NY Times: President Bannon?

[pnwmom]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/opinion/president-bannon.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region®ion=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region

But a new executive order, politicizing the process for national security decisions, suggests Mr. Bannon is positioning himself not merely as a Svengali but as the de facto president.

SNIP

As his first week in office amply demonstrated, Mr. Trump has no grounding in national security decision making, no sophistication in governance and little apparent grasp of what it takes to lead a great diverse nation. He needs to hear from experienced officials, like General Dunford. But Mr. Bannon has positioned himself, along with Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as the president’s most trusted aide, shutting out other voices that might offer alternative views. He is now reportedly eclipsing the national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.

While Mr. Trump long ago embraced Mr. Bannon’s politics, he would be wise to reconsider allowing him to run his White House, particularly after the fiasco over the weekend of the risible Muslim ban. Mr. Bannon helped push that order through without consulting Mr. Trump’s own experts at the Department of Homeland Security or even seeking deliberation by the N.S.C. itself. The administration’s subsequent modifications, the courtroom reversals and the international furor have made the president look not bold and decisive but simply incompetent.

As a candidate, Mr. Trump was immensely gratified by the applause at his rallies for Mr. Bannon’s jingoism. Yet now casually weaponized in executive orders, those same ideas are alienating American allies and damaging the presidency.

Presidents are entitled to pick their advisers. But Mr. Trump’s first spasms of policy making have supplied ample evidence that he needs advisers who can think strategically and weigh second- and third-order consequences beyond the immediate domestic political effects. Imagine tomorrow if Mr. Trump is faced with a crisis involving China in the South China Sea or Russia in Ukraine. Will he look to his chief political provocateur, Mr. Bannon, with his penchant for blowing things up, or will he turn at last for counsel to the few more thoughtful experienced hands in his administration, like Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and General Dunford?

[Sunny05]

1. This approach needs to be pursued.

People need to be aware. Plus it will get to trump.

[tanyev]

2. Ooh, that's not going to go over well.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. That's gonna leave a mark.

Der Trumpenführer does read the NYT, and we might expect an outraged tweet about how he's totally in charge. Maybe the Times is trying to drive a wedge between Trump and Bannon, but unfortunately Bannon is smarter than Trump and is probably very, very good at flattering him - which is why he's so powerful. He's Rasputin.

[Leghorn21]

5. Isn't it funny, I picture President Bannon yelling at him 99% of the time, with lil

Donny going okay, okay, and then President B pats him on the head and gives him a bucket of KFC as a reward...and then starts yelling at him again.

[dalton99a]

9. Yep.

[Leghorn21]

4. After #StopPresidentBannon was trending high on twitter for like 8 hours

yesterday, I figured, yep, this is going massively mainstream - and here we are -

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Ban Bannon

[center][font size = "+2"]Ban Bannon[/font][/center]

[linnknee]

7. President Chunk of Cellulose with a Horrific Overcomb.

Alt Right Supreme Commander Bannon and Chatty Say Anything Kellyanne are puppets of the Mercer Family. Really wealthy Republicans who supposedly hate the Koch Brothers and were originally for Ted Cruz. [who probably would have gotten the nomination with the reckless base the GOP had this year] if it wasn't for an even worst choice who came down an escalator. Too bad the escalator was working otherwise the fat lazy jerk would never have walked down stairs. Getting back to the idiot who is sitting in the white house watching TV. He knows nothing, cares about nothing but making money the easiest way possible. By cheating normal citizens and actually probably enjoys causing all this chaos. Remember any publicity is good. Every one of us who oppose the entire white house must work to get out the vote for 2018 and protest, write letters -- do everything we can to disturb the big piece of cellulose that is sitting in the oval office.

[Aimee in OKC]

8. Time for Twitter to provoke with "#ActingPresidentBannon" ? {eom}

[OKIsItJustMe]

10. The real estate mogul's architect: Bannon's influence swells

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/31/politics/steve-bannon-national-security-council-trump/

[font face=Serif][font size=5]The real estate mogul's architect: Bannon's influence swells[/font]

By Jeremy Diamond, CNN
Updated 9:26 AM ET, Tue January 31, 2017

[font size=3]Washington (CNN) – To outsiders looking in, President Donald Trump's decision to give his chief strategist Steve Bannon a permanent seat with the National Security Council's most senior officials marked the startling elevation of a political adviser to a policy-making role.

But for Trump administration insiders, Bannon's appointment was little more than a natural evolution of his status as one of the President's most trusted and influential advisers.

That's because Bannon's role has long eclipsed that of traditional political strategist, with the former head of the right-wing Breitbart News site quickly taking custody of Trump's political and policy agendas not just as tactician, but as one of its chief architects.

That role will now officially extend to crafting the Trump foreign policy, placing a firebrand who has repeatedly targeted the Republican establishment and called for a radical reshaping of the US' role in the world in a prime position to reshape the current world order -- not just for the term of Trump's presidency, but for decades to come.

…[/font][/font]

[blueseas]

11. K&R

More exposure!

[TalenaGor]

12. he must have some good dirt on trump....