Trick or Treat Today for Megyn Kelly

For Megyn Kelly's first (and perhaps last) year with NBC News, the highly paid anchor was coerced to dress up like  Shania Twain.  Unbeknownst to her, Ms. Kelly's karaoke was interrupted by an ambush by the country superstar.

Hillary Clinton Fantasizes About Her Halloween Costume

It's surprising that Mrs. Clinton did not say Wonder Woman.

Podesta Seeks to Coerce Sanitized Coverage of Mueller Mullings

As Tucker Carlson reported on the Podesta Group's connection to Paul Manafort, who was just indicted by the Mueller Special Counsel, the Fox News host revealed how Tony Podesta tried to coerce sanitized coverage of the Mueller Russian Coercion  probe via lawfare.

As Carlson noted, this sort of intimidation tactic is a favorite tool for the Podesta Group.

It seems that Hillary's army is using standing orders to intimidate and obfuscate.   Hillary activists on social media pushed back on the Russian scandals by demanding to know EXACTLY what she did wrong regarding Uranium One.  

Of course, this is impossible to tell when government documents were stored on personal servers (violation of law on classified documents) and then shredded or wiped clean at Secretary Clinton's discretion (violation of customary State Department procedure as well as the Government Documents statutes).  These missing documents may detail how the Clinton Foundation received large donations (which was a violation of the Clinton/Obama Memorandum of Understanding in 2009) and former President Clinton received vastly inflated speaking fees from Russian interests right after the approval process.  But since we can't say EXACTLY what Mrs. Clinton did, we should feel intimidated to even mention it at all.  But for a conspiracy, one does not have to directly point to any particular action. 

Nigel Farage: European Union Reaction to Catalan Independence makes Brexit Look Like a Sunday Picnic

European Parliament President Poo-Poos Catalan Declaration of Independence

Hillary Clinton as the real Wonder Woman?

Unsuccessful 2016 Presidential nominee First Lady/Senator/Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was feted on her 70th birthday by the Women's Media Center.  Mrs. Clinton received the first ever Wonder Woman award because: "[S]he seems to have superhuman strength, resilience and courage". Mrs. Clinton was also toasted by the likes of feminist icons Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem on her natal anniversary.

[L] Jane Fonda [C] Gloria Steinem toasting [R] Hillary Clinton, October 26, 2017

As her campaigned waned and in the unhappy aftermath of the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton has more overtly embraced feminist hermanenutics to understand her defeat.  Mrs. Clinton has not shied away from associating herself with Wonder Woman, despite not seeing the recently released DC Comics film (2017).



While many may see it a stretch to liken Hillary Clinton to a superhero, it might still be apt to refer to her as Wonder Woman.  After all, consider her answers about Cattle Futures, evasions and lies about bungling Benghazi, Mrs. Clinton's e-mail anomalies, her confusion that 'c' is for classified not cookie, and Hillary dismissing Uranium One connections as "baloney" as well as the excuse making for What Happened (2017) after she lost a sure thing election, Mrs. Clinton well be the true Wonder Women.  Considering the source, true is an inadvised phrase-- OK, the REAL Wonder(ing) Woman.

On Clinton Corruption Chacuterie

The Same Old Baloney by Tarzana Joe (Sarti)

You recall our Founding Fathers
Warned that we could fall to faction
But had they known the Clintons
They’d have warned us of distraction

And we have, in search of justice
Hopeful expectations shattered
As they’ve caught us up in questions
That never even mattered

Do you really think a WOMAN
(now don’t you have a nerve)
Can’t make fortunes trading futures
With no lengthy learning curve?

