Once a Marine Corps general and then a White House chief of staff, John Kelly has seemingly fallen victim to that scourge of retirement: the combined evil of drugs and alcohol — that toxic brew so often abused by those elderly who've too much free time and too little to do.
Of Kelly's involvement in this geriatric goofjuice ring, we now have damning evidence. In lieu of diagnosed dementia, only a drug-addled, hooch-dazed cranium could conceive of something so ludicrous:
"I said, whatever you do — and we were still in the process of trying to find someone to take my place [as WH chief of staff]," reported Kelly, "I said whatever you do, don't hire a 'yes man,' someone who won't tell you the truth — don't do that. Because if you do, I believe you will be impeached."
Instructing this president to forego a yes man — that singular animal species that Trump's enfeebled ego can tolerate — is pathetically futile enough. But it gets even worse:
"Someone has got to be a guide that tells [the president]," added Kelly, "that you either have the authority or you don't…. The system of advising, bringing in experts, having these discussions with the president so he can make an informed decision, that clearly is not in place…. I believe if I was still there or someone like me was there, he would not be kind of, all over the place."
When Kelly was there, was Trump a model of informed decision-making? A bit more than a year ago, when the general was indeed still there, "Anonymous" reported that "meetings with [Trump] veer off topic and off the rails, he engages in repetitive rants, and his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions."
This president, continued Anonymous, is "impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective." Which is another way of saying that Trump is just being Trump, always has been, always will be.
Kelly's replacement, Mick Mulvaney, has been anything but an improvement — with one exception: He's much funnier than Kelly.
One imagines that the befuddled former Freedom Caucuser dipped into some of Kelly's left-behind gateway stash before blurting out at a press conference that which Trump had been denying for weeks: You're damn right the $400 million in Ukraine's military aid was the extortionist quid to Trump's profane quo. So get over it, you Constitution-abiding pansies, even if you can't handle the truth.
Mulvaney's statement was astoundingly short-tenured as the unrivaled Zaniest Thing To Be Shat By This White House. We thought it could not be done. But Stephanie Grisham, the executive asylum's press secretary, of sorts, managed to do the impossibly undoable.
She released a statement accusing Kelly of being "totally unequipped" to cope with the majestic splendor of Donald J. Trump, which Grisham otherwise called "the genius of our great President."
Thereupon observed MSNBC's unflappable Jonathan Alter: Grisham erred in her statement; she should have written "the genius of Dear Leader," since never before has a U.S. president aspired to the squalid monstrosities of every totalitarian thug.
We gather that Grisham either takes dictation from this horror of a small man who fancies himself not only a president, but a great one, or she too had dipped into Kelly's little treasure chest of chemical relief.
Before long, we — like the staggering, desperate subjects of Putin's hellish Russia — will all be popping diazepam and guzzling vodka just to get through one more day of Trump's hellish America.
It seems there is no one in the White House willing to mention that the Emperor exhibits an impressive cluster of psychological disorders not limited to extreme narcissism, sociopathy, and compulsive lying. And of course, knowledge wise, buck naked. Best hope at this point would be Trump developing a multiple personality disorder, one of whick clues him in.
Posted by: Peter G | October 27, 2019 at 10:22 AM
An interview of a thoughtful Steve Schmidt published yesterday gave me the chills.
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/steve-schmidt-on-trump-impeachment-2020-and-howard-schultz.html
Posted by: Ed Doerr | October 27, 2019 at 10:50 AM
"Impeached, acquitted and re-elected".
The 3 scariest words I've ever heard, Ed.
Posted by: Freesia | October 27, 2019 at 01:53 PM
Well worth the read.
Posted by: Peter G | October 27, 2019 at 03:08 PM
The article pretty much sums it up. From the article.
"The position that anyone who has private health insurance is going to have it taken away and dumped into a pool is an extraordinarily unpopular position. I think some of the Democrats on the stage understand that. Not all of them do."
"I think in America, a sociopath will beat a socialist seven days a week and twice on Sunday."
You know, somehow my name got on the NRCC calling list. A couple of days ago, in their spiel, they asked if I agreed that the "socialistic democrats are trying to overturn the last election". Make no mistake, they would love to run against someone who even vaguely identifies as socialist.
It really is very simple. Trump is a very unpopular president. The only way Republicans win is to run against a candidate they can make even more unpopular. The only candidate who is immune to that approach is Joe Biden. If the Democrats figure that out, they will win. If they don't, they, and we will lose.
