So Much For Generals

The Company You Keep:  On Thursday Chief of Staff Kelly lambasted Miami’s Democratic Congresswoman Federica Wilson for egregious self-aggrandizement, asserting that she inappropriately boasted about her efforts to secure funding for a new Miami FBI building when she gave a speech at its dedication and naming ceremony.  Wilson denied Kelly’s account, pointing out that she wasn’t even in Congress when the building was funded although, after she was asked to help, she did enlist the assistance of Republican leadership and the Obama White House to expedite approval for the naming of the building which honors two FBI agents who died in the line of duty, to ensure that the formal naming could take place on the same day as the building dedication ceremony. Unfortunately for the White House and General Kelly, the Orlando Sun Sentinel released the entire tape of her speech yesterday.  The tape shows that she spoke eloquently about the brave acts of two FBI agents and expressed appreciation to the FBI for their service, asking all of the agents in the audience, including then FBI Director Comey, to stand up to receive a round of applause. She then went on to thank the other local Congressmen, at least one of whom was a Republican, for their efforts obtaining funding for the building.  She also thanked then House Speaker Boehner, also a Republican, and Florida Senator Rubio, another Republican, for their help expediting the legislation needed for the approval of the naming.  At no time did she take credit for the funding. When the inaccuracy and inappropriateness of Kelly’s insulting diatribe against the Congresswoman was brought to the attention of Press Secretary Huckabee Sanders, she refused to acknowledge the Sun Sentinel tape, claimed that the Congresswoman had said the things she didn’t say and then said it was highly inappropriate to question Kelly’s veracity because he is a “four star marine general.”  Anyone relying on Kelly to save the country from Trump better look elsewhere,  just a few months in the White House and his ability to spin lies exceeds Trump’s, at least you can tell when Trump is lying.  Kelly is a more gifted speaker so his comments and previously sterling reputation led many to question the veracity of that “wacky” Congresswoman Wilson, mocking her attitude and her flamboyant hats and adding a racial quotient to an already charged environment.  Were it not for the Sun Sentinel tape her reputation would have been tainted.  Now it is Kelly’s that is tarnished. Last night the Washington Post published an editorial entitled “John Kelly owes the Congresswoman an apology.”  He should act on the Post’s advice ASAP, he can find Congresswoman Wilson in Miami where she will be attending today’s funeral for Sgt. Johnson.  There is still no explanation as to why it took two days to retrieve his body from Niger, no one knows how and when he died or what caused the “massive intelligence failure” that left him and the other three fallen soldiers vulnerable to an ambush by fifty ISIS fighters.  Senator McCain, who has little time for a run around, said that he will request that records concerning the attack be subpoenaed if more information isn’t provided soon.  As to the speeches given earlier in the week by former Presidents Bush and Obama, Huckabee Sanders said that their references to bigotry and divisiveness had nothing to do with Trump because if they did, the formers presidents would have attacked him more directly, that’s what Trump would have done.    

Out of the Norm:  Trump has taken it upon himself to personally interview candidates for certain US Attorney positions.  Coincidentally the districts involved, the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York and the District of Columbia, are the districts where cases about his financial misdeeds, campaign collusion, or cabinet improprieties would be heard. Though legal, his interviews are not normal, and leave the impression that he is trying to cultivate relationships with the US Attorneys who could someday hold his fate in their hands.  When asked about this during his contentious testimony to the Senate Justice Committee, Attorney General Sessions claimed he was unaware that Trump was involving himself in the interview process and then said that it would be legal for him to do so.  It is legal, but it’s not normal practice, by comparison, President Obama never conducted any US Attorney interviews.

Not So Intelligent Director:  CIA Director Mike Pompeo is a former Republican Congressman and an early supporter of Trump who likes him so much that he insists that Pompeo trek to the White House every day to personally deliver the morning intelligence briefing.  Pompeo, one of the people who’s been proposed as a possible replacement for Secretary of State Tillerson, is so eager to please Trump that he told NBC News that the 2016 election was conducted with integrity, adding “yes, the intelligence community’s assessment is that the Russian meddling that took place did not affect the outcome of the election.”  While that’s the narrative that Trump wants everyone to believe, to date the intelligence community has not reached that conclusion and has never before said so.  Shortly after Pompeo made his remarks a CIA spokesman issued a clarifying statement walking back Pompeo’s assertion by saying that “the intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed, and the director did not intend to suggest that it had.”  Pompeo’s job requires that he be an honest broker of intelligence.  Sadly, this week he showed that covering for Trump comes first.     

A Texas Handmaid’s Tale: Scott Lloyd is the official responsible for the Office of Refugee Resettlement, he has no experience working with refugees but he is an anti-abortion activist who doesn’t even believe in birth control which explains why the cards are still stacked against seventeen year old “Jane Doe,” the Central American refugee who wants to end her pregnancy.  Instead of allowing her to immediately proceed with an abortion, a D.C. appeals court panel made up of two Republican appointees and one Democratic appointee voted two to one to give the Department of Health and Human services another eleven days to find a suitable sponsor to help her proceed with her request, if they can’t find an “appropriate relative” the case will then revert back to the lower court that said that the government should facilitate her abortion “without delay.”  By then she will be at least seventeen weeks pregnant.  Scott Lloyd is likely planning his next move, he only has to figure out a way to stall another three weeks since abortions in Texas where Jane Doe is in custody are not permitted after twenty weeks.  So much for the right to choose.