The truly frightening thing about Nikki Haley's big revelation

[babylonsister]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/11/politics/nikki-haley-tillerson-mattis-trump/index.html?fbclid=IwAR14_ZYbYXfv-w5xCk8GnHL17AGuObJm-UcL4um9yHLL078bnDmJbJpVM3o

The truly frightening thing about Nikki Haley's big revelation
Chris Cillizza
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 10:51 AM ET, Mon November 11, 2019

snip//

But the focus on Haley -- and what she did or didn't do -- misses the point, which is this: Two of the top Cabinet officials within the Trump administration were concerned enough about the behavior of the President of the United States that they were actively reaching out to other influential members of the Cabinet to actively work around him.

That is a VERY big deal. Especially when you consider how Tillerson and Kelly came into their jobs.
The former was the head of Exxon, a massive, multinational company. Trump touted Tillerson as the crown jewel of his Cabinet -- a hugely successful and accomplished businessman that only this President could recruit to work for the government.

The latter was a hugely accomplished general who led Southern Command among other gigs in a lifetime spent in the military.

snip//

So consider what it means that within a relatively short period of time, not only had both men identified major concerns with the President, but were so concerned that they were reaching out to others within the administration to try recruit them to a protect-the-country-at-all-costs mission.

You can absolutely question -- as Haley has done -- why Tillerson and Kelly didn't just resign rather than trying to run a persuasion campaign within the White House to sideline the President. (My guess would be that they would say they were worried what might happen if they left.)

But what, to me, is the most important part of the story is that both of these hugely accomplished Cabinet officials, who were hand-picked for their roles by the President and who, presumably, came into the administration favorably inclined to him, so quickly and clearly assessed that the man they were working for was an active danger to the country.

And such a danger that they were in the process of actively recruiting people within the administration to help them keep the President from doing anything that would endanger the country.

Think about that. It's terrifying.

[dewsgirl]

1. I agree. N/T.

[stopdiggin]

43. agree. AND -- this was a time when "wiser heads"

and "adults in the room" was a fairly common talking point -- both Ds and Rs. That people in the WH were actively circumventing some of Trump's wishes was widely known. Haley is only naming names .. not giving a unique perspective.

(IMO, this reflects as badly on her as it does of of T. and Kelly)

[PNW-Dem]

44. In other words, quite like she did...

.

[SummerSnow]

2. I believe that Haley voiced her concerns about Trump to Tillerson and Kelly

But when they were ready to do something about it, she backed out.

[FakeNoose]

5. +1 You're onto something

Nikki Haley cannot be trusted, and for all we know, she might have gotten Tillerson and Kelly fired.

[SummerSnow]

10. She could've went to Trump about it in secret, ratted them out.

Something tells me so many people in that administration talk about him in secret and rat each other out all the time. No wonder there is always a huge turnover there. What about the firings we don't know about?

[Haggis for Breakfast]

52. Do NOT underestimate Nikki Haley.

She is NOT to be trusted. She is every bit as ambitious as trumpie and every bit as deceitful and deviant. She has also demonstrated that no level of his depravity was too repulsive for her to oppose.

We have not seen the last of her.

[oldsoftie]

60. Dont you think trump wouldve tweeted about it? He cant help himself.

He would have HAD to claimed that HE figured out this deep state plan & handled it all by himself

[dalton99a]

3. They knew what everyone knew: He is a crazy, dangerous asshole.

[maxsolomon]

51. They knew what DEMOCRATS knew.

But by the time they knew it, it was too late.

[OKNancy]

4. One of the few times I've agreed with Chris Cillizza n/t

[ismnotwasm]

41. Yup

[empedocles]

6. High stakes games these days

[RainCaster]

7. Nikki brags about the time she was asked to save her country, and she refused

Sounds like a Republican to me.

[BigOleDummy]

21. Well said

Well and truly said.

[erronis]

45. Well said, also. But it sounds also like somebody in putin's pay

Like all the rest of the (r)epuglicons.

[LuvNewcastle]

53. Yeah, you would think she would keep something like this to herself.

It doesn't make her look good at all. I guess she wants to sell some books and cash in.