Posted by: Tony | October 27, 2019 at 06:32 PM
If you believe they won’t use the S word on Joe Biden, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to show you sometime.
Posted by: The Dark Avenger | October 27, 2019 at 07:13 PM
No, hold the bridge. They will try, but it won't be believable.
Posted by: Tony | October 27, 2019 at 07:19 PM
They called Obama a socialist. They called the Clintons socialists. They'll call whomever we run in 2020 a socialist.
To call Joe Biden immune from anything is myopic.
They'll call the Hunter Biden situation corrupt, and if you could put your Biden pom poms down for a minute you'd see that those charges will be very powerful, especially with those undecided voters who Steve Schmidt tells you are very few in number and haven't even started to pay attention yet.
You might have noticed that the interviewer gave Schmidt every chance in the world to say that Biden would be the Dem's best nominee, and Schmidt just wouldn't bite.
Here's a fresh look at Joe's campaign from a younger perspective, published this morning in the same outlet.
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/joe-biden-2020-campaign.html
Posted by: Ed Doerr | October 27, 2019 at 08:30 PM
Well, you are one Democrat, if you are a Democrat, who will never figure it out. Of course they will call Biden a socialist. And Trump's brain dead 40% base will buy it.
The other 60% will recall that Biden was Obama's VP, and that he has never exhibited a socialist bone in his body. Not so for Warren and Sanders. Sanders admits he is a socialist, and Warren certainly sounds like one, and can EASILY be painted as one.
Biden pom poms? I resent that when I am trying to make reasoned arguments. Get back to me when you quit Republican name-calling.
Posted by: Tony | October 27, 2019 at 08:59 PM
LOL. You're the name-caller-in-chief. Your attacks are very often personal in nature but always (unintentionally) hilarious. like most aggressive boneheads you don't, won't, or most likely can't see the other person's point of view.
So here's a taste of your own medicine. I wore your BOW moniker for a long time. Here's my suggestion for you. BBBB. Boring, bitter, bullying, bull-shitter.
Posted by: Mary | October 27, 2019 at 10:29 PM
When have I ever called you a name? Show me one example...just one. You won't, because you can't.
I've never seen any post of yours where your "reasoned argument" did not conclude that all roads lead to Joe. And because I don't see it that way, you impugn my motivations, with absolutely no factual basis.
By the way, what did you think of Olivia Nuzzi's article? I thought it a quite sympathetic portrait of Biden, the man, while exhibiting appropriate skepticism about the viability of his campaign.
Posted by: Ed Doerr | October 27, 2019 at 10:42 PM
LOL all you want. Wearing the "Bitter Old Woman" moniker was your choice. I'll not be making the same choice with your suggestion.
Posted by: Tony | October 27, 2019 at 11:28 PM
"Show me one example"
My, your memory is short, Ed. Just a few posts ago, you said about me "if you could put your Biden pom poms down". Now this is the type of derogatory statement one would expect from Donald Trump. You are not quite there yet, but you are learning from the Master.
By the way, the road that I do see does lead to Biden because I am convinced he is the only candidate who can win. Objective evidence includes poll matchups with Trump and positions on the issues which will not alienate persuadable voters.
Posted by: Tony | October 27, 2019 at 11:38 PM
Err, "pom- pom" : that is not a personal put-down. It's a shame that you're not taking me up on my four B's suggestion because I had a fifth held in reserve. BBBBB. Can you guess what it was?
Posted by: Mary | October 28, 2019 at 12:06 AM
"No man has any natural authority over his fellow men." ~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Posted by: Ed | October 28, 2019 at 08:29 AM
"Nobody gives you power. Real power is something you take!" Jock Ewing, Dallas. :-)
Posted by: Freesia | October 28, 2019 at 08:59 AM
The best line from that show. My wife & I used to quote it to each other all the time. Glad someone else remembers it.
Posted by: Ed Doerr | October 28, 2019 at 09:26 AM
Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Borodin? Why, thank you Mary!
Posted by: Tony | October 28, 2019 at 09:45 AM
Loved that show. (Although one weekend I watched clips on youtube and had forgotten the 80s style of primetime drama. Swelling strings and big hair. "Bourbon and branch" ha)
J.R. was a great villain.
Posted by: Freesia | October 28, 2019 at 10:06 AM