Trump and the IC "consultants."

" ... how tenable is this for Trump? How long can he go on questioning the information he receives from intelligence briefings, as he seems intent upon doing?"  Washpost

------------

Wait for it!  The answer to the question is - indefinitely.  I would think that the Trump Administration will go through the ranks of the SES/SIS position holders at CIA/DIA/NSA, etc. like a scythe.  These folks, of whom I was one (SES-4) are not career protected like the lower members of the federal civil service.  In return for their elevated rank (equivalent to military flag officers) they lack actual legal job security and can be much more easily removed.  They are usually highly politicized schemers and enablers for their presidential appointee bosses at the very top of the food chain.  But who will run things!?  Well, pilgrims there are lots of eager beaver GS-15s awaiting their turn and eager to prove their loyally to the administration.

Hey, why not ?  Payback is a bitch and people like Clapper and Brennan could not have staged this intelligence "coup" without the cooperation of the SES corps. 

And then there is the little matter of the chain of command in the federal government.  NEWS FLASH!!  The IC agencies work for the president.  He does not work for them.  If he does not accept their analysis - so be it!  They are not semi-divine creatures endowed with some special gift of understanding the world,  Well, some are, but not many. 

Any intelligence is destined to support decision making for policy.  It should NEVER be prescriptive.  The news idiots keep asking old intelligence hands what policy should be...  What a sad joke.

For Trump, the IC is just another consultant group.  pl

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/06/its-about-to-get-much-tougher-for-donald-trump-to-doubt-the-intelligence-on-russias-hacking/?utm_term=.ea982b6165da

Comments

[Jack]

Sir

You hit the nail on the head. Yes, indeed. What all these folks don't get is that all of them work for POTUS. I find Schumer's comment that Trump is dumb by taking on the intelligence community as "they have six ways from Sunday at getting back" very instructive.

Trump as the incoming boss is doing absolutely the right thing by ensuring everyone gets that he is going to be the new boss. A good "pare back" with a reorg and firing a few high up muckety mucks will send the right message IMO.

The Borg are having conniptions that they can't roll Trump as easily as they expected. And the people are not buying their scare mongering and hysteria that easily either. This link to John Harwood's tweet poll results are so hilarious.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-06/john-harwood-asks-who-do-you-believe-america-gets-surprising-answer

[aleksandar]

" How is it tenable for Trump ? " ask Wapo.
Stupid question ( as usual ).
Do you hear the ticking ?
Fourteen days left.

[The Twisted Genius]

I had lunch with a good friend yesterday who spent the last fifteen years or so with the Klingons. He began his federal career writing Assembler code for nuclear command and control. He's worked throughout the Agency and with several other government entities. He tells me the spooks are anticipating a massive house cleaning just as Colonel Lang envisions. He also confirmed my view that the IC is rotten with self-serving careerists. A condition that is rapidly getting worse. The problem is that all those eager beaver GG-15s have been educated and mentored by those same self-serving careerists. The old school professionals have long since retired or just moved on to warmer climes. My friend is counting the days until he can retire this September. He talked longingly of the Keys.

[kooshy]

Colonel, IMO, and from what I understand of Mr. Trump, so far, he acts and sees everything "as a matter of business" and not "as the matter of his or his advisers ideology", this IMO include his confusing use of twiter and the matter of election stand, which his opposition from all different sides and venues including their media/IC tools/fools never understood.

[Lemur]

John Schindler writes screeds about 'why no President can afford to go up against the Intelligence Community.'

It's like these neocons are openly proud of their Deep State subversion.

[Valissa]

In honor of Trump's long history with the WWE... these fantasy moments ;)

Famous Firings - WWE Top 10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwGjRLPzNEI

[Lemur]

"Trump will/can never do X"

*Trump does X*

"Trump will never do Y"

*Trump does Y*

I don't see the media changing this pattern they've maintained since Trump announced anytime soon.

[Donald]

Has anyone been following the latest wikileaks bombshell?

