So, Steve Bannon is elevated to the Principals Committee and the DNI as well as the CJCS is removed from automatic attendance for some actions? Ah, well, now we are headed for trouble ... Issues "accidentally" arise that involve you when you are not at the table. Flynn will protect the IC's interests? Flynn is essentially a glorified technician in the combat intelligence trade and not a deep thinker. Several of the men appointed to supply Flynn's staff are men like Flynn. We must remember that when these fellows were promoted to their retirement ranks, promotion rates were very high, too high. Would some of them have been promoted that high in ordinary circumstance? Perhaps they would have been but I have doubts.
It was fairly easy to excuse the fumbling "bull in a China stop" style of the first week by attributing it to inexperience, but this indicates a desire to govern by "kitchen cabinet." that is a menace.
Worse things to come are likely. pl
Note: That does not make HC a better candidate than she was.
Demography is probably destiny, but the question of how long the Democrats will be out of power may not be properly phrased. Though it is not fully visible yet, I think that Trumpism has already caused the demise of both parties as we know them. It seems to me that the question is which party will be able to capture the center that believes in a democratic government based upon ideas of tolerance and equality and that can adapt to the changing demography?
Trumpism is fundamentally a combination of white-authoritarianism and corporate autocracy. We are beginning to see a strong pushback against it. Whether Trumpism can move fast enough to defeat the pushback remains to be seen.
If the deplorables ever come to understand they will be further enslaved by Trumpism, we may get a more beneficent government. If not, we will begin to see something like Hungary or Venezuela.
Posted by: Origin | 31 January 2017 at 11:28 AM
Dr. Puck -- You may be onto something. Here is something that popped into my inbox that fleshes out some of what you have intuited.
https://medium.com/@jakefuentes/the-immigration-ban-is-a-headfake-and-were-falling-for-it-b8910e78f0c5#.8uqm35yky
Frankly, I'm not sure this isn't all just a test.
Posted by: Laura | 31 January 2017 at 11:30 AM
ked -- Here is a conspiracy theory for you...https://medium.com/@jakefuentes/the-immigration-ban-is-a-headfake-and-were-falling-for-it-b8910e78f0c5#.8uqm35yky
Sort of worries me!
Posted by: Laura | 31 January 2017 at 11:33 AM
English Outsider
I think he's found his issue(s).
Meanwhile, Federal judges issued stays against his "Muslim ban" order. The DHS disregarded them. Customs and Border Patrol agents denied access to legal counsel and deported people. They did what Trump said, not what Federal Court orders said. Interesting, huh?
Posted by: Edward Amame | 31 January 2017 at 11:36 AM
Freuden,
Except pointing out that Trump is obviously worth billions and all we have to "prove" your claims of entrepreneurial acumen is your own semi-self depreciating anecdote.
Anecdotal evidence is the last refuge of someone without a point. Seems to go hand in hand with not knowing what an ad hom is. Sad!
Posted by: Tyler | 31 January 2017 at 11:48 AM
EA,
I think this is where you are wrong. Will those local Dem Clubs be expelling Democrats for Life? How about the the "Hunting, Fishing & Gun Ownership Caucus" in the Michigan MDP? There are plenty of other examples.
Most of the backlash you object to is not to president Obama because he is black but because he patently objected to traditional American values.
What is the definition of racist you are using? Those groups are racists because you label them so? Even Obama did not go that far in his language. Do any of those "white" people have a right to remain citizens or should they be crushed by an immigration policy that replaces them with a demographic more appealing to you?
Posted by: Fred | 31 January 2017 at 11:48 AM
"why would anyone in that status leave this country which could jeopardize that pursuit"?
Because their mother is dying.
Posted by: Babak Makkinejad | 31 January 2017 at 12:53 PM
Jack
Like I said, let's see what happens to Gabbard's "Stop Arming Terrorists" bill in Congress.
Posted by: Edward Amame | 31 January 2017 at 12:58 PM
This is just another example of media manufactured hysteria. Opinion polls show that more support the temporary bans than oppose. The MSM and the establishment have not learned anything from the election. Trump voters and even some who didn't vote for him are drawn to him more because of this concerted and ham fisted manner in trying to manufacture a Hitler-like caricature of the man.
But in perfect government fashion, failure means do more if it and expect different results.
Posted by: Jack | 31 January 2017 at 01:02 PM
Origin,
The proper question is did Acting Attorney General provide her professional legal advice to the President when she was instructed to defend the EO or did she decide - on her own initiative - to instruct the DOJ not to take action to defend the order. I think she did the latter. I also think she's the hero of the hour to some and probably in for a fine multi-million dollar job/book deal and the newest recruit for a congressional or senatorial seat. But I'm cynical that way. She should act soon though, in the Twitter world of today her 15 minutes of fame will last about 5.
