;)
The Commentariat -- March 31, 2018
Justin Fishel of ABC News: "... Donald Trump surprised even the most senior members of his Cabinet when he announced Thursday during a speech in Ohio that the U.S. military would be 'coming out of Syria, like, very soon,' according to a senior administration official and a U.S. official familiar with the matter.... Trump has discussed the idea of withdrawing the 2,000 U.S. troops with Defense Secretary James Mattis, chief of staff John Kelly and the outgoing national security adviser, Gen. H.R. McMaster, but according to these officials, the president favors a faster withdrawal than most who are advising him. 'It's not the substance [of the remark] that surprised them,' the senior administration official told ABC News. 'It's the fact that he said it.' Meanwhile, nearly every other government policy adviser who works on Syria was caught completely off guard by the substance of the president's remarks, including officials within the National Security Council, the Pentagon and the Department of State, according to multiple U.S. officials.... Not only does the president's desire for an imminent withdrawal appear to contradict the conditions-based strategy, but it also flies in the face of his repeated pledge not to forecast the movements of the U.S. military to the enemy." ...
... Matthew Lee & Josh Lederman of the AP: "... Donald Trump's unscripted remark this week about pulling out of Syria 'very soon,' while at odds with his own policy, was not a one-off: For weeks, top advisers have been fretting about an overly hasty withdrawal as the president has increasingly told them privately he wants out, U.S. officials said. Only two months ago, Trump's aides thought they'd persuaded him that the U.S. needed to keep its presence in Syria open-ended -- not only because the Islamic State group has yet to be entirely defeated, but also because the resulting power vacuum could be filled by other extremist groups or by Iran. Trump signed off on major speech in January in which Secretary of State Rex Tillerson laid out the new strategy and declared 'it is vital for the United States to remain engaged in Syria.'... Still, without a clear directive from the president, planning has not started for a withdrawal from Syria, officials said, and Trump has not advocated a specific timetable." Mrs. McC: Toward the end of the piece, the reporters sort of suggest Trump is blowing smoke, or as they put it, "overly optimistic." They do note a pull-out now would be giving Syria to Russia. ...
... Haley Britzky of Axios: "The State Department has put $200 million in recovery effort funds to Syria on hold, after the White House directed it to do so, the Wall Street Journal reports.... Per the Journal, this signals that the administration is re-evaluating U.S. presence in the region. President Trump said on Thursday said that the U.S. would be 'coming out of Syria...very soon,' and that 'other people' should take care of it. But, but, but: Trump's statement conflicted with what the Pentagon said on Thursday, and State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said she knew of no plans to leave Syria.... Two of the biggest powers with a presence in Syria are Iran and Russia, and if the U.S. exits the region it would 'raise concerns about ceding' it to those countries. Per the WSJ, the move 'would unnerve Israel and Saudi Arabia.'" ...
... Update: The New York Times story is here. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sounds as if Trump did a lot more during his recent phone conversation with Putin than congratulate Putin on his fixed re-election. America's great dealmaker seems to have given Syria to Putin as a re-election prize.
Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "The perils of the diplomatic breakdown [between the U.S. & Russia] came into sharper relief on Friday. Russia's ambassador in Washington lamented that no one would meet with him, and his embassy complained that Russian diplomats were being harassed by American intelligence agencies eager to recruit them. The Pentagon, for its part, said that it had no notice of a test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile conducted by Russia and announced on Friday, a lack of communication that experts worry could lead to miscalculation.... Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, whose last official day on the job is Saturday, had come to the conclusion before Mr. Trump fired him this month that a year of attempting to cooperate had not yielded much success, according to people familiar with his thinking. As a result, they said, Mr. Tillerson had begun mapping out a tougher policy toward Russia and found agreement in the White House.... His designated successor, Mike Pompeo, and the incoming national security adviser, John R. Bolton, are both considered even more hawkish on Russia."
