Courtesy of CNBC:Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2018
Rex Tillerson is out as secretary of State, ending a tumultuous tenure as America's top diplomat that was marked by a series of public disagreements with his boss — President Donald Trump.
Trump plans to appoint CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace the former Exxon Mobil chief executive. The president picked deputy CIA Director Gina Haspel to run the spy agency.
That tweet up above was how the world learned that Trump was kicking Tillerson off the island, no press conference, no official statement, just a tweet. Because apparently that is how these things are done now.
There has of course been talk that Trump was displeased with Tillerson going way back to when he called Trump a "moron" back in October.
Though of course Trump responded to talk that Tillerson may be on his way out with this tweet:
I cannot say that I was ever a fan of Tillerson, but at least he comported himself like a grown up most of the time.The media has been speculating that I fired Rex Tillerson or that he would be leaving soon - FAKE NEWS! He’s not leaving and while we disagree on certain subjects, (I call the final shots) we work well together and America is highly respected again!https://t.co/FrqiPLFJ1E— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2017
Mike Pompeo is just a Trump ass kisser and a rubber stamp on anything and everything that Trump will want to do going forward.
Clearly this administration is in free fall right now, and when it finally makes impact it is going to leave a hell of a crater.
Update: Apparently Tillerson learned he was fired in the same tweet where everybody else learned about it.
For some reason, the tweet was just chilling to me. The next and last grown-up in the room, McMaster, will also be toast.
ReplyDeleteWhat will it take for his supporters to realize or nation is in free fall?
They don’t care. They just want to be entertained.
Delete"...What will it take for his supporters to realize or nation is in free fall?"
DeleteProbably the total loss of the Congress. Which, I must say, would be a good thing. At least the Dems would have a greater tendency to tell Humpty Trumpty "No!".
"another one bites the dust ...."
ReplyDeletePerhaps I didn't agree with some of his politics, however, Mr. Tillerson was publicly derided by the fat orange bastard, who derives a sadistic pleasure from publicly humiliating people of higher intellect than him. This is extremely dangerous behaviour, which is associated with a despotic dictator!
ReplyDeleteYesterday, Mr. Tillerson commented on the poison attack in the U.K., stating that he believes it was orchestrated by Russian operatives. Is it a mere coincidence, less than 24 hours later, fatso fired him??
Most NATO member countries are supporting the U.K.'s assertion to the origin of the attack; yet the U.S. is skeptical? The sound of silence emanating from this sadministration speaks volumes!
Yet the fuckin' traitorous repiglicans have terminated the House hearings on possible collusion, citing "weak intelligence"?? Another coincidence?? Fuckin' fatso never even had the BALLS to tell Mr. Tillerson directly in person of his decision; the coward cowered behind Twitter!!
Now that he is not constrained, I would love to see Mr. Mueller interview Mr. Tillerson, and hear his side of the story. Hell hath no fury than a Rex scorned; the Ides of March has arrived!!
You hit the nail on the head about sadistic pleasure publicly humiliating people of a higher intellect. Well done!
DeleteMy first thought, too, was that Tillerson's comment about the probable link between Russia and the latest UK assassination of a Russian national (and his daughter as well) was a Russian action, was the final straw for trump. In trump land, no one is allowed to criticize anyone or anything Russian. Period.
DeleteBeaglemom
trump's supporters will blame the "free fall" on President Obama!
ReplyDeleteI was wakened this morning by the telephone ringing at 4:42am. I didn't make it to the phone to answer. Hearing about Tillerson several hours later just means it's another day in trumpland. No appalling thing that trump does anymore surprises me. But, pretty soon, he's going to run out of people in the White House to fire.
Beaglemom
trump also fired his personal assistant - tossed him out of the white house yesterday and didn't even let him get his coat - however, he will going to work on the 2020 campaign so don't worry all is well (that campaign has to getting in full gear - those legal fees cost a lot of money!) - I am sure Kusner and Ivanka will be out soon - more gently of course and on the campaign too.
ReplyDeleteJohn McEntee - wow what an essential white house staffer (**insert eye roll here**) - "He wasn’t well known in public but was constantly beside Trump for the last three years. His responsibilities consisted of having markers for Trump to sign autographs, delivering messages to the residence and ensuring the clocks in the White House residence were adjusted for daylight-savings. " (A Politico story from 2017 cited McEntee’s fondness of forging the president’s signature. He said at the time it was totally for fun, though.
