Marine General John Kelly was billed as the “adult in the room,” replacing the hopeless and hapless Reince Priebus, who might have been an all right Chief of Staff in any normal Republican White House, but who, in this “Crazytown,” never stood a snowball’s chance, and that was apparent from the get go. Trump purportedly had great confidence in Kelly’s organizational abilities, initially, and nicknamed him “Chief.” But from the early on face-palming at the United Nations while Trump decried “Little Rocket Man” it was apparent that Kelly In Control was hyperbole, and the truth of the matter is that under Kelly’s tutelage the West Wing went from bad to worse — and the downhill slide hasn’t stopped. Medhi Hasan, The Intercept:
The New York Times called the former Marine commander a “beacon of discipline” who would be “unafraid to challenge” the president. The Washington Post said he would “bring some plain-spoken discipline to an often chaotic West Wing.” Axios listed him as a key member of the “Committee to Save America.” Then there was my favorite headline, from Bloomberg News, on August 6, 2017: “New Chief of Staff Kelly Moves Quickly to Tame Trump’s Tweets.” (How did that work out?)
This is the John Kelly who had a reputation “as one of the most aggressive enforcers of immigration law in recent American history,” according to the New Yorker’s Jonathan Blitzer. This is the John Kelly who, incredibly, was caught on a hot mic at a Coast Guard ceremony in May, 201 telling Trump, who was holding a ceremonial sword, [you should] “use that on the press, sir.” This is the John Kelly on whose watch immigration arrests in the U.S. increased by 40%. No wonder Trump says he’s a “great guy.”
Here’s a little stroll down memory lane. You will vividly recall each and every one of these horrendous moments, seared into the nation’s psyche. Kelly wasn’t Trump’s Chief of Staff, he was his Enabler in Chief.
How else are we supposed to describe his gaffe-laden, controversy-filled 17 months in charge? This was a chief of staff who told Fox News that “the lack of the ability to compromise led to the Civil War,” while praising the pro-slavery Confederate general Robert E. Lee as an “honorable man”; who protected and promoted White House staff secretary Rob Porter — a man accused of domestic abuse by both of his ex-wives — and described him as a man of “true integrity and honor, and I can’t say enough good things about him”; who repeatedly misled the press about what he knew about Porter and when he knew it, which led to one of his White House colleagues calling him a “big fat liar”; who claimed the “vast majority” of undocumented immigrants “don’t integrate well” and “don’t have skills”; who described immigrants who were eligible for DACA but had failed to apply for it as “too lazy to get off their asses”; who said he wanted to reduce the number of refugees admitted into the United States to “between zero and one”; who defended the separation of migrant children from their parents on the grounds that the kids would be “put into foster care or whatever” and bragged that the “big name of the game is deterrence”; who signed a “Cabinet order” authorizing the (potentially illegal) use of lethal force by troops at the border; who lamented that women were no longer treated as “sacred and looked upon with great honor” but who was also accused of suggesting women were more emotional than men; who breached security protocols by firing White House aide Omarosa Manigault in the Situation Room and threatening her in the process; who boasted to Manigault on a secret recording that everyone in the White House “works for me and not the president”; who made a series of false accusations against black member of Congress, Frederica Wilson, and then swore he would “never apologize” for lying about her; and who shamelessly allowed Trump to use his dead son to attack former President Barack Obama.
The Frederica Wilson, “empty barrel” gaffe, done as a double down to Trump’s “your guy” gaffe (Trump was too busy and boorish to learn the name of Sergeant La David Johnson, when speaking to his widow, and so called him “your guy” — just one small step from what’s-his-name — a fact that Congresswoman Wilson took umbrage with) showed plainly who and what Kelly was. That was his defining moment, the moment when he sold his soul to Donald Trump. His reputation was ruined from then on.
So where does the West Wing go from here? Mike Pence’s Chief of Staff, Nick Ayers, was considered the front runner to replace Kelly, but he’s declined, because he doesn’t want to commit to working two full years with the White House. “Advancing the cause” means what, being on hand to run Mike Pence’s 2020 campaign? Could be.
Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause. ?? #Georgia
— Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) December 9, 2018
So, that leaves us with the glaringly obvious question, if not Ayers, than who will be in charge? Yes, you guessed it — Jarvanka. Who else? Recruit Corey Lewandowski or Anthony Scaramucci to come back into the fold?
Or, how about Kimberly Guilfoyle, that would be wild? Oh no, wait, she was going to take Hucky Boo Boo’s place as press secretary because Hucky Boo Boo is also supposed to be leaving by the end of the year.
Chestnuts and chaos roasting on an open fire. Any word yet on when that revolving door will be installed? It’s long past due.
Just another Christmas in Crazytown. Bevare, bevare, the Blood Trees don’t steal your soul. They’re feasting on John Kelly’s. And don’t anybody forget, Mike Mattis is supposed to be up next on the chopping block. Who’s going to replace him? And has Jeff Sessions’ replacement been conclusively decided, or that’s still up in the air? Well, at least Fox News alum Heather Nuart is all set to handle the UN.
It doesn’t really matter, anyhow. Trump has no interest in running the government, he just wants to get everybody geared up for his 2020 reelection.
2019 is looking to be one hell of a year.
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