Eric Levitz of New York: "The fundamental causes of the Trump administration's personnel woes have long been clear. Donald Trump is not an expert in business management, just a real-estate heir with a gift for media manipulation.... But on Friday, for the first time, we finally got some insight into the proximate cause of the White House's personnel woes: The office in charge of staffing the White House is, itself, run by a historically small staff composed largely of 20-somethings with no relevant experience, a fondness for chugging Smirnoff Ice and vaping tobacco during office hours -- and, in a few cases, forged résumés and criminal histories":
... Trump's PPO Is More of a Frat House. Robert O'Harrow & Shawn Boberg of the Washington Post: The Presidential Personnel Office, an "obscure White House office responsible for recruiting and vetting thousands of political appointees has suffered from inexperience and a shortage of staff, hobbling the Trump administration's efforts to place qualified people in key posts across government, documents and interviews show.... The PPO is ultimately responsible for recruiting and vetting candidates for more than 4,000 jobs, more than 1,200 requiring Senate approval.... At the same time, two office leaders have spotty records themselves: a college dropout with arrests for drunken driving and bad checks and a Marine Corps reservist with arrests for assault, disorderly conduct, fleeing an officer and underage drinking. Under President Trump, the office was launched with far fewer people than in prior administrations. It has served as a refuge for young campaign workers, a stopover for senior officials on their way to other posts and a source of jobs for friends and family, a Washington Post investigation found. One senior staffer has had four relatives receive appointments through the office." Do read on. The PPO is a complete mess, unless you're into keggers.
Scott Pruitt's "Lease" Keeps Looking Worse. ... Emily Atkin of the New Republic: "On Thursday, ABC News revealed that, for the first six months Pruitt was in D.C., he lived in a fancy Capitol Hill condo co-owned by the wife of top energy lobbyist J. Steven Hart. Hart is chairman of a firm that lobbies for the export of liquefied natural gas. This brought up serious ethical questions, since Pruitt is currently under investigation for using taxpayer money to travel to Morocco for the sole purpose of promoting liquefied natural gas. Critics say Pruitt had no business doing this because it was unrelated to his job of protecting public health and the environment." ...
... Brady Dennis & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "Collectively, according to EPA officials, Pruitt paid $6,100 to stay in the condo for roughly six months. Details initially were reported by ABC News and Bloomberg.... In the Capitol Hill neighborhood where Pruitt was, the average is $142 per night [for a private room]. The former also reported that Pruitt's daughter had stayed in the condo.... Vicki Hart [part owner of the condo & wife of energy lobbyist Steven Hart, who allowed Pruitt to stay in the condo in the first place,] said in a statement Friday afternoon that she was not aware that Pruitt's daughter might have been living in one of the condo's rooms. 'The rental agreement was with Scott Pruitt. If other people were using the bedroom or the living quarters, I was never told, and I never gave him permission to do that,' she said, adding that if the ABC account is accurate, Pruitt would owe additional rent.... Pruitt initially approached ... Steven Hart about staying there during his confirmation process in 2017 and then extended the terms of the arrangement through last July." The Harts have donated to Pruitt's political campaigns when he ran for state office in Oklahoma." Pruitt is now renting much more expensive digs. ...
... AND There's This: "At one point during his stay, agents in Pruitt's security detail broke an exterior door at the condo after he had gone home sick and was not responding to calls, according to individuals familiar with the March 2017 incident. The EPA ultimately reimbursed the condo association $2,460 for the cost of the wood and glass door." ...
... Eric Levitz of New York: "There's nothing subtle or surreptitious about Pruitt's corruption. The fact that a climate-change denier is in charge of environmental regulation for the world's most powerful country is a scandal far more consequential than Pruitt's habit of flying first class on the taxpayer's dime, or underpaying for his D.C. digs."
Margaret Hartmann makes the case that Trump has set up Dr. Ronny Jackson to fail as head of the VA. And here's a twist: even though Jackson himself has expressed skepticism about his own ability to run, much less fix the problems of, a vast bureacracy & healthcare delivery system, he cannot refuse the nomination because he's an active-duty flag officer. "... and Politico reports that some veterans believe he's being installed as a figurehead so lower-level staffers can move toward privatization." Mrs. McC: Over to you, Mitch. In the name of privatization, are you-all gonna confirm a guy who already knows he can't do the job? Oh, yeah, privatization is the new earmarks. So I guess so.
