the exercise of power in politics. It’s not going to get any better – he can’t learn and his handlers (more like buffers) could not care less about the niceties of governance either.
He, his family & his personal coterie will build a wall allright… around himself. It will be impenetrable… by reality. Among his advisors there are nihlists who view him as the best mechanism to disassemble the “way things are” and offer a better path to change (that being, their rise to power when the pieces are picked-up). There are also those of the fundementalist bent (not so close to him) who see him as God’s chosen vessel to usher in the Tribulations that will yield the Second Coming (seriously). I don’t know when we’ve had such destructive, varied & unpredictable forces so focused around the presidency, so intent on using it as the means to achieving dreams not publically acknowledged.
Col Lang
For a long time (unless Trump and/or the GOP overreaches).
I’ve always been a Howard Dean fan. His 50 state proposal was abandoned by the Obama admin and now Dem presence in may states is nil to none. That’s a problem. My suggestion to Dems is to spend our time in the wilderness joining (or starting) local Dem Clubs and PACs, and to send $$$ to Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, SPLC, etc.
I though demography might be destiny, but did not anticipate the intense backlash to our first black president (not necessarily talking racism! More like tribalism). IMO, Bannon and the alt right are racist and intend to Make America White Again by making the USA so inhospitable to non-Christian, non-Euros that they will want to leave or not come here so as to crush any possibility of demography as destiny.
Cold War Zoomie
Very well said. We are in about total agreement.
Col Lang
Is a seat on the Principals Committee the place to be for a guy who’s been advocating global war against jihadist Islamic fascism?
EA
Bannon? pl
Tweet from a columnist for the London Times:-
“The assassination is taking such a long time.”
A similar joke on German TV, I gather.
But that’s just froth. Merely serves to show the depth of hostility around. What I find more telling in this country is the continual running down of the President in the news sources. I haven’t seen that carried to such extremes before. Anyone who takes those news sources seriously can’t help but believe the President is some sort of crook who should be got out of the way fast. Personality politics carried to the limit.
It doesn’t worry me. I find Trump pretty impressive but that’s a detail. What is critical as far as I’m concerned is how far the Trump movement gets.
Cronies versus the people. With that strange alliance between the cronies and the progressives giving the cronies a fair wind. Obviously Trump needs to find a clear political issue to fight on, before personality politics overwhelms him or some sleazy scandal is invented that drains his support away. Maybe he’s already found that issue.
English Outsider
jack
It would be difficult because the traits you mention have been “bred out” of the system but at least I could find you staff officers who would know how to process paper. That is absent at present from Trump’s WH. pl
Col Lang
Yes.
Sam Peralta
Now let’s see what happens to her “Stop Arming Terrorists” bill in Congress, shall we?
I like Mr. Adam’s description of reality. I should read a bit more of his writing because I’m curious to what he has to say about group identity and the filter that has on political ideals.
In terms of the Persuasion/Hitler Filter I prefer to use the term Overton Window. I do not like the direction Pres. Trump is taking the United States in terms of what is acceptable behavior. Pres. Trump’s actions on immigration based on the false premise that the current vetting process is inadequate. That is patently false and is very unclear to me as exactly what changes he is proposing to increase the vetting process.
Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than I can comment about what changes will be made to the vetting process that was implemented under Pres. Obama.
I greatly dislike the continual attack on the media. I greatly dislike ‘alternative facts’. I greatly dislike describing people who are following their conscience (i.e. Yates) as disloyal. I can believe that Pres. Trump’s intentions and motives are good while still disagreeing with his methods and his rhetoric. My attitude towards Bannon’s and President Trump’s methods are best described by this quote:
R. Buckminster Fuller
Your Chuckie Schumer and my DiFi will be opposing it. After all they were big in supporting Obama and Hillary as they armed the jihadists and created the refugee problem in the first place.
But now they have faux outrage and tears for poor Hana Abed.
TTG, Sir
Congresswoman Gabbard seems like one of the few in Congress with courage going against the beltway groupthink. Notice how the MSM smearing takes place. I hope she gets a bigger following as she seems to be a person who has seen war first hand as a combat veteran and is not afraid to take on the DC warmongering establishment.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/opinions/global-opinions/how-tulsi-gabbard-became-assads-mouthpiece-in-washington/2017/01/29/215e9c70-e4bf-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html
If anyone needs to be impeached it should be Obama and Hillary for arming AL Qaeda and creating the devastation and refugees in Syria. One reason why I have no respect for the liberals is that they correctly made a big stink about the Bush invasion of Iraq on false pretenses but were cheerleaders when Obama & Hillary destroyed Syria and Libya. And now once again they ramp up their faux outrage when Trump is in office. At least the libertarians have courage of their convictions and consistently opposed our hubristic foreign interventions. Ron Paul has been a consistent critic of our warmongering.