“For context, it’s about having fun,” a former White House staffer said quickly as an explanation. “Not trying to undermine the U.S. government.”)
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/donald-trumps-personal-assistant-escorted-white-house-cold-without-jacket/
https://www.newsandguts.com/trumps-personal-assistant-fired-escorted-white-house/
https://www.politicususa.com/2018/03/13/adam-schiff-evidence-trump-russia-collusion.html
ReplyDeleteNo straight jacket?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/donald-trumps-personal-assistant-escorted-white-house-cold-without-jacket/
(Reuters) – Following are five facts about U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, who President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced will replace Rex Tillerson as secretary of state.
ReplyDelete– Pompeo, 54, regularly briefs Trump on intelligence matters, and is considered one of the most hawkish voices on North Korea in Trump’s inner circle.
– Pompeo has downplayed the extent of Russia’s intervention in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, saying Moscow has sought to influence American elections for decades. In February, he defended talks he had that month at CIA headquarters with Russian spy chiefs.
– Like Trump, Pompeo is an outspoken critic of Iran and has called for scrapping the 2015 deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. In October, he said Iran was “mounting a ruthless drive to be the hegemonic power in the region.”
– Pompeo has supported the U.S. government’s sweeping collection of Americans’ communications data. In an opinion piece published in 2016, he called for restarting the bulk collection of domestic telephone metadata and combining it with financial and lifestyle information into one searchable database.
– Before taking the reins at the CIA in January, Pompeo was a conservative Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas. He is a retired Army officer and a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and Harvard Law School.
(Writing by Mohammad Zargham;
editing by Jonathan Oatis and Bernadette Baum)
Hegemonic? Trump doesn't do words over two syllables. He also hates people who are more intelligent than he is (which is 3/4 of the US population over age one.) I can't stand Pompeo and his overblown ego.
DeleteTrump keeps trying to get fired.
ReplyDeleteTrump Ousts Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson
ReplyDeleteTillerson reportedly learned he’d been booted from Trump’s tweet.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rex-tillerson-out_us_59765701e4b0c95f375db326
Factbox: Five facts about Mike Pompeo, tapped for secretary of state
ReplyDeletehttps://www.politicususa.com/2018/03/13/factbox-five-facts-about-mike-pompeo-tapped-for-secretary-of-state.html
https://www.politicususa.com/2018/03/13/trump-ousts-rex-tillerson.html
Whiff of Collusion Grows as Roger Stone Told 2 People About the Hacked Emails
ReplyDeleteRoger Stone claimed contact with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in 2016 and told two people about the hacked emails in advance. One of those people just testified a grand jury in the Mueller Trump Russia probe.
https://www.politicususa.com/2018/03/13/whiff-of-collusion-grows-stronger-as-roger-stone-told-2-people-about-the-hacked-emails-in-advance.html
Tillerson says Russia ‘likely responsible’ for ex-spy’s poisoning
ReplyDeletehttps://www.politicususa.com/2018/03/12/tillerson-says-russia-likely-responsible-for-ex-spys-poisoning.html
And that statement sealed Tillerson's fate. Maybe Tillerson's just as glad to be out of the trump administration. Maybe he got to the point that he just didn't care or want to pretend to parrot trump's views anymore.
DeleteBeaglemom
I so look forward to the morning that I awake and hear ding dong the "moron" is gone. The trump shitshow is over. And those that enabled him arrested and gone as well. That morning will be of great history, that day will be the first day of healing the cancer within our bodies. It has been an awful and terribly painful 2yrs watching our country descend into chaos and shame due to the republican corruption and hateful acts of revenge. The Oath of Office is the foundation of truth that is required of elected and officers of our court system. It has been tarnished and stained by those that have enabled "treason" against America.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised by SoS Rex Tillerson's harsh and direct words on Russian involvement in UK spy poisoning. I was not so surprised the president fired him the next day. We are in a state of crisis. It's the Kremlin's wet dream.
ReplyDeleteHe ended the "relationship" like tillerson was a disposable hooker. A tweet!
ReplyDeleteThat's the story.
Hasn't he ended relationships with others in his administration the same way? Seems like it. Trump is NOT a classy or professional guy!
DeleteWhy would anyone want to work for, or with, him?
FUCKUdickcheney!
ReplyDelete"Gina Haspel, Trump’s CIA Pick, Ran a Laboratory for Torture
And that history makes Haspel ‘unsuitable to serve as CIA director,’ a top Democratic senator says."
