Thursday, January 26, 2017

Top State Department officials resign en masse in order to avoid working for a Trump administration.

Courtesy of the Washington Post:  

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s job running the State Department just got considerably more difficult. The entire senior level of management officials resigned Wednesday, part of an ongoing mass exodus of senior foreign service officers who don’t want to stick around for the Trump era. 

Tillerson was actually inside the State Department’s headquarters in Foggy Bottom on Wednesday, taking meetings and getting the lay of the land. I reported Wednesday morning that the Trump team was narrowing its search for his No. 2, and that it was looking to replace the State Department’s long-serving undersecretary for management, Patrick Kennedy. Kennedy, who has been in that job for nine years, was actively involved in the transition and was angling to keep that job under Tillerson, three State Department officials told me. 

Then suddenly on Wednesday afternoon, Kennedy and three of his top officials resigned unexpectedly, four State Department officials confirmed. Assistant Secretary of State for Administration Joyce Anne Barr, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Michele Bond and Ambassador Gentry O. Smith, director of the Office of Foreign Missions, followed him out the door. All are career foreign service officers who have served under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
 ........

“It’s the single biggest simultaneous departure of institutional memory that anyone can remember, and that’s incredibly difficult to replicate,” said David Wade, who served as State Department chief of staff under Secretary of State John Kerry. “Department expertise in security, management, administrative and consular positions in particular are very difficult to replicate and particularly difficult to find in the private sector.”

On the one hand it is a little gratifying to see government employees with too much integrity to work for Putin's puppet, but on the other it is somewhat terrifying as these folks do a very important and challenging job that will now be left undone unless Trump can find equally experienced folks to replace them with.

In other words the job will be left undone.

By the way according to two senior Trump Administration officials these officials were asked to leave and did not resign in protest.

Just so you know my baseline stance on everything that has to do with the Trump administration is that they are established liars, so any contradictory version of events I hear is the one that I am most likely going to accept as true.

This may seem unfair since NOBODY lies all of the time, but to me there is really no choice considering what we know about Trump and his subordinates, so unless they have corroborating evidence provided by a trustworthy source, I am going to assume they are full of shit.

39 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:16 PM

    Actually, I tend to believe that at least Kennedy was fired, and the others simply quit in solidarity to him.
    It would fit tRump though, if he had fired all of them, just like he did with the Ambassadors... He has no inkling of any idea what his actions might trigger. No inkling of consequences, since he never had to suffer any consequences - neither in his childhood, nor in his adult years. He was always able to blame someone else and always got away with it.
    Now, for the first time in his life, he might actually have to suffer some consequences...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think Kennedy was planning on retirement and just moved up his plans. The rest are leaving because, well, TRUMP.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous2:19 PM

    http://crooksandliars.com/2017/01/report-investigators-have-intercepted?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=im

    ReplyDelete
  3. On top of the 600 Obama people that are still working because the Trump administration hasn't replaced them. Altprez. Loser is a complete disaster and it's been less than a week.

    "A handful of senior U.S. diplomats are resigning their posts during President Donald Trump's first week on the job, creating more high-level openings that the new president must fill.

    State Department Undersecretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy, a career foreign service officer, planned to retire effective Friday, the State Department said. He was joined by two assistant secretaries, Joyce Barr and Michele Bond, who both resigned Wednesday. Gentry Smith, who directs the Office of Foreign Missions, was also departing.

    The four join a growing list of long-serving diplomats declining to stay on into the Trump administration. That list includes Victoria Nuland, the assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, and Gregory Starr, the assistant secretary for diplomatic security. Starr retired on Inauguration Day.

    Although none of the officials has linked his or her departure explicitly to Trump, many diplomats have privately expressed concern about serving in his administration, given the unorthodox positions he's taken on many foreign policy issues."

    As for that "they were asked to leave" I call bullshit, or alternative reality, er facts if you prefer.