AND You Thought a Religious Day Would Preclude a Friday Afternoon News Dump. Chris Riotta of Mediaite: "In a move that shockingly did not go over well on Twitter..., Donald Trump announced on Friday he had named April 'National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.' The president, who has been accused of sexual assault or harassment by at least 19 women, said in a statement his administration remains 'steadfast in our efforts to stop crimes of sexual violence, provide care for victims, enforce the law, prosecute offenders, and raise awareness about the many forms of sexual assault.'" Some of the tweeted reactions are pretty good.
Ken Starr Weighs in on Stormy Daniels Allegations. Because He Would. Lydia Wheeler of the Hill: "The independent counsel who investigated Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky said this week the Department of Justice (DOJ) should weigh the credibility of Stormy Daniels' claim that she was paid to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Donald Trump ahead of the 2016 election. In 'an interview with the Yahoo News' podcast 'Skullduggery,['] Kenneth Starr said the DOJ should decide if Daniels' claims warrant an investigation by another independent counsel. 'I do think there are difficult and serious questions that have been raised by what we know or what has been reported,' said Starr said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jonathan O'Connell & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "The carefully maintained secrecy around President Trump's finances is under unprecedented assault a year into his presidency, with three different legal teams with different agendas trying to pry open the Trump Organization's books. On one side is special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who has subpoenaed Trump Organization documents as part of his wide-ranging investigation into the 2016 campaign. On another is Stormy Daniels, the adult-film actress seeking internal correspondence as part of her effort to be freed from a nondisclosure agreement centering on an alleged affair with Trump. And in the most direct assault, the District and Maryland have sued Trump, alleging that he is improperly accepting gifts, or 'emoluments,' from foreign or state governments through his businesses, including his hotels. A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the case can proceed, opening the way for the plaintiffs to seek at least a portion of Trump's tax returns, which the president has refused to release."
Frances Sellers of the Washington Post: "Gloria Allred, the prominent women's rights attorney who represented former 'Apprentice' contestant Summer Zervos in her high-profile defamation suit against President Trump, is withdrawing from the case. In a statement Friday, Zervos said it was her decision to end the legal relationship. 'I decided to part ways with Gloria Allred purely for personal reasons,' she said, 'having nothing to do with her work as my attorney.' Allred issued a statement Thursday to the Associated Press saying her withdrawal has 'nothing to do with the merits of her case against President Trump.'"
Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Ran this late yesterday morning, but can't let it go because I think the artist is so brilliant:
Thursday, Akhilleus & I entered into a fake agreement to set up a fake partnership to sell paint-by-numbers kits of Donald Trump portraits. (The fake contract is in the fake mail.) I was thinking of sending Michael Cohen down to Delaware to set up a fake LLC when we acquired a new, secret super-silent partner who nonetheless has taken a hands-on approach to the business. Pretty good, huh? ...
... Note to Akhilleus: Better double your orange paint order. I'm ordering the printed canvases. We could work out a real business plan with projections & marketing strategies & all, but that would be so un-Trumpian.
Karoun Demirjian & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The FBI's disciplinary office found that ousted deputy director Andrew McCabe lied to his boss, then-director James B. Comey, in October 2016 about having authorized the disclosure of sensitive information to a reporter, a Republican congressman whose office reviewed the findings alleged Friday. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said in an interview that McCabe lied to Comey when Comey asked him how sensitive information ended up in an October 2016 Wall Street Journal story detailing internal tension at the FBI and Justice Department over an investigation into matters surrounding the Clinton Foundation. Jordan's staffers, along with staffers for Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, were permitted this week to view a report on McCabe from the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility, Jordan said.... According to Jordan, the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility determined that McCabe lied to his superiors and investigators four times: to Comey in October 2016; to FBI investigators in May 2017; and to the Office of the Inspector General twice, beginning in the summer.... In a statement, McCabe's attorney said it was fully appropriate for the bureau's deputy director to authorize media interaction and asserted that Comey knew about it." ...
... Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "The internal FBI report that served as grounds for the firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe includes key testimony from his former boss that shows a discrepancy with McCabe's public statements, according to multiple sources familiar with the report. Former FBI Director James Comey told internal investigators at the Justice Department that he could not recall McCabe telling him about having authorized FBI officials to talk to a reporter about an ongoing investigation, the sources said.Comey's comments to the Justice Department's inspector general's office, which were later included as part of the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility report on McCabe that prompted his firing earlier this month, put him at odds with the statements McCabe has made about authorizing FBI officials to provide information to the Wall Street Journal in an October 2016 story about FBI and Justice Department tensions over an ongoing investigation into the Clinton Foundation. McCabe has publicly maintained that he was in a position to authorize the other FBI officials speaking with the reporter and that Comey was aware McCabe had done it." ...
... Michael Sykes of Axios: "A GoFundMe page that launched Thursday to help cover former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe's legal fees reached $408,859 in 20 hours, according to the fund's page, quickly surpassing its $250,000 goal (which was initially set $150,000). 'The response to this effort has been remarkable and beyond our expectations,' the page says." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Russell Blair, et al., of the Hartford Courant (March 29): "Rep. Elizabeth Esty [D-Conn.] apologized Thursday and said she 'failed to protect' a former female staffer from domestic violence -- at the hand of Esty's since-fired chief of staff, who the Democrat helped get a job at Sandy Hook Promise.The three-term incumbent from Cheshire, who has publicly championed #MeToo legislation for Congress, told The Courant Thursday night that she deeply regrets her handling of misconduct by her former top adviser, Tony Baker. Esty said she should have suspended Baker immediately upon learning of the disturbing allegations against him in May 2016, including him punching the former staffer and threatening to kill her. But the congresswoman allowed him to remain in his $136,000 annual post for nearly three months while her office conducted an internal investigation and then paid Baker a $5,000 severance payment." Read on. I'd say Esty still doesn't get it & she isn't taking responsibility for her action & inaction. ...
... Hartford Courant Editors: "She should resign.... The story is deeply disturbing. The staff member, identified by The Washington Post as Anna Kain, had dated Tony Baker, Ms. Esty's chief of staff. Ms. Kain sought a protective order, claiming that Mr. Baker had threatened to kill her, punched her and harassed her in Ms. Esty's office. 'You better f-----g reply to me or I will f-----g kill you,' Tony Baker said in a recording left for Ms. Kain on May 5, 2016, according to The Post.... She told The Post that 'she was pressured by the Office of House Employment Counsel to sign' a nondisclosure agreement to get rid of Mr. Baker. In the deal, she agreed to help him get another job and pay him $5,000 severance.... 'I should have suspended him right away, but I had no experience with this, and there wasn't a process in place,' she told The Courant. Unacceptable. When one learns that a woman's life is being threatened by one of your own employees, you don't need 'a process in place.'"
Lydia Wheeler of the Hill: "A federal judge on Friday evening temporarily blocked Trump administration officials from stopping pregnant, unaccompanied immigrant teens who are or will be in federal custody from getting an abortion. Judge Tanya Chutkan on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the Office of Refugee Resettlement is violating the teens' constitutional rights to obtain the procedure.... The administration cannot strip unaccompanied immigrant minor children 'of their right to make their own reproductive choices,' Chutkan wrote in the decision. Chutkan's preliminary injunction stops Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families Steve Wagner, Office of Refugee Resettlement Director Scott Lloyd and their associates from interfering or obstructing access to abortion, counseling, medical appointments or other pregnancy-related care."
Marc Santora & Hana de Goeij of the New York Times: "A Russian man accused of hacking the systems of three American technology companies in 2012, possibly compromising the personal information of more than 100 million users, was extradited to the United States from the Czech Republic on Friday.The man, Yevgeniy A. Nikulin, appeared in Federal District Court in San Francisco after arriving in the city around 6 a.m.... Mr. Nikulin had been held in the Czech Republic since the authorities there arrested him in 2016. His case quickly turned into a battle between Washington and Moscow over whether he should be tried in the United States. He was arrested just two days before the Obama administration formally accused the Russian government of stealing and disclosing emails from the Democratic National Committee and other institutions and prominent individuals.... He is accused of hacking into the computer networks at LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring; damaging computers used by LinkedIn and Formspring employees; and using their credentials for further intrusions."
