Former Obama aide: Everyone in nat sec bureacracy I know tells me Trump admin "worse than you think"

[highplainsdem]

From Colin Kahl, whose twitter bio explains he's Former DepAsst to Pres. Obama & NatSecAdvisor to VP Biden:

Link to tweet

As bad as the Trump administration looks from the outside, every person I’ve spoken to in the national security bureaucracy over the past year, regardless of department or agency, says “it’s worse than you think.”

Kahl was responding to this Politico article:

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/02/donald-trump-foreign-policy-analysis-dangerous-216202

Donald Trump’s Year of Living Dangerously: It’s worse than you think.

When President Donald Trump sat down for dinner on September 18 in New York with leaders of four Latin American countries on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly, anxieties were already running high.

There was the matter of Mexico and his promise to build that “big, beautiful wall,” presumably to keep not just Mexicans but all of their citizens out of the United States too. And the threat to blow up the North American Free Trade Agreement. And then, a month earlier, seemingly out of nowhere, Trump had volunteered that he was considering a “military option” in Venezuela as that country’s last vestiges of democracy disappeared. Amid the international furor over his vow to rain down “fire and fury” on North Korea in the same golf-course press conference, the news that the president of the United States was apparently considering going to war with its third-largest oil supplier had gotten relatively little attention. But the leaders from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Panama invited to the dinner remembered it well.

So, it turned out, did Trump. After the photo op was over and the cameras had left the room, Trump dominated the long table. His vice president, Mike Pence, was to his right; Pence had just spent nearly a week on a conciliatory, well-received tour of the region, the first by a high-ranking administration official since Trump’s inauguration. To Trump’s left was his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. “Rex tells me you don’t want me to use the military option in Venezuela,” the president told the gathered Latin American leaders, according to an account offered by an attendee soon after the dinner. “Is that right? Are you sure?” Everyone said they were sure. But they were rattled. War with Venezuela, as absurd as that seemed, was clearly still on Trump’s mind.

By the time the dinner was over, the leaders were in shock, and not just over the idle talk of armed conflict. No matter how prepared they were, eight months into an American presidency like no other, this was somehow not what they expected. A former senior U.S. official with whom I spoke was briefed by ministers from three of the four countries that attended the dinner. “Without fail, they just had wide eyes about the entire engagement,” the former official told me. Even if few took his martial bluster about Venezuela seriously, Trump struck them as uninformed about their issues and dangerously unpredictable, asking them to expend political capital on behalf of a U.S. that no longer seemed a reliable partner. “The word they all used was: ‘This guy is insane.’”

-snip-

[Pachamama]

1. Reading that article & Colin Kahls comment...

Terrifies me....

And this is just the little we are hearing about....

It’s the things we aren’t hearing about that is even more terrifying of a thought....

Worse than you think....

[northoftheborder]

2. Thank you for posting this. nt

[mountain grammy]

3. this guy is insane...

[IluvPitties]

4. We are ruled by a sick human being.

Hopefully Mueller and the Midterms will put a halt on this.

[lastlib]

8. the mid-terms, of themselves, won't.....

they'll stop some dangerous legislation and appointments (I hope, but not too strongly...), but they won't stop his unhinged reactions to global events. The only way that would happen is if Mueller finds something strong enough to convince enough repuglkans to come to their senses to support impeachment and removal. (I don't see that happening.) Other option would be via the 25th Amendment. Not sure I could see that happening either.

But hope springs eternal.....

[Alice11111]

16. IMO, 25th more likely than impeachment. With hearings, all

of the Repubs complicity would come out. They will never expose themselves. The House hearings are shams. If they could just nix him, especially since they have their tax breaks, they will, if their own reelections are at stake.

He has fulfilled his main use to them.

[Honeycombe8]

5. It was apparent to me in 2016 that there's something wrong w/Trump's mind.

I doubt seriously the administration is worse than I think. I think it's very, very bad. Very.

[Irish_Dem]

12. Same here, I knew how ill Trump is, and how it would most likely manifest once

he was in the WH.