And just like that we’re walking down
A pretty primrose path
The story’s not extortion
No, it’s women’s skills with math

In Benghazi, in our service
An ambassador was lost
Three heroes serving with him
All paid a bitter cost

Before their grieving families
Could even say good bye
The people should have questioned
What happened there and why

Instead the nation’s asking
From D.C to the Presidio
If the horrible attack
Was really triggered by a video

And now the special counsel
May be having some discussions
To see if she’s complicit
Selling “boom boom” to the Russians

Don’t worry, they’ll distract us
They do it every day
With a hint of an admission
Or a phony dossier

But justice will be served
At a place and time, eventual
For perjury, by definition
Cannot be consensual

No, I don’t think her fate
Will be like Madame Defarge’s
But I can see her pleading
To a host of lesser charges

What? Clinton Baloney AGAIN?

H/T: Tarzana Joe 

The Queen of Thorns on Distractions

Jerry Brown Not Acclimatizing to Trump's Ship of State

In an interview with BBC Radio, California Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA) rebuked the Trump Administration for backing away from Obama era Climate Change goals to galvanize his base. Brown vowed to act to stabilize the "Ship of State".

The Trump Administration has taken a more skeptical approach to anthropomorphic (man-made) Climate Change.  Trump EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt cast doubt on the 2009 finding that man made climate change harms human health.  In June 2017, Pruitt reportedly launched an internal critique of mainstay climate science . In addition, esident Trump has indicated that the United States may withdraw from the November 2015 Paris Climate Change Accord unless more favorable terms can be reached,

Such deviations from the settled climate science shibboleth triggers progressives like celebrity science enthusiast Bill Nye. As it became evident that President Trump was not going to be the environmental internationalist like his predecessor, blue state politicians tried to stand the wound to America's bona fides to the world. Governor Brown acted as a self appointed American environmental envoy traveling to China to promise that not all of the country was poised for perceived environmental rollbacks.  The 79 year old California Governor also announced that San Francisco would host a global Climate Change Summit in September 2018, with or without President Trump.  Many cities and states, governed by leftists, have signaled that they intend to comply with the Paris Climate Change Accords, even if the United States federal government does not. 

As Nicaragua recently ratified the Paris Climate Change Accords, CNN laments that only the US and Syria remain as non-signatories to the international accord. The problem is that this is a non-binding "treaty" (which was not ratified by the US Senate despite President Obama being a signatory). Despite 197 nations signing on to the Paris Climate Change Accord, few countries are actually complying the the goals, so they effectively are worthless commitments  Still, progressives scorn the United States for not buying into the transfer of wealth to the Global South under the guise of fighting climate change. 

Puckish pundits ponder if Governor Brown would navigate the ship of state with Moonbeams. 

DNC Chair Tom Perez Reveals Himself as a Constitutional Dunce

During a speech at the University of Indiana Law School, Democrat National Chairman Tom Perez claimed that the Constitution did not create the Electoral College.  

Progressives have tried to minimize President Trump's election by citing the fact that he did not win the popular vote. Be that as it may, that is inconsequential because Electoral College votes are allocated from each state based upon a winner take all (with the exception of Maine and Nebraska). In the 2016 Electoral College Vote,  Republican Donald Trump won with 304 Electoral College votes to Democrat Hillary Clinton with 227 votes with seven faithless electors (Two from Mr. Trump and five which should have gone to Mrs. Clinton).

As Mr. Perez graduated cum laud at Harvard Law and also earned a Masters Degree from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, it is hard to believe that he did not know that the Electoral College was entrenched in Article II of the Constitution, and its methodology was modified by the Twelfth Amendment after the messy election of 1800 and also the Twenty-Third Amendment (1961) enfranchising DC in Presidential elections.  Perhaps in those Ivory Towers of Education, they look down at the Electoral College as just being a "party school".

The contemporary trend in legal studies, however, claims that the Constitution is a living document which can be changed to suit today's day and age.  Yet legitimate legal arguments can not ignore what is in plain text.  

A political propagandist once observed that: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it ." Of course, most people do not like to be associated with the German Third Reich fascist political philosophy of Joseph Goebbels. 

Based on the DNC Chair's inaccurate assertion, Tom Perez proved himself to be a Constitutional Dunce and strongly indicated that he is just a party hack, trying to claim victory by any means necessary.

