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
Colonel,
Sir - I "win" against you??... I cannot believe it. :)
Posted by: fanto | 31 July 2017 at 03:19 PM
All
Kelly did the right thing. He made The Mooch's removal a pre-condition to his taking the job. bravo General Kelly! pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 31 July 2017 at 03:19 PM
fantomas
What is it you think you won? If it is the Kelly thing, he pre-empted the problem, exactly the right thing to do. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 31 July 2017 at 03:22 PM
Sir, I have predicted the erection of Berlin Wall in the weeks before August 13, 1961 , I also predicted the fall of the Soviet Union in 1986 (this one I have recorded on my old tape) - both predictions against the judgment of my old man who thought I am naive - and now, I have ´won´ against another admirable person. My wife said to my bragging `you are not in the same league with your Colonel ´ ...(she is right)
Posted by: fanto | 31 July 2017 at 03:43 PM
fantomas
I guess you mean Kelly's victory. Felicitations! pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 31 July 2017 at 03:45 PM
well, that didn't take long... some people fail upward in a rush.
Posted by: ked | 31 July 2017 at 03:46 PM
Col,
Or an immediate post-hiring condition. "Wanna fire me in the first week, Big Fella? Make my effing day." He preempted a cubic butt-load of BS right there. Bravo!
Posted by: Mark Logan | 31 July 2017 at 04:38 PM
I'm going to think that Moochi was brought in for the sole purpose of getting rid of Spicer and Preibus. Moochi was just too much of a caricature and I found his wife's sudden request for a divorce on the grounds of "unbridled political ambition" a bit out there. Now, if his wife proceeds with the divorce, I'm willing to eat crow. I think the establishments been played NY Post style.
Posted by: BillWade | 31 July 2017 at 05:58 PM
BillWade
OK We will see how long the Trump/Kelly honeymoon lasts. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 31 July 2017 at 06:20 PM
Interesting.
Makes me think GEN Kelly and Bannon are in tandem.
Those celebrating this as some sort of victory for the Left have the planning capability of a fruit fly.
GEN Kelly brings GEN Mattis. If they get a commo director on message that's quite the bastion for populism.
Posted by: Tyler | 31 July 2017 at 06:44 PM
Colonel, apparently Mooch told General Kelly "I don't have to report to you", after that conversation with the new sheriff in town, mooch found out he no longer need to report to anybody, except to himself. A good day it is indeed.
Posted by: Kooshy | 31 July 2017 at 07:24 PM
whatever it is, it's a sad sorrow entertainment on our expense.
Posted by: Kooshy | 31 July 2017 at 07:27 PM
Proposition 13 cap the property tax revenue, property tax in CA equals approx. 1.25% of purchase price but average price of property in Ca is higher than most states. Howard Jarvis’ proposition 13 passed in 1978
during first term and first run of Jerry Brown governorship.
Posted by: Kooshy | 31 July 2017 at 07:44 PM
kooshy
As I said, "well, solja-boy." But, the prolem for Kelly is that DJT will also be willing to throw him under the bus when he starts trying to discipline him. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 31 July 2017 at 11:10 PM
Good call
Posted by: Harry | 01 August 2017 at 04:45 AM
Quite so! Ironic for many of us.
Posted by: Harry | 01 August 2017 at 04:51 AM
How subcontractors hated him. He bankrupted many.
Posted by: Harry | 01 August 2017 at 04:56 AM
PA,
You mean Barrack was a mass incarcerator - aided by two black attorney generals in a row.
Posted by: Fred | 01 August 2017 at 08:50 AM
TG,
Plus he stopped funding ISIS in Syria. I hope their Saudi and Israeli allies are next. I can dream.
Posted by: Cee | 01 August 2017 at 12:07 PM
"Those celebrating this as some sort of victory for the Left..."
Tyler, could it be a victory for the GOP establishment & the neocons? The likes of McCain & his office wife. Will be interesting to see what influence Kelly, McMaster & Mattis bring to WH policy and if they'll be lock step with each other. We'll have to see if the CIA program to fund & arm the jihadis in Syria actually ends. Pompeo seems another nutty interventionist.
As a betting man, would you take the over/under that Kelly lasts more than a year?
Posted by: Sam Peralta | 01 August 2017 at 12:11 PM
Fantomas, sometimes, the way of reasoning leading to a prediction is more interesting than the prediction itself. And sometimes, the prediction is wrong but the way of reasoning remains valid. Nowadays, who cares about the Nostradamus prophecies, which were pure illuminations with no deductions...
Best regards. PhT
Posted by: Philippe T. | 01 August 2017 at 12:35 PM
It wasn't hyperbole at all, ked.
That said, the people Trump likes to call "my generals" are probably the only points of sanity in the Administration. Kelly and Mattis are said to have agreed very early on that one of them would be in the country at all times to deal with anything coming out of the White House.
It would not at all surprise me if eventually Trump is surrounded by only family and military, and the outward resemblance to a banana republic will be complete when Trump starts designing his own uniforms.
Posted by: Stephanie | 01 August 2017 at 02:54 PM
All,
Humor alert:
https://twitter.com/DPRK_News/status/892105071894249472
Raises a question of Borowitz authoring DPRK tweets, which would explain much.
Posted by: Mark Logan | 01 August 2017 at 05:05 PM
The young will move to middle America such as those living in the Midwest moved to CA during the Depression. Both sides of my family came from Kansas and Oklahoma for that reason.
Posted by: Nancy K | 01 August 2017 at 06:53 PM
So you are saying people are willing to pay a fortune for a house and for rent because it is a failed state. That really makes little sense.
Posted by: Nancy K | 01 August 2017 at 06:56 PM