Kelly vs "the Mooch"

Having worked for a few extremely "scattered" bosses who loved to play their subordinates off against each other, I recognize the type in DJT. 

Reza Shah Pahlavi, the founder of the ancien regime Iranian imperial dynasty once said that "in Iran all the telegraph lines must run to my feet."  By that he evidently meant that he, personally, would run all aspects of life in Iran.  Clearly, he felt that this was the optimal management style. 

President Trump's style IMO resembles that of the first Pahlavi.  He does not have  a team.  He has people whom he sees as adjuncts of his glory as an entrepreneurial "grand master." He is a certain kind of "big businessman."  He believes that capitalism is entirely about personal self aggrandizement and ego reinforcement.   I once worked for a similar character, an entrepreneur with political ambitions.   That man could not formulate a manifesto that expressed his hopes for the people of his country.  He could not do it because he could not conceive of a program that was not about him personally.  In the end he hired a collection of professors to cobble together a collection of trite academic platitudes.  He lost the election.  IMO Trump is much like that man.  He is ego driven and will say or do anything he thinks needed to increase his position.  A corollary of his mentality is that he has no loyalty to anyone who works for him and he sees them all as potential rivals for the future.  We have now seen several examples of the depth of his disregard for those who have been willing to work for him.

To deal with the throng of incompetents and disloyals (irony alert) around him, DJT has now brought in a soul-mate, Anthony Scaramucchi (honest to god that is his name).  "The Mooch" as he is known to his associates is a junk-yard dog armed with a Harvard JD and a record of success at Goldman Sachs among all the other selfish, self-centered junk-yard dogs. 

In the other corner of the ring we will see John Kelly, USMC (ret.) who evidently has chosen to live by a code of self-sacrifice and service.  This man of honor is now going to lie down with the junk-yard dogs in order to serve his country.

I can hear the echo from the future of one of his encounters with "the Mooch."  "Well, solja-boy, who the f--k do you think you are to tell me what to do.?"

I predict that given the choice between Kelly and "the Mooch," DJT will keep his soul mate and discard Kelly.

I favor much of DJT's domestic program.  He probably has adopted that program for selfish, egotistical reasons but it is still a program that I favor.   In addition, his preference for an improvement in relations with Russia seems common sense. 

Nevertheless, I have no illusions about him.  pl

 

Comments

[Morongobill]

For his own sake, I hope the mooch has the good sense to not talk to or about General Kelly as he did about Bannon or Preibus. He might just find out how tough a Marine really is.

[Tyler]

Sir,

With all due respect I think you're mistaking Trump's demeanor with his nature. While he has his flaws, in private he seems to be very generous to all and sundry.

Mooch is a junkyard dog, and Reince was indeed likely the leaker, or providing cover for the leaks. Kelly being appointed only underlines what Scott Adams said: that Trump is going to war. Mooch was brought on because he groks the NYC/DC axis mentality and knows how to leverage it.

I think McMaster's neocon ass is on its way out.

[Tom Cafferty]

Domestic program? What program? I think it is just stream of consciousness from an unhinged mind.

[Lemur]

Trump is an icebreaker opening up a channel toward a new political horizon. Ego fueled 'creative destruction' plays a big part in that.

[Phil Cattar]

Colonel,Only time will tell.But my gut tells me the Mooch will be the one to go.He may have been successful in his past endeavors but will prove to be a shooting star here.

[turcopolier]

tyler

Do I get another chance or are am I banned from SST? pl

[Tyler]

Sir,

Okay that caught me off guard and made me laugh.

I'm only a junior probationary author here, but that's my .02: Trump tried to reach out to the GOPe, and he's tired of treacherous McCains, virtue signallers like Sasse, and incompetents.

Now watch for him to pull an Ataturk attack from all points of the compass/Night of the Long Knives/end of The Godfather style reckoning.

[David E. Solomon]

Colonel Lang,

I think one might reasonably ask if Trump even remembers what was in his domestic program?

[Jack]

Sir

Thanks for this incredibly insightful post.

While I have worked for several craven and egotistical CEOs, they all recognized at some level that they could only throw so many of their subordinates under the bus for lack of performance before the board would have a frank conversation with them.

I believe The Donald is in an unusual situation for a POTUS. He won the election defeating two political dynasties while being virulently attacked by the corporate media and the establishment of both parties. He has no political support in DC. Throughout the election campaign the biggest issue for his opponents were his style and demeanor. And since the election he has been under constant attack, with many on both sides of the aisle as well as former high officials in the key intel agencies actively campaigning for his ouster.

