One thing I can say about Trump…
…is that he’s pretty good at firing people whose performance he finds wanting.
So, is Bannon in disfavor and possibly on the way out?
I haven’t a clue. But it wouldn’t break my heart if it were to happen.
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
Disagree.
Bannon was absolutely key to Trump’s winning. He is a real intellectual. Trump is not. Supposedly Trump is a loyal guy. Most importantly, Bannon is a conservative and populist. Kushner is not.
Another useful purpose is that Bannon serves in the Darth Vader role for Trump; like Dick Cheney. If he is gone, all of that fire goes right on POTUS.
If Bannon is thrown out it only encourages the Left and makes them think they can get Trump next.
A giant, giant mistake if Bannon is out.
All of this gossip is served up by the MSM to further the chaos narrative.
My comment – and much of my thinking about Trump – is influenced by Scott Adams. No way does Trump cut Bannon lose. He takes too much fire for Trump; too useful.
Loose! Not lose.
Yeah I disagree as well. One of my biggest fears with Trump is that he goes the Schwarzenegger route and starts sort of right of center and eventually is pulled leftward and with so many of Trump’s family members apparently leaning left I think this is a big concern. Could see a scenario where new people entering his sphere of influence come from the left and the balance shifts.
I also think there is something to Cornhead’s statement that Bannon acts as the ‘big bad’ for the media and lord knows every Republican administration must have one I guess.
Bannon is not family. Jared and Ivanka are. The two kids are not conservatives and not populists. They are, IMO, more in the mode of SJWs.
If Bannon goes, it will be a more centrist, maybe left leaning, administration. Not good.
The American Thinker is usually thoughtful. The idea resonates with me that Bannon’s departure means Trump is too much influences by Wall Street and not Main Street.
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/04/if_trump_loses_bannon_trump_loses_the_presidency.html
“My comment — and much of my thinking about Trump — is influenced by Scott Adams“
Sorry to hear that.
A professed downgrade of one’s self IMHO, as I know you are not a Master Persuader (and I would certainly give you much more credit for intelligence than he would per his “philosophy”).
Like the basis of his fame, his world view is cartoonish.
“Bannon is not family. Jared and Ivanka are. The two kids are not conservatives and not populists. They are, IMO, more in the mode of SJWs.
If Bannon goes, it will be a more centrist, maybe left leaning, administration. Not good.” – JJ
Suspect you are correct – though I’m not a fan of bunion’s world view either.
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But note, we are are arguing this effect on the admin because we don’t know trump’s own philosophy, or, more likely, suspect that he is really a dem philosophically (to the extent he thought deeply about it).
This is the core problem.
Seriously, what kind of person in any position of responsibility is actually so “flexible” that one cannot discern what his real philosophy is, can only guess his direction from one moment to the next, and it can so easily change his mind by which “advisor” he happens to talk to at the time?
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Can only imagine how exhausting it must be working for trump.
Seems very much like the operational model a monarchy might have been run by in eons past.
I’m greatly concerned at the developing trends I see in the people surrounding Trump. Chief of Staff Priebus is an establishment RINO. Mattis and McMaster are in substantive denial about the reality of Islam. Kushner is full of himself. Ivanka’s primary concern seems to be protecting Trump’s image, which drives her advising Trump to avoid hard, unpopular decisions. It all adds up to Trump getting bad input.
I’m afraid Trump is turning into another version of George Bush and that will ensure the election of another democrat to the Presidency, if not in 2020, in 2024.
I’m seeing little draining of the swamp.
More of Trump’s rock-solid sticking to his positions: Trump reverses stances on China as currency manipulator, Ex-Im Bank:
Trump is feeling his way through the numerous issues that have been, and will continue to be, piled upon his plate. Lacking a consistent philosophy he drifts with the events of the day and is over influenced by his daughter and son in law. He must be careful least he becomes a total parody of his reality tv persona. That said, he has been mostly successful so far.
Watching MSNBC on this topic, I’m convinced Bannon is behind this whole thing. He is just playing the media like he always does. Genius.
Bannon is further than right wing. His thinking is influenced by Julius Evola who is problematic to say the least. Bannon is not like Cneney for the simple reason that Cheney was the VP and in a very important role as second in command. Bannon was not elected. He is an advisor who happens to have been head of a website that backed Trump. So what? There are better people that Trump can surround himself with and he has to some degree with people like H.R. McMaster – who is far more experienced, intellectual and ready than Bannon. When dealing with National security Trump needs to surround himself with people who know what is going on – not with intellectual lightweights like Bannon.
One of the reasons I’m against Bannon is that he apparently was one of the people in the administration pushing for the release of the immigration EO without taking the time to wait for Sessions to take office. That backfired.