"Like every sub-leadership CIA official in the Senate intelligence committee’s torture report, references to Haspel are pseudonymous and, even then, heavily redacted. But the committee chair, Richard Burr of North Carolina, has been an opponent of the torture report, seeking to recover it during the Obama administration to prevent its ultimate release. Accordingly, and with the current GOP majority on the committee, Haspel’s confirmation as CIA director is more likely than not."
"Haspel’s involvement in the black site became an issue in a court case brought by CIA torture survivors"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academi
Trump’s Personal Assistant Fired & Escorted Out Of White House
ReplyDeleteUPDATE - 11:45 UPDATE: According to CNN, McEntee “was fired because he is currently under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security for serious financial crimes.”
https://www.newsandguts.com/trumps-personal-assistant-fired-escorted-white-house/
Now it is saying he has been re hired to work on trump's campaign.
DeleteHe’s going to Trump Tower. I’m sure his continued salary (with a possible raise?) is more of a bribe to keep his mouth shut.
DeleteSo today trump has until noon to accept the stormy offer to return the $160,000 for the fake disclosure to silence her. And today the current fake republican intelligence report will be given to the house intelligence democratic members. Today trump visits the state of California to see his publicly unwanted wall debacle and waste of tax payer money. Today PA turns blue. Today Austin finds out who planted explosives. Today the Russian people are one day closer to ousting their dictator. Today America is one day closer to Historically removing Treason from the peoples house and our buildings.
ReplyDeleteRex Tillerson refused to resign after John Kelly asked — so Trump fired him in a tweet: report
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/rex-tillerson-refused-resign-john-kelly-asked-trump-fired-tweet-report/
WATCH: Lindsey Graham literally runs away when asked to defend Trump’s firing of Rex Tillerson
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/watch-lindsey-graham-literally-runs-away-asked-defend-trumps-firing-rex-tillerson/
FB>"Have you seen the pictures of hate-filled faces screaming at African American children integrating America's public schools and universities?
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the pictures of U.S. soldiers ushering Japanese Americans onto trains bound for internment camps?
Have you seen the pictures of those demeaning women's marches and pride parades?
I have a feeling that some of the faces we see in today's news pictures, encouraging divisiveness and cheerleading intolerance, will be viewed by history through a similar prism of repulsion."<Dan the Man Rather
Kellyanne Conway cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars with trips on private jets
ReplyDelete...HHS documents confirm Conway, the former Trump campaign manager and now a senior White House adviser, traveled along with Price at least four times between May and September at a cost to taxpayers of tens of thousands of dollars.
Conway was joined on at least one of those flights by her staff, and she and Price also traveled with other unspecified White House officials.
The cost of those flights to taxpayers was at least $59,101.35, according to Cummings.
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/kellyanne-conway-cost-taxpayers-tens-thousands-dollars-trips-private-jets/
Trump biographer blasts White House ‘clown rodeo’: Tillerson fired for speaking ‘candidly about Russia’
ReplyDelete...“I think the lesson from Rex Tillerson’s departure is if you want to keep your job in the White House, don’t speak candidly about Russia,” O’Brien said. “Yesterday Sarah Sanders went out of her way to avoid honestly answering questions based off the fact pattern about Russia’s involvement with the murder of a former Soviet spy in London, and on the same day Tillerson speaks candidly about what — which he rarely does about these issues — and the next day he’s axed. Sarah Sanders is still there, Rex Tillerson is gone.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/trump-biographer-blasts-white-house-clown-rodeo-tillerson-fired-speaking-candidly-russia/
Ousted Trump aide McEntee is under investigation for ‘serious financial crimes’: report
ReplyDeleteTrump’s personal assistant John McEntee was abruptly escorted out of the White House on Monday night — and now a new report from CNN claims that he was ousted due to an investigation into what may be “serious financial crimes.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/ousted-trump-aide-mcentee-investigation-serious-financial-crimes-report/
Donald Trump’s personal assistant John McEntee escorted from the White House in the cold without his jacket
ReplyDelete...McEntee was one of the longest-serving aides to Trump and his position dates back to the early days of the campaign. Prior to that, it was mostly the president’s family that surrounded him, along with Stephen Miller, Dan Scavino and Hope Hicks.