Anna Flagg of the Marshall Project: Another comprehensive study shows that "the link between immigration and crime exists in the imaginations of Americans and nowhere else.... The 10 places with the largest increases in immigrants all had lower levels of crime in 2016 than in 1980.... And yet the argument that immigrants bring crime into America has driven many of the policies enacted or proposed by the administration so far: restrictions to entry, travel and visas; heightened border enforcement; plans for a wall along the border with Mexico." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: And I'm sure if somebody tells Trump & Sessions about these studies' results, they will immediately realize they've been wrong all along.
Beyond the Beltway
Frances Robles & Jose del Real of the New York Times: "Stephon Clark, the unarmed black man who was fatally shot last week by Sacramento police officers, was struck eight times, mostly in his back, according to an independent autopsy released Friday, raising significant questions about the police account that he was a threat to officers when he was hit. The autopsy -- commissioned by the family of Mr. Clark, 22, and conducted by Dr. Bennet Omalu, a private medical examiner -- showed that he was shot three times in his lower back, twice near his right shoulder, once in his neck and once under an armpit. He was also shot in the leg. The neck wound was from the side, the doctor found, and he said that while the shot to the leg hit Mr. Clark in the front, it appeared to have been fired after he was already falling."
Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "A police officer who fatally shot a black man in Baton Rouge, La., nearly two years ago was fired on Friday, and a fellow officer involved in the episode was suspended for three days. The disciplinary actions were the first serious consequences for the officers after both state and federal officials declined to bring criminal charges against them. Blane Salamoni, the officer who was dismissed, fired six shots at the man, Alton B. Sterling, after responding to a call at a convenience store parking lot on July 5, 2016. After announcing the disciplinary actions, the department released new raw footage of Mr. Sterling's arrest and his killing moments later. Video taken from a police body camera shows Officer Salamoni repeatedly shouting profanities at Mr. Sterling; slamming him into a car; twice ordering the second officer, Howie Lake II, to use his Taser; and threatening to shoot Mr. Sterling with a gun pointed at his head."
Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "The acquittal by a federal jury of Noor Salman, the widow of the man who gunned down dozens of people at the Pulse nightclub two years ago, handed federal prosecutors on Friday the rarest of defeats: a loss in a terrorism case. The outcome was even more striking because the not-guilty verdict came from jurors in Orlando, Fla., where Omar Mateen's rampage left 49 people dead and 53 others injured, the worst terrorist attack on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001. Jurors unanimously rejected government charges that Ms. Salman had helped her husband plan his violent assault in the name of the Islamic State -- a narrative countered by her family's claims that she was kept in the dark about her husband's secrets and was home sleeping when the attack occurred." ...
... After the announcement of the verdict, the jury foreman made a written statement. He said he was speaking only for himself. Here's a portion of the statement, via the Orlando Sentinel: "A verdict of not guilty did NOT mean that we thought Noor Salman was unaware of what Omar Mateen was planning to do. On the contrary we were convinced she did know. She may not have known what day, or what location, but she knew. However, we were not tasked with deciding if she was aware of a potential attack. The charges were aiding and abetting and obstruction of justice. I felt the both the prosecution and the defense did an excellent job presenting their case. I wish that the FBI had recorded their interviews with Ms. Salman as there were several significant inconsistencies with the written summaries of her statements. The bottom line is that, based on the letter of the law, and the detailed instructions provided by the court, we were presented with no option but to return a verdict of not guilty."
A Panty-grabbing Judge on Long Island. ABC7-New York: "A Long Island judge who police say repeatedly broke into his neighbor's home to steal her underwear has confessed to snatching panties on multiple occasions, even though he has pleaded not guilty. Still, Suffolk County District Judge Robert Cicale has been removed from the bench and is facing up to 15 years in prison. Cicale was arrested on burglary charges and appeared in court Friday morning." [Mrs. McC Note: Must mean Thursday; the report is dated March 30 & I'm reading it Thursday, March 30.] He said he had "urges." Okay then.
