This is what incompetence looks like

[mahatmakanejeeves]

This is what incompetence looks like

By Paul Waldman February 13 at 1:01 PM

When Donald Trump ran for the White House, he insisted that his lack of experience in politics and his complete disdain for the details (or even the broad strokes) of policy were not only not a problem, they were a key reason why he’d be such a terrific president. The system needed to be shaken up, and it couldn’t be done by someone locked inside it. ... This is inane. If you don’t like the way your mechanic is keeping your car running, you hire a better mechanic — you don’t hire a web designer to fix your car on the theory that he won’t be tied down to old ways of thinking about car engines. But that’s what 46 percent of the American voters did in November, and now we’re seeing the results.

You can agree or disagree with the substance of what this administration is trying to do. But it’s hard to deny that so far they’re going about it with a stunning level of incompetence. ... Let’s begin with the topic of the moment, national security adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn is in danger of losing his job over allegations that between the election and the inauguration he spoke to the Russian ambassador about sanctions the Obama administration imposed on Russia (perhaps giving some kind of assurance that once Trump took office the sanctions would be lifted), then lied about it. Among other things, Flynn told Vice President Pence that he never discussed sanctions with the ambassador, and Pence then defended him publicly.

But in the latest round of stories about Flynn, what is perhaps most striking is what a chaotic mess the White House’s national security operation — which Flynn is supposed to manage — has become. As the New York Times reports Monday, National Security Council staff “get up in the morning, read President Trump’s Twitter posts and struggle to make policy to fit them. Most are kept in the dark about what Mr. Trump tells foreign leaders in his phone calls.” Then there’s this:

Two people with direct access to the White House leadership said Mr. Flynn was surprised to learn that the State Department and Congress play a pivotal role in foreign arms sales and technology transfers. So it was a rude discovery that Mr. Trump could not simply order the Pentagon to send more weapons to Saudi Arabia — which is clamoring to have an Obama administration ban on the sale of cluster bombs and precision-guided weapons lifted — or to deliver bigger weapons packages to the United Arab Emirates. ... Several staff members said that Mr. Flynn, who was a career Army officer, was not familiar with how to call up the National Guard in an emergency — for, say, a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina or the detonation of a dirty bomb in an American city.

....

Paul Waldman is a contributor to The Plum Line blog, and a senior writer at The American Prospect. Follow @paulwaldman1

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. Pride in ignorance

Because intelligence is so elitist. That's the Republican way.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. "National Security Council staff get up in the morning, read President Trumps Twitter posts

and struggle to make policy to fit them. "

This is the sad part.

He and his minions keep thinking that the federal government is one big "business", so they will insist on trying to run it that way. Soon he'll be dissing that pesky legislative branch just like he has dissed the judicial branch.