Dubious Picks
Unless this is part of another cunning negotiation tactic, the Donald’s recent cabinet nominations have to be considered highly dubious, to say the least. First he promoted Mike Pompeo from his CIA post to the position of Secretary of State – removing the eminently reasonable, and as we believe widely underappreciated Rex Tillerson. Pompeo is mainly known for sharing Trump’s irrational dislike of the nuclear deal with Iran, which was pretty much the only laudable policy measure Obama implemented in his otherwise disastrous 8-year reign.
“Trump-Whisperer” (h/t Economist magazine) Mike Pompeo. To his hawkishness on Iran we would note the following: invading or bombing the country is pretty much an insane pipe dream (and it would achieve nothing but even more regional chaos); reimposing sanctions only fortifies the regime’s position, which can then blame all economic troubles on foreign enemies – besides, it is well-known that the population rallies to support the mullahs whenever they can credibly point the finger at foreign interference. Iran’s citizens are definitely hurt by economic sanctions, but they won’t blame their own government – instead they will increasingly come to hate the West. What else does Pompeo support? Here’s a brief list of things he has reportedly said in recent years: he is for “military action in Syria to remove Assad” (brilliant, get rid of one of the few remaining secular political leaders in the region – who does he think will take over from Assad? Peaceful professional head-choppers?); he’s perfectly fine with NSA mass surveillance (as we have often pointed out, there is no reason whatsoever to trust that this is not misused, and even if one naively assumes so, it paves the way for a future tyranny); along similar lines he demanded the “death sentence for Edward Snowden” (who we think is a hero for informing the world at a huge cost to himself about the unlawful mass surveillance Pompeo loves so much); and lastly, he thinks the Guantanamo Bay torture station should definitely remain in operation (of course Obama failed to close it down as promised). The guy is a neo-con warmonger/ Deep State swamp creature. Trump was allegedly impressed by his swagger.
The Comeback No-One Needed
If you wondered whether the Donald could actually top this grievous misstep in personnel decisions by picking an even worse critter for yet another important post, consider the question answered: yes, he can! We don’t know under which rock this zombie was hiding, but he was undoubtedly as surprised as we were that anyone would ever call on his services again – especially a president who is on record for stating that he thinks the Iraq war was one of the most moronic ideas of the century (which is true).
We are of course referring to the Donald’s new national security advisor Yosemite Sam, who is without a doubt a good sight worse than the martially inclined weighed-down-by-bling mil-bureaucrat with the colorful nomen-est-omen designation “Mad Dog” Mattis he is about to replace. John Bolton as …read more
Source:: Acting Man
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