Posted on 04/09/2018 3:08:29 PM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
The idea that Bolton will help Trump beat back official Washington is absurd.
Recently I was asked to donate money to the senatorial campaign of a young Republican who had served honorably as a military officer in Iraq. The ad said that I should vote for him because John Bolton had endorsed his candidacy. Indeed Bolton is certain that this man, if elected, will advocate for his foreign policy in the Senate and is therefore passionately on his side. Brian Kilmeade, the co-host of Fox and Friends, also wants me to vote for said candidate for the same reason. And lest I forget, the ad was sent by a website that claims to be “draining the swamp.” Bolton is not considered part of that swamp; in fact, we can apparently drain that pestiferous pond if only we give him free rein as Trump’s national security advisor.
I’d be exaggerating if I said this information further increased my loathing for Conservative Inc. But it did lead me to do something I had not once done: ask that my name be removed from the list of recipients who belong to the Fox News family of suckers. The ad also got me thinking about the reasons for Bolton’s popularity. Despite his present alliance with Trump, the loudest support for unleashing Bolton on the globe has predictably come from Never Trumpers. After all, it’s the neocons who, like Bolton, are still vigorously defending our war of choice in Iraq and who want to be more confrontational in dealing with the Russian government.
But that complicating fact may no longer matter since Bolton now enjoys the enthusiastic backing of President Trump. And so those who voted for Trump and those who until five minutes ago were denouncing him as a loose cannon can at least agree that Trump is a fine fellow for appointing Bolton and also for giving us Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Even Trump hater Rich Lowry gushed with praise over Trump’s wisdom in appointing Bolton. In a National Review editorial, Lowry bestowed on the new national security advisor the endorsement of his Never Trump publication, explaining: “All his critics call him a neocon but he’s a hard-headed realist.”
Moreover, the elevation of Bolton, who we are assured will get tough on Putin and other presumed enemies of democracy, will supposedly assist Trump in keeping his campaign promise to drain the swamp. Republican websites have made this news go viral; one of them, Buzz Buzz, explains how Trump is transforming Washington by appointing Bolton:
One former White House official is quoted as saying: “Everyone who was there during Obama years should start packing their shit.” Another official is quoted as saying, “Bolton can and will clean house.” And one other official said: “He is going to remove almost all the political [appointees] McMaster brought in.” According to the report by Foreign Policy, Trump and Bolton have discussed staffing changes since at least last July, when Bolton was offered the job as McMaster’s deputy, which Bolton declined. And now that he is the new National Security Advisor and there is speculation that he will be replacing positions, analysts wonder if there is already a list of who is doomed to lose their jobs.
Okay, let me see if I get it. Bolton will be draining the swamp by kicking out of their posts as quickly as he can holdovers from McMaster’s tenure and from even before. And who, we might ask, will be taking the places of those who will be urged to “pack their shit”? Let’s speculate. The word we’re looking for has “neo” as its first two syllable and ends with “conservative.” Since Bolton has always been thick with the neocons and since he pushed their policies as interim UN ambassador in the George W. administration, why should we believe he’s changed pals during the last week or so? Could it be that Trump, who as presidential candidate promised to abandon the foreign policy of the last Republican administration, is taking us back to the salad days of the Bush II presidency?
If that is the case, let’s not be surprised. Neocon would-be advisors infest the D.C. swamp, and the conservative movement and national press are awash in neocon opinion-makers. Like Emma Ashford writing in the National Interest, I don’t have to believe that Bolton is 100 percent a neocon to know that he hangs out with them. One can recognize this affinity even while making certain academic distinctions, e.g., that Bolton does not embrace the mission of imposing American-style democracy on the entire planet and that he’s more of an unvarnished warmonger than a neoconservative ideologue. Yet even if those distinctions are true, it’s obvious which political faction he’s identified with through most of his career.
One also has to wonder about the gullibility of the average, self-identified conservative who happily accepts that the president is fumigating Washington by embracing Bolton. Is this how these militants understood the phrase “draining the swamp” when they went out to campaign for Trump? That’s certainly not how I read him (to whatever extent I could unravel his syntax), but then I don’t depend on conservative movement media to tell me what a term means at a given moment. That’s why I was disturbed when I was told to send donations to a candidate who is a devotee of John Bolton and who promises to help him drain the swamp. I believed perhaps naively that the two activities are incompatible.
