Posted on 03/15/2018 5:06:20 AM PDT by EyesOfTX
Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends)
Spoiled high school children across the country skipped class on Wednesday to go pretend to know something about guns and gun control policy. It was, like, totally rad, and of course Democrat politicians around the country exploited the kids’ acting out to make political points. San Fran Nan, Chuck Schumer and the execrable New York Governor Andrew Cuomo all made anti-gun speeches to groups of students while surrounded by security guards armed with…wait for it…you know what’s coming…guns! None of the kids noticed the irony in that, mainly because pretty much none of them know what irony is, but they did get to ditch chem lab or PE, so they were all happy.
Tired of all this Winning yet? – President Donald Trump announced yesterday that he will bring in economist and long-time CNBC news host Larry Kudlow to replace Gary Cohn as his chief economic advisor. Kudlow was also an economic advisor to Ronald Reagan, and, with the exception of import tariffs, is a strong supporter of the Trump economic agenda, and the Trump “put America first” presidency in general. He will be a huge upgrade over Cohn, a liberal globalist who would have been far more in his natural habitat working in a Clinton administration. Thank God he didn’t get the chance.
With the President having already replaced Rex Tillerson and Gary Cohn this week, it is obvious he is intent on re-molding his cabinet into a group that is more on-board with his agenda rather than their own. This is now leading to rumor-mongering among the fake journalist set. Rumors are now flying that Mr. Trump will also replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster before the week is out.
The problem with those rumors is that they are coming from Vanity Fair, the NYTimes’ Clinton flunky Maggie Haberman and CNN’s pathetic Jim Acosta, several of the fakest fake news sources in business today. So there is maybe a 50/50 chance there is anything to them.
The rumor about McMaster does seem most credible. The General is a pure globalist, a liberal who was hired very quickly after the Mike Flynn firing last February, and is very likely one of the main sources of ongoing leaks coming from the White House. McMaster is the clown who was responsible for extending the top secret clearances of Susan Rice and other Obama-era skunks long after they had left office, much to the chagrin of the President.
Former U.N. Ambassador in the Bush Administration John Bolton is the most likely replacement for McMaster. The problem with Bolton is that he is a war-mongering neo-con, but at least there would be no doubt about where his loyalties lay, and he would not be a leaking problem.
Where Sessions is concerned, this is one we should believe when we see it. Given that the rumors, if they aren’t just being made up out of whole cloth, likely come from someone in the White House who hates Sessions, it could be just one more example of fake news mongering. Scott Pruitt, the rumored replacement for Sessions, would be a fabulous Attorney General, and unlike Sessions, would not be stupidly and unnecessarily recused from exercising oversight over Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
The problem there is that Pruitt has also been fabulous at EPA, where he has been aggressively reforming that out-of-control agency back to is statutory purpose of actually working to protect the environment after eight years of working to kill the national economy. Putting someone else in charge over there, no matter who it might be, would necessarily place the progress achieved under Pruitt to this point at risk.
The other cabinet officials rumored to be in some jeopardy are VA Secretary David Shulkin and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. Shulkin definitely needs to be gotten rid of, as he has been a walking, talking crap show in the job since day one. Not only has he utterly failed to implement desperately-needed reforms at the VA, his personal behavior while in the job has resulted in a steady stream of negative press.
One problem: Trump’s preferred candidate for this job, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, let it be known yesterday that he’s not really interested in taking on the intractable VA problems (who in their right mind would be at this point?), so Mr. Trump is going to have to find another candidate.
Carson has been similarly lackluster in his job performance at HUD, and also produced an embarrassment to the Administration a few weeks ago by spending gobs of money on unnecessarily fancy furniture and other accessories that don’t really belong in government offices. There’s no real pressing emergency where Carson’s concerned – he just hasn’t turned out to be the right guy for that particular job.
In any event, we should all expect more cabinet shake-ups in the coming days, maybe before the day is out. In fact, we should expect this to be an ongoing dynamic in this presidency. This sort of churning of senior staff has been a feature in Trump’s business dealings, and there is no reason to expect his presidency to be any different. The best way to look at these cabinet appointments as temp jobs.
Just another day in it’s Donald Trump’s world and we’re just living in it America.
That is all.
Follow me on Twitter at @GDBlackmon
Today’s news moves at a faster pace than ever. Whatfinger.com is my go-to source for keeping up with all the latest events in real time.
Any job you don’t do well in, or insult the boss, is - at best - a “temp job”.
One of the talking heads pointed out when Tillerson was fired that Trump is from the real-estate business. That business is project oriented. When a project is completed the players either go away or go onto the next project. But in each case, you hire the people who are needed for the next project.
Tillerson did a great job where he was needed. Now, Trump is bringing in somebody to do a different aspect of the job. This is so much better than, say keeping the general who organized your army but is now unable to fight it. Lincoln did the same thing Trump is doing.
Unfortunately President Trump listened to a bunch of establishment types when making picking his administration. I bet he is making the choices now.
If the Cohn, Tillerson, and McMaster are out because they don't agree with the President then what is the sense of bringing in two more - Kudlow and Bolton - who don't agree with the President?
And if Bolton is brought in I would not bet the ranch on the "not being a leaking problem" part.
We were joking at work the other day that he should use Manpower or Adecco to fill cabinet positions.
For sure! It’s the same in the ‘real world’, if you don’t perform... out you go!
I kind of wish most government work was temporary and or part time.
If I had Trump’s ear, from my lips to God’s ears, I would like to be Director of National Intelligence for about two weeks.
I have a little book and there are quite a few names who should be scratched off of it. (Reference “The Quiet Man” Feeney)
Excellent comment.
Trump does things like a business man. Most administrations pick cabinet positions and fill them with all sycophants whether the people are really qualified for the job. They agree ideologically.
Trump picks people for specific reasons to do a job because they are really good. When their job is done, they can move on to their next job and Trump will pick a person for the next phase.
Obama picked only people who were in his ideological fold whether they were good at what they did or not.
We wanted different and we got it.
Has any other president won with 3 different campaign managers? Trump seems to like having the right person at the right time and no problems making changes. And a lot of the people who are replaced go away with good things to say about Trump - we’ll have to see how Tillerson reacts.
I’m sure Trump has learned a lot over the last year-plus. Other politicians (and media) may think it’s a weakness to change even with new knowledge - the original pick must have been wrong. But Trump is goal-oriented, not image-oriented and is all about having the right person today.
I guess we are learning lots of things since the 2016 election. Such as: before Trump Government jobs are not like private sector jobs You can do you job half a$$ and not get fired. If you screw up someone will cover for you. If you want something you can get the FBI and Media to intimidate or publicly shame (coerce) you into changing your position. When working with other government employees or foreign governments don’t expect too much in the arena of results. Last make sure you stuff as much money away as you can get away with because holding public office is all bout getting rich not serving the country.
Trump is project oriented, not process oriented like most government. I expect him to switch people according to the next project for each job.
Pretty much in any administration a cabinet position is a temporary job. Historically, more cabinet members leave their positions within the first term than do not.
The entire cabinet works at the pleasure of the president. That is not news.
“Trump is project oriented, not process oriented like most government.”
Exactly!
Even Ms. Hillary left her job.
“And if Bolton is brought in I would not bet the ranch on the ‘not being a leaking problem’ part.”
True. I like a lot about him, but he sure does love to talk, and hear himself wax eloquent.
With Trump you must do your job or you’re fired. I can see him getting impatient with people.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.