All Purpose News and Politics Thread Part IV: The Center Cannot Hold

[Iron Maiden]

Isn't it quite the coincidence that South Carolina which Sanford represented was one of the states that nixed Republican primaries? Of course, the dead last thing the GOP hierarchy wants is Trump babbling and blathering his way through any debate where his raging stupidity would be on full display.

And he was not that great in the 2016 debates. Others may disagree but I think Hillary beat him in their encounters. And I can remember anything that made him stand out in the GOP primary debates. IMO he just rode in on his TV fame because voters are that stupid these days.

I think his mental faculties have been diminishing during his time as POTUS. His teleprompter skills are really crappy these days. Grade schoolers could do better reading aloud. He doesn't want to read anything of any substance so he never learns things he should be as POTUS.

[SquirrelMan]

trump fired Bolton. Well, his supporters said that trump was going to run the US as a businessman. Given how he has multiple bankruptcies and failed businesses, it looks like that's true.

Bolton swears that it was he who quit.

He is a ruthless war monger, but less of a liar than Trump, so I'll buy it.

[SquirrelMan]

In the previous opinion poll by ABC and the WP, Trump's net approval rating was -3.
In the new poll, it's at -18.

That is quite a slide.

[Gray Lensman]

Bolton swears that it was he who quit.

He is a ruthless war monger, but less of a liar than Trump, so I'll buy it.

Beelzebub is less of a liar than Trump. It is the lowest of bars.

[Tami]

Trump to H.R. McMaster "I miss you."

Oh brother

As frustration with Bolton mounted, Trump reached out to ex-adviser McMaster

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump began losing confidence in national security adviser John Bolton, whom he fired on Tuesday, he reached out to the man he had fired to give Bolton the job: retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster.

In phone calls to McMaster — the first of which took place last fall — Trump told his second national security adviser that he misses him, according to two people familiar with the conversations. It’s a sentiment the president has also expressed to White House aides, they said. Trump has solicited McMaster's advice on various national security challenges, even asking McMaster who he should nominate to lead the Pentagon, they said.

Trump's contacts with McMaster perhaps presaged his decision Tuesday to unceremoniously fire Bolton. They also marked a significant a remarkable shift for the president that is emblematic of how much Bolton fell out of favor since Trump welcomed him into the White House 17 months ago. At that time, Trump was barely speaking to McMaster and regularly did derogatory impressions of him in his absence, according to multiple current and former White House officials.

Like Bolton, McMaster’s firing also transpired hastily and was announced publicly by the president on Twitter. Bolton later said he resigned, and was not fired. Trump's patience for Bolton ultimately wore thin; aides say Trump was close to firing Bolton earlier this year, even putting his name on a list of officials he'd like to get rid of before the end of the year, after which such moves might have a negative effect on his re-election campaign, officials said.

[Surf]

Bolton swears that it was he who quit.

He is a ruthless war monger, but less of a liar than Trump, so I'll buy it.

Nothing like two damn near 70 year old men with differing accounts of whom dumped whom. Via Twitter.

Something, something about highest levels of government in there too.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

I can sleep easier knowing Bolton’s gone. **** him. He would have gotten us in a 20 year with Iran if he had his way

[Mister Mets]

^GOP candidate for governor shoots a process server in the back...

("But both parties are just as bad, you guys.")

I don't think a guy who gets 1.2% is proof of anything.

[Tami]

House of Commons speaker John Bercow announces plans to step down

I'm finding this an interesting glimpse inside British Politics.

[JCAll]

I can sleep easier knowing Bolton’s gone. **** him. He would have gotten us in a 20 year with Iran if he had his way

They undoubtedly plan on replacing him with someone worse.

[jetengine]

House of Commons speaker John Bercow announces plans to step down

I'm finding this an interesting glimpse inside British Politics.

Its both simultaneously better AND worse then US politics.

[Jack Dracula]

Bolton tried to quit first, according to Bolton.

According to NPR Bolton offered his resignation, they asked him to think about and they'd meet the next day to discuss it. Bolton shows up the next day and they ask for his resignation. Because at this point public perception still matters apparently?
Honestly, I'm just glad Bolton is out. If they can manage to not replace him with someone worse I guess it's a win imo.

[Gray Lensman]

According to NPR Bolton offered his resignation, they asked him to think about and they'd meet the next day to discuss it. Bolton shows up the next day and they ask for his resignation. Because at this point public perception still matters apparently?
Honestly, I'm just glad Bolton is out. If they can manage to not replace him with someone worse I guess it's a win imo.

This. Although Bolton is so eager for a war that it should be difficult to find someone worse, even for Trump. I'm sure he can, but it will take a bit of effort, and he hates that

[wjowski]

Honestly? Losing Bolton is probably the closest thing Trump's ever done to a smart move.

[Tami]

This. Although Bolton is so eager for a war that it should be difficult to find someone worse, even for Trump. I'm sure he can, but it will take a bit of effort, and he hates that

How John Bolton Broke the National Security Council

The irony of John Bolton’s tenure as national security adviser, which ended Monday night and was confirmed by presidential tweet on Tuesday morning, is that upon the news of his initial appointment, most foreign-policy experts in Washington worried about the damage Mr. Bolton could do abroad. He was known for his hard-line views on North Korea, Iran and other issues, and several fretted about the wars this irascible firebrand might persuade an inexperienced president to start.

Yet Mr. Bolton’s legacy is not of destruction overseas, but dysfunction in Washington. To pursue his own policy agenda and serve an erratic president, in just 17 months Mr. Bolton effectively destroyed the National Security Council system, the intricate structure that governed American foreign policy since the end of World War II. Mr. Bolton’s most lasting legacy will be dismantling the structure that has kept American foreign policy from collapsing into chaos, and finally unshackling an irregular commander-in-chief.

Although denied high-level positions early in the Trump administration, Mr. Bolton, who replaced General McMaster in April 2018, could have been a good fit for the job under an inexperienced president. Compared with Mr. Flyyn and General McMaster, Mr. Bolton is a seasoned Washington player, one who considers himself a “good bureaucrat.” Even if he never shared all Mr. Trump’s policy preferences, Mr. Bolton was well positioned to work the levers of government for him.

Instead, Mr. Bolton decided to break the interagency system that had served as the heart of American foreign policy for over seven decades. Driven by confidence in his own ideas about what government should do and how it should run, he had in mind something closer to Roosevelt’s juggling: The president in a room with the national security adviser and a few aides making decisions about most important issues in the world. To realize that plan, Mr. Bolton included fewer people in meetings, made council sessions far less regular, and raced to always be by Mr. Trump’s side. There was no longer a National Security Council, in effect, just a national security adviser.

Mr. Bolton broke government and then it broke him. As the national security adviser, he pushed for a hard line on North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Afghanistan. But without a structure behind him, Mr. Bolton was increasingly alone trying sell positions that were a hard sell to Mr. Trump, who is much less an ideologue and much harder to pin down. Eventually, Mr. Trump split with Mr. Bolton and began consulting with outsiders like the Fox News personality Tucker Carlson. When Mr. Bolton fell out with the president, the ad hoc system collapsed right along with him, as reports over the messy decision-making on the proposed Afghanistan peace deal and talks demonstrate.