Tucker Carlson on Moral Covers for Hire

Johannes Althusius on Kindness

A Bit of Baloney by Hillary Clinton on Uranium One

Former First Lady/Senator/ Secretary of State Hillary Clinton disputed any connection between the Clintons and the Uranium One scandal.  Mrs. Clinton insisted that the issue had been debunked years ago.

The salient question is whether the New York Times retracted their 2015 story or if  Hillary thinks that the Old Grey Lady (that is, the New York Times) is part of the vast Right Wing Conspiracy and  peddle fake news. 

Chuck Schumer Sends a Message about the Trump Presidency

Schumer's critique might be more credible if the Democrats did not slow roll nearly everything from the 45th President in the Senate. It is understandable that Democrats vote in lock-step for them on legislation, but demanding full debate on each and every Presidential appointee is the politics of obstruction.  Moreover, prior to the Inauguration, Schumer expressed willingness to work with the Trump Administration only if he abandoned all of his Republican colleagues, which Mr. Trump has not yet been willing to do.

But Chuck Schumer's tears may make a tasty mocktail in the West Wing and makes for compelling copy during friendly questioning with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press.

Bowe Bergdahl on Honest Captors

Bergdahl "belly-aches" about how the Army imprisoned him in a desk job with back pay while his case was adjudicated but he admires the honesty of the Taliban, who kept him caged during his AWOL time. 

On a Rock Star #ParasiteRodeoClown

The anti-Trump controversy of the week seems to be alleged insensitivity of President Trump when he called a Gold Star spouse of a Special Force soldier killed in Niger.  

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D-FL 24th) claims to have listened to the call and insists that Mr. Trump was cruel when he told the widow of Sgt. Johnson that "he knew what he was volunteering for". 

Trump Administration Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly (USMC, ret.) spoke with authority before the White House Press Corps to share how Mr. Trump echoed his words about expressing the bravery of the fallen soldier, and that it was extraordinary for the Commander-in-Chief to make such a phone call.  When Rep. Wilson learned that the White House had focused its attention on her allegations, Wilson laughed and claimed that she was a Rock Star.  When later questioned about Gen. Kelly's characterization of her being an "empty barrel that makes the most noise",  the flamboyant Florida Congresswoman claimed that he used a racist term.

It is not surprising that Frederica Wilson is all in on Trump hatred.  She reflects the Congressional Black Caucus' predisposition to call everything they oppose racist and actively invoke Impeachment of the 45th President.  Since Rep. Wilson was on the air within ten minutes of this phone call, Bill O'Reilly opined that the alleged indignation was a set up. 

What is notable is how former 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign spokesman came out with such sharp elbows towards Gen. Kelly in defense of Frederica Wilson.  

Cynics might wonder if some of "The Resistance" is shifting away from the Russian narrative because of the Clinton connections to the Uranium One scandal.  If so, it is an odd choice to champion a Rock Star Parasite Rodeo Clown.  No wonder why politically active conservative entertainer James Woods calls Frederica Wilson God's gift to Republicans.

Stephen Colbert on the Calm Before the Storm

Media "Incuriouser and Incuriouser" about Clinton Involvement in Uranium One Scandal

In Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass" (1865), the protagonist exclaims: "Curiouser and curiouser", when she was surprised.  Sadly, much of America is not surprised at how "Incuriouser and incuriouser" the mainstream media is over the cover-up of Obama Secretary of  State Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) participation in the Russian Uranium One scandal. 



One would think that violations of Mrs. Clinton's MOU for joining the Obama Administration, lying about her non-participation, graft coming into the Clinton Foundation and husband Bill Clinton's speaking fees, and the national security issue concerning the 2009 sale of 1/5th of US uranium prospects might garner some attention of the self proclaimed Fourth Estate.  Alas, the breaking news about Uranium One deal details merited ZERO seconds on the networks' evening news. 