Ked and the Committee as a whole:
Ked wrote, “Trump is over his head in understanding governance or the exercise of power in politics. It’s not going to get any better – he can’t learn and his handlers (more like buffers) could not care less about the niceties of governance either.”
There is a broad reporting that with respect to the Immigration Order (the “IO”) that Trump made an error, that Trump is inexperienced, that Trump mis-handled the roll-out of the IO and other similar statements.
I here raise a different proposition: That Trump intentionally did what he did, knowing that it would provoke a vehement reaction from the moderates and progressives for the purpose of creating chaotic cognitive dissonance, while giving him deniability based upon the general characteristics of optimists to give new presidents the benefit of doubt that the act was just a ham-fisted screw up. Put another way, the IO was drafted as bait for the left and moderates and they bit it hook, line, and sinker. Is the IO simply a rhetorical masterpiece of manipulation?
If the act was intentional, then from the perspective of a party who seeks control by dividing all, it has been exceedingly successful.
There is evidence to support the argument that the way the IO was drafted was a skillful and intentional act, done with a full understanding of what reaction could be expected.
Apparently, when the Office of General Counsel delivered the first draft of the IO, it contained exceptions for green card holders and others who had due process right subject to constitutional protection. An analysis of the IO shows that it really contains two issues. First, does the President have the power to stop immigration from areas of the world he deems dangerous. Second, does the President have the power to deny entry to Green Card holders and visa holders entry based upon statutory law and to send them out of the country with a blanket ban without giving them a due process hearing as provided by statute and the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. (BTY if one reads the stays, they do not hold the President’s actions unconstitutional, they only hold that there is a good chance of success under point two, above, and hold that the visa and green card holders have a right to a hearing before being sent back out of the continent. A stay of this type is standard procedure for injunction and habeas corpus applications under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 65. This is not some group of Democratic judges running wild. This is a group of judges following they standard application of the laws. These are concepts known and identifiable by any first year law student who has had a course in Constitutional law. My guess is that Sally Yates refused to support the IO because at least a large part of it was clearly unconstitutional deprivation of the due process rights of the individuals holding valid visas and green cards and that to follow her oath to uphold the Constitution, she could not allow her department to defend the indefensible.)
Then those details were stripped out by Bannon so that all granted visas and green card holders would be sent home. Also, the key people in Congress and the Agencies were kept in the dark. It is highly unlikely that Trump, Bannon, and their cabal were not fully aware of the reaction their stripped down order would engender.
The reaction from both ends and the middle of the political spectrum has been as was foreseeable. Unless Bannon and Trump really are idiots, they did this to get the reactions that occurred. The right-wing base is convinced the sky is falling because of terrorists and are convinced that the Obama judges are overreaching and acting unconstitutionally while being so ignorant they do not realize that the judges are just following Rule 65 to the tee. The moderates are outraged because they do believe that immigration is good and that due process is important. The far left just believe Trump is simply an authoritarian right-wing mad man.
The question posited to the Committee is whether the Trumpists are stupid or whether they are masters of rhetoric and did what they did knowingly intending to bait all of the People.
Demography is probably destiny, but the question of how long the Democrats will be out of power may not be properly phrased. Though it is not fully visible yet, I think that Trumpism has already caused the demise of both parties as we know them. It seems to me that the question is which party will be able to capture the center that believes in a democratic government based upon ideas of tolerance and equality and that can adapt to the changing demography?
Trumpism is fundamentally a combination of white-authoritarianism and corporate autocracy. We are beginning to see a strong pushback against it. Whether Trumpism can move fast enough to defeat the pushback remains to be seen.
If the deplorables ever come to understand they will be further enslaved by Trumpism, we may get a more beneficent government. If not, we will begin to see something like Hungary or Venezuela.
Dr. Puck — You may be onto something. Here is something that popped into my inbox that fleshes out some of what you have intuited.
https://medium.com/@jakefuentes/the-immigration-ban-is-a-headfake-and-were-falling-for-it-b8910e78f0c5#.8uqm35yky
Frankly, I’m not sure this isn’t all just a test.
ked — Here is a conspiracy theory for you…https://medium.com/@jakefuentes/the-immigration-ban-is-a-headfake-and-were-falling-for-it-b8910e78f0c5#.8uqm35yky
Sort of worries me!