    Since no one in the Trump administration has any credibility left, I'll take the word of those involved over anything coming from Sphincter or Conjob.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous2:29 PM

    Do we know if they were asked to offer their resignations and Tillerson exercised them? Or if they resigned unasked? I think it's a bigger story if Trump and Tillerson shit-canned the top career managers of an agency than they resigned on their own because they didn't want to work for Tillerson.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous2:40 PM

    OT?
    http://www.salon.com/2017/01/26/watch-samantha-bee-mocks-president-donald-trumps-lackluster-inaugural-weekend/

    http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7669752/quiet-womens-march-choir-milck-samantha-bee

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous2:44 PM

    I'm going to go the other way and assume it was Trump's decision. Because leaving senior State Department positions open, to be filled by a bunch of newbies, is a reckless decision, it's more likely it was Trump's.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:45 PM

      You mean like putting two twenty somethings in charge of the Voice of America

      Delete
  7. Fascist Steve Bannon says the media should keep it's mouth shut and just listen. That's right. FASCIM! Sit down and shut up.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/steve-bannon-news-media-should-keep-its-mouth-shut-and-just-listen-214726750.html

    In even more shocking news, the Trump campaign staffer who posted racist crap on social media during the campaign has been hired to work for the DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION!

    This racist asshole wouldn't be able to teach in a public school but is now going to work for DeVos.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-racist-education-transition-team_us_588a3929e4b0024605fe5d68?section=us_politics

    "A staffer on Donald Trump’s campaign who posted racist material on social media during the election cycle will now be joining the Department of Education, according to an internal email obtained by The Huffington Post.

    The email was sent to career Education Department employees by Phil Rosenfelt, who will serve as acting secretary of the department, and Jason Botel, new White House adviser for education. It lists members of Trump’s “new administration team” and notes their “varied backgrounds in policy, communications, and finance.”

    Teresa UnRue, who worked as a graphic designer and field organizer for Trump’s South Carolina advance team, is one of them.

    A week before the Republican National Convention, UnRue drew attention for posting a video on her Facebook account showing a black man eating fried chicken, according to an Associated Press report.

    In the video, the man asks why fellow African-Americans are mad about slavery and says, “Y’all weren’t no damn slaves.” When she shared the clip, UnRue wrote, “Had me crack’n up!! Thank you! Please share this with people.”

    According to the AP, UnRue also posted a link to a website that alleged Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was assassinated by the government. Scalia died last year of a heart attack.

    HuffPost conducted a search of UnRue’s Facebook posts, which consist primarily of videos and pro-Trump posts. Some called then-President Barack Obama a “terrorist” or charged that he should be arrested for “murder and treason.”"

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous3:18 PM

    Bannon, "you lost, you were humiliated."
    I wonder when that happened to him. Sounds psychological.
    Yes, Hillary lost, but more people voted for her than his ogre thinskinned baby.
    Yep, there is massive change, but we are gathering ourselves together realfast, b/c we are intelligent and we will find a way to bring you down. Hopefully very soon. We are studying you very, very well. Soon, my fren, soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:32 PM

      Humans are creatures of habit. Information can reveal weaknesses. What is his weakness?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:50 PM

      3:32
      Looking at his nose, I'd say it is alcohol.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous4:35 PM

      Bring down, meaning jail. Fall from top. That is it. Nothing more.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous3:36 PM

    Trump’s Presidency Is A Train Wreck Because He Is Getting His Info From Fox News

    America is finding out what would happen if a person who only got their info from Fox News ran the country, as Donald Trump is making policy decisions and judgments based on what he sees on Fox News.

    It appears that the US has a president whose decisions aren’t being shaped by briefings with experts and policy documents, but what he sees on partisan cable news.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/01/26/trumps-presidency-trainwreck-info-fox-news.html

    Donald Trump is Fox News' top PR guy

    http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/26/media/fox-news-donald-trump/index.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a train wreck because TRUMP.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous3:39 PM

    HOLY F*CK: Trump Literally Has A White Nationalist Writing His Executive Orders

    This may shock you, this may not, but Trump has been delegating the duty of writing his executive orders to some scary people — well, a scary person, that is.

