Outside the Beltway

Drezner on Trump Admin: Harsh, but Fair

Steven L. Taylor
12

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Read the whole thing:  The beclowning of the executive branch.

The run-down of major about the administration over a 24 hour period is pretty astounding.

Also, I have to concur about the following observation about Jared Kushner:

Again, let’s just stop for a second and consider the fact that the person described by himself as “first among equals” in the White House has been given the lead on U.S. relations with Canada, Mexico, China and the Middle East, has also been asked to run a White House Office of American Innovation, and will now also apparently be running point on improving the criminal justice system. This is a person whose prior background suggests no particular competence in any of these areas of government. His only qualification for White House service appears to be that he married well.

The list of assignments is truly insane.

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12 responses to “Drezner on Trump Admin: Harsh, but Fair”

  1. M. Bouffant Avatar
    M. Bouffant

    No doubt most of Prince Jared’s money comes from his convicted criminal father. Per the Wiki:

    Illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering. Served time in federal prison.

    This is especially nice:

    The witness-tampering charge arose from Kushner’s act of retaliation against William Schulder, husband of his sister Esther, who was cooperating with federal investigators; Kushner hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, arranged for an encounter between the two to be secretly recorded, and had the tape sent to his sister.

    Just the sort of people we need in the Executive Mansion.

  2. Mikey Avatar
    Mikey

    And we’re only ~70 days into a 1400-plus day term.

    We. Are. Utterly. Screwed.

  3. Ebenezer_Arvigenius Avatar
    Ebenezer_Arvigenius

    Just the sort of people we need in the Executive Mansion.

    While I don’t consider him qualified for his position I’m adamantly against holding their parents against people. This is some weird pre-modern inheritance nonsense.

  4. MarkedMan Avatar
    MarkedMan

    @Ebenezer_Arvigenius: Normally I would agree about not holding parents behavior against the kids but in this case he is a long term executive in his fathers company. It is legitimate to look at the ethics of his business associates.

  5. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    How is Bannon going to take this? Isn’t he supposed to be the one running the puppet show?

  6. gVOR08 Avatar
    gVOR08

    At least my fear of Trump becoming an autocrat have been assuaged by his utter incompetence.

  7. Gustopher Avatar
    Gustopher

    @Mikey: I’m really curious about how many tasks he will be given by the end. Almost four years to give Wee Little Jared more and more responsibility.

  8. gVOR08 Avatar
    gVOR08

    @M. Bouffant: Jared’s father was convicted, and in Jared’s view unnecessarily humiliated, by Chris Christie. Yet Christie still hangs around begging for a bone. It would be sad, if it weren’t so freaking funny.

  9. Slugger Avatar
    Slugger

    Any Constitutional Conservatives out there? This seems like a pretty important portfolio for someone who has not gone through the Advice and Consent process.
    Bobby Kennedy had a big role in his brother’s administration, but RFK had an official Cabinet appointment. Hillary made noises about being a co-president during the Clinton Healthcare effort. The Clinton proposal was shot down, and HRC became tainted with a reputation for being high handed that has lasted to this day.
    Let me add a petty note. Is Ivanka paying rent for her White House office? It is a pretty tony address for a fashionista, and as one of the co-owners of the place, I want my due.

  10. Kari Q Avatar
    Kari Q

    @Ebenezer_Arvigenius:

    While I don’t consider him qualified for his position I’m adamantly against holding their parents against people. This is some weird pre-modern inheritance nonsense.

    In general, I agree with you. If Kushner had achieved his current position of influence through his own merits and ability, his father would be irrelevant. Unfortunately, his only claim is nepotism, which makes who he is tied to seem more significant than it otherwise would be.

    Of course, his father’s misconduct is clearly far down the list of important considerations at the moment.

    @gVOR08:

    I had a similar thought: Trump’s malevolence is countered by his incompetence.

  11. Gustopher Avatar
    Gustopher

    Perhaps the next time we have someone run government like a business, we should hope for someone who hasn’t bankrupted his businesses time and time again?

    Or perhaps we should stop trying to run things as if they were other things.

    “I tried to run my race horse like a car, but he couldn’t keep up with traffic on the interstate, and then when I refueled him at the gas station he started vomiting until he finally keeled over and died with the gas nozzle still wedged down his throat. I blame the environmentalists.”

  12. al-Alameda Avatar
    al-Alameda

    @gVOR08:

    Yet Christie still hangs around begging for a bone. It would be sad, if it weren’t so freaking funny.

    The extent to which Trump completely emasculated the Republican line-up of candidates is nothing short of amazing. And Trump had some of them fitted for dog collars, the best dog collars – Rick Perry is in the Cabinet, Chris Christie is on the team too.

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