Many Old Guard elitist frown upon President Trump's continued use of Twitter.  However, the President was able to circumvent establishment media censorship of an embarrassing scandal which turns the year old attempt to smear the Trump Presidency over Russian collusion on its head.  It also highlights how one of the most pernicious powers of the press is the power not to cover an issue. 

This highlights the importance of New Media as well as the efficacy of social media to circumvent de facto censorship from the Establishment. 

On the Meaning of Robin Hood to US

During a debate sponsored by CNN between Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (S-VT) and Conservative Senator Ted Cruz, the junior Senator from Texas demolished the Democrat conceit that progressives take from the rich to give to the poor. 

Nikki Haley on Trump De-certifying the Iran Nuke Deal

The Taste of DC -- A Recipe for Fun

~ by Gail Broeckel

The Taste of DC is a wonderful annual festival for foodies.  Whether you enjoy upscale restaurants, the convenience of a food truck or grabbing a sample from a vendor, Taste of DC is “one stop shopping” for all of these experiences.   It is wonderful living in a city that is so rich in history, culture and adventures.  I look forward to Taste of DC each year.  I learn about a new restaurant or dish.  I sample beverages, desserts or creations that chefs hand out after demonstrating a recipe.  I enjoy finding out about new vendors in the area. 

Taste of DC CEO, Steuart “Stu” Martens said, “Having all of these restaurants all in one place makes “Taste of DC” unique.  We have three music stages and the ABW Culinary Stage.   We’ve taken a parking lot and transformed it into a venue.”  There were 65 restaurants, dozens of vendors and several food trucks at RFK Stadium this year. 

The location was a departure from Pennsylvania Avenue and it worked.  There was a glitch with the software loading credits to wristbands.  Some of the guests had an inconvenient wait and shared their disappointment on social media.  I guess I am a “the glass is half full” type of person. And there were plenty of vendors to fill it!  The team worked hard to fix the issue and it is worth returning next year!

Here are reasons to attend Taste of DC:

The food, the food, the food!

Chicken grilling at Teak Wood's booth.

The grills were sizzling and restaurants from all over the city where serving incredible dishes.  Chef Zeb Markham said that he wants Maggiano’s to be known for “more than a pasta house.”  But, let’s face it. The pasta is popular.  The ravioli was incredible.  McCormick’s & Schmicks were serving seafood items. Teak Wood had chicken sizzling on the grill.  I enjoyed their Lo mein.  If you weren’t sure about a food item, you could purchase a smaller “bite” to taste.  I was sure about District Doughnut amazing rounds of sweetness. Colorful food trucks lined the stadium grounds.  It was hard to decide which to pick.  The Oyster Truck had one of the longest lines. Uncle Dave’s Kettle Korn was available by the tub, bag or taste.  Food is a special thing.  The aroma can trigger memories.  Taste of DC Ceo, Stu says that his last meal on earth would be his mom’s Tamali pie. 

There were lots of bites and food items for sale and a ton of samples. Zico Coconut Water ?poured four samples.  The chocolate was my favorite.  NakedJuice had several tastes of their fruit and vegetable flavored items.  Coca Cola had sips included diet, zero and low calorie cokes.  They didn’t mind repeat visits! Giant food handed out healthy snacks and nutritionists were available to share tips.

The variety was convenient.  It didn’t matter if you were vegetarian or vegan or had special restrictions.  There was something for all foodies.  The large variety of food choices included: lamb, seafood, grilled items,  fries, salads, sandwiches, sweets and so much more.   As if the food choices weren’t enough, the beverages were varied too.  There were wine samples, frozen daiquiris, craft beers, brewed sodas and teas.

You can watch chefs prepare dishes as they share their secrets.

