There’s only so much outrage we can express — we are well into comparing Trump to Hitler. We are well beyond hesitating to compare Trump to Hitler for fear of proving the truth of Godwin’s Law. The latest Trumpian actions — now moving closer to being called Hitlerian — justified my using the photo above.
The two interlinked stories involve Trump putting Steve Bannon on his National Security Council while removing Secretary of Defense Mattis and Homeland Security Director Kelly.
This is from NPR:
As NPR national security editor Philip Ewing explains, Trump "is shaking up the wonky process by which the executive branch makes its toughest decisions on national security – the big question is how much that will matter." Here's more:
"On paper, these are big changes: Past administrations ran their National Security Councils with a Great Wall of China-separation between the political team at the White House and the nonpartisan specialists who help with decision-making. The explicit inclusion of Bannon means that Trump's top adviser on messaging, strategy and other partisan issues means he could also be part of decisions about policy toward adversaries, military actions and other such decisions.
"What does it all mean, in practical terms? It's too soon to say. Former national security council staffers say their day-to-day meetings and process were not governed by whatever formal instruction issued by their respective presidents. Political staffers from the White House have attended meetings in the past. The committees invite who they think they need to invite given the topics under discussion – something that will likely continue under [National Security Advisor Michael] Flynn."
Top security officials from the Obama administration are blasting the decision.
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who served under Obama and George W. Bush, called the demotions a "big mistake" in an interview with ABC News. " I think that they both bring a perspective and judgment and experience to bear that every president, whether they like it or not, finds useful," Gates said.
This is how Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice put it:
This is from Business Insider:
Note the last sentence (my emphasis)
The executive measure established Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon as a regular attendee, whereas the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence will be allowed to participate only "where issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed."
"The appointment of Mr. Bannon is something which is a radical departure from any National Security Council in history," Republican Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday.
"The one person who is indispensable would be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in my view," McCain added. "So it’s of concern, this 'reorganization.'"
John Bellinger, an adjunct senior fellow in International and National Security Law at the Council on Foreign Relations and former legal adviser to the National Security Council, wrote on Saturday that the change is "unusual."
"In the Bush administration, Karl Rove would not attend NSC meetings," Bellinger said. "According to former Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, President Bush did not want to appear, especially to the military, to insert domestic politics into national security decision-making."
With his permanent seat at the NSC meetings, Bannon has been elevated above the director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, who was not offered an open invitation.
Here’s the full context of the quote Used in my title, from Daily Beast:
CHAOS THEORY
A translator who’d worked with our military in Iraq was put in cuffs, before two New York Congressmen intervened on his behalf. Others were questioned about their opinion of President Trump and pressed to show their social media accounts to federal officials.
Incredibly, the government won’t (or perhaps can’t) say how many people have been detained, though an unnamed senior official at the Department of Homeland Security official told the Washington Post Saturday that 109 people had been denied entry upon arrival and 173 had not been allowed to board flights at foreign airports. That’s the same DHS that didn’t see the order until hours before Trump signed it, according to CNN, and was unable to offer a legal analysis until after it was in effect.
Sunday, Jan 29, 2017 · 7:22:23 PM +00:00 · HalBrown
I belive Rence Priebus just provide Chuck Todd with an alternate fact about what Trump’s changes in the National Security Council meant. Chuck asked him two or three times to clarify what has been in the news about Mattis and Kelly only being at meetings when they were needed (invited)…. Priebus, acting miffed and condescending, said Chuck should go back and read the memorandum because it says that they can come anytime they want to. He did not clearly state they were regular members who would be expected at all meetings, as has been the long standing way the NSC was run.
Sunday, Jan 29, 2017 · 7:34:42 PM +00:00
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HalBrown
Now Tim Kaine is explaining Priebus’ and his not really explaining what the Trump crap about the NSC was… Priebus also BTW clumsily tried to dancing around the Holocaust statement that didn’t mention Jews…. which Kaine is now talking about — much better than Chuck Todd did.