I still remember the big Trump sign in Anchorage on Northern Lights and Old Seward: “DRAIN THE SWAMP” — hoping it would happen.
Instead, Trump filled his cabinet with swamp creatures, This sounds like Trump is trying to learn, but Joel thinks not enough, and explains why.
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World Affairs Brief, July 29, 2022 Commentary and Insights on a Troubled World.
Copyright Joel Skousen. Partial quotations with attribution permitted. Cite source as Joel Skousen’s World Affairs Brief (http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com).
TRUMP CLAIMS HE CAN STILL DRAIN THE SWAMP
Chris Menahan of Information Liberation says that Trump is planning on purging the Deep State if re-elected. Trump supporters love to believe this, but it’s not possible because even an ardent student of true conspiracies—the only record of who is Deep State and who isn’t (incomplete as it is)—couldn’t root out all the conspirators, except a few who participated in Deep State cover-ups like the assassination of JFK, or Vince Foster, or 9/11. But hope dies hard with Trump supporters so here is the story and the claims:
Donald Trump is planning to purge the deep state and right the wrongs he made during his first term in office, if a new report from Axios is to be believed. [Axios is no friend of conservatives]. Trump is allegedly going to kick Jared and Ivanka to the curb and surround himself with loyalists rather than traitors like John Bolton.
The impact could go well beyond typical conservative targets such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Internal Revenue Service. Trump allies are working on plans that would potentially strip layers at the Justice Department — including the FBI, and reaching into national security, intelligence, the State Department and the Pentagon, sources close to the former president say.
The heart of the plan is derived from an executive order known as “Schedule F,” developed and refined in secret over most of the second half of Trump’s term and launched 13 days before the 2020 election.
They intend to sack thousands of mid-level staff jobs. Well-funded groups are already developing lists of candidates selected often for their animus against the system — in line with Trump’s long-running obsession with draining “the swamp.” This includes building extensive databases of people vetted as being committed to Trump and his agenda.
Following splits from some of his past swathe of loyal advisers, Trump has tightened his circle. The Florida-based strategist Susie Wiles is Trump’s top political adviser. She runs his personal office and his political action committee. When he contemplates endorsements, Trump has often attached weight to the views of his former White House political director Brian Jack, pollster Tony Fabrizio, and his son Donald Trump Jr. He often consults another GOP pollster, John McLaughlin. For communications and press inquiries Trump calls on Taylor Budowich and Liz Harrington. Jason Miller remains in the mix.
None of these people have any experience in conspiracy circles. They will be incapable of detecting who is Deep State and who isn’t.
They agreed it was not just the “deep state” career bureaucrats who needed to be replaced. Often, the former Trump officials said, their biggest problems were with the political people that Trump himself had regrettably appointed. Never again should Trump hire people like his former chief of staff John Kelly, his former defense secretaries, James Mattis and Mark Esper, his CIA director Gina Haspel, and virtually the entire leadership of every iteration of Trump’s Justice Department.
Of course, hindsight is always easy, but Trump was NEVER able to detect a wolf in sheep’s clothing and I doubt he won’t keep making the same mistakes in the future.
As Axios previously reported, Ginni Thomas (wife of Clarence Thomas) had assembled detailed lists of disloyal government officials to oust — and trusted pro-Trump people to replace them.
Her recommendations to the White House included appointing the right-wing talk radio provocateur and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino for a Homeland Security or counterterrorism adviser role… Daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner are no longer involved in Trump’s political operation. Trump still talks to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy but their relationship is not what it once was.
Trump has doubled down with a small group he views as loyal and courageous. The group includes his former senior White House officials, Dan Scavino, Stephen Miller and John McEntee. It also includes his fourth chief of staff, Mark Meadows…
If this is his list of trusted advisors, Trump will be just as clueless if he regains office.
Trump trusts only a few of his former Cabinet secretaries and senior government officials, sources close to him said. He still talks casually to many others, and is seldom off his phone, but former aides who felt they could occasionally persuade Trump to change course say he is quick to shut down advice he does not want to hear.
Two other reasons why he never learns. He never does any homework himself, and lives by briefings. So, he’s only as good as his advisors, and they don’t know conspiracy! …