Colada's Chef Mario Monte, Chef Matt Finarelli, Rebellion's Chef Travis Weiss

Chef Matt Finarelli must have sampled some of the energy drinks.  He cooked several dishes on the ABW Cooking Stage (including risotto and crabcakes), MC’d Southwest Airlines Snackoff competition AND had time to judge the ABW Chili cook off!  Some of Chef Finarelli’s tips for success included: squeezing the water out of the meat before making crab cakes, using fresh black pepper for any dish and squeeze your own lemons.  Southwest Airlines sponsored it’s annual “Snackdown” cooking competition.   Coloda Chef Mario Monte served Peanut  Rum Cake and Rebellion’s Chef Travis Weiss served Potbelly Pork with peanut butter and jelly.  Chef Mario won the “savory vs: sweet “ competition.  The chili cookoff was sponsored by ABW Appliances.  Each chef cooked on equipment that could be purchased in one of ABW’s showrooms.  This year’s winner was Anna Maria Angelakis from Angeli Gourmet.   Her spicy Greek chili was delicious.

There are music samples too!

DC Band Cue The Deer

Musicians shared a variety of tunes on three separate  stages.  One moment you could hear opera, jazz, rock, a choir or salsa. LBF (Latin, Blues and Funk) was a highlight for me.  It was also nice seeing the return of Batala DC.  This colorful women’s group play drums with joy.  Taste After Dark continued the musical feast with additional acts.  It was nice having so many local bands showcasing their talents.

My recipe for a successful Taste of DC:

• Charge your phone. 
• Wear sun block.
• Bring baby wipes or hand gel. 
• Bring a cinch sack or rolled up grocery bag for samples and swag.

Read the web site before you come to familiarize yourself with the sponsors or cooking demo you might want to see. 

Wear comfortable shoes - you will do a lot of walking.

Pace yourself.

Enjoy!

Andrew Napolitano on DC Swamp Culture

In reaction to revelations that the FBI withheld 30 documents about the July 2016 tarmac meeting between former President Bill Clinton and Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch (when Hillary Clinton was still under investigation for the Hillary Email security violations), Judge Andrew Napolitano revealed an ugly truth about Beltway ethics. 

Napolitano's exhortation for government officials to follow the rule of law and not protect other "members of the club", explains why Values Voters Summit participants repeatedly rallied at allusions to "Drain the Swamp".

John McCain on Spurious Half Baked Nationalism

Senator McCain's remarks as he received the National Constitution Center's Liberty award seems to be aimed at the populist politics championed by erstwhile Trump Senior Advisor Stephen Bannon. 

Mitch McConnell Verbally Battles Bannon Fodder

At the Value Voters Summit, ex Trump Administration strategist Stephen Bannon declared war against the Republican Establishment who will not support President Trump's agenda.  Bannon specifically targeted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). According to Bannon, he will not raise funds for any candidates who would vote for McConnell as the GOP Leader in the 116th Congress. 

After a working lunch between President Trump and the Senate Majority Leader, the two Republican leaders had a Rose Garden press conference which sought to mollify Bannon's calls for internecine revolt. President Trump claimed to understand why Bannon was agitated but suggested that not everyone in the Senate should be thrown out, as some members are good for the Trump agenda.

Majority Leader McConnell battled the Bannon fodder by suggesting that the way to win in Washington is to choose the right candidates, rather than achieve legislative accomplishments for a President in the same party.  McConnell called to mind the Tea Party boomlet in 2010, in which insurgents like Sharron Angle (R-NV) and Christine O'Donnell (R-DE), who upset GOP establishment candidates but who lost in the end.  Of course, these Tea Party insurgents did not get strong assistance from the national Republican Party and faced hostility from prospective colleagues like Senator John McCain.

Stephen Bannon Declares War Against Republican Establishment

Although he opened his 2017 Value Voters Summit speech by echoing Ecclesiastes about the time of the season, former Trump Senior Adviser Stephen K. Bannon kept true to his street fighting instincts by declaring political war in a bombastic address to Evangelical voters in Washington DC.

Bannon voiced frustration that many Republicans in the Senate were either Janus faced or openly hostile to their President Donald Trump.  Bannon particularly took aim at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Foreign Policy Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN).