English Outsider
I think he’s found his issue(s).
Meanwhile, Federal judges issued stays against his “Muslim ban” order. The DHS disregarded them. Customs and Border Patrol agents denied access to legal counsel and deported people. They did what Trump said, not what Federal Court orders said. Interesting, huh?
Freuden,
Except pointing out that Trump is obviously worth billions and all we have to “prove” your claims of entrepreneurial acumen is your own semi-self depreciating anecdote.
Anecdotal evidence is the last refuge of someone without a point. Seems to go hand in hand with not knowing what an ad hom is. Sad!
EA,
I think this is where you are wrong. Will those local Dem Clubs be expelling Democrats for Life? How about the the “Hunting, Fishing & Gun Ownership Caucus” in the Michigan MDP? There are plenty of other examples.
Most of the backlash you object to is not to president Obama because he is black but because he patently objected to traditional American values.
What is the definition of racist you are using? Those groups are racists because you label them so? Even Obama did not go that far in his language. Do any of those “white” people have a right to remain citizens or should they be crushed by an immigration policy that replaces them with a demographic more appealing to you?
“why would anyone in that status leave this country which could jeopardize that pursuit”?
Because their mother is dying.
Jack
Like I said, let’s see what happens to Gabbard’s “Stop Arming Terrorists” bill in Congress.
This is just another example of media manufactured hysteria. Opinion polls show that more support the temporary bans than oppose. The MSM and the establishment have not learned anything from the election. Trump voters and even some who didn’t vote for him are drawn to him more because of this concerted and ham fisted manner in trying to manufacture a Hitler-like caricature of the man.
But in perfect government fashion, failure means do more if it and expect different results.
Origin,
The proper question is did Acting Attorney General provide her professional legal advice to the President when she was instructed to defend the EO or did she decide – on her own initiative – to instruct the DOJ not to take action to defend the order. I think she did the latter. I also think she’s the hero of the hour to some and probably in for a fine multi-million dollar job/book deal and the newest recruit for a congressional or senatorial seat. But I’m cynical that way. She should act soon though, in the Twitter world of today her 15 minutes of fame will last about 5.
EA,
IMO that term “racist” gets abused by the left to an obnoxious extent; so much so it has lost almost all of its original meaning.
If anything, the people you don’t like, who voted for Trump, are “culturalists”. They do not care what color a person is nor, particularly, what spiritual (or lack thereof) values they adhere to *as long as the people in question are compatible with western civ and hold that system in high esteem*. Yes, I’m sure you can use your google-fu to find an example of a truly racist Trump supporter. There are always exceptions. It’s the mean that counts.
It just so happens that a visible proportion of certain minority groups have made it clear that they are unwilling or unable to assimilate to the ideals of Western civ. Is that proportion a majority? I have no idea. Probably not. However, even if a minority proportion, it is very visible and very costly – not just costly in terms of financial resources and crime, but also in terms of national character.
The fear is that if, for example, enough Mexicans were to come here, this country would come to resemble Mexico; a country that people want to leave because it is a third world pit. If enough Muslims were to come here, then this country would take on the flavor of the MENA. Do you want to live in Mexico? Do you want to live in the MENA?
Another variable adding to the fear is the left’s excuse making for those who do not assimilate (this includes our native African American population). Trump supporters see that the left’s actions and rhetoric are – on purpose or by accident – designed to impede assimilation. Many on the left exhibit a great disdain for the values that made this country great. I know a lot of lefties and I debate with them frequently these days. They clearly see white males from today back to the founders of the country as “evil”; citing slavery, treatment of Native Americans, various real or imagined transgressions of capitalism, etc.
So you have people from the third world entering the country largely unfamiliar with our ways and a very vocal left that controls much media and the education system telling them that the existing system is unjust and needs to be overturned. Those of us who love this country and what it stands for are rightly concerned.
What has changed re; immigration and related issues is that there is left encouraging non-assimilation and there is welfare/social services that erodes economic incentives to assimilate as well as free market forces regulating immigrant influx in the first place.
But the left wants to boil it all down to “racism”. That, in itself, is offensive. It’s a tactic to be applied to the stupid and the gullible and we see through it.
Also, Trump supporters have noticed a growing true racism on the part of non-whites. Actually, it’s been there all along. Growing up in Detroit, there were large swaths of the geography I could not enter because, being white, I would have been targeted for summary execution. Nowadays, that sentiment from the non-white is becoming acceptable to express publicly. Living for 22 years, as an adult, not far from the Mexican border, I knew many Hispanics who harbored hatred for “pinches gueros” (anglos). hat is also becoming increasingly acceptable to display in public forums.
