My acting second Secretary of Defense is great!
My acting second Attorney General is great!
My acting third Chief of Staff is great!
My third National Security Advisor is great!
My second EPA Administrator is great!
My second Health and Human Services Director is great!
My second Secretary of Veterans Affairs is great!
My second Secretary of State is great!
My acting second Ambassador to the UN is great!
My acting second Secretary of the Interior is great!
It’s only been two years and look at al these great people! Who would think there’s a problem here!?
My acting second Secretary of Defense is great!
My acting second Attorney General is great!
My acting third Chief of Staff is great!
My third National Security Advisor is great!
My second EPA Administrator is great!
My second Health and Human Services Director is great!
My second Secretary of Veterans Affairs is great!
My second Secretary of State is great!
My acting second Ambassador to the UN is great!
My acting second Secretary of the Interior is great!
It’s only been two years and look at al these great people! Who would think there’s a problem here!?
We're still 15 days from it being two years. I'm confident there'll be at least one more high level replacement before then.
Trump's ability to find and retain The. Best. People. is a shining example of his quality of leadership.
also, upon reflection, I must admit that the whole St. Mattis thing is not that different from how this forum tends to (semi-seriously) imagine and portray Mueller as an implacable G-Man Terminator of JUSTICE.
also, upon reflection, I must admit that the whole St. Mattis thing is not that different from how this forum tends to (semi-seriously) imagine and portray Mueller as an implacable G-Man Terminator of JUSTICE.
Eh. I agree with your broader point that just as much silly lionization happens from the other direction but I don't think this forum is a great example when you're trying to line up scale. Go point at R/Mueller/ and I'd agree.
There will always be some who take the joke completely seriously and/or way too far, but as long as it's just a joke (and/or shibboleth) to most of the people saying it, I don't think it's that bad. IMO.
Also, I know that I, and I believe other people here, had pinned at least some hopes on Kelly and Mattis being able to exert some level of control over Trump. No one here (again IMO) is forgetting that it's bad to have the military calling the shots in a supposed democracy, but when they seem to be literally the only "adults in the room" and/or people that the Toddler-In-Chief respects (because they're Big Strong Military Men), you have to take what you can get.
And now they're both gone! So this will be fun.
Commander Zoom on
+2
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
I mean, most of us are aware of what Mueller was doing during the Bush administration, so no?
If DoD gets gutted just like State, I’m not sure if I’m gonna laugh or cry.
Probably both.
That might actually be abridge too far for trump's legions to follow him across.
There is no line he can cross that they won't march right along behind him.
True as that may be, Republicans are so tribal these days I have a really hard time believing that as long as they’re in power, the base will support just about anyone sufficiently regressive.
Like sure, they're morons who will blithely support just about anything trump does because "hurr hurr murica an' trollin de dimocraps", but this is effectively lashing out at the military which they prioritize above just about anything.
State was made redundant because Trump doesn't need anyone but himself (and sometimes Jared) to conduct diplomacy and make deals (the best deals); anything that anyone else might do is just going to be contradicted or undone by him the next day/week, so why bother having it around?
Similarly, Trump is a military genius - he said so during the campaign and since, that he has a lot of very good ideas for dealing with ISIS and others, it's just up to the generals to make it happen. So why does he need extra layers getting in the way and coming up with bad ideas?
(And here's the thing: his followers believe, just as he does, that all of this is true, and will applaud him "taking charge". Now we'll see some real action, some real progress!)
Like sure, they're morons who will blithely support just about anything trump does because "hurr hurr murica an' trollin de dimocraps", but this is effectively lashing out at the military which they prioritize above just about anything.
The average republicwn doesn't give one red cent about the military. One needs only to look at how veterans are treated. Republicans say they love the military. That's all
Like sure, they're morons who will blithely support just about anything trump does because "hurr hurr murica an' trollin de dimocraps", but this is effectively lashing out at the military which they prioritize above just about anything.
The average republicwn doesn't give one red cent about the military. One needs only to look at how veterans are treated. Republicans say they love the military. That's all
I suspect that the primary reason that the Department of Veterans Affairs exists is so that the Department of Defense can't gut all of its programs.
+1
AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
Republicans love guns and fascism and hurting brown people, and that’s the only parts of the military they have any concern about.
Diplomacy and peace-keeping and providing for our vets has never, ever been a priority.
"I sort of like acting. It gives me more flexibility. Do you understand that?" Trump told reporters as he left the White House for Camp David. "I like acting. We have a few that are acting but we have a great, great, Cabinet."
I mean, he's not wrong. Since the Acting ones don't need to be confirmed, and it would be on the Senate to question them, he's able to put whoever he wants into powerful positions without any vetting or approval.
How many "Acting" heads have simply transitioned to full on leadership without going through the Senate? That whole 100 Day thing seems to have been entirely ignored.