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/816451863403003904

You can google Kerry ISIS and get more details from various sites, but the story hasn't really taken off the way I think it should, unless there is something obviously phony about it. Briefly, Kerry spoke to some Syrian rebel spokespeople last fall. An audio tape was given to the NYT and they wrote about it, but apparently (according to this latest leak) they left out the really juicy stuff, where Kerry says the US allowed ISIS to grow, hoping it would put pressure on Assad, but that Russia entered the war to fight ISIS. I listened to that part of the tape myself a few hours ago. No idea if it is genuine. But it surprises me that it isn't getting more attention either as a bombshell or as a fraud.

[J]

Incoming POTUS Trump I hope and pray will do what has needed done , dice and slice the CIA into a HUMINT COLLECTION ONLY ice sculpture.

[ked]

"... there are lots of eager beaver GS-15s awaiting their turn and eager to prove their loyally to the administration."

Must he replace the entrenched SES class that's been cleaned out w/ civil servants - is that a legal requirement? Because if there isn't, I think his interest in selecting among career federal employees on any sound basis (competency & ethics) may be suspect - after all, GS-15s might be happy to tell him what he wants to hear. If he could install outsider loyalists, having allegiance to himself above all, I expect he'd go that way.

[SAC Brat]

The media was in La-La land before the election. What makes anyone think they got a visa to visit reality?

[The Twisted Genius]

Judging from the early news accounts, Trump is convinced that the Russians are behind the hacks and leaks after today's IC briefing. He also said the Russian effort did not affect the election results. Now he's on reasonable grounds and can get on with the work of NOT going to war with Russia.

I think it was jld who spoke of the crux of this issue. It is about meme creation and meme destruction. Trump's goal is to prevent the "Russians elected Trump" movement into becoming the next birther movement. The Borg's goal is to ensure that new meme becomes part of the American psyche.

[Chris Chuba]

Since the Col allowed your post on this thread, I'll add my 2 cents. I listened to it.

Kerry meeting with opposition representatives:
regarding the terms of the second ceasefire agreement in 9/16
The sections below are a mixture of paraphrasing and transcribing. Transcribing all of these sections will take more time and resolve since it is painful to listen to Kerry over and over again (nails on a chalkboard).

When I embed a url, it is set to go to the actual time offset so that you do not have to find it manually, text in [brackets] is my commentary.

3:48 - 4:01 1. Kerry admits that opposition and extremists are aligned:
Kerry: "Nusra and Daesh both make it hard because you have this extreme element and unfortunately some of the opposition has already chosen to work with them"

22:29 - 23:51 2. Opposition Rep defends Nusra:
The rebel representative is angry that Sunnis [Al Nusra/ISIS] will be bombed in the ceasefire while Hezbollah and the Iranian/Iraqi militias are not. Kerry has to explain that Nusra/Daesh have attacked the U.S. and are our enemies while Hezbollah has not and has not even been active against Israel for a while.

[Hmm... then why is Syria listed as a terrorist state and Iran the #1 sponsor of terrorism. This moderate is basically pleading for Nusra. So why are we supporting these people?]
https://youtu.be/e4phB-_pXDM?t=1349

27:46 until the end, 3. Opposition rejects elections:
Kerry: "Why can't you have accountability at the ballot box?"
Female opposition rep: [paraphrasing] She basically has a hissy fit. It's worth listening to.

https://youtu.be/e4phB-_pXDM?t=1662
[The interaction between Kerry and the opposition is interesting. Kerry starts off genuinely hopeful and I find it intriguing how the lady shoots him down and takes control. Then Kerry tries to recover with a 'well, I was in favor of bombing Assad' almost as if he is giving into a desire to please the person he is speaking to. She's a Harpy.]

[VietnamVet]

Colonel,

Simply put the Democratic Party turned its back on working America and is scapegoating Russia to continue to get corporate contributions and stay in power. I accept your and TTG’s expertise on the upcoming turmoil. A lot of rice bowls will be broken to form a western alliance with Russia and China to eliminate the Islamic State. Turkey appears to be headed in this direction. We shall see who will win; the American people and sovereign democracies or wealthy Globalists and endless wars.

