Tag Archives: Fired
Small Victories
So I have a theory. I mean, it’s really an extrapolation of lots of different people’s theories. But it goes like this: I think Trump has been trying like crazy to get rid of John Kelly almost since he hired him to be the chief-of-staff of the West Wing. I think Trump hired the man because he was a hardline conservative and a 4-Star General. Trump thought he was hiring on an old school badass, and Trump thought that it was what he wanted and needed at the time. And then, very quickly, Trump realized that it was in fact exactly what he needed, but NOT AT ALL what he wanted. You see, rumor around the watercooler is that Trump likes a yes man. In fact, when Trump and staff say that “Loyalty” is Trump’s most valued trait, I think what he really means is “submissive”. He wants people around him who will nod yes, and tell him how great his ideas are. More points to you if you can both agree with his ideas and actually help him accomplish them. But John Kelly is no one’s yes man. While Trump and Kelly might fall on the same side of the ideological divide, John Kelly, according to the folks in the know doesn’t suffer the kind of foolishness that Trump pulls, and apparently, he was never afraid to say so to Trump’s face. But the problem for Trump is that, unlike his TV personality would have you suggest, he’s not very good at firing people. You ever notice that when Trump wants to get rid of someone, the story accompanying it is how John Kelly would be the one to ask for a resignation? So when it came to getting rid of that Frosty old general, Trump didn’t have anyone to turn to in pulling that Trigger, and I’m guessing the only reason we’re seeing Kelly finally leave the picture is because he knows full well that sticking around may not be great for him in the long run. I dunno. Just a theory. But one I’d put money on.
The Best and Brightest
Do you remember when “only the best and brightest” were going to be working at Donald Trump’s side as President? I know a lot of us kind of took that as a bad joke at first, but now a days, it’s like an ironic catchphrase we use as the executive branch implodes on itself. And now with John Kelly very publicly departing as Trump comes under more and more scrutiny, it seems like Trump is having a hard time even presenting the image of having a wealth of qualified candidates chomping at the bit to fill the seat. What’s worse, his number one pick, and indeed the guy who was offered the job, Nick Ayers (currently Mike Pence’s chief-of-staff) basically said “thanks but no thanks!” and is himself getting ready to depart the White House as the walls come tumbling down. Whoever Trump ends up choosing, they’re going to have to live under the stigma of knowing full well they weren’t his first choice. And I imagine that alone might keep a few people from taking the job. Whoever ends up in that position will likely have to deal with mounting legal threats and reputational woes that transcend their time in the White House, so I really have to wonder who is desperate enough to actually say yes.
Paper Tiger
I don’t have a high opinion of Lindsey Graham. Every time I’ve ever seen him talk, it’s always him trying to sanitize a horrible opinion/gross political motivation or he’s gaslighting his political opponents. In my humble opinion, he is, and always has been a man with a stunning lack of integrity or empathy. He looks, acts, and sounds like a Looney Tunes villain. The one time he appeared to sound like he had any kind of concern for anyone other than himself, was when he was defending Jeff Sessions in the early days of the Russia Investigation. He used forceful language to defend a man that he presumably considered a friend. The exact words were that Trump would have “Hell to pay” if he canned Sessions. Not that I think anyone took that bloviating very seriously. And it appears that they were right not to. Because low and behold, Trump forced Sessions out, and when confronted with a video clip of his own words, Graham literally laughed it off. Let me tell you, it says a lot about your credibility when you scoff at the validity of your own threat. Lindsey Graham is a joke.
Who Wears the Pants
I learned something. Indeed, I think my whole evaluation of a situation has been fairly well upended. Melania Trump has power. Actual power. Donald listens to her and she has the ability in that relationship to put her foot down. And that is probably my own fault. It might have been foolish of me to think she was just a prop in that relationship, but I feel like the information we’d had up until now had really led us all to believe that Melania was a toothless figurehead. Everything, from her cyberbullying initiative, to her all of her “duties” as first lady, have all felt very out of the way. Things to give her to keep her occupied but otherwise out of the process, unlike first ladies of the past who had more active roles in the administration. Then Mira Ricardel was ousted. Mira Ricardel is a diehard Trump loyalist who has been actively helping John Bolton initiate foreign policy to Trump’s satisfaction. Ricardel is exactly the kind of person Trump wants in his camp, and I can imagine he’s not happy about losing her. But Melania didn’t want her around, and went public with that knowledge. For Melania to be able to make that call, and then publicly announce that it WAS her call…Well that is one hell of a power play. I won’t be underestimating her again.
