TGHusker Posted July 16, 2019 Author Share Posted July 16, 2019 This shows failure of leadership at the very top. The 3rd acting SOD in 2019. Trump's cabinet is a revolving door as people tire of working with him or have proven to be not up to the task experience wise or ethically. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/07/14/pentagon-in-its-longest-ever-stretch-of-leadership-limbo/ Quote When he resigned as defense secretary last December, Jim Mattis thought it might take two months to install a successor. That seemed terribly long at the time. Seven months later, the U.S. still has no confirmed defense chief even with the nation facing potential armed conflict with Iran. That's the longest such stretch in Pentagon history. There is also no confirmed deputy defense secretary, and other significant senior civilian and military Pentagon positions are in limbo, more than at any recent time. The causes are varied, but this leadership vacuum has nonetheless begun to make members of Congress and others uneasy, creating a sense that something is amiss in a critical arm of the government at a time of global uncertainty. William Cohen, a former Republican senator who served as defense secretary during President Bill Clinton's second term, says U.S. allies — "and even our foes" — expect more stability than this within the U.S. defense establishment. "It is needlessly disruptive to have a leadership vacuum for so long at the Department of Defense as the department prepares for its third acting secretary in less than a year," Cohen told The Associated Press. He said he worries about the cumulative effect of moving from one acting secretary to another while other key positions lack permanent officials. 1 Link to comment
Moiraine Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 There's almost no chance this woman is lying. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/26/us/politics/hyten-assault-joint-chiefs.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage Link to comment
TGHusker Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 "Another one bites the Dust" should be Trump's theme song. The bold below should be noted. Esp that he was 'among the last of the seasoned foreign policy hands'. Trump thinks he can do it on his own good judgment, the intelligence be damned. https://apnews.com/6ad59c9104dc425bba166de4b9723612 Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, is resigning after a turbulent two years in which he and President Donald Trump were often at odds over Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump named a GOP congressman and fierce loyalist to replace him. Trump announced Coats’ departure as Aug. 15 in a tweet Sunday thanking Coats for his service. He said he will nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, to the post and that he will soon name an acting official. Ratcliffe is a frequent Trump defender who fiercely questioned former special counsel Robert Mueller during a House Judiciary Committee hearing last week. Coats often appeared out of step with Trump and disclosed to prosecutors how he was urged by the Republican president to publicly deny any link between Russia and the Trump campaign. The frayed relationship reflected broader divisions between the president and the government’s intelligence agencies. Coats’ public, and sometimes personal, disagreements with Trump over policy and intelligence included Russian election interference and North Korean nuclear capabilities. Trump had long been skeptical of the nation’s intelligence agencies, which provoked his ire by concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of getting him elected. In a letter of resignation released Sunday night, Coats said serving as the nation’s top intelligence official has been a “distinct privilege” but that it was time for him to “move on” to the next chapter of his life. He cited his work to strengthen the intelligence community’s effort to prevent harm to the U.S. from adversaries and to reform the security clearance process. A former Republican senator from Indiana, Coats was appointed director of national intelligence in March 2017, becoming the fifth person to hold the post since it was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to oversee and coordinate the nation’s 17 intelligence agencies. Coats had been among the last of the seasoned foreign policy hands to surround the president after his 2016 victory. That roster included Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and later national security adviser H.R. McMaster. Coats developed a reputation inside the administration for sober presentations of intelligence conclusions that occasionally contradicted Trump’s policy aims. Link to comment
Danny Bateman Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 3 hours ago, TGHusker said: "Another one bites the Dust" should be Trump's theme song. The bold below should be noted. Esp that he was 'among the last of the seasoned foreign policy hands'. Trump thinks he can do it on his own good judgment, the intelligence be damned. https://apnews.com/6ad59c9104dc425bba166de4b9723612 Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, is resigning after a turbulent two years in which he and President Donald Trump were often at odds over Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump named a GOP congressman and fierce loyalist to replace him. Trump announced Coats’ departure as Aug. 15 in a tweet Sunday thanking Coats for his service. He said he will nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, to the post and that he will soon name an acting official. Ratcliffe is a frequent Trump defender who fiercely questioned former special counsel Robert Mueller during a House Judiciary Committee hearing last week. Coats often appeared out of step with Trump and disclosed to prosecutors how he was urged by the Republican president to publicly deny any link between Russia and the Trump campaign. The frayed relationship reflected broader divisions between the president and the government’s intelligence agencies. Coats’ public, and sometimes personal, disagreements with Trump over policy and intelligence included Russian election interference and North Korean nuclear capabilities. Trump had long been skeptical of the nation’s intelligence