He wasn’t well known in public but was constantly beside Trump for the last three years. His responsibilities consisted of having markers for Trump to sign autographs, delivering messages to the residence and ensuring the clocks in the White House residence were adjusted for daylight-savings.
“It’s not going to be great for morale,” an official said.
Officials also said he was escorted to the building even without his jacket. He indicated to his colleagues it may have been about his background check.
According to Paris Dennard, a Republican operative and close ally to Trump, McEntee will now rejoin the campaign team along with Katrina Pierson.
“It was announced today by the Trump Campaign that John McEntee will re-join the team and serve as the new Senior Advisor for campaign operations based in D.C.” he tweeted.
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/donald-trumps-personal-assistant-escorted-white-house-cold-without-jacket/
ICE spokesman quits after saying he ‘couldn’t bear the burden’ of lying for the Trump administration
ReplyDelete...Schwab told SFGate, “I quit because I didn’t want to perpetuate misleading facts.”
“I asked them to change the information,” he said. “I told them that the information was wrong, they asked me to deflect, and I didn’t agree with that. Then I took some time and I quit.” Schwab told CNN he’d “never” been in a situation “where someone asked me to deflect when we absolutely knew something was awry.”
“I just couldn’t bear the burden—continuing on as a representative of the agency and charged with upholding integrity, knowing that information was false,” Schwab said.
“It’s the job of a public affairs officer to offer transparency for the agency you work for.” he argued. “I felt like we weren’t doing that. I’ve never been in a situation when I’ve been asked to ignore the facts because it was more convenient. It was my first time being asked to do that.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/ice-spokesman-quits-saying-couldnt-bear-burden-lying-trump-administration/
‘Russians are bad’: Devin Nunes swears he will reopen Russia probe if someone finds evidence of collusion
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/russians-bad-devin-nunes-swears-will-reopen-russia-probe-someone-finds-evidence-collusion/
‘A ridiculous pick’: Conservative columnist shreds booted Tillerson — and the GOP that rubber-stamped him for Trump
ReplyDelete...“Tillerson was arguably the weakest secretary of state in the post-World War II era. He oversaw a failed reorganization effort at Foggy Bottom, which depressed morale and led to an exodus of veteran diplomats,” Rubin wrote. ” His aversion to the press and to the role of public diplomacy more generally, as well as his frosty relationship with Congress, indicated that he never made the successful transition from oil executive to the country’s lead diplomat.”
Pointing to former ambassador Eric Edelman saying, “Tillerson’s tenure will be a little remembered footnote in America’s diplomatic history like the brief undistinguished tenure of Edward Stettinius (another corporate executive who proved to be a diplomatic failure),” Rubin added, “In retrospect, it was a ridiculous pick. At a time of multiple, complex threats, hiring someone with no public service experience at all, let alone State Department service, was reckless in the extreme.”
Rubin then turned her ire to the GOP senators for giving a thumbs up to an oil executive with no foreign policy background.
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/ridiculous-pick-conservative-columnist-shreds-booted-tillerson-gop-rubber-stamped-trump/
Wasn't Little Jared in charge of all the government reorganization? Not too successful, was it?
DeleteBeaglemom
BREAKING: Did Tillerson's firing trigger the October 2017 "suicide pact" between Tillerson, Mattis, and Mnuchin? And if not, why not? The three agreed to all quit *together* if any one of them was fired. Media needs to check in with Mattis and Mnuchin now.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/973568611603419137
The munchkin (or whatever his name is) is basking, along with his wife, in the perks of his job. I don't think he'll quit just because Tillerson was dumped. Mattie will use the excuse that someone remotely sane has to be in place but he won't go in a sympathy move either.
DeleteBeaglemom
Trump dismisses Tillerson for crossing the only 'Red Line' that counts: Russia, Russia, Russia
ReplyDelete...Since taking office, Tillerson has attempted to be the model Trump employee. He’s left the offices of the State Department empty and done nothing about the dozens of open ambassadorships around the world. He’s negotiated no deals. He’s made no policy. He’s accepted humiliating public tongue-lashings from Trump—including having his own selection for deputy overridden.
None of that was enough to protect Tillerson when he dared suggest that not only was Russia behind a nerve agent attack in the UK, but that the United States would take action to protect their closest ally and NATO partner.
On Monday, British Prime Minister Theresa May issued a strong statement, indicting Russia for an attack on British soil that contaminated as many as 500 people with a nerve agent designed for chemical warfare. May gave the Russians until Tuesday to respond and promised that she would exact retribution for the Russian attack.