To wit, Bannon declared war on the GOP Establishment.  As Bannon is no longer shackled as a White House West Wing advisor, Bannon is free to support the Trump nationalist populist agenda from the outside.  Bannon intimated that he is working hard to primary many RINOs who do not support the Trump agenda.

Bannon claimed that there is time for Establishment sinners to repent, but otherwise he insisted that Deplorables will come after those not supporting Trump during the 2018 primaries.  

FRC President Tony Perkins at VVS17

This message was well received by the Values Voters Summit crowd.  A constant theme during the three day conference of politically active Evangelicals was "Drain to Swamp."  To underline that sentiment, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins honored his Louisiana roots and jocularly dressed in muck wear to open the Value Voters Summit. 

Sebastian Gorka on Donald Trump

Trump Gunning to Increase America's Nuclear Stockpile

NBC News is reporting about a July 20th meeting between President Trump and Pentagon officials in which he  expressed an interest in greatly increasing America's nuclear stockpile.  This exhortation was prompted by a slide which showed that America's nuclear arsenal was at its peak in the late 1960s, which Mr. Trump approved.  

Rather than interpret this approval as a desire for a ten fold increase from today's nuclear levels, military officials appreciated it as the Commander-in-Chief wanting to increase America's military strength. This is consistent with Mr. Trump's pre-inaugural predilection to increase and expand America's nuclear capabilities. 

But the episode revived questions about President Trump's familiarity with America's nuclear triad. 

At one of the early Republican primary debates in late 2015, Hugh Hewitt questioned Mr. Trump's knowledge about the nuclear triad. Candidate Trump fumbled through the answer but insisted that while it is key to be careful about nukes, he would be well informed once in office and would concentrate on American strength not climate change and global warming.

This impetus to increase America's nuclear arsenal comes in the midst of a prospective conflict with a nascent rogue nuclear North Korea as well as the prospect of finding Iran being declared out of compliance with the Obama Iran Nuclear Deal. 

Several concerns come from this National Security leak.  Allegedly, after this July meeting, Secretary of State Tillerson was heard to call President Trump a "moron".  Aside from the insult, this episode illustrates how far Rex Tillerson is out of step with the West Wing.  It is reasonable to believe that once the crisis with North Korea cools down, Tillerson will no longer be at Foggy Bottom. There has been serious talk of a Trump Cabinet shuffle which CIA Director Mike Pompeo would move over to the State Department. 

Some arms control experts vex that increasing America's nuclear stockpile would spur an arms race with the Russia Federation as well as the Peoples' Republic of China.   Moreover, increases would challenge America's international treaty obligations.

As news about President Trump gunning to increase America's nuclear stockpile leaked out, Trump National Security Adviser Lt. General H.R.  McMaster stated: 

"But in recent years, in particular, the problem with leaks has become a real challenge to national security and so I think what is very important is that everyone who is involved in these sort of policy discussions understand the sacred trust that is placed in them, and they realize that speaking to the media about government deliberations is treasonous when it involves national security." 

Those are bold words, meant to quell an alluvia of embarrassing leaks meant to damage the Trump Administration. But Lt. Gen. McMaster upped the ante by intimating treason.  The question is whether the Trump Justice Department will be all talk and no action.  Attorney General Sessions has allegedly demurred from seeking prosecutions of Democrats concerning  Hillary Clinton's repeated mishandling of classified emails. Treason is a much more serious charge and more challenging to prosecute. 

Ronald Reagan on Columbus and the American Dream

Christopher Columbus on Courage

Steven Wright on Stealing

Appraising the Impact of Tillerson at Foggy Bottom

Over the weekend, Trump Administration Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was accused of saying that the President, his boss, was a "f***ing moron". This exasperated expletive was alleged uttered after President Trump's rousing remarks before the 2017 Boy Scouts Jamboree. When these comments came to public light, Tillerson held a news conference which denied that Vice President Pence needed to convince him to stay at Foggy Bottom because he never considered resigning.  It is notable, however, that Tillerson did not back away from the original insulting allegation. This has led pundits to ponder how long Tillerson will remain as Secretary of State.