Another is that he dealt with the Freedom Caucus over the health care reform bill in a manner that was just plain stupid and doomed to failure (see this). Bannon may be a very smart man—I have no doubt he is a smart man about some things—but he has committed some major and at least temporarily costly (and unforced) errors.
I figured it out. I posted this at Power Line.
“Recall Trump’s WWE background. Bannon is the “heel.” Kushner is the “face” or good guy. Trump is the owner of the TV rights, gate and IP. Trump collects the money and the peanut gallery is entertained and distracted. That’s what’s going on here.”
Trump went to Fordham, Bannon to Georgetown and I went to Creighton. That’s why it took me about 8 hours to figure this out.
Neo:
Bannon is not completely responsible for the immigration EO failure. WH counsel obviously thought they could win it; even in the 9th Circuit. Not completely foreseeable how politicized the federal judiciary had become. But live and learn.
On healthcare, Bannon and Trump thought they were FDR or LBJ working the Congress. Those days are gone. But Trump wins in the end.
Cornhead:
Who said Bannon was completely responsible? Not me.
But that’s two enormously important situations where he gave bad advice, and in the health care reform situation he also dealt in a tone-deaf manner with the people involved. And that’s true whatever ultimately happens with health care reform.
Not acceptable.
Neo:
Bannon and Trump have tough jobs. I’m thrilled with the progress. Consider this: Trump may finally pressure China to get North Korea under control and keep prices low at WalMart. I consider that to be brilliant. Also huge progress on the border.
I confess I can’t read Trump or Bannon or Kushner well. But I’m pretty sure they are not playing 3-D chess compared to the rest of us lesser mortals.
The current White House looks “in disarray.” They may manage some base hits, even a triple or two, but it looks pretty uneven to me. I pray for the Republic.
I liked the Syrian hit but note that it was out of bounds for Trump’s anti-neocon rhetoric. I suspect most Trump supporters aren’t keeping score at that level and I don’t respect them for that.
Anyone who banks on the Scott Adams narrative of Trump is grasping at straws IMO.
Huxley
The Left wants you to think the WH is in disarray. My view is that Trump is a disruptor and is working at the speed of business. A former Obama person in national security said Barack never could have acted in 48 hours.
Scott who? Oh yeah, the cartoonist who sells books.
As to Bannon, his personal resume is a mixed bag. On the one hand he has the pedigree – Virginia Tech, Georgetown, Harvard, and a Navy Lieutenant. On the other side he’s got the drug addict ex for whom he pays the rent, was flying so high in Hollywood that he exited with beaucoup bucks plus ownership of a sitcom which allows him to live a life of faux elegance wrapped in a veneer of disheveled malodor and red nosed debauchery, and he likes to play with racist scum.
Maybe Trump should rethink the connection.
Many and varied opinions about this issue. We never had to try to read the tea leaves like this when Obama was President. Did we? 🙂
Team Trump is something new and well, confusing. At least we are not dealing with Team Wilson or Team FDR. Its like we are inside a Doors song…. strange days. The good news is hrc is a bitter loser and the obamas are earning millions instead of breaking our backs.
The Left wants you to think the WH is in disarray. My view is that Trump is a disruptor and is working at the speed of business. A former Obama person in national security said Barack never could have acted in 48 hours.
Cornhead: I was on the Left most of my life. I know how the Left works pretty well. I left the Left to think for myself, not to have someone from the Right, Alt-Right or a candy-striped wolverine like Trump tell me how to think.
Trump is a disruptor and that has its advantages over a full-court press towards an anti-American leftist utopia. Obama didn’t hesitate towards pressing that agenda.
But striking Syria or Bin Laden was not in Obama’s wheelhouse and came hard to him. Which is how Syria became such an ongoing disaster which has destabilized the Middle East and Europe with a body count far higher than Iraq.
However, aside from “Winning!”, Trump doesn’t have any principles I can discern. Saddam Hussein committed the largest chemical weapon atrocity against civilians in history when he gassed thousands of Kurds. Many, many more babies died then, than in Syria, but Trump, at least the revisionist Trump on the campaign trail, told us he opposed the Iraq War from the beginning with no thought towards those dead babies — assuming he knew of them, which I doubt, Trump being probably the most historically ignorant man to become president in the modern era.
Furthermore Assad killed more Syrians with nerve gas in 2013 than in 2017 and Trump agreed with Obama’s decision not to enforce the “red line”:
The only reason President Obama wants to attack Syria is to save face over his very dumb RED LINE statement. Do NOT attack Syria,fix U.S.A.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/375577511473983488
But what do I know? After 9-11 I became a neocon and supported the Iraq War. I don’t regret that.
