Posted on 08/03/2017 11:28:46 AM PDT by mandaladon
National security adviser H.R. McMaster has started to clean house at the National Security Council, firing two staffers originally hired by Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser shown the door for lying about his communications with Russia, and loyal to Trump Chief Strategist Steve Bannon.
Last week, McMaster fired Derek Harvey, the National Security Council's top official for the Middle East, The Atlantic reports.
And this week, McMaster lowered the boom on Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the National Security Council's senior director for intelligence.
The White House said of Cohen-Watnick's firing that McMaster "has determined that, at this time, a different set of experiences is best-suited to carrying that work forward."
A senior administration official familiar with the matter told The Atlantic that Cohen-Watnick is expected to be offered another job within the administration.
The Atlantic says McMaster tried to can Cohen-Watnick earlier this year, but was turned down by President Donald Trump following the intervention of Bannon and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The axings come as Trump's appointees appear to be flexing their political muscles more and more.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Gen Jack Keane or Amb John Bolton.
Walmart death camps? alrighty then.
The ‘ponds to hide smoke’ are retention ponds for all that nasty oil-laden, coolant-contaminated, pukie, parking lot rain and power-spray cleaning water, (and overnight camper left-overs) compliments of your ecocrazies who’ve pressured Walmart into not letting all that crap flow into the storm drains which lead to local streams where the local kiddies catch local fishies. If you want to investigate for yourself, buy a drain camera on ebay for 20bucks, and go stick one up one of the drain pipes leading into the pond. You’ll find the pipe is the feed pipe for the drains built into the parking lot.
But before you spend any money, stop and think a minute - anyone who’s ever observed the workings of a waterpipe-type smoking device (i.e., hookah) would understand that water does not block smoke or even hide it’s color or smell or taste. You knew that, but you forgot about it in the fun of conspiracy.
You know...I LOATHE these Obama leftovers. They smell.
“establishmentarians like McMaster “
His Dereliction of Duty book is a condemnation of Vietnam era establishmentarians in both politics and the military. I see no evidence that he decided to become one. Just a lot of rumors coming from unnamed sources.
the pipe leads from the building and not the parking lot.
On the other hand, McCain likes him, which I would think tells you something about his politics, and his wife is the daughter of John K. Trotter, Jr., a now retired judge appointed by Jerry Brown in California. I’m sure there is way more here than we know, and vetting everyone in an administration is difficult, but I would definitely want to know the politics of the husbands/wives, families, and friends of anyone being considered for an appointed position. I would also publicly announce that there will be a 4 month on the job assessment/review period before any appointment became ‘official’. Why would you make it easier than what people have to face in the public sector?
Well let’s see.... Trump hasn’t replaced him.
I guess he’s not as smart as the rumor mongers at FR.
“I’m sure there is way more here than we know”
because Arguments From Silence are such wonderful logic.
For the record, I agree with what I think is your point - that there is often a reflexive response here - without knowing all the facts. That's what I meant by “I'm sure there is way more here than we know”.
That said, a logical assessment of the last 7 months makes it clear that at this point who can and who cannot be trusted is very fluid. I don't blame Trump. Politics is different than business in that in business you actually need to have talents beyond politic maneuvering to succeed and progress. By the time people are in a position to negotiate with Trump on a business deal they have likely proven themselves as being talented in business. In politics, by definition, one progresses by being political - too often in the absence of substance. It's an entirely different playing field, and Trump is learning how to navigate while on the job.
As to the Arguments from Silence reference, that refers to making ‘conclusions’ without factual underpinnings. I'm not making conclusions. Merely stating trepidation.
I think freepers are being played by some people on our side with an agenda. I don’t completely blame them because right now Hannity is on the radio bellowing: “McMaster’s is giving Susan Rice unfettered access! He’s giving her immunity!!!”
This is complete bullsh*t and Hannity is acting like a moron. McMasters is following section 4.4 of a 2009 executive order, EO 13526; “Access by Historical Researchers and Certain Former Government Personnel.”
This section “limits the access granted to former Presidential appointees or designees and Vice Presidential appointees or designees to items that the person originated, reviewed, signed, or received”
Susan Powers isn’t getting access to anything that she hasn’t already seen and in some cases wrote herself. It’s all well and good for us to think that Rice is guilty as hell and belongs in jail. But unless she gets indicted it would be highly unusual for McMaster to deny her access to to materiel she handled when she was NSA. She’s not seeing anything new despite the ignorant bellowing of Hannity.
This EO was written in the first year of Obama’s reign of terror so it first applied to Bush’s officials. It’s not something new. Some may have been writing books. Rice may be hunting for some way to stay out of Leavenworth.