Put all of that together and you should not be surprised that whites are circling the wagons. The left brought this upon themselves.
Jack,
Libertarians and progressives have been kept in the shadows by Democrats and Republicans who are more loyal to their respective political parties and administrations than to any set of principles. You are right. Ron Paul has been a consistent critic of our warmongering and government surveillance as has Bernie Sanders Tulsi Gabbard. They have all been savaged by the Republican/Democrat Borg entity. It’s like the age when dinosaurs ruled the earth and mammals were a few small creatures hiding in the underbrush clinging to a precarious existence. The election of Trump is like a major volcanic event or meteor strike that brings about the extinction of the Republican/Democratic dinosaurs and creates space for the libertarians and progressives to expand.
Fred
I don’t know what local Dem Club’s will be doing, but expelling for life sounds a little Soviet era for me. It’s more like we’ll be shaping the future of the Dem Party from the ground up.
To be clear. I am not (at all) claiming that Trump voters are all alt-right. I’m guessing that the vast majority of them have no clue what the alt-right’s about.
On racism in the alt right. Here are some of its stars.
Richard Spencer, publisher of AlternativeRight.com, says the alt-right’s “trying to build a philosophy, an ideology around identity, European identity.”
Jared Taylor, editor of American Renaissance, says, “The alt right accepts that race is a biological fact and that it’s a significant aspect of individual and group identity and that any attempt to create a society in which race can be made not to matter will fail.”
Kevin MacDonald, editor of The Occidental Observer promises to “present original content touching on the themes of white identity, white interests, and the culture of the West”
Sam Francis, late syndicated columnist, called for a “white racial consciousness”
Theodore Robert Beale, the white nationalist blogger, counts as a central tenet of the Alt-Right that “we must secure the existence of white people and a future for white children,”
Paul Ramsey, white nationalist and Holocaust revisionist, produced a video titled “Is it wrong not to feel sad about the Holocaust?” and asks, “Do you mean that six million figure? You know that six million figure has been used many times before World War II, did you know that?”
Alt-Right hub The Right Stuff, created a meme whereby Jews would be identified by placing parentheses around their names, as in (((Albert Einstein))) or (((Dennis Prager))).
Here’s a helpful primer on Neo-reaction, which is Silicon Valley’s contribution to the alt-right: https://ia800403.us.archive.org/25/items/the-silicon-ideology/the-silicon-ideology.pdf
You’ve seen the term “cuck” tossed around, right? Sometimes it’s used to describe individuals as cowards. Other times it’s short for “cuckservative” which Richard Spencer helpfully defines as “a white gentile conservative who thinks he’s promoting his own interests but really isn’t.”
Breitbart’s Steve Bannon boasted that “We’re the platform for the alt-right.” And Ben Shapiro, former editor-at-large at Breitbart, left because “under Bannon’s leadership, Breitbart openly embraced the White Supremacist Alt-Right.” http://www.dailywire.com/news/8441/i-know-trumps-new-campaign-chairman-steve-bannon-ben-shapiro#
I agree.
I’m afraid my original comment needs correction. The columnist I referred to, India Knight, has written in the past for the Times of London but seems mostly to write for the Sunday Times. The Sunday Times is a large circulation quality English weekly paper. Somehow I doubt Mrs Knight’s cri de coeur reflects the Sunday Times’ editorial policy. Hope not anyway.
On the question you write about, yes, it is interesting because much the same issues trouble us here, but you’ll be able to assess the implications and I can’t. That’s because I don’t know much about English law or Law Enforcement in this area, let alone American. I’m glad the two Iraqis got through, whatever the law is.
On a more cheerful note, how’s the swamp draining going for you over there? Any luck yet?
Gordon,
A nice essay. I particularly like the line “We are no longer a nation of principles, but of preferences.”
Yes, honesty has gone out of fashion, “reality” is a construct,and hard work is solely the lot of Deplorables who should do nothing else; in particular they should not be allowed to vote. Seems like Democracy is an “export only” product.
Interesting times.
Ishmael Zechariah
Eric,
Please see my response to Fred.
IMO, you’re describing a backlash against multiculturalism/diversity. It seems like a lot of white people in the US think they’re racially oppressed and want to reverse policies and laws and that they think discriminate against them.