    If you thought executive orders limiting Muslim entry into the United States, stripping health international organizations of federal funds if they so much as mention abortion, authorizing the building of literal f*cking concentration camps to hold the “illegals” The Donald intends to round up, and beginning the process of stripping health care from millions of impoverished Americans sounded like Breitbart’s Christmas list come to life, you were exactly right.

    According to White House aides, Trump has been delegating the duty of writing the rapid stream of absolutely f*cking terrifying executive orders to the same guy who ran Breitbart. Trump’s Chief Strategist and former executive chair called his publication “a platform for the alt-right” (for those who are unaware, “alt-right” means “Nazi”) — and the views that would be associated with one who cultivates that sort of cesspool are definitely making themselves apparent in the nature of Trump’s orders.

    Things are a mess in the White House at the moment. According to Politico, no one seems to have any idea what the hell they are doing or, more importantly, what Trump is doing with his “flawed orders that might be unworkable, unenforceable or even illegal”:

    “There is no line of separation between the White House and Breitbart — they are one in the same,” a former Breitbart spokesman who has since disavowed the right-wing hate factory, told The Hill. “They effectively are a state-sponsored/controlled platform designed to advance the administration’s propaganda.”

    And the administration, in turn, is bringing Breitbart’s propaganda to life.

    http://addictinginfo.org/2017/01/26/holy-fck-trump-literally-has-a-white-nationalist-writing-his-executive-orders/

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous3:40 PM

    The dog whistle is becoming louder and louder. The fact that this revelation isn’t making widespread headlines is a failure of mainstream journalism. A former powerful politician with close ties to the current Administration is advocating for the firing of people with different political affiliations.

    This is a political witch hunt that mirrors the dark days of McCarthyism. Because someone doesn’t subscribe to the racist, sexist, xenophobic and authoritarian regime that is the Trump presidency they risk losing their job doing low level, non-political jobs.

    Whatever happened to the Republican mantra that people be judged based on their ethics and results? In Trump’s America, it’s all about blind patriotism and racism.

    Blind ideology, suppression of facts and science, and now vendettas. The GOP has become a vehicle for a fascist authoritarian regime, and Trump is leading the movement.

    Remember when the GOP was outraged that the IRS was “targeting” conservative groups for their political affiliations? Why aren’t Democrats more outraged over this rank hypocrisy?

    http://addictinginfo.org/2017/01/26/newt-gingrich-says-federal-workers-who-voted-for-hillary-clinton-will-be-fired/

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous3:42 PM

    It's really unfortunate that the US didn't have a more stringent immigration policy when Trump's draft dodging, pimp grand daddy came into the country (and he also lied on his citizenship application).

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/02/meet-freidrich-pimp-profiteer-and-patriarch-of-the-trump-line.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous3:56 PM

    First Alleged W.H. Whistleblower Comes Forward, Trump Sure To Freak (SCREENSHOTS)

    http://www.bipartisanreport.com/2017/01/26/first-alleged-w-h-whistleblower-comes-forward-trump-sure-to-freak-screenshots/

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous3:57 PM

    WaPo Just Issued A Hilarious Fake Apology After Trump Called Them ‘Fake News’

    http://www.bipartisanreport.com/2017/01/26/wapo-just-issued-a-hilarious-fake-apology-after-trump-called-them-fake-news/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:35 PM

      This was great! Well, not as great as Donald Trump, of course, but pretty good!

      Delete
    2. It's an ALTapology!