He could fire Rosenstein Now, that would have been a horrible political move. Talk about throwing the Dems red meat by the cartful. The correct approach was exactly the one taken - waiting it out until the crescendo of public pressure got to the point that the House Judiciary Committee demanded Rosenstein appoint a second counsel to investigate Comey, Inc., and recuse himself, which they have now demanded. Doesn't seem to be any Dems jumping around about that demand but they'd have been all over Trump like roaches.
Now we have McMaster who thinks Rice and Powers should be left untouched Now, you know that's not going to happen. As I posted previously, even if the letter is authentic, it only allows Rice access to documents she's initiated or signed, under a Historian clause - and only those documents that can't be 'compromised'. It doesn't excuse her actions. And I doubt it was a stand-alone letter - that is, there had to be a request predicating the letter - a request letter that the MSM won't reveal because it might just make the story a big fat non-story. The facts of unmasking that Nunes revealed are still very much in play.
getting rid of Trump loyalists. We don't know the whole story on them, do we? What we do know is Trump will never turn his back on Israel, and, Trump is 100% results-driven. No results - you're out. He doesn't do 'DC business as usual' and keep buddies around just because they're buddies with someone.
So does Trump see all this? Of course he does. He didn't become a billionaire by being oblivious. The man can see around corners. Checkers is a fast play, and it's what Washington is used to, but chess games can take months. Especially chess games that are targeted at fundamentally changing 'how Washington DC, the crony capital of the world, does business' - which is exactly what we sent Trump to Washington to do, right?
Keep the Faith, my FRiend. Deplorables are undefeatable.
Thank you for a very insightful and informative comment. Your points are very well reasoned and well taken.
Regarding Freepers being played by some people on our side with an agenda, that may be true, but I do think that lots of the reactions that we’re seeing are a consequence of political PTSD. We’ve all witnessed subversion of justice too many times by the left, and we’ve seen their sycophants protect them. People are just alarmed and wary. That’s not to say Trump isn’t making unforced errors. He’s making plenty, but that was probably to be expected from someone whose public discourse hasn’t been polished by a political career.
Anyway, keep the faith, and thank you.
And Creature from the Black Lagoon Swamp-Creature Extraordinaire impaneling a Grand Jury: with leaks that the top ex-officials at the FBI will all testify to bury Trump.
And Senators trying to introduce resolutions forbidding Trump from firing Mueller, and a House Democrat introducing a Constitutional Amendment to keep the President from pardoning himself, and GOP-e Senator loftily declaring "We don't work for the President."
All while the Senate just before going on vacation confirms 65 of President Trump's picks.
Something smells rotten in the District of Mordor.
Bannon needs to be permanent...
” the liberal Rockefeller Republican wing of the party..... We’re seeing the same thing when President Trump selects party establishment-approved members of his cabinet. “.…… which is a pretty good definition of the GOPe establishment that remains committed to undermining the authority of the duly-elected President.
Says somebody on youtube. Don’t you think the ponds are pretty darn small for disposing of a large population in the middle of the night? And what about the little problem of carbon ash and water equals lye which eats aluminum drains ?
We had some pretty fierce rain the other day - about 2 inches in an hour. The rain that fell on the hills was slowed down by scrub and tended to soak in or puddle, until the puddle broke and cut a rivulet as it traveled downhill to the next obstruction. The rain that fell on bare earth ran in sheets, gouging low spots and liquefying sand. The rain that fell on my 20degree/500yd concrete driveway accummulated into a 3-inch wall of water that hit the end of the driveway and the road with enough force to move 40lb sandbags right under the gates and 15ft across the street, where it joined more water coming down the road to move rebar-tacked railroad ties. Because of how fast water moves and accumulates over smooth surfaces like roads, parking lots and bare earth, use of retention ponds, vegetation and barriers meant to slow down the water and - very important -to break surface tension, are all part of intelligently managing water flow. And a lot cheaper than replacing existing storm rain infrastructure to accommodate seasonal water events.
Also, right-wing radio: Sean Hannity this afternoon.
McMaster should certainly be fired ASAP if these new allegations are true, but this sure looks like a coordinated hit job.
1. It's a military operation.
2. They've given multiple different stories to explain themselves, thus lying.
3. What's those tunnels for? There's videos showing them.
4. Most of them are in the Southeast. (None near NYC and DC).
You can clearly see in one of the videos that the drain into it comes from the building and not the parking lot. The location of these ponds are all hidden in the back Sometimes you have to do the math. Do you really trust this Obama operation? They just fired a Trump loyalist who could expose it. They're doubling down.
Or installing new ones.
And that is why the Embassy is in Jerusalem today. </s>
Military operation? Since this “Walmart is going to kill you” conspiracy has been pimped by anti-capitalist Dems and anarchists for over 20 years, I’d say it’s pretty slow movement for the military, even for Army grunts.
Doesn’t it strike you as a bit weird nobody talks about Target Stores retention ponds? They’re almost identical.
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