In the Politico Magazine, Rich Lowry wondered if anyone would notice whether anyone would notice if Tillerson left his position at Foggy Bottom.  In the Trump Administration, foreign policy leads seem more driven from the Oval Office (or perhaps Twitter postings) than from Cabinet officials. Secretary of State Tillerson has voiced policy positions, particularly on Climate Change and Qatar, which seem at odds with President Trump.  Moreover, @POTUS Trump has posted Twitter thoughts which undermine Tillerson attempts to achieve diplomatic solutions with North Korea.

During his nomination hearings, Tillerson was vilified for his role at Exxon and connections to Big Oil. But through these petrochemical connections, Tillerson was said to have cultivated good relations with the Russian Federation.  It does not seem that Tillerson has neither been effective in lessening tensions with Moscow nor distancing the Trump Administration from accusations of Russian collusion.

One of Tillerson's virtues was that he had more of a business background than a political resume, thus his organizational skills might be different at Foggy Bottom.  Perhaps this may be true on paper, but Secretary of State Tillerson seemed reluctant to clean house at the State Department. In April 2017, well after his confirmation, Tillerson indicated that he was in no rush to fill nearly 200 State Department posts.  In August 2017, Tillerson announced that there would be fewer promotions at State. These may have been an attempt at pruning an overstaffed State Department, but it also gave the opportunity for Obama Administration holdovers to exert undue influence in Foggy Bottom.

One of the major motivations for many loyal Trump voters is to "Clean the Swamp". In other words, to divest power from progressive elites who have burrowed their way into the bureaucracy.  This is especially true in the State Department. But this is impossible to achieve if the chief acts like a short termer.  In late July 2017, Tillerson confided with friends that he did not expect to last a year on the job.  Notwithstanding his recent denial of resigning over the moron kerfuffle, Tillerson is not taking the broad measures to clean house. The Iran Deal is an example in which the State Department has been enthusiastic in promoting and preserving, yet it is in conflict with Mr. Trump's campaign promises as well as inklings from the West Wing.  A cabinet official who is deemed a short termer will have little sway with the bureaucracy in aligning with the President's foreign policy predilections.

Secretaries of State can take different tacks to their job.  Henry Kissinger, who was Secretary of State under Presidents Nixon and Ford, took a leading role in formulating the realpolitik and detente foreign policies.  George Schultz, President Reagan's long serving Secretary of State, did not seek the limelight and was able to earn the loyalty of State Department officers by staffing for professionalism rather than political concerns.  Hillary Clinton, President Obama's First Secretary of State, did her bosses bidding by racking up frequent flier miles in visiting diplomatic outposts rather than take the lead on foreign policy.

Aside from trying to shrink the size of the State Department by attrition and to stop relying on special envoys, it is unclear how Secretary of State Tillerson is making a difference at his job.  Moreover, the friction between Tillerson and Trump on personal and policy fronts, makes his position tenuous.





At a time in which Americans have been distracted by ephemeral issues like the NFL Taking the Knee during the National Anthem and dealing with disasters, such as hurricanes and the Las Vegas shooting, there are serious foreign policy concerns brewing.  North Korea continues to be belligerent.  The world will no longer buy the peace through bribes for worthless promises of non-aggression or denuclearization.  While the United Nations has applied additional sanctions, this does not seem to be achieving the objective of de-escalation of tension or DPRK regime change.





Considering a prospective conflict with North Korea, it would be unwise to have Secretary Tillerson leave his Secretary of State post at this time.  However, presuming this situation with the Kim Jung Un regime comes to a head in the near future, it would be prudent to have a Secretary of State who is more in tune with the Commander-in-Chief's expectations for Foggy Bottom and who more accurately reflects (at least in public) the President's foreign policy positions.