[RainCaster]

54. Yeah, I don't understand this at all.

This is not something to be proud of.

[earthside]

8. Validates 'Anonymous'

Ironic, isn't it, but with this one story Haley lends credence to the reports in the new Anonymous book.

[Perseus]

9. Its more telling of Haley that she refused to understand and join those two who were trying

So her loyalty to a title was greater than her loyalty to the country she swore to serve. That, to me, is the definition of a Lemming. Haley is a Lemming.

[spanone]

11. appears ms. haley was just fine with what was going on in the white house

[llmart]

12. It actually appears to me like Haley is playing both sides of the fence.

She doesn't want to alienate the base but wants to come off as "concerned" about his behavior.

Just another Collins in my opinion.

[awesomerwb1]

14. Yep

[IronLionZion]

29. Both of these flip floppers need to be kept out of office

Collins has a good chance of losing re-election.

[llmart]

37. I am so hoping for that.

The Kavanaugh vote should have been the last straw for people in Maine.

[xxqqqzme]

31. When she resigned her UN

spot, I told a friend, she's setting herself up to be the rethuglican savior. The phoenix rising from the king con's ashes. She is dangerous.

[awesomerwb1]

13. PLease stop trying to normalize Kelly

He is a racist POS and willingly accepted not one but two jobs within the administration. He was one of the people responsible for separating families at the border when secretary of DHS.

Kelly is now on the board of Caliburn International. They operate some of the largest shelters for migrant children.

[lunatica]

24. Thank you and please continue to remind all of us about Kelly

He is running the single cruelest thing this administration has done.

And he’s a disgusting racist.

[redstatebluegirl]

15. Haley is positioning herself to be VP when Trump dumps Pence.

[saidsimplesimon]

17. Nah, she wants the whole

empire. Another Indira Gahdhi, or so she imagines.

[Nasruddin]

40. You're more than right

She's snapped into focus for me now.

All conjecture, but I think she's another malignant narcissist. Much, much more savvy than
the current occupant of the White House, but marginal politically. She replaces Pence as VP and
does most of the campaigning for the increasingly enfeebled President.

On election, she handpicks a new cabinet, new FBI director, perhaps with fewer obvious grifters than
cabinet #1, making it easier to approve them. The key will be that they are beholden to Haley.

Shortly after inauguration, Mr Trump makes that one-way ride to the hospital.
It's 25th amendment time. The Trump family mostly disappears, and Mr Trump does an Ariel
Sharon for as long as it's useful. How he got that way and what his diagnoses are will remain
a mystery.

[Alithea]

50. Yup; linking to my earlier post about this

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=12673740

[saidsimplesimon]

16. Bobby Jindal's Clone?

Others predicted this, not that difficult, long ago.

[Docreed2003]

18. And she DID NOTHING

I think her revelation was meant to be red meat to Trumps base to say "Look these people wanted to subvert Trump, but I didn't go along and I stood with Trump"

[BigOleDummy]

22. Yes

Agreed. I'm thinking she has Presidential ambitions myself

[maddiemom]

38. Ya' THINK?

[barbtries]

19. and nobody did jack shit.

Republicans.

[lagomorph777]

20. Also, that another (ostensibly respectable) official (Haley) has flipped to Camp Trump.

So she is like Pence: Looks more or less sane on the outside, and is therefore much more dangerous than Trump himself.

[BigOleDummy]

23. As the OP said

It is truly terrifying but almost more so or maybe even more so, no one helped them.

[louseb]

25. Highly suspicious of Haley.

It looks like she is simply courting back Trump after her Scaramucci meeting has been outed.

[calimary]

26. The truly frightening thing, for me, is that she's started making maneuvers.

She wants to be president. And she’s taking very serious steps to build the runway.

I want the first woman president to be A DEMOCRAT.

[H2O Man]

34. +1

[cab67]

27. I'd now put good money on Tillerson or Kelly being "Anonymous"

[KPN]

28. Nikki Haley is setting herself up to be the next champion for avarice, unification of church and

State, and white supremacy. She sees herself as heir apparent to the WH.

She is dangerous.