It is kinda interesting the senate appears to be completely willing to abdicate their whole advice and consent stuff. That totally won't get used by other presidents that will make them sad and cry if they allow the precedent of basically all your major dept heads being acting appointments.
It is kinda interesting the senate appears to be completely willing to abdicate their whole advice and consent stuff. That totally won't get used by other presidents that will make them sad and cry if they allow the precedent of basically all your major dept heads being acting appointments.
Maybe the House Democrats can firce the issue a little by having future bills for the requisite confirmations responsibilities only take place (or expire after the legal acting's X days) if the head of that department has been Senate confirmed.
Obviously, there needs to be some flexibility, but I'm sure they can write it so this "acting indefinitely" bullshit can be finished.
I'd also put in place something to prevent someone from simultaneously holding two Senate confirmed jobs, even in an acting role, without Senate advice and consent. Mulvaney taking over the CFPB was SUCH bullshit.
Margaret Brennan of CBS: NEWS: Gen. Anthony Zinni (Ret) resigned his position @statedept citing an inability to resolve the Qatar dispute. He had originally been asked by Secretaries Tillerson & Mattis to work on Middle East issues including the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA) initiative.
+3
KoopahTroopahThe koopas, the troopas.Philadelphia, PARegistered Userregular
For those of us uneducated, is this a new dispute or is this more 'Abandon Ship' now that Mattis is gone?
For those of us uneducated, is this a new dispute or is this more 'Abandon Ship' now that Mattis is gone?
I believe it's referring the continuing issues with Saudi Arabia and Qatar - with Saudi Arabia calling Qatar a state-sponsor of terrorism and boycotting it. Several other regional powers are also boycotting Qatar, following Saudi Arabia's lead (Bahrain, Egypt, UAE, others?).
For those of us uneducated, is this a new dispute or is this more 'Abandon Ship' now that Mattis is gone?
Mattis was DoD, this new resignation was in State. He was previously a 4 Star General in his old gig, but not presently. Aside from the whole 'you never stop being a General' thing.
I have only seen it from Democrat outlets like shareblue so far, so take it with a pinch of salt, but there were numerous stories circulating that senior military figures had resorted to contacting Fox News to ask them to circulate stories aimed at educating Trump on Syria and Afghanistan, because he just would not listen to them.
I have only seen it from Democrat outlets like shareblue so far, so take it with a pinch of salt, but there were numerous stories circulating that senior military figures had resorted to contacting Fox News to ask them to circulate stories aimed at educating Trump on Syria and Afghanistan, because he just would not listen to them.
Not surprising, as John Oliver has been trying to do so for years now.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to leave his role in the coming weeks, multiple sources familiar with his plans told ABC News.
Rosenstein has communicated to President Donald Trump and White House officials his plan to depart the administration around the time William Barr, Trump's nominee for attorney general, would take office following a Senate confirmation.
Sources told ABC News Rosenstein wants to ensure a smooth transition to his successor and would accommodate the needs of Barr, should he be confirmed.
Rosenstein apparently had long been thinking he would serve about two years, and there was no indication that he was being forced out at this moment by the president.
I can't wait for him to be replaced by even more of a stooge.
+2
OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to leave his role in the coming weeks, multiple sources familiar with his plans told ABC News.
Rosenstein has communicated to President Donald Trump and White House officials his plan to depart the administration around the time William Barr, Trump's nominee for attorney general, would take office following a Senate confirmation.
Sources told ABC News Rosenstein wants to ensure a smooth transition to his successor and would accommodate the needs of Barr, should he be confirmed.
Rosenstein apparently had long been thinking he would serve about two years, and there was no indication that he was being forced out at this moment by the president.
I can't wait for him to be replaced by even more of a stooge.
Isn't it too late for that? I got the impression that if they try to shut him down now, the House will just tell him to keep working and they'll just change the letterhead on the paperwork.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to leave his role in the coming weeks, multiple sources familiar with his plans told ABC News.
Rosenstein has communicated to President Donald Trump and White House officials his plan to depart the administration around the time William Barr, Trump's nominee for attorney general, would take office following a Senate confirmation.
Sources told ABC News Rosenstein wants to ensure a smooth transition to his successor and would accommodate the needs of Barr, should he be confirmed.
Rosenstein apparently had long been thinking he would serve about two years, and there was no indication that he was being forced out at this moment by the president.
I can't wait for him to be replaced by even more of a stooge.
Oh wonderful.
So...countdown until Mueller is shut down?
I dunno. I fully expect the House's second order of business after the Shutdown is dealt with (with Senate Dems being obstructionist until it's passed), is to either push a bill requiring that Mueller be protected, or taking Mueller into the House investigations, either in it's entirety, or by getting all the testimony and evidence via their investigative power.
