It would be nice if Donald Trump just decided to spend the next two months playing golf, but no such luck. Trump’s firing of Secretary of Defense Mike Esper proves that he isn’t finished laying waste to this country or its international reputation, and CIA Director Gina Haspel and FBI Director Christopher Wray may be next because of their refusal to cave-in to Trump’s demands that they endanger national security for his political benefit. Trump locked horns with Esper over policy in Afghanistan and Syria, and using the military to quell what to Trump and his allies at Fox News were terrorist insurrections in the wake of incidents of lethal abuse by police; note, however, that these protests have been dying down of late, no doubt because Trump was also a target of protesters’ ire, and he is now on his way out.
The director of National Counterterrorism, Christopher Miller, was a curious choice to replace Esper, “effective immediately.” Whether or not Miller will submit to Trump’s wishes and start World War III in Democratic cities is a matter of perspective, but more likely Miller will be a more pliable actor in doing Trump’s last-minute bidding in Afghanistan and Iran, now that time is running out to make his “mark” on the international stage. Mike Pompeo--showing us his juvenile punk side again--"joked" about a "smooth transition" to a "second Trump administration" and implied that he is telling inquiries from the international community that Joe Biden’s election isn’t a done deal during a press conference today, which we should expect coming from a member of the far-right “Freedom Caucus” and a Trump cultist. Pompeo continues to be utterly unfazed by the fact that Trump's antics look just as bad, and probably worse, to foreign observers.
But a more interesting tidbit is Trump’s pick to replace the Secretary for Defense Policy, James Anderson, who resigned following Esper’s firing: Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, who had previously “retired” following accusations of serial adultery and lying about the circumstances in which he failed to pay alimony following the subsequent divorce. Tata--who frequently appeared on Fox News as an “analyst”-- is yet another far-right ideologue who could only be in a position of creating policy in an “acting” capacity because of his general unfitness; his Islamophobia and belief in Qanon-type conspiracy theories has called into question his fitness for any policy position--especially one with national security implications. But as we have seen, Trump only cares about loyalty to his own crazed ideas.
Tata was described by Max Boot of the Washington Post as “a Trump cultist, not an objective analyst” and who “trafficked in extremism on Fox News.” CNN dug up tweets by Tata that revealed a man consumed with demonizing people because of their religion, race and ideology. He did not see the Iran deal as one that sought to denuclear-weaponize Iran, something that the Obama administration actually accomplished in contrast to what the Trump administration failed to do with North Korea. Of course, Trump couldn’t stand success that wasn’t his own, so he pulled out of the Iran deal. Tata’s hatred for both Barack Obama and Islam compelled him to equate them as one and the same; Islam was a “terrorist” religion, and because Obama made deals with Islamic countries, he must be both a Muslim and a terrorist too.
Tata also attacked former CIA Director John Brennan in this disgusting tweet: "Might be a good time to pick your poison: firing squad, public hanging, life sentence as prison bitch, or just suck on your pistol. Your call. #Treason #Sedition #crossfirehurricane #Obamagate.” No doubt he and Steve Bannon are “blood” brothers. Tata also accused Obama and Hillary Clinton of “treason,” and both the Clintons of engaging in a campaign of assassination of their “enemies.” He also referred to Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters as “violent extremists,” and Waters as “a vicious race-baiting racist.” During his failed confirmation hearings this past summer, Tata was accused of being Trump’s “most unqualified and ill-suited senior defense nominee” by Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
The question is what is Trump up to by putting such people in positions of causing dangerous mischief at this late date. Trump no doubt expected his reelection to be a done deal by now. He knows that his radicalized agenda would need more time to come to fruition, and now that time is running short, he doesn’t have time for “soft” people who are concerned about legality and the national interest here and abroad. He could be bent on destruction just as Hitler was in his last days. Trump needs people who are as crazed and consumed with conspiracies as he is to help him do it. And who’s going to stop him? Certainly not Mitch McConnell, who is scared stiff of Trump, but many Republicans don’t mind Trump taking the “credit” to do the things they ordinarily wouldn’t want to have their names on--even if some of them secretly “fantasize” about grinding this country into the ground in the name of "conservatism."
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