Shortly thereafter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders was confronted by reporters at the daily White House press conference. But she promised nothing in the way of action, and critically refused to say that Russia was involved in the poisoning of people in the UK.
REPORTER: So you're not saying that Russia was behind this act?
SANDERS: Right now, we are standing with our UK ally. I think they're still working through even some of the details of that.
But a few hours later, Rex Tillerson didn’t attempt to hide the truth. On board a plane bound for Africa, Tillerson called the attack “a really egregious act,” said that the attack was clearly from Russia, and promised that the United States would act to defend its ally.
And just like that, he was gone.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/13/1748606/-Trump-dismisses-Tillerson-for-crossing-the-only-Red-Line-that-counts-Russia-Russia-Russia
Although Rex Tillerson was a very poor choice, Pompeo is even worse. Love that our “strong” president did not have the dignity or guts to inform Rex himself. This again paints 45 as a coward with not a bit of class. My feeling is that Pompeo will rule Trump. He is stronger and far more intelligent. Pompeo won’t last long, though ( if, indeed, he is confirmed.)
ReplyDeleteHaspel, poised to become first female CIA chief, ran controversial ‘black site’ prison
ReplyDeleteHaspel, who served as Pompeo's No. 2 at the CIA, joined the agency in 1985. During her tenure, she controversially ran a “black site” prison in Thailand at which terrorism suspects reportedly were subjected to harsh interrogation tactics, including the use of waterboarding.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/13/gina-haspel-cia-458726
The US is truly descending into dictatorship with the narcissistic orange despot on top and a whole slew of torture-loving and war-mongering sycophants willing to do his bidding. It's happening right before our eyes at lightening speed. Scary.
DeleteOnce again we see the president’s definition of “fake news” — accurate news the president doesn’t like being reported. The Tillerson departure has been in the works for months.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/973549022349754368
Here is the since-deleted tweet from Mike Pompeo on July 24, 2016 pushing stolen Democratic emails and Wikileaks. Pompeo was head of House Intelligence Commitee at the time. 3 days later, Trump called on Russia “if you’re listening” to get Clinton’s email.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/DafnaLinzer/status/973562443795521537
The new CIA Director: “As a clandestine officer at the [CIA] in 2002, Gina Haspel oversaw the torture of two terrorism suspects and later took part in an order to destroy videotapes documenting their brutal interrogations at a secret prison in Thailand.”
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/973541828711641093
3 firings so far today - Tillerson, McEntee, and the staffer who wrote Tillerson's statement (because it contradicted the lie was the White House oficial statement and instead told the truth about Tillerson firing)
ReplyDeleteAfter Donald Trump’s sudden firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a Tillerson aide immediately contradicted the White House declaration that the firing was planned in advance, instead stating that Tillerson had only learned he was fired via Trump's Tuesday morning tweet.
ReplyDeleteNow that aide has been fired as well.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/13/1748668/-Trump-fires-Tillerson-aide-who-confirmed-that-Tillerson-was-only-told-of-his-firing-this-morning
Dem candidate DESTROYS Trump stooge Devin Nunes' on Twitter after House's bogus Russia report
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/12/1748521/--We-know-what-Trump-paid-Stormy-Daniels-now-everyone-is-wondering-Devin-Nunes-s-hourly-rate
Remember how Mike Pompeo egged on WikiLeaks to attack Clinton during the campaign?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/13/1748627/-Remember-how-Mike-Pompeo-egged-on-WikiLeaks-to-attack-Clinton-during-campaign
Dedicated anti-LGBTQ homophobe tapped to replace Rex Tillerson
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/13/1748665/-Dedicated-anti-LGBTQ-homophobe-will-now-be-America-s-Secretary-of-State
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/mississippi-parents-mourn-death-bullied-12-year-old-son-came-bisexual-school/
DeleteWhy Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State Should Scare You More Than Rex Tillerson
ReplyDeleteA bumbler who disagrees with Trump from time to time is better than a yes man as America's chief diplomat.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-mike-pompeo-at-state-should-scare-you-more-than-rex-tillerson
Rex Tillerson Leaves With A Shattered Reputation And A Broken Department
ReplyDeletehttps://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rex-tillerson-trump-state-secretary-history_us_5a205cb7e4b03350e0b53464
This is exactly what Putin wanted; Traitor Trump is doing exactly as instructed.