Pat Buchanan is, IMO, spot on that he is fearful that Mueller's investigation will veer away from the Russian "collusion" angle as he comes up empty handed there, to The Donald's personal financial transactions well before he even became a candidate. This must make DJT very nervous.

http://buchanan.org/blog/trump-entering-kill-box-127396

Now that it must be apparent to him that he is essentially on his own with no real political allies in the DC power structure, what will he do to secure his own position and push forward with his agenda. His acquiescence on the Russia sanctions bill shows how limited his room for maneuver really are. At some point he's gonna have to give his opponents a taste of their own medicine by getting a special counsel investigation on the leaks by Brennan and Clapper, the financial transactions of the Clintons and senior members of Congress who have disproportionate wealth relative to their decades of Congressional pay. Tweeting outrage won't cut it when Mueller starts digging into his finances and past financial transactions. He will have to go after the DC power structure for pure survival. If he does, that will be the best thing as both sides engage in mortal combat. Maybe the "House of Cards" can then come down.

[turcopolier]

David E. Solomon

IMO that is not true. he knows what is good for him and a general increase in prosperity is good for him. pl

[turcopolier]

jack

Trump was not head of a corporate structure of the "c" corp. type. he was sole proprietor of a family business. there really was no "board" in the sense you mean. pl

[turcopolier]

tyler

Derek Harvey needed firing. A total incompetent. pl

[David E. Solomon]

Colonel Lang,

Assuming he really does know what he wants to accomplish on the domestic front, do you see anyway he might possibly implement any of his plans?

I just do not think he has either the intelligence or the skill to get much done. I guess we will see over the next 3 1/2 years.

[Jack]

Point well taken, Sir, in that he has no experience with a supervisory structure.

[VietnamVet]

Colonel,

Thanks for your excellent examination of Donald J Trump. I never crept high enough to deal with the Masters of the Universe. To this old plebian he seems more of a German Mob Boss than an Iranian Shah. He is an autocrat. I disagree with his domestic, energy and environmental policies plus the media disinformation is getting to me. I keep reminding myself that he stopped supplying the Daesh and hasn’t started a new war, yet. His Administration, so far, has accelerated the great unraveling of America.

[turcopolier]

David E. Solomon

You are like the woman in a New York City street who told a TV man with a camera, "He is destroying our world." Yes. He is destroying the world of the "end of history crowd? and you obviously are of that crowd, I guess you have not noticed how much of the Obama super state he has destroyed by cancelling executive orders. I guess you missed the VA law, but then you are probably not a veteran. pl

[turcopolier]

VV

The agitprop disinformation is mainly against him with the corporate media harping on every little damned thing. we never supplied IS. It is the AQ affiliates that he has stopped supply to. He is NOT an autocrat. did you not notice that he could not even cause the ACA to be repealed. IMO you have been taken in by the lefty propaganda. pl

[The Beaver]

Rumours and Page Six:

Scaramucci's wife got fed up with his Washington, D.C. ambitions and decided to leave him, thus has filed for divorce.

[David E. Solomon]

Colonel, you misunderstand me.

Obama made a totally waste of his presidency. He had the opportunity to govern with the intelligence to do so, but like the Clintons before him, he was really only concerned with his own importance (not to mention his personal corporate welfare stream).

While I doubt that Trump is worried about his future income stream, I really doubt the man's stability as well as his abilities.

I know that "hope springs eternal", but in the end I think you will be disappointed.

You seem to be, in many ways, an optimist.

I am, on the other hand. a confirmed pessimist.

Nevertheless, I sincerely hope that your reading is correct and mine is absolutely wrong.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Regards,

David

[David E. Solomon]

For the record Colonel, I am not a veteran. That is why I do not, for the most part, respond to matters of which I cannot possibly have a lucid opinion.

Nevertheless, I read your site multiple times a day and have for years. I believe you do a service to your readers. In fact, I assume that you probably have many more regular readers than you know about from those who comment.

Please keep up the good work.

Regards,

David

[Haralambos]

Tyler,
I thought the Reince leak was dropped as an operative meme yesterday, since the journalist who published the information announced that she had made a FOI request, which was unnecessary, and she got her information from public documents.

[eakens]

He did blow through the competition to get where he's at. He may not be firing on every cylinder for your liking, but too many people still after all that has happened, still can't bring themselves to give him any credit whatsoever. That flaw has nothing to do with him.

[Kooshy]

Colonel I know this Wall Street type big shots likes of Muchie IMO, you are right on characterizing this type. IMO this guy, already made 80 million, can he more self centered then DT, I can guarantee he has zero respect for the deplorables or even a class higher.

[Babak Makkinejad]

The median house price in California is now $ 450,000. How could a young person ever build equity there? Likewise in Brooklyn.
There are many such places in either coast.
Something has to give.

[turcopolier]

David E. Solomon

I am generally thought to be a pessimist, pl