The lefties are deliberately trying to stir up shit by doubling down on the “fascist threat”, if the usual idiots buy it things may not end well.
https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/trial-balloon-for-a-coup-e024990891d5#.ezpmria8t
Origin
Yes, the chaos was intentional. These people are not bunglers. And a lot of border agents apparently deliberately ignored the stays against Trump’s “Muslim ban” order. Is Bannon testing the waters?
EA
IMO, it will go nowhere. The warmongers in both parties have the majority in Congress. And they’ll coalesce to defeat it. Do you think McCain and his office wife and Chuckie and DiFi gonna support this?
They’re already smearing Tulsi as Assad’s and Putin’s stooge. And they got the MSM hysteria platform to keep the drum beat going.
The only chance is if Trump aligns with Putin to destroy the jihadis but then we’ll have all the hyper-ventilating crowd screaming that Putin runs Trump’s foreign policy.
BillWade – as one Deplorable to another, if I’m not presuming, we find ourselves in strange company when we go visiting that site. I’m beginning to see why Trump & Co. fetched out the long spoons when the alt-right invited itself to the party.
I’m not being flippant, because the search for the root causes of the moral failure of “progressivism” is certainly an important one. But I honestly don’t believe this writer helps with that search. In fact I think he impedes it, if that’s not being too dismissive of a site that does put together some information.
And the Enlightenment did have its good side. Botany ‘n stuff.
Not 5, three.
Both
I don’t support the DNC, and did not contribute to them, but did the Sanders campaign. I did vote for her in the primary because I thought she not Sanders could beat Trump. My wrong and what I feared has come upon me.
Lets see how happy he makes you in 4 years before you pledge to 8. He scares the hell out of me.
I don’t dislike Bannon because he has been married and divorced 3 times not because as someone mentioned he looks like a skid row derelict. I dislike the direction he and Trump are taking the Country.
Do you think Native Americans were happy when invaded by white Europeons and their land was stolen, probably not. Maybe they were waiting for the Europeons to assimilate. I imagine some did, becoming the legendary mountain men. People may assimilate in some ways but most like to retain their cultural differences.
Perhaps, this is a more accurate view.
The election of Trump is like a major volcanic event or meteor strike that brings about the extinction of the Republican/Democratic dinosaurs and creates space for the libertarians and progressives to expand unless the authoritarian/corporatists simply take it all for themselves and snub out both parties by creating so much chaos that Trump or his proxy steps in to save US in a transitional break event like the Reichstag Fire leaving us with an autocracy of a neo-aristocratic billionaire class. (Senator Isaacson just introduced another bill to kill the “death tax” that was originally conceived to prevent hereditary fortunes from becoming perpetual.)
I see a tri-partite contest for power, not a dualistic one.
No matter who may prevail, the classic U.S. with two benign, cooperatively competing parties is now gone forever.
Laura
Is Trump sending these people back to the gas chambers and the overs? Grow up. pl
Nancy K
I once asked a rather silly Arab woman who was saying that people like your husband (a descendant of European Jewish colonists in Palestine ?)if she thought I should leave America for some place in Europe. she got red in the face and said “of course not.” Well, my ancestors came to the New World 400 years ago. Screw the Indians! I am as American as they and I am tired of the multi-culti bullshit. you people on the multi-culti left who weep for everyone are simply seeking someone, anyone will do , to whom to surrender the country. pl
Nancy K
Ah, lookism! From where the sun now stands I will wash or shave no more. pl
The texts of these proposed orders are masterfully divisive whether they are ever signed or not. Its red meat to the hungry right and red flags to the human sensitive left.
These guys are willy-nilly tossing Molotov cocktails and stun grenades and they are certain to do an immense amount of damage to domestic tranquility.
This stuff is straight out of the hybrid war textbooks as chronicled by Andrew Korybko about whom I have previously written.
nancy K
You have been asked several times to tell us what Trump’s program of devilry will be. Well? Or are you just a hysteric? Sing us a few lines of “Kumbaya,” “We are the children,” “This land is my land,” or whatever. pl
Nacy K,
Your response is exactly what I’m talking about. How is it helpful to the current situation?
Do you really believe that it was going to be possible for American Indians to live a stone age existence in a massive nature preserve full of resources into perpetuity? If the “white man” hadn’t come, it would have been the yellow man, or Muslims. Do you not know that within pre-Columbian America the Indians themselves killed and drove other tribes out of their “ancestral lands” , destroying cultures along the way? The plains buffalo hunting “Sioux” Indians of “Dances with Wolves” once lived in the woods in Minnesota until the Ojibwa drove them out. The Aztecs slaughtered smaller tribes.