DeleteTrump’s Pick To Replace Former Exxon CEO As Secretary Of State Is A Bigger Climate Denier
ReplyDeleteMike Pompeo, who was tapped to replace Rex Tillerson, could be the first secretary of state to reject climate science outright. Climate deniers have high hopes for him.
Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace sacked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, threatens to bring a hard-line brand of climate change denialism to Foggy Bottom for the first time.
The current CIA director, named early Tuesday as the nominee to be the nation’s top diplomat, has long rejected the widely-accepted science behind man-made global warming, dashing hopes that the United States might reverse its decision to leave from the Paris climate accord before November 2020, when the deal allows the country to formally withdraw.
In a twist, Tillerson, the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp., turned out to be one of the most moderate voices on climate change in the Trump administration, despite his previous employer’s role as an early and generous financier of the climate change denial movement.
Tillerson urged Trump against pulling out of the Paris Agreement last June, and suggested last September that the U.S. could remain in the deal. Still, the State Department rewrote its web page on climate change last March, abolished its climate change envoy position in August and left teams working on global warming issues in limbo, seemingly encouraging staff to leave. Coincidentally, a major environmental nonprofit sued the State Department on Tuesday for refusing to release a U.N. report on U.S. climate action that was due on Jan. 1.
If confirmed by the Senate, Pompeo seems poised to do more damage to efforts to combat climate change.
“It’s good news for us,” said Myron Ebell, a leading proponent of climate change denial and a director at the right wing Competitive Enterprise Institute. “I expect very good things from him at the State Department.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mike-pompeo-climate-state-department_us_5aa7e180e4b03c9edfaffc0a
Paul Krugman just issued an prescient warning in the wake of Rex Tillerson’s ouster
ReplyDelete...Someone is feeding the president these destructive ideas, and all roads lead his trade czar, Peter Navarro. Navarro shares Trump’s protectionist view on trade, which seems to be his main qualification for the job. “The story of Navarro’s rise,” Krugman observes, “tells you a lot about the nature of the Trump administration—a place that rewards sycophants who tell the boss what he wants to hear.”
What he wants to hear are views at odds with mainstream economists on both sides of the aisle, and even worse, “seem to involve basic conceptual and factual errors.” Consider what Krugman calls Navarro’s “complete misunderstanding of the trade effects of value-added taxes (VATs), which the U.S. doesn’t have but play a large role in most European countries’ revenue.”
...Even worse, Krugman continues, “he’s willing to abase himself in extraordinary ways.” Take this quote from an interview with Bloomberg: “My function, really, as an economist is to try to provide the underlying analytics that confirmhis intuition. And his intuition is always right in these matters.”
Krugman thinks that in this interview, Navarro is “proudly declaring that he’s a propagandist, not a policy analyst—that his role is solely to confirm Trump’s prejudices.” What’s worse, “he’s also engaging in an utterly un-American level of sycophancy. Since when has it become acceptable to declare that Dear Leader is infallible?”
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/paul-krugman-just-issued-ominous-warning-wake-rex-tillersons-ouster/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/opinion/trump-trade-peter-navarro.html
Trump Fired Tillerson To Strengthen His Declining Hold On Power
ReplyDelete...This isn’t about Trump falling apart. Trump is removing anyone who disagrees with him and replacing them with lackeys who will let him impulsively do whatever he wants.
According to quotes provided to PoliticusUSA by the White House Press Pool, this was Trump’s answer when he was asked if he consulted Tillerson on the N. Korea decision, “No, I really didn’t discuss it very much with him, honestly. I made that decision by myself. Rex wasn’t, as you know, in this country. I made the North Korea decision with consultation from many people but I made that decision by myself. I actually got along well with Rex but really it was a different mindset, a different thinking.”
It is a common move for presidents who are failing domestically to turn their attention to foreign policy, but Trump is taking it a step beyond. This president sees foreign policy as an unobstructed playground for his impulsive actions. Trump wants a one-man government, where he is calling all of the shots by the seat of his pants. Getting rid of Rex Tillerson means that Trump can go to N. Korea and also trash the Iran deal.