Now that the Democrats have taken the House, the loss of Rosenstein is bad, but it's not crippling. If this had happened six months ago, it'd have been a completely different story, relying solely on the effort of Mueller and his team to fight. Now they've got allies in the Legislature that can actually do something.
Also you have to consider that Mueller's team must have a phenomenal amount of materiel by now: Flynn has flipped. Manafort tried to pretend to flip, but I'll bet my last glass of wine that 'Bond007' ended up being soaked for everything he had in the end anyway. Butina has flipped. Trump's personal fucking lawyer has flipped on him.
And those are just the high profile sources. We can infer from various court filings that the team has been far from idle in gathering information from other, less notorious sources: they've had 2 years to collate bank records, wiretaps, emails, witness reports, cellphone location records, SMS messages and Christ knows what else.
Calling time on the investigation at this point just makes it that much laughably easier to charge with obstruction and has the sun rise on dies irae.
Here shown the lead prosecutor making his opening statement:
Also you have to consider that Mueller's team must have a phenomenal amount of materiel by now: Flynn has flipped. Manafort tried to pretend to flip, but I'll bet my last glass of wine that 'Bond007' ended up being soaked for everything he had in the end anyway. Butina has flipped. Trump's personal fucking lawyer has flipped on him.
Don't forget his accountant Weisselberg, and Pecker at AMI. Between those two, and Cohen, his pre-campaign misadventures are pretty much an open book.
As has been said by others, the Presidency is both the cause of all his problems (because he probably would have skated if he hadn't gone into the spotlight), and the only thing keeping those problems at bay.
He is so fucked if he's forced out. If the current Administration didn't leak like a sieve, and if he was a fraction as conniving and competent as he thinks he is, I'd think he'd be working a "I'll resign if you give me immunity" deal. But hes dumb as fuck, and thinks he can ride it out, and by the time he realises he needs that offramp, he'll be well past the argument for giving it to him.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to leave his role in the coming weeks, multiple sources familiar with his plans told ABC News.
Rosenstein has communicated to President Donald Trump and White House officials his plan to depart the administration around the time William Barr, Trump's nominee for attorney general, would take office following a Senate confirmation.
Sources told ABC News Rosenstein wants to ensure a smooth transition to his successor and would accommodate the needs of Barr, should he be confirmed.
Rosenstein apparently had long been thinking he would serve about two years, and there was no indication that he was being forced out at this moment by the president.
I can't wait for him to be replaced by even more of a stooge.
Oh wonderful.
So...countdown until Mueller is shut down?
I dunno. I fully expect the House's second order of business after the Shutdown is dealt with (with Senate Dems being obstructionist until it's passed), is to either push a bill requiring that Mueller be protected, or taking Mueller into the House investigations, either in it's entirety, or by getting all the testimony and evidence via their investigative power.
Now that the Democrats have taken the House, the loss of Rosenstein is bad, but it's not crippling. If this had happened six months ago, it'd have been a completely different story, relying solely on the effort of Mueller and his team to fight. Now they've got allies in the Legislature that can actually do something.
Rosenstein is also losing the ability to protect the investigation anyway. I'm guessing that's been one of the few reasons he hadn't resigned long before this.
+3
No-QuarterNothing To FearBut Fear ItselfRegistered Userregular
I actually see this more as Rosenstein being confident that this won't get botched up when he leaves.
I never took Rosenstein as being a hero or noble. Trump asked him to support firing Comey, so he did, and then Trump immediately went on TV and admitted to obstruction (back when we thought that would matter), which implicated Rosenstein. IMO, hiring Mueller was Rosenstein going "See, I wasn't complicit!"
I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't care what happens now, as he's made the case that he did everything in his power to ensure things were done legally and correctly.
Posts
For a second my brain saw the name Shanahan and thought, "Did he.. did he really make a football coach SecDef?"
My acting second Attorney General is great!
My acting third Chief of Staff is great!
My third National Security Advisor is great!
My second EPA Administrator is great!
My second Health and Human Services Director is great!
My second Secretary of Veterans Affairs is great!
My second Secretary of State is great!
My acting second Ambassador to the UN is great!
My acting second Secretary of the Interior is great!
It’s only been two years and look at al these great people! Who would think there’s a problem here!?
We're still 15 days from it being two years. I'm confident there'll be at least one more high level replacement before then.
Trump's ability to find and retain The. Best. People. is a shining example of his quality of leadership.
Considering he claims to have never met/not personally known half the people who have left or been fired
Eh. I agree with your broader point that just as much silly lionization happens from the other direction but I don't think this forum is a great example when you're trying to line up scale. Go point at R/Mueller/ and I'd agree.
Doesn't really make it any less creepy though.
