Vox -With a new chief of staff, Trump's refocusing on his top priority: making America afraid again.

[TomCADem]

This is just a reminder that it will get far worse before it gets better if it gets better. Trump is going to double down on hate, since that is what fed his campaign.

https://www.vox.com/2017/7/29/16060614/trump-john-kelly-immigration-dhs

As a businessman, Donald Trump didn’t really get rich because he was good at making deals. He got rich because he was good at branding himself.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that after a rocky first six months in office, he’s jettisoning Reince Priebus, the chief of staff he initially accepted as the condition of a deal — his pact with the Republican Party, after winning the presidency, to work with the establishment rather than against it — and replacing him with a retired general who’s currently carrying out Trump’s immigration agenda.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who Trump announced in a Friday tweet would be his new chief of staff, is perfectly in line with the brand that first brought Trump to campaign success: the idea that the world is a terrifying place full of people (mostly foreigners) who want to undermine social order and the American way of life, and that the tough American men who stand up to them shouldn’t be too closely questioned about how they keep those threats at bay.

That brand has succeeded for Trump — it’s made the right people happy (his base and the cable news networks that generate endless debate over inflammatory remarks), it’s made the right people angry (Democrats and people who go on cable news networks), and if it’s terrified certain groups, they’ve been people who don’t seem to matter to Trump (immigrants and black Americans who vote for Democrats).

[Catmusicfan]

1. Interesting read.

[Phoenix61]

2. Well, that's a scary read nt

[lunasun]

3. DUers read this . I was just on thread where people were hoping Kelly would be a good

influence on trump. No

[sharedvalues]

4. Succeeded because the GOP STARTED it.

Trump's just saying out loud what the GOP has been dog-whistleing for decades.

Without the GOP and Fox and Limbaugh and their veiled racism and hatemongering, Trump's overt racism and hatemongering would be ineffective.


GOP billionaire donors and their PR media outlets are the root of the problem. Watch out. The propaganda outlets are going to start to desperately pivot and deflect blame away from themselves.

[Gabi Hayes]

6. Democracy in Chains!

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=9394625

[Solly Mack]

5. K&R

I always laugh when I read that Generals (supposedly) don't like politics. Or when a General claims they aren't politicians and don't like the politics of it all. What they are really saying is they don't like answering to others and demand obedience, not questions - but they for damn sure know, like, and engage in politics long before they hit the national scene.

It wasn’t the Kelly that many had expected when he was nominated — the regional Latin America expert who hated politics and would think a wall was total bunk.

I don't care how much anyone admires a General - any General - and for whatever reasons - only a fool/liar (or those ignorant of the military) would think you can rise to the level of General and not be a politician who loves the game.

Each point of each star represents a dagger in the backs of those who got in their way.

Kelly is no different. And, yes, he's a Trumpian all the way.

But - understand this - ALL Generals think they can do a better job than any Washington politician. Don't fall for the humble pie so many of them like to use as a front. The I'm just a good soldier who follows commands bullshit.

There's a danger to having so many Generals in the government proper. Especially any that go unchecked. And even more so with someone like Trump, who just gives over to the Generals like he's doing the country a favor.

[Quixote1818]

7. Kick