Category Archives: Government
Rex Tillerson: The Final Insult
Former Secretary of State Tillerson says President Trump decided on his own to meet with Kim Jong Un. That was right after Tillerson publicly advised holding off on the meeting.
Trump’s decision to fire Tillerson was his own idea too. Tillerson learned of it when he read the president’s tweet.
Final Insult
Calling Trump a moron appears to have been Tillerson’s own idea
North Korean Reset
President Trump Hits Global Reset Button from Paris to Pyongyang. At least that’s the way a headline in The Hill sees it.
The article is by former Trump Staffer Sebastian Gorka. He claims that if you want to understand The Donald you have to read Art of the Deal. And once you’ve done that you’ll know it’s all about the objective:
The negotiations themselves, or maintaining the established way of doing business, are never the objectives. The real objective is defined by realizing your interests, which may not be possible if the status quo is maintained.
Russian Overcharge
For example, Hillary’s reset (or overcharge) with Russia didn’t achieve an objective.
President Obama sent Hillary Clinton to present a mislabeled “reset button” to the Kremlin. In reality, there was no reset. The Obama administration did not effectively address the expansionist and destabilizing behavior of former KGB colonel Vladimir Putin, not even after he invaded Ukraine.
But Gorka has way more faith in a Trump reset with North Korea:
It is a reset that included tough talk with China and North Korea, talk followed up by actions that have led to a response on behalf of Pyongyang, which may take us to the cusp of bringing peace and stability to the region after 65 years of potential war.
But whatever you do with Dear Leader, don’t go all Madeline Albright. 
The whole thing seemed more upset than reset with Secretary of State Tillerson. He was traveling in Africa when he learned of the dotard’s decision to meet the rocket man. 
So he called in sick.
Trumponomics
President Trump yesterday announced a 25% tariff on imported steel. Good news for American steelmakers but not so good for American Steel users. He also slapped aluminum with a 10% charge.
The news came as a surprise to the stock market. The Dow displayed its displeasure with Trumponomics by tanking 420 points. And it opened this morning down another 320.
Trumponomics: Tax Cuts and Tariffs
The news from Dan Henninger in the WSJ yesterday morning (before Trump’s announcement) was that the president is obsessed with jobs.
Every president claims to be a jobs president, but after a year it is becoming clear that this may be the only thing Donald Trump thinks about. He may even impose tariffs soon on imported steel, seeing only the protected jobs in front of him and missing the larger loss of jobs in steel-using industries.
But the bigger surprise might be that Trump’s keeping his campaign promises, from tax cuts to tariffs.
Red Flags
The kid who killed 17 former high school classmates in Parkland, Florida had a tough time getting the cops’ attention. Red flags popped up everywhere. Callers warned the Broward County Sheriff’s office 18 times. A tipster told the FBI in January, “I know he’s going to explode.”
Four cops stood outside outside the school building while inside he fired away.
Then the shooter left the building and bought a soda.
National Review’s David French says, The Parkland shooter did everything but call police and tell them the date and time of his attack. It would have been difficult for him to make his intentions more clear.
Red Flags
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, “Are you really not taking any responsibility for the multiple red flags that were brought to the attention of the Broward Sheriff’s Office about this shooter before the incident?”
The sheriff’s reply? “I’ve given amazing leadership.”
By The Book
Susan Rice didn’t let the door hit her on the way out of the White House. Instead she sent herself an email.
It was time stamped 12:15 pm January 21 – the day of President Trump’s inauguration. And her self-message recapped a January 5 meeting President Obama held with top staffers.
By the Book
In that meeting Obama instructed his staff on the transfer of information to the new administration. Or the non-transfer of information as National Review’s Andrew McCarthy suspects.
At any rate, Susan Rice let the record show that President Obama insisted it be done “by the book.”