I have been posting here about how bad it can get, with specifics, and some people argue
with me, saying Trump will follow the law, etc. I don't think most people
adequately understand the situation we face.

[Alice11111]

17. Very true. Most think it's just politics.

[Irish_Dem]

18. If even Dems are in denial, then we cannot blame the GOP for their denial.

Yes people keep arguing the law, saying Trump cannot do this or that.
I am arguing from the mental health standpoint and describing what
I think he is capable of.

[Alice11111]

21. He has not been overly constrained by the law. He was crazy

when he was elected, and he is much more so now.

[Irish_Dem]

22. Exactly. That is my point as well. He is grandiose and manipulative.

He has few limits.

[bdamomma]

41. It's politics

for Congress, they better get with it, before a lot of blood is spilled.

[smirkymonkey]

6. God help us. He's barking mad.

Even the most hardcore republicans in congress have to realize what a threat he is to the world.

[bdamomma]

25. maybe that is why they

are kissing up to him. He has given them the tax heist.

Happy New Year smirkymonkey

[smirkymonkey]

34. Happy New Year, bdamomma!

Let's hope this is the year he is removed from office, by hook or by crook!

[mn9driver]

7. Our mentally ill President.

Surrounded by evil opportunists. I’m not sure worse than that is possible.

[PatSeg]

9. I had pretty much decided

that things must be worse than they appear to the public. His lack of knowledge and his erratic personality, coupled with the gross incompetence of most of his administration, indicate it must be total chaos on the inside.

Whenever I watch any historical drama about a tyrant throwing tantrums, I figure that must be what it is like in the Trump White House.

[dawg day]

24. Now he's demanding that everyone be locked up-

Clinton, Abedin, Comey

[bdamomma]

26. why doesn't he include himself

I only wish.

the worst horrible nightmare we are all living he must be stopped. Nixon was but it is a different time now. They don't give a shit about the Constitution.

Again, no man is a above the law.

[dixiegrrrrl]

40. He IS including himself, in a way.

Remember, he projects his fears onto external people and things. Almost every single thing he accuses others of doing is what HE is doing.He calls people weak, losers, etc. out of his own fears of being that.
He attacks people for being "dis-loyal" and dishonest.
The world is a mirror to his foibles and trepidations.
This is completely apart from whatever form of dementia he displays.

Now we find he has pretty much given up any pretense of presidenting, all he does now is tweet and play golf.

[bdamomma]

42. Thus his obsession

with "winning" if he doesn't I am really afraid what he will do. We have to intervene, to be a thorn on the side to our Senators and Reps. This is not a drill this is for real.

Again there are more of us than them.

[PatSeg]

32. More and more deranged by the day

I can picture people tiptoeing around him in the White House, not wanting to set off the next tantrum.

I just got done watching the Russian TV series about Catherine the Great and when her husband went off on his tantrums, I figured that was what Trump was like in the Oval Office.

[world wide wally]

10. Throw away all those old WW ll movies.

America is now the world's bad guy with the insane leader.

[bdamomma]

43. Yea, so I don't think no-one will come to our rescue

unless we stop him, or Putin throws him under the bus.........sigh

[world wide wally]

45. We're on our own right now

But a lot of the world does know he is evil and insane

[Towlie]

11. And it's clear that the more the investigation closes in on him, the more irrational he'll become.

[L. Coyote]

13. Now this, Trump is a "Deep State" Crazy too.

from: Trump is a paranoid "Deep State" conspiracy theorist.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210047698

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Farmer-Rick]

14. This is the leader Putin picked for the US

A indulgent, aggressive, big baby. It's going to get worse and Putin is laughing at us as it does.

[Alice11111]

20. I think even Putin realizes this went too far...N Korea, more

sanctions, new arms race, Putin exposed.

[LittleGirl]

15. Yes, we all know he's batshit

crazy...so when is Congress going to step up? Seriously! I want to know because god damn it, we the people can't stop him, only Congress can. And they won't!

[bdamomma]

28. oh, the Congress gets their

cue from us enough misery put on them they will do something. We just need many of us to get in the streets.