Also, I know that I, and I believe other people here, had pinned at least some hopes on Kelly and Mattis being able to exert some level of control over Trump. No one here (again IMO) is forgetting that it's bad to have the military calling the shots in a supposed democracy, but when they seem to be literally the only "adults in the room" and/or people that the Toddler-In-Chief respects (because they're Big Strong Military Men), you have to take what you can get.
And now they're both gone! So this will be fun.
Just in under the deadline too.
Derp State.
Probably both.
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
That might actually be abridge too far for trump's legions to follow him across.
There is no line he can cross that they won't march right along behind him.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
True as that may be, Republicans are so tribal these days I have a really hard time believing that as long as they’re in power, the base will support just about anyone sufficiently regressive.
Similarly, Trump is a military genius - he said so during the campaign and since, that he has a lot of very good ideas for dealing with ISIS and others, it's just up to the generals to make it happen. So why does he need extra layers getting in the way and coming up with bad ideas?
(And here's the thing: his followers believe, just as he does, that all of this is true, and will applaud him "taking charge". Now we'll see some real action, some real progress!)
The average republicwn doesn't give one red cent about the military. One needs only to look at how veterans are treated. Republicans say they love the military. That's all
I suspect that the primary reason that the Department of Veterans Affairs exists is so that the Department of Defense can't gut all of its programs.
Diplomacy and peace-keeping and providing for our vets has never, ever been a priority.
A snippet:
I mean, he's not wrong. Since the Acting ones don't need to be confirmed, and it would be on the Senate to question them, he's able to put whoever he wants into powerful positions without any vetting or approval.
How many "Acting" heads have simply transitioned to full on leadership without going through the Senate? That whole 100 Day thing seems to have been entirely ignored.
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Maybe the House Democrats can firce the issue a little by having future bills for the requisite confirmations responsibilities only take place (or expire after the legal acting's X days) if the head of that department has been Senate confirmed.
Obviously, there needs to be some flexibility, but I'm sure they can write it so this "acting indefinitely" bullshit can be finished.
I'd also put in place something to prevent someone from simultaneously holding two Senate confirmed jobs, even in an acting role, without Senate advice and consent. Mulvaney taking over the CFPB was SUCH bullshit.
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
I believe it's referring the continuing issues with Saudi Arabia and Qatar - with Saudi Arabia calling Qatar a state-sponsor of terrorism and boycotting it. Several other regional powers are also boycotting Qatar, following Saudi Arabia's lead (Bahrain, Egypt, UAE, others?).
It stretches back at least to 2017.
(WaPo article from May of last year)
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Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Mattis was DoD, this new resignation was in State. He was previously a 4 Star General in his old gig, but not presently. Aside from the whole 'you never stop being a General' thing.
Not surprising, as John Oliver has been trying to do so for years now.
#CatheterCowboy
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rosenstein-expected-depart-doj-coming-weeks-attorney-general/story?id=60252611 I can't wait for him to be replaced by even more of a stooge.
Oh wonderful.
So...countdown until Mueller is shut down?
Isn't it too late for that? I got the impression that if they try to shut him down now, the House will just tell him to keep working and they'll just change the letterhead on the paperwork.
I dunno. I fully expect the House's second order of business after the Shutdown is dealt with (with Senate Dems being obstructionist until it's passed), is to either push a bill requiring that Mueller be protected, or taking Mueller into the House investigations, either in it's entirety, or by getting all the testimony and evidence via their investigative power.
Now that the Democrats have taken the House, the loss of Rosenstein is bad, but it's not crippling. If this had happened six months ago, it'd have been a completely different story, relying solely on the effort of Mueller and his team to fight. Now they've got allies in the Legislature that can actually do something.
And those are just the high profile sources. We can infer from various court filings that the team has been far from idle in gathering information from other, less notorious sources: they've had 2 years to collate bank records, wiretaps, emails, witness reports, cellphone location records, SMS messages and Christ knows what else.
Calling time on the investigation at this point just makes it that much laughably easier to charge with obstruction and has the sun rise on dies irae.
Here shown the lead prosecutor making his opening statement:
Don't forget his accountant Weisselberg, and Pecker at AMI. Between those two, and Cohen, his pre-campaign misadventures are pretty much an open book.
As has been said by others, the Presidency is both the cause of all his problems (because he probably would have skated if he hadn't gone into the spotlight), and the only thing keeping those problems at bay.
He is so fucked if he's forced out. If the current Administration didn't leak like a sieve, and if he was a fraction as conniving and competent as he thinks he is, I'd think he'd be working a "I'll resign if you give me immunity" deal. But hes dumb as fuck, and thinks he can ride it out, and by the time he realises he needs that offramp, he'll be well past the argument for giving it to him.
Rosenstein is also losing the ability to protect the investigation anyway. I'm guessing that's been one of the few reasons he hadn't resigned long before this.
I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't care what happens now, as he's made the case that he did everything in his power to ensure things were done legally and correctly.
A strong argument, to be fair to the fellow.