August 3, 2017: Mini-Me, Pure Sycophant, State of Nature

“And don’t speak too soon

For the wheel’s still in spin
And the loser now
May be later to win
For the times
They are a-changin”

                        -----Bob Dylan “The Times They Are A-Changin”

The carnival barker’s executive skills were on full display last week with the meltdown involving his newly minted White House Communications Director.  Seeking the ever familiar, tRUMP looked no further than his New York neighborhood appointing hedge-fund manager Scaramucci to take over the much-maligned White House communications team; for with this operation, always confusing spin with substance, failure is always a mere communications problem. Enter Scaramucci who, at first exposure effusively expressed his ‘love’ for tRUMP to the point of nauseum and then promptly set about rolling about the decks of the ship spreading chaos in every direction. 

He had been lobbying tRUMP for months to be admitted to the West Wing, seeking a sinecure with an eye to selling his business for an estimated 90 million dollars.  The problem is that there to date has been only one buyer to step forward and that a Chinese firm with close ties to its government.  Seeing the lucrative deals that tRUMP had made with the Russians and the Kushner’s have made with the Chinese in the wake of the election, the “Mooch” as he is called, is reported to have sought a White House appointment with direct access to the president as a way of burnishing his status with those that would do business. Having been given the post, White House Press Secretary and Communications Director Sean Spicer resigned.  Days later in the wake of threatening to fire the entire White House staff, and what can only be called an obscene interview with the “New Yorker” magazine the “Mooch” went after Chief-of-Staff Reince Priebus calling him a “fucking paranoid schizophrenic” and accusing White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon of performing fellatio upon himself. 

What earned the “Mooch” his position was not judgement, it was not talent, it was his disgusting and unnerving ingratiation with tRUMP, making the nauseating display of the cabinet earlier in the year pale by comparison.  Here on full display, the pure sycophant, right down to the use of language, the imitation of tRUMP’s mannerisms, and the propensity to lash out at those he sees as “enemies”.  tRUMP’s veritable “Mini-Me”.

This crisis began when reports were published in the Washington Post over his finances.  It’s always the finances.  The “Mooch” accused top White House operatives, perhaps Priebus himself, of leaking the information to the Post, when the Post got its story from readily available public records.  So, like his hero, the “Mooch” goes off on an ugly rant without having the facts creating chaos in the ranks.  Then, after news leaked of a dinner meeting involving tRUMP, Sean Hannity of faux news, and the “Mooch” he called the magazine and, in an act of pure amateurish incompetence, failed to make clear that his comments were off the record before he went on a tirade against top White House officials.  Shortly thereafter Priebus, humiliated by a string of legislative failures, his inability to reign in the madness that surrounded him, and now this public excoriation by a newly anointed sycophant resigned establishing a new record as the shortest serving Chief of Staff in history.  

The country was aghast that such a man would be brought into the White House, but Disgustus defended him at once signaling his embrace of both obscenity and chaos.  tRUMP, it was held, loves chaos, loves to witness conflict between subordinates; sees himself as presiding over a form of Hobbesian “State of Nature” where the fittest rise to the top. It is always the ‘fittest’ that rise to the top, the present occupant of the oval office to the contrary notwithstanding. Accordingly, one of his criticisms of his former Chief of Staff was that he didn’t retaliate.  But this was, apparently, a bridge too far.  The ensuing public outcry reached the level of a major crisis and this, then, forced Disgustus to act.  After firing his Chief of Staff, he brought in General Smith from his Homeland Security Department to assume the position. 

Most children when they are shuffled off to Military School hate the experience.  Not Donald tRUMP.  He, by all accounts, loved it and has developed a pronounced fascination with and love for all things military—even though he did his level best to avoid military service himself.  Nevertheless, it can be said that Disgustus respects only two things: money and a uniform—especially a uniform with twenty pounds of brass and ribbons stapled to it. 

Once again, here is evidence of “Management by Exception” or “Management by Crisis” (see previous post) along with a propensity to seek direction from those he sees as superiors—in this case men in uniform dating back to his school days. Accordingly, he has staffed his administration with an inordinate number of generals and former generals.  Perhaps, this time it will work for Disgustus feels obliged to heed the advice of few others. 

But the General must approach Disgustus with gloves on, for anyone who comes within his orbit is diminished and besmirched thereby, rarely, if ever, emerging with reputation intact.  Accordingly, he would be well advised to quickly establish a chain-of-command and strictly enforce it, compelling everyone to go through his office to get access to this president.  Failure to do so will virtually ensure his quick departure.  Accordingly, his first act was to fire the “Mooch” who, having been on the job for ten days, likewise established a new record for the shortest tenure in office.  Next in line, if the general is to succeed, are Bannon and the Kushner’s.  The Wheel’s Still in Spin.

Impeach and Imprison.