As the Russia investigation closes in on him, Trump isn’t falling apart. He is consolidating his areas of power and fighting to hold on.
https://www.politicususa.com/2018/03/13/trump-fired-tillerson-to-strengthen-his-hold-on-power.html
Preznidint Mighty Mouth (look at the truly *ugly* bully-boy pic at the Raw Story article posted below) is doing a good, ol' fashioned Saddam-Hussein style purge, so he can have 'yes-men' around him to stroke his...er...ego:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/doesnt-want-restraints-trump-clearing-naysayers-wont-let-run-white-house-like-campaign-rally/
The Republicans are going to lose the special election in Pennsylvania.
ReplyDeleteThis may be the tipping point. Trump is now an albatross around the neck of the GOP. Tying themselves to him is now a losing proposition. It may be that Pompeo will NOT be rubber stamped confirmed by the Senate. This might be the start of push back.
If they want to save themselves and their party, they're going to need to distance themselves from Trump and cut ties with is policies and his nominees.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-rick-saccone-pennsylvania-special-election-trump-country_us_5aa6bda6e4b009b705d501fd
"Dwight Harris, 40, is a registered Republican who enthusiastically voted for Donald Trump and is largely satisfied with the choice he made.
Harris, a second-generation coal miner tired of people who feel “entitled” to government handouts, is exactly the kind of voter that Republican congressional candidates need to count on in a difficult election year.
But when a canvassing team from the United Steel Workers labor union knocked on Harris’ door on Thursday afternoon, Harris let them know that he was already planning to vote for Democrat Conor Lamb in Tuesday’s special congressional election.
The reason was simple: His union, the United Mine Workers of America, had informed him that Lamb supports bipartisan congressional legislation to plug the hole in the union’s troubled pension fund.
Republican Rick Saccone, on the other hand, “won’t even talk to our union at all about the pensions or anything,” Harris said.
That left Harris no choice but to go with Lamb, with whom he disagrees on other issues. “I can’t cut my own throat,” he said.
Attrition from union members like Harris is part of a perfect political storm brewing for Republicans in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, where over 80,000 people ― from more than one-fifth of households ― belong to unions. Unions, many of which have endorsed the district’s Republican candidate in the past, have mobilized in full force against Saccone, whose anti-union record includes support for right-to-work laws."
November isn't that far away.
Neither is 2020.
Trump's perfect storm of cruelty, stupidity and mis-management may be so intense that no amount of voter disenfranchisement, gerrymandering or interference from the Russians will be able to sway the election in their favor.
Tillerson isn't the only one gone.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.yahoo.com/news/fired-trump-twitter-tillerson-doesnt-thank-190659205.html
"The State Department released a statement from Undersecretary of State Steve Goldstein, saying Tillerson “did not speak to the president and is unaware of the reason” for his dismissal.
“The Secretary had every intention of staying because of the critical progress made in national security,” the statement said.
Hours later, Goldstein was himself fired, evidently for contradicting the White House version of events."
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/john-mcentee-trump-reportedly-fired_us_5aa7d246e4b087e5aaedf006
"A longtime personal assistant to President Donald Trump was reportedly fired and escorted out of the White House on Monday, with one report claiming the ouster was due to a criminal investigation.
John McEntee was unceremoniously removed from his position because the Department of Homeland Security is investigating him for “serious financial crimes,” CNN reported, citing an unidentified source familiar with his termination. The alleged crimes are said to not be related to Trump.
The Wall Street Journal, which was the first to break the news of McEntee’s ouster, reported that he was removed because of an “unspecified security issue,” citing an unidentified White House official.
McEntee wasn’t allowed to collect his belongings ― including his jacket ― before being escorted out, according to the Journal."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ice-spokesman-quits-bashes-trump-094819988.html
"A spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Francisco resigned over the Trump administration’s handling of a recent immigrant raid in the Bay Area.
James Schwab told the San Francisco Chronicle late Monday that administration officials, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions and President Donald Trump, grossly exaggerated the number of undocumented immigrants who avoided arrest after Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf tipped off the public days before the raid began on Feb. 25.
“I quit because I didn’t want to perpetuate misleading facts,” Schwab said. “I asked them to change the information. I told them that the information was wrong, they asked me to deflect, and I didn’t agree with that. Then I took some time and I quit.”"
That's FOUR more. Granted the ICE guy as small potatoes. But how many more lower level public servants have quit or been fired that we don't know about. This is in addition to the many positions that are still unfilled.
Trump is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
State Department Staffers Cry ‘Hallelujah’ Over Rex Tillerson’s Downfall
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thedailybeast.com/state-department-staffers-cry-hallelujah-over-rex-tillersons-downfall