Posted by: Fred | 31 January 2017 at 01:22 PM
EA,
IMO that term "racist" gets abused by the left to an obnoxious extent; so much so it has lost almost all of its original meaning.
If anything, the people you don't like, who voted for Trump, are "culturalists". They do not care what color a person is nor, particularly, what spiritual (or lack thereof) values they adhere to *as long as the people in question are compatible with western civ and hold that system in high esteem*. Yes, I'm sure you can use your google-fu to find an example of a truly racist Trump supporter. There are always exceptions. It's the mean that counts.
It just so happens that a visible proportion of certain minority groups have made it clear that they are unwilling or unable to assimilate to the ideals of Western civ. Is that proportion a majority? I have no idea. Probably not. However, even if a minority proportion, it is very visible and very costly - not just costly in terms of financial resources and crime, but also in terms of national character.
The fear is that if, for example, enough Mexicans were to come here, this country would come to resemble Mexico; a country that people want to leave because it is a third world pit. If enough Muslims were to come here, then this country would take on the flavor of the MENA. Do you want to live in Mexico? Do you want to live in the MENA?
Another variable adding to the fear is the left's excuse making for those who do not assimilate (this includes our native African American population). Trump supporters see that the left's actions and rhetoric are - on purpose or by accident - designed to impede assimilation. Many on the left exhibit a great disdain for the values that made this country great. I know a lot of lefties and I debate with them frequently these days. They clearly see white males from today back to the founders of the country as "evil"; citing slavery, treatment of Native Americans, various real or imagined transgressions of capitalism, etc.
So you have people from the third world entering the country largely unfamiliar with our ways and a very vocal left that controls much media and the education system telling them that the existing system is unjust and needs to be overturned. Those of us who love this country and what it stands for are rightly concerned.
What has changed re; immigration and related issues is that there is left encouraging non-assimilation and there is welfare/social services that erodes economic incentives to assimilate as well as free market forces regulating immigrant influx in the first place.
But the left wants to boil it all down to "racism". That, in itself, is offensive. It's a tactic to be applied to the stupid and the gullible and we see through it.
Also, Trump supporters have noticed a growing true racism on the part of non-whites. Actually, it's been there all along. Growing up in Detroit, there were large swaths of the geography I could not enter because, being white, I would have been targeted for summary execution. Nowadays, that sentiment from the non-white is becoming acceptable to express publicly. Living for 22 years, as an adult, not far from the Mexican border, I knew many Hispanics who harbored hatred for "pinches gueros" (anglos). hat is also becoming increasingly acceptable to display in public forums.
Put all of that together and you should not be surprised that whites are circling the wagons. The left brought this upon themselves.
Posted by: Eric Newhill | 31 January 2017 at 01:25 PM
Jack,
Libertarians and progressives have been kept in the shadows by Democrats and Republicans who are more loyal to their respective political parties and administrations than to any set of principles. You are right. Ron Paul has been a consistent critic of our warmongering and government surveillance as has Bernie Sanders Tulsi Gabbard. They have all been savaged by the Republican/Democrat Borg entity. It's like the age when dinosaurs ruled the earth and mammals were a few small creatures hiding in the underbrush clinging to a precarious existence. The election of Trump is like a major volcanic event or meteor strike that brings about the extinction of the Republican/Democratic dinosaurs and creates space for the libertarians and progressives to expand.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 31 January 2017 at 01:39 PM
Fred
I don't know what local Dem Club's will be doing, but expelling for life sounds a little Soviet era for me. It's more like we'll be shaping the future of the Dem Party from the ground up.
To be clear. I am not (at all) claiming that Trump voters are all alt-right. I'm guessing that the vast majority of them have no clue what the alt-right's about.
On racism in the alt right. Here are some of its stars.
Richard Spencer, publisher of AlternativeRight.com, says the alt-right's “trying to build a philosophy, an ideology around identity, European identity.”
Jared Taylor, editor of American Renaissance, says, "The alt right accepts that race is a biological fact and that it’s a significant aspect of individual and group identity and that any attempt to create a society in which race can be made not to matter will fail."
Kevin MacDonald, editor of The Occidental Observer promises to “present original content touching on the themes of white identity, white interests, and the culture of the West”
Sam Francis, late syndicated columnist, called for a “white racial consciousness”
Theodore Robert Beale, the white nationalist blogger, counts as a central tenet of the Alt-Right that “we must secure the existence of white people and a future for white children,”
Paul Ramsey, white nationalist and Holocaust revisionist, produced a video titled “Is it wrong not to feel sad about the Holocaust?” and asks, “Do you mean that six million figure? You know that six million figure has been used many times before World War II, did you know that?”