What’s your point? Oh yeah, the America is an evil society founded on original sin and thus without moral authority. Exactly what I’m talking about. Exactly.
Jack
IMO, it will go nowhere. The warmongers in both parties have the majority in Congress.
Agreed.
English Outsider
Best of luck with your issues over there. As for here, I haven’t seen much evidence of swamp-draining yet, but maybe others have.
I think the preservation of domestic culture (the way of doing things)and the traditions and customs of a country is a legitimate concern and there is nothing morally wrong about airing such concerns – and if appropriate – seek ways to ameliorate or to otherwise address and assuage such concerns.
I recall a quote by M K Gandhi – that icon of the Liberals and Bleeding Heart Humanitarians Everywhere, the single individual most responsible for the carnage and destruction of The Partition – to the effect that he would not let the gentle breeze of foreign cultures to turn into a storm which would uproot his culture.
More recently, a bill to give citizenship to the children born to Iranian women by Afghan men died in the Iranian Parliament; “we do not want our culture to be diluted”, “they are going to flock here to get married to Iranian women to take advantage of our social benefits.”
And in case of the Culture of Afghans – but by the Grace of Oil there would go Iran as well.
Categories of Left and Right cannot adequately grasp these issues, in my opinion.
Bannon is executing a well planned psy-op. It all works together, the attack on the media, the Tweets, the insults, the derogation of just about everyone, the lies, the stimulation of social media. Everything is by designed to destroy common cognition and common understanding of reality. It is an old game, played often in history in Germany, Venezuela, Cuba, Hungary, and many other places and times.
It is our own tactics being turned around against us.
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2015/11/experiencing-the-nemesis-of-hubric-exceptionalismwho-are-we-now-origin.html?cid=6a00d8341c72e153ef01bb0892ec50970d#comment-6a00d8341c72e153ef01bb0892ec50970d
A worthwhile $4.99 eBook https://www.amazon.com/Hybrid-Wars-Indirect-Adaptive-Approach-ebook/dp/B014GA5SX8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1485902790&sr=8-3&keywords=hybrid+warfare
Aren’t both sides, right and left, being played by the Trumpists; perhaps even Trump himself?
It is a war against US all, Left, middle, and right.
EA,
Yes, I am describing a backlash against the multi/culti obsession that some people have. Some cultures are inferior. If you did not inherently accept this, you would probably be living in some other culture enjoying all that exciting diversity.
But am also describing a backlash against people that do not accept some cultures as inferior and who think that western civ is a crock or, at best, equal to say, what we see in Afghanistan or sub-Saharan Africa. Something they say, but don’t really believe because these same people are also against lots of what they do in these other cultures; things like genital mutilation, stoning women to death, hanging homosexuals, being hyper-religious, banning books and art work (even blowing up historic statues). So really a backlash against people who cynically or insanely (I can’t tell which)use multi/culti as a weapon to destroy western civ., which yes, happens to be mostly associated with whites. Yet, ever notice that there is no call for banning Asian immigration? They’re not white, but they have similar cultural values.
This is not about discrimination. It’s about preserving a culture that is worth preserving. I know you think it isn’t. I don’t get that. You live in it and enjoy it’s benefits and yet hate it – or at least heckle it mercilessly. Again, why don’t you move to sub-Saharan Africa or convert to Islam and move to Afghanistan. You should find these places to be paradise. But even you aren’t that silly when the rubber meets the road.
So given that, tell me, please, what level of third world immigration, combined with the welfare state and our current economic and political situation, can be absorbed before our culture – the one you clearly actually enjoy despite your rhetoric to the contrary – is diluted toward third world characteristics at an unacceptable level? How many people? Consider what is happening in countries like Sweden and Germany and incorporate that into your answer. I’m curious. Thank you.
Origin
I hadn’t seen your reference to hybrid war/Andrew Korybko before. Thanks for the info.
There’s creative chaos too, where big systemic disruption paves the way for whatever’s envisioned to take its place. This may be the first in a series of disruptions. What’s envisioned may be coming straight from Jim DeMint’s Heritage Foundation.
I don’t think is right for the head of executive branch being able to fire or dismiss the acting head of the supposedly independent other branch (of government the judiciary (president Nixon did much similar thing firing SP Cox) the. IMO president Trump got elected to the ultimate reality show in the land, one that is called the presidency of USA, I hope he is not treating it like it is a reality TV show, which is not. IMO he will soon learn there are lots of realities with this job to face and no show can mask them.
