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While I am not really surprised at all the infighting going in between Mattis and Trump's team, it is disheartening to see that one of the picks I thought showed Trump could be logical and NOT politicized and did care about the good of America---is undermined by Trump's inability to carry through on what are basically impulses w/o a real substantive grounding to back them up...
Now I am thinking he probably picked Mattis because he thought the nick-name "Mad Dog" reflected positively on TRUMP making that choice--
that he was impressed with Mattis's credentials on paper since he never met him before pulling his name out of the hat
That he found him charismatic in their meetings -- which made Trump value Mattis's opinion of Trump and made him more valuable as a Cabinet pick...
But Trump obviously failed to see that Mattis BECAUSE of his credentials and his nature would not be happy having other people--especially people he didn't know and couldn't trust to act in MATTIS'S best interests-- make the choices for people working under him in the Pentagon...
Telling note--Vincent Viola--picked as Director of the Army by Trump was not made known to Mattis before the public announcement...Mattis was not asked for his opinion about a job pick that reports to him and is responsible to him....
Imagine how Trump would have reacted if someone did that to HIM...
Trump just really doesn't understand the complexities of government and doesn't have the capacity to allow people to actually do their jobs w/o his oversight...
And his transition team are too politicized to understand why Mattis is reacting like he is--
All they have to do is ask him for HIS choices but apparently that is not to be...
Lot more problems ahead w/Mattis I imagine especially with Trump's distain for the intelligence community
One thing that Mattis probably lives by is not dissing those you depend on IN PUBLIC...
As a combat office and personnel manager, I am sure Mattis has reamed out lot of people for doing poor work--
He is know for a direct approach---but he would never from what I have read do what Trump does with his tweets to strike out in tantrums....
I was impressed by his selection of Mattis, his nickname doesn't do him justice. He is very well read, intelligent and a soldiers general, right now he is butting heads with team Trump because they want their handlers on his staff and he wants no part of the White House in his organization.
Some the hearings this week are premature since several of his cabinet have not filed full ethics disclosure, part of that has to do with the fact that they are millionaires but others are unexplained. The Trump team is pushing this through too rapidly, obviously they don't want the public to view certain hearings.
Not just the Trump team but plenty of people in Congress--Mitch McConnell has been pretty overt about not wanting to slow anything down for proper vetting or so that the press and public can see what happens in the hearings...
Even Senators and Congress reps will have a difficult time serving the needs to see/hear what is going on...
I tried to call my two Senators to say don't proceed w/o proper vetting and financial disclosure but their mailboxes were full...
I hope other constituents in other states were calling as well...
You would think even Republicans with a conscience would want people w/o conflicts of interest---
And from the stories so far it looks like most of them DO have conflicts of interest...but also might just not be a good person for the job...
How can you nominate as Sec of Labor a man who condemns raising the minimum wage, who would prefer to replace fast food workers with robots, who has been sued several times by Dept of Labor for unfair workplace practices....he can't even function under the laws as they are so you know his first choice would be to cut back workplace protections...
Setting the fox to watch the hen house...
And not the only example...
DeVoss has meddled with public schools in her state for years and during that time the scores for public schools have gone DOWN--not up---so doesn't seem like her methods are all they are purported to be...
McConnell is doing a great job... a tactic I would advise him to continue... launch early, launch fast, and take it on home... don't give the anti-Trumps a platform to whine... let them suck air...
I am also concerned about how so many of his cabinet picks have not undertaken the required background checks and submitted documents related to their finances. I fear this will lead to another (or even several) "Nannygate" scandals. I predict that at least one of his cabinet picks is forced to resign by April 1st.
I found it refreshing. Look at all these American politicians, they all act like they are too obsessed with Israel. Trump "neutral" in his attempt to promote the peace process, a remark that brought criticism from Israel's supporters in the U.S.
IMHO what is abundantly clear by now is that DT is not the brightest blub in the box. He never thought he'd pull this gig off but now that it has happened the Trump family are in a tight spot.
It was mainly his SIL that was the brains behind the operation to get DT elected, and now that the guy is POTUS (elect) *something* has to be done before he exposes himself to Americans and the world for the egotistical megalomaniac fool that he is; hence this latest move.
Just as with his daughter sitting in on meetings with foreign dignitaries you cannot just have these "hangers on" about without any official post. Otherwise Congress and most everyone else will simply ignore and or question "what are *you* doing here and why does this concern *you*.
Meanwhile the great Jewish real estate families of New York, and probably members of that faith in other sectors of American society and of course Israel are probably besides themselves with glee. There will finally be a "Jewish POTUS" and or someone close enough to that office with major power.
I found it refreshing. Look at all these American politicians, they all act like they are too obsessed with Israel. Trump "neutral" in his attempt to promote the peace process, a remark that brought criticism from Israel's supporters in the U.S.
Let me get this straight; you and others are pinning a solution to a problem that has vexed the world, and been worked upon by some of the best and brightest minds from various nations on some naïf that no one even heard about until several months ago?
Let me get this straight; you and others are pinning a solution to a problem that has vexed the world and been worked upon by some of the best and brightest minds from various nations on some naïf that no one even heard about until several months ago?
Trump thinks Jared can make peace because he's a Jew. No other qualification.
Palestine already sent trump a letter warning him not to move the embassy.
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