If I could have seen the future in which the Democrats would leverage the Iraq War into electing Obama and then the Trumpists into electing Trump, I would have calculated differently, but alas, I lack that psychic power.
Half the reason I was Never Trump was because Trump and his supporters smeared the neocons with lies, ignorance and disingenuous arguments.
And now some of the Trump people are waving the flag, cheering the Syria strike and boasting how quickly Trump made the decision?
Spare me.
“However, aside from “Winning!”, Trump doesn’t have any principles I can discern.” Which is exactly why it is essential that Bannon stay in the WH. Bannon has conservative principles.
Assessing the Trump presidency as we approach the artificial 100 day marker, I’d say it’s been very successful. Given the amount of support he’s received from “conservatives”, I wouldn’t be surprised if he continues to move to the left.
1. The ME visa ban EO kerfuffle. Given that his second EO was blocked, I don’t think it mattered whether the first EO out of the gate was letter perfect. It was going to be blocked. I think we’re seeing exactly what type of judges Obama placed in the federal system– with Republican consent. IMO, the criticism on this side is just a chance for the neverTrumpers to confirm their bias.
2. The healthcare proposal. The approach was flawed. That may have been Bannon’s mistake, but so what. The reality is the timing wasn’t right– even though when viewed in the context of the legislative agenda, it made perfect sense to do the new health care bill first. Ryan and Trump should have acceded to the FC demands, since most of it would have been taken out of the bill in the Senate– unless the Senate rules for reconciliation wouldn’t have allowed the FC provisions to be in the bill, even for consideration.
3. The wall. Trump is going to have problems with Senate Republicans getting the wall funded, as much as with Democrats. Think 2006.
4. Bombing Syrian airfield. Neocons were pleased, Trumps alt-right coalition not so much. It sends a message that the use of chemical/biological weapons is out of bounds. Our national concern is that a rogue dictator will slip some chemical/biological agent to a terrorist group to use in the West. Viewed through that lens– every use of these weapons needs to be responded to.
As has been previously stated, Bannon running cover for Trump in the media is a good strategy.
I think we can all agree that Trump isn’t a conservative but is he any less a Republican than McCain or Romney? Had they been elected would their administrations been as “conservative” as Trump has been in attempting to roll back regulations? Would McCain or Romney, like Trump, struck a deal for Obamacare lite?
On the subject of regulations– “On November 10, 2016, Judge Ann Aiken, a federal district judge in Oregon, issued a remarkable environmental law decision in which she found that a climate system “capable of sustaining human life” is a fundamental constitutional right.”
http://www.theenergylawblog.com/2017/01/articles/environmental/oregon-federal-court-issues-remarkable-decision-finding-constitutional-right-to-stable-climate/
She was a Bill Clinton appointee.
Their are huge problems facing the country as attacks from the left using the courts will continue to build. We have a deficits and debt that could bury us. Inter-mural squabbling is counter-productive.
As to Trump reneging on declaring China a currency manipulator– Bush wouldn’t do it either, when China was actively pegging their currency to the dollar. Conservatives should welcome his change of position here. We need to be tough on trade, keep jobs here and encourage companies to move production back to this country, short of starting a trade war.
“On day one, I will label China a currency manipulator, which will allow me as president to be able to put in place, if necessary, tariffs where I believe that they are taking unfair advantage of our manufacturers.” That statement was made by Romney during the 2012 campaign. Sound familiar?
Brian E: I am surprised you left out the crown jewel achievement of Trump’s first 100 days IMO — the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Yay!
Of course, Mitch McConnell gets his share of credit there too.
Inter-mural squabbling is counter-productive.
I think you mean intramural. In any event, you can keep saying that but I don’t care. I have no interest in marching lockstep with however the Trump administration lurches along.
Dennis Prager also scolds any Republicans who don’t properly “celebrate” Trump to Prager’s satisfaction.
And you can keep your “confirmation bias” charges as well. I am confident pro-Trumpers will find a way to justify whatever Trump does.
I like my President to be someone who knows it is very important to have people with a broad range of and even opposing ideologies advising him at the same time. Unless you want another Obama who only hires yes men with the same set of ideals as him, building an echo chamber to isolating yourself from a variety of other ideas is not a good way to govern.
““However, aside from “Winning!”, Trump doesn’t have any principles I can discern.” Which is exactly why it is essential that Bannon stay in the WH. Bannon has conservative principles.“ – Cornhead
That is a questionable proposition.
The ONLY worry, if he goes, is how much Jared & Ivanka have greater influence, and how liberal that would be.