Edward,
Yes “we’ll be shaping the future of the Dem Party from the ground up.” by replacing the unacceptable Americans with new and improved people imported for that purpose.
Bannon in the NSC is just the tip of the iceberg. It seems both he and Trump get advice from the shadows by disgraced mercenary Erik Prince.
Erik Prince’s Blackwater firm taught ‘counter-terrorism’ techniques at his training center on the VA/NC border. One of the trainees there, Gulmurad Khalimov, is now the ‘minister of war’ for the Daesh in Mosul. Good job Erik! (snort)
http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/30012017
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/17/notorious-mercenary-erik-prince-is-advising-trump-from-the-shadows/
EA,
OFO is not the Border Patrol. You are out of your depths.
You have no idea how imm law is set up, how the EOs and injunctions works, or how badly the judged erred regarding 8 USC 1182.
Jack,
It is all about business with Trump. How do you explain Saudi Arabia not being on that List? Plus these folks who are also granted Visas for cash.
https://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/30/01/2017/Hike-in-US-Green-Card-investment-surprises-Qatar-investors
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/whos-funding-isis-wealthy-gulf-angel-investors-officials-say-n208006
From another article
Increasingly, the skilled and the poor are out of luck. But the rich are another matter. The program (EB-5 is short-hand for the government’s fifth employment-based visa “preference”) allows well-heeled foreigners to leap to the front of the line by simply plunking down $500,000.
” … whether the Trumpists are stupid or whether they are masters of rhetoric and did what they did knowingly intending to bait all of the People. ”
I’m pretty old school. Your Masters of Rhetoric model (w/ excellent step by step procedural analysis) seems a too-less-than-simplest line of reasoning. The Trumpists are definetly not stupid … shallow & self-absorbed, but not stupid. And yes, they are really into baiting – it’s the style they come by naturally, not deeply crafted.
Col. Lang has pointed to Congresional Republicans being the biggest headache for the Trump vision. I agree, but it may take awhile – party discipline runs deep in victory, and his Staff will be big on taking names & vengence. It is most effective upon those who bias towards fear-driven reaction. I expect inside WH “soap opera” behaviors are going to equal or exceed external sources of suffering in the Trump Empire. These first days aren’t a transitional aberration, but a warm-up. Just wait until he finds out he doesn’t control his own destiny & his audience looses interest in the show anyway. He won’t be the Happy Warrior.
Nancy K,
That is a very fair caution, to be sure. So perhaps I should walk back my promise-to-self.
If the Democrats nominate another Clintobama-type figure, I will find such a figure too noisome and odious to vote for. But I might, as you suggest, find more Trump too scary to vote for that, either. In which case, I would either have to vote for some pursuit-of-perfection minor party candidate or leave the President bubble unfilled in.
Don’t feel too bad over “guessing wrong” about which candidate “could have” defeated Trump. If Sanders had won the nomination, millions of bitter Clintonites along with the whole Democratic Party establishment would have worked to throw the election to Trump in order to accuse Sanders of “costing us the election”. They would then have gone on to try purging every Sander-backer out of the DemParty.
kooshy
The Department of Justice IS NOT an independent branch of government. It never was. DoJ is just one of the departments of the Executive Branch and completely subordinate to the president. You may be confusing DoJ with the federal courts. He can and often has fired the Attorney General. A lot of crap is being said about this in the media.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/31/steve-bannon-builds-a-new-node-of-power-in-the-trump-white-house.html
Colonel Lang –
Sad to hear you feel that way about the Indians. My grandmother’s grandmother, an orphaned Acadian/Wabanaki girl from Madawaska, is spinning in her grave that a fellow State of Mainer feels that way.
I am going to Standing Rock in protest of your remark.
Thank You Colonel
To be truthful we don’t have such problems over here in Europe or rather our politicians don’t. No such problems at all, really. It’s quite simple. Just close your eyes to them and they don’t exist. An elegant and effective solution we’ve been refining for decades.
“The assassination is taking such a long time.” It’s a vicious thing for a journalist to write, even as a throwaway remark. That hostility to Trump among the politicians and bien pensants in Europe is due to the fact that he’s splashing cold water in their faces and making them open their eyes. I suppose much the same is happening over your way. Except that for the American political classes, being closer, the cold water seems to be coming by the bucketful.
Colonel Lang –
I respected many Viets, and despised some others.
My first loyalty is to Americans, all of us.