Alt-Right hub The Right Stuff, created a meme whereby Jews would be identified by placing parentheses around their names, as in (((Albert Einstein))) or (((Dennis Prager))).
Here's a helpful primer on Neo-reaction, which is Silicon Valley's contribution to the alt-right: https://ia800403.us.archive.org/25/items/the-silicon-ideology/the-silicon-ideology.pdf
You've seen the term "cuck" tossed around, right? Sometimes it's used to describe individuals as cowards. Other times it's short for “cuckservative” which Richard Spencer helpfully defines as “a white gentile conservative who thinks he’s promoting his own interests but really isn’t.”
Breitbart's Steve Bannon boasted that "We're the platform for the alt-right." And Ben Shapiro, former editor-at-large at Breitbart, left because "under Bannon’s leadership, Breitbart openly embraced the White Supremacist Alt-Right." http://www.dailywire.com/news/8441/i-know-trumps-new-campaign-chairman-steve-bannon-ben-shapiro#
Posted by: Edward Amame | 31 January 2017 at 01:52 PM
I agree.
Posted by: Babak Makkinejad | 31 January 2017 at 01:55 PM
I'm afraid my original comment needs correction. The columnist I referred to, India Knight, has written in the past for the Times of London but seems mostly to write for the Sunday Times. The Sunday Times is a large circulation quality English weekly paper. Somehow I doubt Mrs Knight's cri de coeur reflects the Sunday Times' editorial policy. Hope not anyway.
On the question you write about, yes, it is interesting because much the same issues trouble us here, but you'll be able to assess the implications and I can't. That's because I don't know much about English law or Law Enforcement in this area, let alone American. I'm glad the two Iraqis got through, whatever the law is.
On a more cheerful note, how's the swamp draining going for you over there? Any luck yet?
Posted by: English Outsider | 31 January 2017 at 01:55 PM
Gordon,
A nice essay. I particularly like the line "We are no longer a nation of principles, but of preferences."
Yes, honesty has gone out of fashion, "reality" is a construct,and hard work is solely the lot of Deplorables who should do nothing else; in particular they should not be allowed to vote. Seems like Democracy is an "export only" product.
Interesting times.
Ishmael Zechariah
Posted by: Ishmael Zechariah | 31 January 2017 at 02:01 PM
Eric,
Please see my response to Fred.
IMO, you're describing a backlash against multiculturalism/diversity. It seems like a lot of white people in the US think they're racially oppressed and want to reverse policies and laws and that they think discriminate against them.
Posted by: Edward Amame | 31 January 2017 at 02:11 PM
The lefties are deliberately trying to stir up shit by doubling down on the "fascist threat", if the usual idiots buy it things may not end well.
https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/trial-balloon-for-a-coup-e024990891d5#.ezpmria8t
Posted by: jld | 31 January 2017 at 02:15 PM
Origin
Yes, the chaos was intentional. These people are not bunglers. And a lot of border agents apparently deliberately ignored the stays against Trump's "Muslim ban" order. Is Bannon testing the waters?
Posted by: Edward Amame | 31 January 2017 at 02:18 PM
EA
IMO, it will go nowhere. The warmongers in both parties have the majority in Congress. And they'll coalesce to defeat it. Do you think McCain and his office wife and Chuckie and DiFi gonna support this?
They're already smearing Tulsi as Assad's and Putin's stooge. And they got the MSM hysteria platform to keep the drum beat going.
The only chance is if Trump aligns with Putin to destroy the jihadis but then we'll have all the hyper-ventilating crowd screaming that Putin runs Trump's foreign policy.
Posted by: Jack | 31 January 2017 at 02:22 PM
BillWade - as one Deplorable to another, if I'm not presuming, we find ourselves in strange company when we go visiting that site. I'm beginning to see why Trump & Co. fetched out the long spoons when the alt-right invited itself to the party.
I'm not being flippant, because the search for the root causes of the moral failure of "progressivism" is certainly an important one. But I honestly don't believe this writer helps with that search. In fact I think he impedes it, if that's not being too dismissive of a site that does put together some information.
And the Enlightenment did have its good side. Botany 'n stuff.
Posted by: English Outsider | 31 January 2017 at 02:37 PM
Not 5, three.
Posted by: Origin | 31 January 2017 at 02:47 PM
Both
Posted by: Origin | 31 January 2017 at 02:52 PM
I don't support the DNC, and did not contribute to them, but did the Sanders campaign. I did vote for her in the primary because I thought she not Sanders could beat Trump. My wrong and what I feared has come upon me.
Posted by: Nancy K | 31 January 2017 at 03:20 PM
Lets see how happy he makes you in 4 years before you pledge to 8. He scares the hell out of me.
Posted by: Nancy K | 31 January 2017 at 03:22 PM