[LittleGirl]

31. I hope you're right. Thanks.

[Irish_Dem]

19. I think we know enough to surmise that Trump's staff and attorneys

are basically trying to decrease the danger level by lying to him and
managing him the best they can.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. Those Latin Americans said "maybe they should invite the Chinese into the region instead"

That's about 2/3rds of the way through the piece. That's the consequence of having an "ignorant", "insane", "unpredictable" prejudiced arsehole in the office of president.

[Dan]

29. Maybe not

....something about the Monroe Doctrine.....

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. Perhaps Latin America tolerated the "Monroe Doctrine" while the US government was competent

With a senile bigot in charge, the doctrine becomes dangerous authoritarian interference. But once they've repulsed US representatives, they may not want to invite the next generation back to affect them, even if they government is sane again.

[Eliot Rosewater]

27. Like I keep telling people, Donald Trump knows absolutely nothing about anything,

including and especially business.

He knows nothing about foreign countries and societies, would be willing to send us to war anywhere if he thought he could profit.

But again, he knows nothing AT ALL about anything ESPECIALLY business.

[extvbroadcaster]

30. Anything is possible with Trump

Each day he could start an international incident with his tweets. I think people are privately telling world leaders he's a buffoon and to ignore him. But he could still start WWIII. The whole thing is scary. I think it is possible that he could last another 3 years and then be flushed down the toilet of history. Or he could cause so much damage that America will take a generation to recover, if ever. But it is true that most Americans were under the impression the democratic institutions were stronger than they were. With a Congress that won't act, and Trump doing any damn thing he wants, the country has never been in more trouble. Trump just ignores convention, like releasing his taxes. No law say he has to, so he doesn't. Then there are things the law says he can't do, like personally profiting off the Presidency. He does that too, and nobody stops him. God help us all during this time of crisis.

[Hekate]

38. Agreed. The Mad King makes things up as he goes along; in his mind, no rules or laws apply to him...

The org chart for his businesses was always very simple indeed, and he's contemptuous of any other way of running things. Hey, he's the boss, all he has to do is bellow at people and things get done. Why change now?

Welcome to DU, extvbroadcaster.

[SergeStorms]

35. No, it isn't.

I think it's totally abysmal, without one single redeeming aspect to Trump's administration of ANY governmental department. Democracy is dying in our country because of Donald J. Trump.

If it can be worse that that, have at it.

[Cha]

36. Possibly.. I think he's the fucking anti-Christ.

[bdamomma]

44. and the bonehead people who voted

for him based their decision on seeing him in the Apprentice, they felt like they "knew him". Fuck that. Now we got an authoritarian.

[Fritz Walter]

37. Why am I reminded of Gaius Germanicus Caligula?

If you’ve seen the 1979 film starring Malcolm McDowell, or the pertinent episodes from BBC/PBS’s production of I, Claudius, you’re probably seeing striking similarities to what we’re now enduring. Hint: it doesn’t end well for anyone.

For those who have been sheltered from those cinema/video accounts, let me share a brief IMDB review excerpt:

The rise and fall of the notorious Roman Emperor Caligula, showing the violent methods that he employs to gain the throne, and the subsequent insanity of his reign - he gives his horse political office and humiliates and executes anyone who even slightly displeases him. He also sleeps with his sister, organises elaborate orgies and embarks on a fruitless invasion of Britain before meeting an appropriate end.

OK, maybe the ascent to power wasn’t so bloody in the 21st Century; yet we’ve seen appointees who closely resemble horses’ asses — viz. the judge-nominee who was rightly humiliated at the Senate (by a Republican, no less). Instead of lusting after a sibling, this one has openly expressed carnal desires for his own daughter. And the desire for showing military prowess at almost any cost — despite any experience in that field — should alarm everybody on this planet. To put it bluntly, Cadet Bone-spurs wore a costume at his military school, not a uniform.

To clarify: I would never suggest Cheeto-ligula suffer the same violent end as did the mad Caesar some 2,000+ years ago. But someone must act. And the sooner the better!

[dlk]

39. Of Course Trump is Worse Than He Already Appears. Think of All the Intel the Public Isn't Privy to.