[duforsure]

30. She proved its all about her

By doing nothing, and she's only worried about self promotion . She put herself before country, and by outing others who were putting country first before their party or themselves she's stabbing them in the back. She shows she lacks leadership skills for this country.

[Poiuyt]

32. So when are Tillerson and Kelly going to go public with their concerns?

If they’re truly concerned about saving America, you’d think they’d step up to say what they know before impeachment and the election.

[NastyRiffraff]

47. I was wondering the same thing

If they were that concerned, why not speak out? I understand why they didn't while still in the WH, but why didn't they talk after they quit, or were fired?

[DallasNE]

33. Also, How Political Considerations

Blocked Haley from joining with those two. Haley was not willing to risk her political future to help her country in a time of need. Tillerson and Kelly were not alarmed over policy differences. They were alarmed over the irrational behavior of the President of the United States. Haley is simply on the wrong side of this issue - apparently necessary to keep her political ambition on track. She certainly shows the lack of a moral compass in this episode.

[IADEMO2004]

35. No White Hats in tRump world. Pox on them all.

[dlk]

36. Republicans have been actively covering up for Trump since the day he took office

Whether covering up Trump's crimes or just his enormous ignorance and incompetence, Republicans have zero compunction about endangering our entire country to obtain their tax cuts and judges, or lining their own pockets at taxpayer expense. For them, the ends always justify the means, no matter the cost and they are perfectly willing to shred the Constitution in order to maintain their stranglehold on power. To say Republicans are unfit to govern is the understatement of the century. If our republic is to survive, they must be voted out of office, permanently.

[Martin Eden]

39. THIS x 1,000,000,000

Chris Cillizza draws the logical conclusions which need to be understood by the voting public.

[Cousin Dupree]

42. Right is wrong and wrong is right in Repugniland. She's so f'd up she wants a big pat on the back

for doing the wrong thing.

[Hortensis]

46. I'm thinking we shouldn't believe anything she says until it's

verified by others. I've been out but heard that she says Trump offered her Secretary of State but she didn't think it was right for her, so she decided to accept a comparative nothingburger appointment instead. Uhuh. She also apparently claimed she was the superior of someone who was her superior.

I'm guessing this "the woman" as Trump refers to them is going to turn out to be doing a Donna Brazile, publishing a sales brochure packed with lies for short-term suckering of the gullible, don't worry now about how historians will portray her.

[Nitram]

48. What bothers me most about Haley's statements is that she is critical of those who prevented Trump

from doing as much damage as he could have without their intervention. Saying that they "undermined" Trump, as if that's a bad thing. It sounds to me like Haley is primarily focused on her future in the GOP/

[MrModerate]

49. Here's what's even scarier: A headline that reads...

"General and Industrialist Seize Control of White House."

Well, they never achieved 'control,' that's for sure, but they tried. It's like something out of a political thriller. One that doesn't end very well.

[ThoughtCriminal]

55. I don't see how any of them could have been surprised

It was blindingly obvious that Trump was a know-nothing megalomaniac years before he even ran for office. These guys just thought they could manipulate and control him.

[dhol82]

57. Interesting - that's what the upper levels of the German government said about Adolf.

They were convinced they could control him just after the 1932 elections. Didn’t work out so well.

[dchill]

56. "...actively recruiting..." - and Nikki said no.

She's PROUD of that ?!

[NCLefty]

58. It's what we hoped would happen, that some people on the inside would try to be a kind of backstop.

Yes, they're mostly idiots and probably didn't stop much but the major underlying problem was, is, and will remain the fact that Donald Trump is POTUS. There's no fixing him. We're in danger every second until he is gone.

[US4u2]

59. And this...

"My guess would be that they would say they were worried what might happen if they left"

Like the Kurds getting betrayed/slaughtered because of this idiot's actions? Which ally is next?

[True Blue American]

61. I do not believe Haley!

[blakstoneranger]

62. Nikki Haley was really warning Americans

Whether she intended to or not. The first thing came to my mind was, "good, we need that kind of patriotism". And we do. I read the notes and I noticed she didn't say she alerted the president--because she didn't, why?