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Reader Comments (11)
I have no time to write today since I am immersed in my fake paint by number kit that arrived yesterday–-it will take me hours to skirt around that ugly puss of a presidunce. I would, though, mention something I did report about several weeks ago after I watched the budget hearing for Scott Pruitt when Tammy Duckworth questioned him about that trip to Morocco and he said that it was about an energy matter and she replied energy was not in his purview and insisted he explain further; he said he'd get back to her about that. I mention this because, although I didn't watch the entire hearing, no one else questioned him about that.
And it looks like Esty is toast––I'm embarrassed she's one of ours in CT. Making that kind of disastrous mistake does not bode well re: her judgement.
And the PPO sounds like Animal House in the White one––West wing schnattergans mit voda un vaping––such fun! Think I might just try that as I try and finish my paint by number. Cheers!
My paint-by-number kit has not yet arrived, so my weekend art project is connect-the-dots. Here's the picture so far, using dots collected via a bit of googling:
…in November 2017, McGahn received a call from an ex-girlfriend of Porter, Samantha Dravis, informing him of the abuse allegations made by both of Porter's ex-wives, Jennifer Willoughby and Colbie Holderness.
MSN
…New EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is picking an ally from his fights against EPA rules to head the agency's Office of Policy, a person familiar with the decision tells Axios. Who she is: Samantha Dravis comes to EPA after serving in senior roles with the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA)
…expenses for Pruitt's chief policy adviser, Samantha Dravis, came in at a little over $4,000 for the four-day excursion. EPA initially declined to confirm whether Pruitt was going to Morocco when AP inquired about the trip Monday, citing security concerns about discussing his upcoming travel.
Chicago Tribune
This essay, spotted at the Baffler, should get a wider audience:
https://thebaffler.com/latest/festung-high-school-burmila
The writer (Ed Burmila) looks back at a time when the political system "was willing to embrace total insanity as a preferred alternative to admitting that its priorities might be wrong."
It seems to me that we are well embarked on a new such period of insanity, but now it is not so much the political system as the entire global structure of wealth and power whose riot of insane greed threatens to extinguish our own species, along with myriad others. Although other dominant species have perished in their time, we will probably be the first to do it in full awareness of the effect of our actions.
Is mankind capable of a different choice? Well, maybe. But we simply must stop allowing the mountebanks and cynical performers of the hour to define the limits and establish the terms of the discussion. Unless we actually consider doing what is now "ridiculous" and "out of the question," we consent to living in the world our rulers insist is the best of all possible worlds, and, in fact, the only possible world.
Our rulers value nothing but money and power. The overthrow of such rulers and such values will not occur as a result of incremental steps.
The Roosevelt connection
He sounds perfectly Trumpian! Ted Mallochembellishes his alleged connections and successes, too."...might also be related to King Tut, Napoleon, et al " However, birth records analysed by the FT cast doubt on the genealogical link... —(FT Writers: Leila Haddou, Henry Mance and Cynthia O’Murchu)
(Excerpt):
Mr Malloch Snr’s parents were Henry Wilson Malloch, a plumber from Scotland, and Frieda Schneider, a housewife born in Germany. The FT could find no link between them and President Roosevelt, who was aged about 35 when they were born. President Roosevelt’s great-great-grandson, Kermit Roosevelt, said he had not heard of Ted Malloch.
Mr Malloch told the FT: “I was always told that my grandmother was a distant Roosevelt relative.” German birth records are available only to direct descendants. Mr Malloch initially offered to send the FT a birth certificate but then declined to do so, saying he was “under no obligation to share private information”. He felt the FT was out to damage his reputation, not “to establish facts”.
One of Mr Malloch’s uncles was named Woodrow Wilson Malloch. Mr Malloch declined to comment on whether the family was related to Woodrow Wilson.
The last paragraph offers up that lovely dry British wit!
Jumpy Trumpy
So now we're seeing the other side of capricious Republican war jitters.