[FND]

This one is even better Valissa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NsrwH9I9vE

[Lars]

A very long time ago, I was also writing Assembler code and the first thing we had to deal with was GIGO.

Maybe everybody should take a look at Paul Bremer and his merry band that was going to make Iraq great again.

[turcopolier]

ked

There are legal limits but IMO as many careerist civil servants as possible should be retired and replaced. pl

[b]

There is also this from Kerry (26:30)

"And we know that this was growing, we were watching, we saw that DAESH was growing in strength, and we thought Assad was threatened" Kerry told the Syrians.
"(We) thought, however," he continued. "we could probably manage that Assad might then negotiate. But instead of negotiating he got Putin to support him."

[b]

Just as important as cleaning up the IC is the cleaning up of the corps of perfumed princes in the Pentagon. Unfortunately Trump seems to have no interest in that.

The IC report is now out: https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf

To me it looks like a Kremlin disinformation plot to destroy all public confidence in US intelligence.
A full third of the report is about Russia Today. It shows RT internet statistic from 2012 and mentions RT TV shows that were canceled in 2014 and 2015.
Facts that could be seen as relevant to "Russian hacking" in the report? Exactly zero.

[gowithit]

Interesting post by Juan Cole
http://www.juancole.com/2017/01/circus-twisted-pretzels.html

Actually fairly favorable to Trump!

[Karl Kolchack]

As a retired fed myself, I compliment you for nailing the issue right on its miserable little head. It seems to me that the IC got so complacent about having an empty suit in the White House, soon to be replaced they thought by a corrupt pantsuit, that they completely forgot who the boss is. I don't like Trump and didn't vote for him, but I hope he does exactly what you are suggesting, and then follows it up with a demand that the new SES/SIS'ers strip away the many layers of unnecessary bloat and audit those black budgets to find out how badly the taxpayers are being screwed.

[Bandolero]

TTG

I'm quite sure in the coming weeks and months the IC will come to the conclusion that:

1.) the Russians were quite happy to see Trump win because Clinton was hostile to them,

2.) there is evidence that Russian media had a more positive view on Trump than many US media, and

3.) there is no conclusive evidence that the Russians hacked the Dems, and

4.) there is neither an overwhelming reasonable basis to conclude only the Russians would hack the Dems because there were many people, groups and states who didn't like Clinton.

I think it would be a straight win for Trump, and all that Trump has to do to get this is to appoint IC chiefs who will say this.

What do you think of this scenario?

[JMH]

Trump on WWE was clever way to implant himself into the collective id of the volk.

[Clonal Antibody]

You should read (or hear) the book "Disciplined Minds"

Who are you going to be? That is the question.

In this riveting book about the world of professional work, Jeff Schmidt demonstrates that the workplace is a battleground for the very identity of the individual, as is graduate school, where professionals are trained. He shows that professional work is inherently political, and that professionals are hired to subordinate their own vision and maintain strict "ideological discipline."

The hidden root of much career dissatisfaction, argues Schmidt, is the professional's lack of control over the political component of his or her creative work. Many professionals set out to make a contribution to society and add meaning to their lives. Yet our system of professional education and employment abusively inculcates an acceptance of politically subordinate roles in which professionals typically do not make a significant difference, undermining the creative potential of individuals, organizations and even democracy.

Schmidt details the battle one must fight to be an independent thinker and to pursue one's own social vision in today's corporate society. He shows how an honest reassessment of what it really means to be a professional employee can be remarkably liberating. After reading this brutally frank book, no one who works for a living will ever think the same way about his or her job.

[hans]

Yesterday the House reinstated the Holman Rule and that allows Congress to cut the salaries of individual civil servants to $1.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/312797-house-gop-revive-rule-that-lets-lawmakers-slash-gov-employees