Tag: West Wing

Bites Big And Small

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Bites Big and Small:

Kelly New White House Chief of Staff

D. S. Mitchell

Kelly left his post as Secretary of Homeland Security to become White House chief of staff.  His acknowledged mission is to “bring some order to the chaotic West Wing” according to an associated Press report.  Kelly flexed his muscle by ousting the newly appointed Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci after “the mooch” made vile and profane comments to the New Yorker magazine about other White House inner circle. Kelly intends to revise the command structure in the West Wing, so that all senior staff reports to him directly, and not President Trump.

Lawmakers are expressing hope that Kelly’s arrival will stop the internal leaks and squash the notable conflicts within the White House and pivot back to a policy agenda that has been side tracked by months of Russian investigations and internal discord.

Approximately a month before his installation Kelly had a loud and fiery private interaction with President Trump related to published complaints by the POTUS about what he considers too many foreign travelers coming into the United States. In their private meeting Kelly told the president that the ongoing admissions are standard, and stated that many people have legitimate reasons to visit the United States.  The president apparently felt that all the visitors allowed under the expanded travel ban were making him “look bad.”

This seems like a strange marriage, a disciplined four star general, and the petulant, undisciplined narcissist real estate tycoon.  I think from what I’ve read they do share many core ideas.  We will need to watch the atmosphere around the West Wing and see if Kelly can bring structure and control to a wildly out of control executive branch.

Trump Threatens To End Obama Care:

Legal Cases Fight For Separation of State and Religion

President Trump has threatened for months to stop billions of dollars in federal monies to insurers and force the collapse of  “ObamaCare”.  Nicholas Bagley a Law Professor at the University of Michigan told the Associated Press Tuesday, “Trump thinks he’s holding all the cards. But Democrats know what in his hand, and he’s got a pair of twos. He continued, “Democrats aren’t about to agree to dismantle the Affordable Care Act just because Trump makes a reckless bet.”

Bagley and other legal experts are saying that the president is handing the insurers a “solid court case, while undermining his own leverage to compel Democrats to negotiate, especially if premiums jump directly related to the actions of Trump.

The executive office should be making a decision soon whether he will continue to give the required legal financial help to low-income consumers, reducing their co-pays and deductibles.

Trump Promises To Continue His Twitter Use:

Donald Trump Is Addicted To Twitter And There Is No Rehab On The Horizon

Perhaps John Kelly will be rethinking his decision to come to the White House sooner than I thought.  On Twitter the president said, ” Only the Fake News Media and Trump enemies want me to stop using Social Media (110 million followers) Only way I can get truth out!” Trump will continue to live in his alternate universe unfortunately accompanied by about 35% of Americans.

Trump Calls The White House “A Dump”

Sports Illustrated ran a story that claims President Trump was overheard to say the reason he goes to his own golf clubs is because the White House is “a real dump”. If this story is true I think we should evict the creep. The honor of living in that house is something that this man does not appreciate, or does he appreciate the history of the house or that it is the people’s house and we do not want it turned into a miniature Versailles palace.

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WEST WING WARFARE

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West Wing Warfare

D. S. Mitchell

Staff Shuffling

The Daily Beast reports this week that political warfare has indeed broken out at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. Reports from the White House indicate they are undertaking a major reshuffling of staff. Steve Bannon seems to be the center of most conversation. Over the weekend Steve Bannon was fired from the National Security Council. To date, Bannon continues as Chief Strategist to the President.

McMaster Rejects politicization

There are signs that there are deep divisions in the West Wing. General H.R. McMaster seems to be asserting control over the NSC and solidifying his relationship with President Trump. McMaster is adamant that there is not going to be a politicization of NSC as long as he is at its head. The appointment of Bannon to the NSC had drawn criticism as inappropriate.

Nunes At The Center

The firestorm began when it was learned that 3 NSC officials have been linked to the distribution of classified documents to Devin Nunes. Nunes, a Republican is the Chairman of the House committee investigating Russia and the Trump 2016 campaign. The Chairman is now under ethics investigation for his conduct in the Russia probe. The discovery of the leaks to Nunes has created an earthquake within the administration. There has been fiery accusations against Bannon. Steve Bannon is suspected of releasing documents to Devin Nunes.  The intent attributed to Bannon was to deflect attention away from the Russian “collusion” investigation.

Reliable Sources

Furthermore, reliable sources indicate that Bannon and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are at each other’s throats. Kushner apparently drew Bannon’s wrath when he spoke against separating children from their parents at immigrant internment camps. Kushner’s sentiments caused Bannon to label him a “left-wing radical.” Not terms that this Republican administration wants thrown around.  Bannon and other right-wing idealogues are signaling open fear that Trump may be leaning toward what they consider the more liberal influence of his son-in-law.

Talk Radio

Mark Levin, is a right-wing radio host. On his Wednesday night show he said the liberals in the administration are trying to increase their influence over Trump.  He was pointing to Jared Kushner, Gary Cohn, and Dina Powell.  Roger Stone, a long time gadfly and right-wing operative stoked the political warfare. He told “InfoWars” firebrand Alex Jones, that the leaks from the White House were coming directly from Kushner. In fact, Stone accused Kushner of feeding morning TV host Joe Scarborough insider information.

Name Calling

Bannon has called Kushner a “cuck” (cuckservative) “globalist” and “worse than a Democrat”. Reports suggest that Bannon worries that he is slipping in favor and that Jared Kushner is increasingly more important as an advisor to the president. Bannon has a vision to de-construct the government and he see’s Kushner as an impediment to the realization of that dream.

McMaster Tightens Control

As McMaster tightens his control at the NSC, Deputy NSC advisor K.T. McFarland was asked to step down. K.T. was at NSC for only 3 months. McFarland had been appointed to the NSC by Mike Flynn. K.T. is a political commentator and author. McFarland will be assigned as the Singapore Ambassador if she is able to clear Senate confirmation.

Waiting For The Crash

As fast as things happen in this White House we will probably watch it all play out on the political talk shows, next week. As such, I’m here in the CNP office waiting for the sound of crashing metal and glass. My hope is that, after the crash, the American people still have a political system they can count on. I guess, we will just have to wait, and see.

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