Prior to this we had the Decider and his pet shark Cheney and the Neocon Lords of the Universe who determined that they should be the Masters of the Earth and bomb and kill and maim whomever they chose because, per Leo Strauss, the godfather of neocons, the one who instructed them that they were gods and had no stops on their lubricious appetite for power, and could lie, cheat, and aggressively bugger anyone who demanded that they provide some sort of respectable and responsible imprimatur for their plans to assault other nations and give the rest of the world the right-wing finger. But, because of their feckless and criminally uninformed "strategy", they ended up destroying millions of lives, costing the US alone trillions of dollars, and upchucking an orphan war that continues to spread terror around the globe.
And now, we have the opposite of Bush and Cheney who were happy as clams to burn mothers, children, innocent civilians, and tens of thousands of Americans on the altar of their dogmatic turpitude and chicken hawk manliness.
Trump, rather than go Full Cheney, hears that a couple of US military personnel have been killed (and what the fuck did he expect?), and Cadet Bone Spurs is frightened from his orange combover to his jiggly belly fat that he'll be blamed for lost lives, and decides to run away.
Just imagine the macho chest beating and Trumpian bluster had Obama pulled out of a conflict after a death report. Trumpskyev would have accused him of cutting and running. Not something HE, the Great Trumpy, would ever do.
Until he was in a position to show his mettle and.....pussied out.
Even better? He pussied out in front of the Russians.
Pure Trump cowardice.
@Akhilleus: I don't know what Cadet Bone Spurs is up to here.
Only one of the two troops killed was an American. The other was a Brit. (Several were wounded & they were of various nationalities, I gather.) But since Trump doesn't care about anybody but Trump, I think the sudden surprise pullout from Syria announcement is about something other than one dead American.
It's entirely possible that Trump was just blathering on when he spoke in Ohio about pulling out right quick. U.S. plans were supposed to be, you know, top-secret. For a reason.
It's also entirely possible Trump was sending a signal to his BFF Putin that Trump had Putin's back. The readout of Trump's congratulatory call to Putin made before the Ohio speech said they spoke about Syria, so it's likely the Fart of the Deal made some kind of promise to Putin, where Putin would come out a winner, & the U.S & most Syrians would come out losers. When top White House aides are signalling that they were surprised or caught off guard by Trump's blabbermouth, there's something terribly wrong.
If Bob Mueller has figured out what Putin has on Trump, it would be a good idea -- in the interest of national security -- for him to reveal it sooner rather than later. I'd like to see a we-ain't-done-messing-with-this-pile-of-shit-here-but-trump-is-an-enemy-of-the-state report come out in the next few weeks. To maybe save us all from impending catastrophe.
@Monoloco: I'm having a passel of trouble connecting your dots. I didn't realize before you pointed it out that one of Pruitt's top people was the woman who told McGahn about Porter. Most reports just IDed her as someone Porter used to date. If Trump connects the dots, it would seem to me he might be mad at Pruitt for having a staffer who helped nail the coffin in Porter's White House casket. But he hasn't fired Pruitt, even tho he has plenty of excuse to do so.
I think you're making a different point, but I don't know what that point is.
My take on the announced Syria withdrawal: The Pretender is a coward twice over.
He couldn't stand up to the foreign policy establishment that he hasn't yet rendered entirely toothless, so he went along with the expulsion of Russian diplomats and known spies....but he didn't like it. He feared (there's that word again) his buddy Putin (so far, as Bea says, we can only guess at why Putin makes him pee his pants) would take it the wrong way and do....whatever.
Syria withdrawal, which as all know abandons the field to the Russians and further weakens our hand in the entire region where we keep saying we're so worried about that nasty Iran, should be read as a kiss and make up love letter to his Russian bro, expressing spineless and very public sorrow for what he'd done.
It's the Pretender on his knees.
Monoloco, Thank you. She's a new one on me in this soap opera. The upside I see is T saying "So now you (rich white men) can't have a girlfriend at all? Fake news!!!"
Pruitt has to go, of course, but if the money won't do it, maybe sex will.
Maybe I was unfair in inferring an unofficial relationship between Pruitt and Ms Dravis. I don't know the woman at all. However, he has earned no presumption of integrity or candor, and she followed him from OK to DC. Would she be in the job otherwise?
A little uplift in honor of the season -- and the country too https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/556574/joan-baez-amazing-grace/?utm_source=fbb