      Delete
    3. Here's the WaPo link:

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2017/01/24/the-true-correct-story-of-what-happened-at-donald-trumps-inauguration/?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.d83216688da7

      Delete
  15. Anonymous4:17 PM

    Off-topic, but I think my fellow IM'ers will enjoy this article: http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a52588/trump-interview-abc-david-muir/

    Specifically, the third paragraph. Sarah is legendary in the record books of horrible televised interviews of politicians! Looks like Trump may beat her, though.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous4:19 PM

    President Donald Trump begins his term with a negative 36 - 44 percent job approval rating from American voters, including a negative 33 - 50 percent rating from women, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. Another 19 percent are undecided.

    President Barack Obama scored a positive 59 - 25 percent approval rating in his first post- inaugural poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University on March 4, 2009.

    There are party, gender, age and racial gaps in President Trump's approval rating:

    Republicans approve 81 - 3 percent, while Democrats disapprove 77 - 4 percent and independent voters disapprove 45 - 35 percent;
    Men approve 41 - 38 percent, as women disapprove 50 - 33 percent;
    Voters 18 to 34 years old disapprove 51 - 26 percent and voters 35 to 49 years old disapprove 53 - 30 percent, but voters 50 to 64 years old approve 47 - 33 percent and voters over 65 are divided 41 - 41 percent;
    White voters approve by a narrow 43 - 40 percent, while non-white voters disapprove 55 - 20 percent.

    Americans are optimistic 53 - 43 percent about the next four years with Trump as president and say 44 - 36 percent that he will help rather than hurt the nation's economy.

    President Trump will be a worse president than Barack Obama, 50 percent of American voters say, and 37 percent say he will be a better president.

    Trump will be a "great" president, 18 percent of voters say; 25 percent say he will be a "good" president; 16 percent say he will be "not so good" and 36 percent say he will be "bad."

    "Stumbling out of the blocks, President Donald Trump is considered a divider not a uniter, flunking on honesty, empathy and level headedness, while his predecessor sees his legacy burnished by better and better numbers every polling cycle," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. "But voters are optimistic in general and confident he will help the economy."

    American voters give President Trump a negative 39 - 52 percent favorability rating. Vice President Mike Pence gets a split 37 - 36 percent favorability rating.

    Looking at Trump's personal qualities, American voters say:

    56 - 39 percent that he is not honest;
    49 - 46 percent that he has good leadership skills;
    53 - 44 percent that he does not care about average Americans;
    62 - 33 percent that he is not level-headed;
    68 - 29 percent that he is a strong person;
    65 - 32 percent that he is intelligent.

    Donald Trump will do more to divide the country, rather than unite the nation, voters say 55 - 40 percent. His policies will help their personal financial situation, 31 percent of voters say, while 28 percent say they will hurt and 38 percent say they will make no difference.

    Best/Worst President

    American voters select the best president in the last 70 years:

    30 percent name Ronald Reagan;
    29 percent name Barack Obama;

    https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2420

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous4:33 PM

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/l-gore-saves-cdc-climate-summit-cancelled-under-trump-this-shouldnt-be-a-political-issue/

    http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/316373-al-gore-will-hold-climate-change-summit-cancelled-after-trump

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:44 PM

      Can Al Gore {Summit} or HRC help with this?:@
      "The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

      “They had a whole communications team on it, it was going to be on Facebook live. The intention was to plan a 5-year agenda.”
      http://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-trump-lgbt-2017-1

      http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/cdc-postponed-lgbt-youth-health-summit-after-election

      Delete
  18. Anonymous4:46 PM

    littleThin4skin:
    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/trump-tried-to-force-national-park-service-to-verify-his-false-numbers-about-crowd-size-report/

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous4:51 PM

    I wouldn't work for the cheeto colored asshole either. I'd rather end up homeless.

    There will be plenty of private sector jobs waiting for these people.

    And they cannot be replaced because the cheeto asshole put a government hiring freeze in place.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous5:12 PM

    Bannon looks so creepy and unprofessional. He is so sleazy dirty looking. just like Kelly ann con my way to fame. What a bunch disgusting liars. They should quit and walk out before the feds bust through the door. with charges of espionage and treason.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous5:38 PM

    Further Actions of Resistance:

    For starters, Boycott Exxon and all Subsidiaries.