Morning Pick-Me-Up
There was a lot of speculation, even before the Midterms, about the fate of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Russia Investigation. Rumors were abound that one way or the other, with or without a “blue wave” at the ballots, Trump would likely feel the pressure to deal with Mueller’s investigation, and likely with Sessions, as it was no secret that Trump for all intents and purposes saw the guy as a traitor. I mean, how dare he do the only responsible thing and recuse himself from an investigation in which he had a conflict of interest?! To be fair, that moment of responsibility was quite a surprise to most people. But with the House now making it clear that their priorities are to take Trump to task for his malfeasance, Trump moved quickly to start trying to put what ducks in a row he could afford. People were awfully surprised that it only took him a day to can Sessions. Frankly, I’m surprised he waited til the next morning. That’s a level of restraint I didn’t know Trump was capable of.
Fire Hazard
So there is a news story floating around that is really tickling me. And I have to say upfront that I have no idea how true the crux of it is. The gist of the story is that John Kelly, the White House Chief of Staff, has been on Donald Trump’s bad side, but Trump is just not sure how to fire him. Indeed, the article notes that at one point Trump did “try” to fire him, but for all in intents and purposes, it just didn’t take, with Kelly effectively ignoring Trump. Which is just hilarious. Now again, this is one of those stories where I couldn’t tell you how true to life it is. The story was broke by New York Magazine, and I have generally found them to be fairly reputable, but again, there is always a question of veracity when it comes to uncorroborated, nameless administration officials inside the West Wing. But the story has a wonderful kind of poetic irony, where the man who is so famous for firing people that he turned it into his catchphrase, can’t seem to fire an actual employee. Indeed, according to the story, Trump seems to be looking for a surrogate who can effectively give Kelly the boot. But true story or not, it’s certainly a fun story to think about.
Speechwriter?
The Trump camp had to fire one of their speechwriters, Darren Beattie, last week because apparently he’d been speaking at White Supremacist rallies. Now this left me asking a very honest yet surreal question: Since when has Donald Trump used a SPEECHWRITER? I mean, I know there have been a few occasions where the words Trump spoke weren’t words that he immediately blasted off from the top of his head, but certainly not full speeches worth, and most of the time, when Trump gives a “speech” he’s just bullhorning his campaign points. He talks about Mexico being criminals, his wall, bad trade and the fake news. Then when he forgets something he’ll talk about the election until he remembers what he was originally on about. It’s a pretty well established pattern at this point. The idea that someone has actually written down those half conscious ramblings is mystifying! At this point, Trump can probably give a Rally speech in his sleep. In fact, I imagine he probably does. The way I see it, if you’re gonna fire a speechwriter for Trump, I’d figure the reason would be because the position was unnecessary.
GoFundTrump
Peter Strzok is a recently fired FBI agent who was accused of having a political opinion that didn’t favor the current administration. That accusation is pretty obviously true, if not when the accusation surfaced, then definitely now, as that served as the reason for his job termination. In the wake of that, his friends and family created a highly publicized GoFundMe page to help Strzok in terms of his mounting legal fees and lost income. GoFundMe is a crowdsourced funding site. Basically, you can donate to causes and projects that tickle your fancy. Well apparently rather a lot of people were on board with Strzok, as in less than a day, he blasted past his $250,000 goal, and started closing in on double that amount. When all is said and done, Strzok could walk away with a pretty hefty payday for the sole reason of people thinking he was unjustly terminated. And that HAS to piss Donald Trump right the hell off. Think about it. Donald Trump has put no small amount of energy into tarnishing Peter Strzok’s name and reputation. And he did it because this guy who he feels owed him personal loyalty, didn’t like him. And if there is one thing that Donald Trump hates, it’s the idea that people don’t like him. So the notion that not only are people taking Strzok’s side in this thing, but are actively making sure he’s financially taken care of HAS to stick in Trump’s craw. But I also want to believe that Trump sees this and undoubtedly thinks he could do it better, and raise WAY more money.
Interview Tips for Ex-White House Employees
So some news outlets are reporting that Ex-White House staffers are having trouble getting work. Now, some claims I can see being an issue. Trump’s unpopularity is not something that looks good on a resume, and associating that reputation with a new workplace is apparently deterring some potential employers. Some of it I find rather unfortunate. Apparently some employers question the judgment of a person who was willing to work under someone like Trump, which might be a bit unfair.
Mind the Exit 