There’s an amazing amount of conspiracy theories about Trump and Bannon being expounded by the partisans. The same group who were fine as Obama and Hillary grew the anarchy by supporting Al Qaeda.
In their opinion the folks that won an election despite the best efforts of the MSM and their ilk are being machiavellian as they implement what they campaigned on.
Didn’t see much of the hilarious manchurian Putin apologist line recently. It’ll be back soon I presume. In any case it is great entertainment for the conspiracy buffs.
Israel isn’t the US…We’re currently not an Apartheid State, so that’s a poor comparison.
Eric Newhill
Yes, I am describing a backlash against the multi/culti obsession that some people have. Some cultures are inferior. If you did not inherently accept this, you would probably be living in some other culture enjoying all that exciting diversity.
But am also describing a backlash against people that do not accept some cultures as inferior and who think that western civ is a crock or, at best, equal to say, what we see in Afghanistan or sub-Saharan Africa.
I’m an American and wanted to live in the most diverse American community I could so over 30 years ago I moved to the Lower East Side of NYC. I live a little further north of that now, and the neighborhood’s still pretty diverse. I’m sorry Eric, but what you are describing sounds a lot to me like white supremacism.
Here’s what diversity looks like in Flushing Queens. It’s safe and one of the most exciting neighborhoods in the city now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Queens
Origin,
Looks like the folks across the pond didn’t get the message:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4179940/The-Government-s-Brexit-plan-published-TOMORROW.html
That’s a 384 vote margin for Brexit. .
Colonel,
Who could be the leaker(s)?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/no-gday-mate-on-call-with-australian-pm-trump-badgers-and-brags/2017/02/01/88a3bfb0-e8bf-11e6-80c2-30e57e57e05d_story.html?utm_term=.a6d403c0a9f6
Instead, President Trump blasted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over a refugee agreement and boasted about the magnitude of his electoral college win, according to senior U.S. officials briefed on the Saturday exchange. Then, 25 minutes into what was expected to be an hour-long call, Trump abruptly ended it.
At one point, Trump informed Turnbull that he had spoken with four other world leaders that day — including Russian President Vladimir Putin — and that “this was the worst call by far.”
Australia, Mexico , who is next ?
mishkilji
I haven’t attended one for a long time. Do you go to the NSC members meetings or the PC regularly? pl
beaver
IMO this was probably a controlled “leak” to show how bad assed they are. pl
Origin,
” immense amount of damage to domestic tranquility.”
That was Black Lives Matter shouting down Bernie Sanders and Governor O’Malley. It is the left wing anarchists in Berkeley last night.
Bloomberg News profiled Steve Bannon more than a year ago. Back in 2015 it was clear he opposed Clinton and Bush, but still mysterious as to which candidate he might support. Despite the somewhat hyperbolic headline, the piece is detailed and substantive.
“Bannon’s life is a succession of Gatsbyish reinventions that made him rich and landed him squarely in the middle of the 2016 presidential race: He’s been a naval officer, investment banker, minor Hollywood player, and political impresario…
“[quoting Bannon’s self-myth] “I come from a blue-collar, Irish Catholic, pro-Kennedy, pro-union family of Democrats,” says Bannon, by way of explaining his politics. “I wasn’t political until I got into the service and saw how badly Jimmy Carter f—ed things up. I became a huge Reagan admirer. Still am. But what turned me against the whole establishment was coming back from running companies in Asia in 2008 and seeing that Bush had f—ed up as badly as Carter. The whole country was a disaster.”
(Bonus: the article offers, in passing, a brief description of the “dark internet,” into which I have probably blundered, when following links, but did not understand. With the claim that it was a significant source for “Clinton Cash.”)
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/graphics/2015-steve-bannon/
Even if the bill goes nowhere, it may allow Tulsi to sharpen her skills. She’s expecting to be around for a long time, I think.
Edward,
Flushing is a city of 80,000 that is 70% one ethnicity. But hey, don’t call it New York’s Chinatown because it is diverse! Congratulations on being a first wave gentrifier of the Lower East Side of NYC. That’s a fine piece of one of the Republics premier cities but it’s not representative of much of the rest of the Republic. What you have described is urban supremacism.
Eric,
There were plenty of native enemies of the Aztecs who sided with Cortez. The native elite of all the various tribes also intermarried with the Spanish conquistadors. )The Spanish had very few women come to the new world during the initial period of conquest and colonization.) Those facts don’t fit the victimhood narrative though. Neither does mentioning already existing systems of slavery nor human sacrifice.
Nancy,
Many of the people who voted for him have disliked where the country has been heading for decades.