    If the orange clown and his evil agents are set on crippling the economy, the citizens should not be the only ones feeling the impact.

    If you agree, pass it along...

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous6:35 PM

    They’re going to take him away, HEE HAA, to the funny farm, or at least they should.


    Trump tried to force National Park Service to verify his false numbers about crowd size: report

    New President Donald Trump is so preoccupied with the size of his inauguration crowd that he reportedly asked the National Park Service to back him up on his estimations.

    According to a report from The Washington Post, three people with knowledge of the conversation alleged that Trump called National Park Service director Michael Reynolds on Saturday and asked for new aerial photographs of the crowd during the inauguration.

    ...... Trump was provided with new photos, but like the ones before, they did not verify his own estimations.

    The Post also noted that Trump was unhappy with tweets sent out from the Park Service that compared the 2017 crowd to former President Barack Obama’s 2009 crowd.


    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/trump-tried-to-force-national-park-service-to-verify-his-false-numbers-about-crowd-size-report/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:36 PM

      6:35 --Nice try, but I've been to the Funny Farm. TRump would be the guy that we'd be begging the nurses to put in the Quiet Room, and lock the door.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous6:56 PM

    Did you all feel it?

    Something happened. It feels like it is gonna all be alright. If a seerer can see future astounding improvements in health care, like a unit for colds, shots like things for health issues, then scientists must be organized and still working together. If it wasn't then with facist regime there would be chaos, lost work, no improvements. Right?
    Something shifted.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous7:28 PM

    Elected with a mandate? Which results was he looking at?

    $5 million wasted, trump is so good at wasting our money, all for revenge.

    Some people might not get insurance for 2017 because of his bloated ego. May his poll numbers drop to 20%, maybe that will do him in for good.

    What an evil, nasty boy.
    =========================================

    White House Burns $5 Million When It Cancels ACA Enrollment Ads

    With six days to go until open enrollment for the 2017 ACA year closes, the White House has pulled the plug on ads, which were bought and paid for encouraging people to enroll.

    Politico:

    The Trump administration has pulled the plug on all Obamacare outreach and advertising in the crucial final days of the 2017 enrollment season, according to sources at Health and Human Services and on Capitol Hill.

    Even ads that had already been placed and paid for have been pulled, the sources told POLITICO.

    "President Trump is signaling he's the new sheriff," said Rep. Chris Collins, (R-N.Y.), the president's top congressional ally. "He's been elected with a mandate. He's not going to tolerate his employees contradicting and undermining his mandate to get this country going in another direction."

    Those ads were paid for and the money will not be refunded. That's $5 million the "sheriff" squandered because he's a vindictive, bitter, hateful old man.

    http://crooksandliars.com/2017/01/white-house-spends-5-million-taxpayer

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Every which way you look at it he has no mandate at all.

      If he wants to lord it over his base, that would be old white Rebublican males. So have at them, Donald. what will you do? Make them PAY for their Viagra?

      Delete
  25. Anonymous8:17 PM

    Alright, so it's been known since this afternoon they did not resign en masse because they don't want to work for Trump, but were instead purged. You should correct your headline.
    http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/26/politics/top-state-department-officials-asked-to-leave-by-trump-administration/index.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:20 AM

      Did the people who left actually say they were fired, or did that come from Trump's sycophants, er, I mean administration?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:43 PM

      It's customary for top level department officials to tender letters of resignation when a new administration starts a term. That gives the new administration an opportunity to bring in their people or decide to keep the current staff in place. In this case it would appear that either this Administration is completely clueless about that tradition and accepted the resignations as sincere or they stupidly saw it as an opportunity to clean house. But with Tillerson at the helm and not having risen in the ranks to the position the department will suffer.

      Delete

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