monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
Just out report: "United Kingdom crime rises 13% annually amid spread of Radical Islamic terror." Not good, we must keep America safe!
3:31 AM - Oct 20, 2017

The report barely mentions terrorism other than to refer on one occasion to the impact recent terrorist attacks in Britain had on the headline murder rate. Thirty-five people were killed in the incidents in London and Manchester.

Though Democrats have pleaded to have more say in the tax overhaul, parliamentary language in the budget resolution would allow Republicans to pass a tax bill without any cooperation from the minority party. The tax measure could add as much as $1.5 trillion to budget deficits over a decade.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Thursday that interference in U.S. elections by another nation "is warfare," telling an audience in New York that such meddling has become Russia's go-to tactic. [...]

"I find it fascinating because the Russians, God bless 'em, they're saying, 'Why are Americans anti-Russian?' And why have we done the sanctions? Well, don't interfere in our elections and we won't be anti-Russian," Haley said Thursday. "And I think we have to be so hard on this and we have to hold them accountable and we have to get the private sector to understand they are responsible for this, too. We all have to step up from this event."

Okay, so where were McCain, Collins, Flake, Sasse, Corker and all the other Republicans who care so much about deficits, political comity, and Senate rules?

John Kelly and the Language of the Military Coup

In pushing Trump’s side of the story, Kelly claimed that Wilson had taken credit for securing funding for a Florida FBI building.

“A congresswoman stood up, and in a long tradition of empty barrels making the most noise, stood up there in all of that and talked about how she was instrumental in getting the funding for that building, and how she took care of her constituents because she got the money, and she just called up President Obama, and on that phone call, he gave the money, the $20 million, to build the building, and she sat down,” Kelly said in the briefing room.

As media accounts have noted: No, Wilson hadn’t, in fact, taken such credit.

So reporters were primed on Friday afternoon to take up the matter with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. What of this discrepancy? Will Kelly amend the record?

That’s what CBS News correspondent Chip Reid did. After he teed up the topic, Reid and Sanders had this exchange:

Reid: Can he come out here and talk to us about this at some point?

Sanders: I think he’s addressed that pretty thoroughly yesterday.

Reid: He was wrong yesterday in talking about getting the money. The money was … before she came into Congress.

Sanders: If you want to get into a debate with a four-star Marine general, I think that’s something highly inappropriate.

...let’s take a moment to focus on Trump’s own record on showing deference and respect towards American military leaders with stars on their shoulder.

“I know more about ISIS than the generals do,” he insisted during the campaign. “Believe me.” Several months later, Trump added that U.S. military leaders “don’t know much because they’re not winning,” As recently as September 2016, the Republican said American generals “have been reduced to rubble,” adding, “They have been reduced to a point where it’s embarrassing to our country.”

During the Democratic National Convention, Trump was especially disrespectful towards retired four-star General John Allen. Politico reported at the time:

Quote:

Trump then proceeded to pounce on criticisms levied against him by Allen, who Thursday night gave an impassioned speech framing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as a leader who possessed the needed experience to helm the United States military.

“They had a general named John Allen. I never met him, and he got up and started talking about Trump, Trump, Trump,” the Republican nominee said before unleashing his counterassault. “You know who he is? He’s a failed general. He was the general fighting ISIS. I would say he hasn’t done so well, right?” Trump said.

It was around this time that the GOP candidate tweeted, “General John Allen, who I never met but spoke against me last night, failed badly in his fight against ISIS. His record = BAD”


If the White House believes this, too, was “highly inappropriate,” I’ll look forward to hearing Team Trump say so.

Born that way.

Air Force announces just now that they are recalling about 1k pilots to active duty immediately. Gulp.

Cycloptichorn

Wuh oh. Trump signs an EO today amending EO 13223; this allows the Federal government to recall any retired member of the armed forces to active duty, and ordering the Readied Reserves into active duty. Gulp.

The changes made by this EO are technical in nature, but it's hard to see this as anything other than a precursor to war.