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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy John Kelly is the perfect pick for Trump's new chief of staff
Or, at least, why Trump thinks he is.
by Dara Lind at Vox
https://www.vox.com/2017/7/28/16059120/john-kelly-chief-of-staff
"SNIP...........
But with each round of criticism, Kellys response has gotten more forceful. In the past few months, hes overtaken Sessions (whos fallen out of favor with the mercurial president) as the face of the administrations immigration policy. And he presents it with a blunt, law-and-order morality and an edge of outrage toward anyone who might dare question those who keep America safe.
He likes to say that he doesnt deport immigrants, the law does. In a May speech, he blamed the departments morale problem on the public trusting criminals over agents: When you discourage, when you disable, when you unjustly criticize and default to believing the initial reports as opposed to defaulting to believing the stories told by my professionals, what else do you expect?
Kellys rhetoric has often glossed over or contradicted the policies his department carried out, or hes simply refused to believe accounts of officer abuses. But his simple us-versus-them tone isnt dissimilar to Trumps own, or to the other figure gaining more influence over the president right now: communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who called New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza Thursday to demand as an American that Lizza tell him whod leaked gossip about a dinner.
Its not clear that Kelly or anyone can actually discipline Scaramucci or the other people vying for influence with the president. Its not clear the president wants him to he totally rejected Priebuss attempts to control access to the Oval Office. But as an exponent of the way Trump sees the world, and as someone who can represent the administration on television, its not hard to see why Trump thinks now is the time for a general who, at his worst, reacts to criticism as a national security threat.
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Lindsay
(3,276 posts)Yeah, that should suit Trump to a T.
Alice11111
(5,730 posts)Can't wait. The only good thing is DT can't endure the competition for long
frazzled
(18,402 posts)John Kellys sterling reputation as a Marine general with an appreciation for nuance led many Democrats to back his nomination as Homeland Security secretary in the hope that he would rein in President Donald Trumps hard-line immigration and security policies.
Instead, Kelly has moved to impose those policies with military rigor. He has pursued an aggressive deportation campaign; defended Trumps effort to ban visitors from several Muslim-majority countries; and hinted that he might separate migrant parents from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Kelly has joked with Trump about using violence against reporters and defended Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, amid allegations that he tried to set up a secret back channel to the Russian government.
Today, its tough to find anyone on the left willing to defend Kelly. He has alienated potential allies on Capitol Hill, including Democrats who voted to confirm him, and is endangering his reputation as a nonpartisan figure in a presidential administration that has relatively few.
...
In the first three months of the Trump administration, arrests of non-criminal immigrants rose by 157 percent over the same period a year earlier, according to data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/11/democrats-john-kelly-dhs-trump-239265
Warpy
(111,339 posts)which is why so few of his picks for anything have had any expertise in the field. So Dumpster feels perfectly justified in shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic by shuffling unqualified people around so that no one ever gets qualified to do any of the jobs.
It's one way of making sure nobody ever notices how unqualified and totally out of his depth he is.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)lol, what I do know from Trump's behavior so far, is that he won't listen to Kelly either.
If he took the job. He is a fool.
If by some chance the man has a ethical bone in his body and can get Trump to listen, Kelly might get rid of Bannon and the Mooch.
Nobody hold their breath there.
Kelly will last out the year maybe.