agencies, which provoked his ire by concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of getting him elected. In a letter of resignation released Sunday night, Coats said serving as the nation’s top intelligence official has been a “distinct privilege” but that it was time for him to “move on” to the next chapter of his life. He cited his work to strengthen the intelligence community’s effort to prevent harm to the U.S. from adversaries and to reform the security clearance process. A former Republican senator from Indiana, Coats was appointed director of national intelligence in March 2017, becoming the fifth person to hold the post since it was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to oversee and coordinate the nation’s 17 intelligence agencies. Coats had been among the last of the seasoned foreign policy hands to surround the president after his 2016 victory. That roster included Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and later national security adviser H.R. McMaster. Coats developed a reputation inside the administration for sober presentations of intelligence conclusions that occasionally contradicted Trump’s policy aims. A little afraid of putting a Trump yes-man in charge of our intelligence apparatus. I mean, at least it's not that clown Nunes. But this seems like it's only going to accelerate the politicization of everything, even things that should be above the political fray. But then again, we said the same thing about SecDef when Mattis left, and that position still hasn't been filled. It's incredible how dysfunctional the government has actually become under this administration. Goes to show what can happen to it under the watch of people who don't value it at all. 1 Link to comment
TGHusker Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 15 minutes ago, Danny Bateman said: A little afraid of putting a Trump yes-man in charge of our intelligence apparatus. I mean, at least it's not that clown Nunes. But this seems like it's only going to accelerate the politicization of everything, even things that should be above the political fray. But then again, we said the same thing about SecDef when Mattis left, and that position still hasn't been filled. It's incredible how dysfunctional the government has actually become under this administration. Goes to show what can happen to it under the watch of people who don't value it at all. Trump has several "ACTING" cabinet or agency heads right now. Trump will fill this spot wt a clone of himself. Thus limiting advise to yes men. Kind of like Hitler's (yes I said it) right hand men - all fearful of opposing him or his opinions on things. He thought he was a military expert and he ran the show. Disaster for Germany was the end result. It is the same thing Trump is doing. Those of strong opinion don't last long in the Trump admin. Link to comment
Danny Bateman Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 41 minutes ago, TGHusker said: Trump has several "ACTING" cabinet or agency heads right now. Trump will fill this spot wt a clone of himself. Thus limiting advise to yes men. Kind of like Hitler's (yes I said it) right hand men - all fearful of opposing him or his opinions on things. He thought he was a military expert and he ran the show. Disaster for Germany was the end result. It is the same thing Trump is doing. Those of strong opinion don't last long in the Trump admin. I think we should all be wary of a president surrounding themselves by people who will tell them when they are wrong. Obama purposely built a bipartisan cabinet to avoid this situation. Another reason he'll go down as a rock-solid president and Trump will be a sad footnote in history. 1 Link to comment
commando Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 55 minutes ago, TGHusker said: Trump has several "ACTING" cabinet or agency heads right now. Trump will fill this spot wt a clone of himself. Thus limiting advise to yes men. Kind of like Hitler's (yes I said it) right hand men - all fearful of opposing him or his opinions on things. He thought he was a military expert and he ran the show. Disaster for Germany was the end result. It is the same thing Trump is doing. Those of strong opinion don't last long in the Trump admin. the reason for all the "acting" positions is that his job is to tear down the U.S. government. the people he hires for every position are directly opposed to the departments they are named to or otherwise totally unfit for their jobs. Link to comment
TGHusker Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 32 minutes ago, commando said: the reason for all the "acting" positions is that his job is to tear down the U.S. government. the people he hires for every position are directly opposed to the departments they are named to or otherwise totally unfit for their jobs. Yes and explain why the good Doctor is over HUD and not the Surgeon General if only to spread ineptness around. Link to comment
BigRedBuster Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 17 minutes ago, TGHusker said: Yes and explain why the good Doctor is over HUD and not the Surgeon General if only to spread ineptness around. Well....it's best to have the token black guy over....you know.....where those black people live. 2 Link to comment
TGHusker Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 2 hours ago, BigRedBuster said: Well....it's best to have the token black guy over....you know.....where those black people live. Gotcha -- kind of goes wt Trump's feelings about Baltimore Link to comment
QMany Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Quote 50 USC § 3023. Director of National Intelligence (a) Director of National Intelligence (1) There is a Director of National Intelligence who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Any individual nominated for appointment as Director of National Intelligence shall have extensive national security expertise. 1 Link to comment
Moiraine Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Can the intelligence director be fired immediately January 2021 if we get a president who isn’t a waste of oxygen? Link to comment
Danny Bateman Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 This seems about right. 2 Link to comment
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