Despite his present alliance with Trump, the loudest support for unleashing Bolton on the globe has predictably come from Never Trumpers. After all, it’s the neocons who, like Bolton, are still vigorously defending our war of choice in Iraq and who want to be more confrontational in dealing with the Russian government.
Forget about draining the swamp, that isnt going to happen now. It should have happened just after Jan 20, 2017 when Trump should have fired every Obama appointee in the Executive Branch. The swamp has been fighting back ever since they learned he was not real serious about what he had been saying.
There is another storm brewing and it is not with Russia. It is with Iran. Iran is the other player in the Syrian hell hole. From Syria, Iran will target Israel with weapons of mass destruction. I would be very concerned.
“Forget about draining the swamp, that isnt going to happen now. It should have happened just after Jan 20, 2017”
Sadly I have come to the same conclusion. I think Trump badly underestimated how entrenched and vicious the swamp really was. He needed napalm level scorched earth and instead he went with compromise and bent over backwards to work with the establishment. He didn’t realize that all of these evil bastards in the ruling class he left in place would begin work on Trumps destruction at every turn. If by some miracle he survives and gets a second term look out, I bet he drops the hammer.
Hah! They wish...
Why wait?
It is absolutely shocking that this was not done. I think the President has received horrendous advice. This country is being ruled by two different entities within the Executive Branch: POTUS loyalists and Obama holdover SOB Swamp sycophants who are protecting Obama and Clinton.
Bolton said, “It doesn’t matter when I disagree with the President. He’s the boss and I do what he says.” Good enough. Not a quote, BTW, but the gist of his interview.
For some incomprehensible reason(s) to me, Pooty-Poot loves him some Iran.
Fair question since he is on the brink of having nothing to lose.
This has all the earnestness of someone miffed that Bolton did not pass him the salt at CPAC.
STFU and read.
And who, we might ask, will be taking the places of those who will be urged to “pack their shit”?
Answer: NOBODY. That's what DRAINING the swamp means - the size and population of the federal government DECLINES.
he [may be] more of an unvarnished warmonger than a neoconservative ideologue
Definition and evidential support of unvarnished "warmonger"? Nope, not here.
the average, self-identified conservative
What the h*ll is that? More vagueness from something called "The American Conservative", whatever the h*ll that is.
I have heard Bolton speak many times, and I have read a few of his writings, and have never seen anything to complain about.
The Iraqi war is on George W Bush, and it is ridiculous to continually hold it up as a purity test for anyone who supported it at the time. And, were it not for the blatant sabotage and treachery of Obama, we would be sitting well off in Iraq.
And in the final analysis, Trump is the one who makes the final decisions, and he has his own ideas.
yep. All the rest is flatulence.
And the American Conservative is a putin-stooge website, I’d like to see how they would enjoy the freedom of press they would have in Russia, ranked in 142nd place out of 180 countries.
Answer: NOBODY. That's what DRAINING the swamp means - the size and population of the federal government DECLINES.
Trump has done a hell of a lot in a year and I too wish he would fire the Obama holdovers. But those who think true "Draining the Swamp" is a five-minute job need to get their head out of their arse. It won't happen overnight. The mostly unconstitutional corrupt $4 trillion government is too massive.
"Draining the Swamp" is a political emergency-room triage overloaded with patients. Not everyone will agree on the priorities. As it took the Leftists a long time to turn America into a socialist state with their "creeping socialism", so "Draining the Swamp" is a long-term project - "creeping freedom".
MAGA by RESTORING OUR FREE CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC will be a long-term project to wrench our country out of the hands of these Enemies Within.
THAT is why 2024 is SUCH A BIG DEAL. We MUST get the right guy in there to finish the job Trump has started. I don't think Pence is that guy. I hope the right guy emerges soon.
What the h*ll is that? More vagueness from something called "The American Conservative", whatever the h*ll that is.
Bolton is a new voice, but more importantly, I’ve never once read anything or anyone questioning his ethics. That is an improvement Trump desperately needs.
Russia supplies nuclear technology and scientific assistance to Iran. Could Iran have devised a new way to test their nukes without detection?
With its new Khorramshahr missile, Iran can launch its nukes into space for test firing. Nothing I know is in orbit that can detect such tests. That way, Iran gets around the ban on nuclear weapons development which needs testing. Thank you John Kerry and side-kick, Zer0.
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