August 26, 2017

"Regrettably, outside of yourself, the individuals who most embodied and represented the policies that will ‘Make America Great Again’..."

"... have been internally countered, systematically removed, or undermined in recent months. This was made patently obvious as I read the text of your speech on Afghanistan this week… The fact that those who drafted and approved the speech removed any mention of Radical Islam or radical Islamic terrorism proves that a crucial element of your presidential campaign has been lost… Just as worrying, when discussing our future actions in the region, the speech listed operational objectives without ever defining the strategic victory conditions we are fighting for. This omission should seriously disturb any national security professional, and any American who is unsatisfied with the last 16 years of disastrous policy decisions which have led to thousands of Americans killed and trillions of taxpayer dollars spent in ways that have not brought security or victory."

The resignation letter of Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to President Trump, quoted at a Federalist piece that ends with an update quoting a White House statement: "Sebastian Gorka did not resign, but I can confirm he no longer works at the White House."

70 comments:

mockturtle said...

Totally agree with Gorka. The Trump train has been derailed by the likes of McMaster.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

The Generals are running the show now. Gorka and Bannon are no longer pulling Trump's strings. I wonder what was said to Trump to get him to turn his back on Bannon and Gorka.

Sebastian said...

Yes. Outside Trump rallies and the TDS-afflicted MSM, it's turning into the Jeb Bush administration, minus the competence.

Ray - SoCal said...

Comment from the article:
>there is no point in having your life ruined every day if you’re not going to get much accomplished.”

His teenage sons schoolwork was attacked.

rhhardin said...

Nothing says more about a man than what he says when he leaves.

Wince said...

New verb: being Gorked, akin to being Borked?

The origin of "bork" itself is less clear, but it's clearly onomatopoeic. It's perhaps most well-known thanks to Gabe the Dog, a tiny floof of a Miniature American Eskimo/Pomeranian whose borks have been remixed into countless classic tunes. Jurassic Bork, The Bork Files, Doggos of the Borkribbean, Imperial Borks — the list goes on and on."

Inga...Allie Oop said...

"Breitbart is currently in negotiations with Dr. Gorka regarding his support for the website, as well as collaboration on a joint venture that would embody a Jacksonian national security vision."

LOL!

J. Farmer said...

Hell I could've written that myself.

rcocean said...

Trump seems to have surrounded himself with a bunch of drama queens. Cohn, Bannon, Gorka, Prebius, etc. who seem/seemed more interested in tooting their own horns than serving him.

We elected Trump - not Gorka.

buwaya said...

The state structure is extremely powerful and very difficult to fight from the inside.
Trump is very unlikely to prevail.
The S&P has been rather soft for a couple of weeks, it may not be a coincidence.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

"Trump seems to have surrounded himself with a bunch of drama queens. Cohn, Bannon, Gorka, Prebius, etc. who seem/seemed more interested in tooting their own horns than serving him."

What does this say about Trump's judgment?

Roughcoat said...

Hell I could've written that myself.

Me too!

Roughcoat said...


buwaya = Debbie Downer.

Cue sound effect: muwaa waaaaaaa.

Prognosis: Your downer-ness is getting more pronounced lately.

Treatment: More booze. And, mushrooms, if you can get 'em.

Bay Area Guy said...

If you Bork Gorka, can you say you Gorked him?

He's a smart fellow, Hungarian, thick accent, strong anti-communist. I think he'll land on his feet.

But, Yes, the establishment wing of the Trump admin seems to be winning the internal battle struggles.

Bay Area Guy said...

EDH above beat me to it.

Mark said...

a crucial element of your presidential campaign has been lost

Gah.

Everyone just really needs to chillax. Enough with all the DRAMA on all sides.

JackWayne said...

Proves that Trump has been borged.

Howard said...

rcocean nails it: Trump the Prima Donna Drama Queen of Drama Queens

buwaya said...

Roughcoat,

I am a pessimist indeed.
I've said so from the start of my commenting here.

Sadly, my drinking days are done, diabetes ended that.

Drago said...

Unknown: "What does this say about Trump's judgment?"

That he is unlikely to call ISIS the "JV team".

Brookzene said...

Unknown: "What does this say about Trump's judgment?"

That he is unlikely to call ISIS the "JV team".


Whataboutism.

Roughcoat said...

Sadly, my drinking days are done, diabetes ended that.

Same here. I drank up my booze quota, which God issues to every individual at birth, in my 20s -- and then exceeded it by several orders of magnitude in my 30s and 40s. Finally quit. 19 years now without a drink, except Communion wine.

Mostly I don't miss it. Sometimes I do.

Muwaa waaaaaaa!

Achilles said...

Look at all the drama queens.

As if there weren't democrats all over the place bitching about obama starting more wars in more countries and destabilizing more governments than any other president ever. Wonder why the media didn't cover that.

Trump hasn't started any new wars. He has outlined a strategy that will lead to the conclusion of Afghanistan sooner than anything short of an Iraq style withdrawal and descent into madness. He outlined the destruction of ISIS. absolutely necessary.

To say that Trump hasn't changed the direction of our foreign policy in an absolutely positive and meaningful way is ridiculous.

Right now you people are getting all pouty face and being ridiculous. Complete isolationism is stupid. Trump is solidly moving us toward a Jacksonian minimal involvement. You are whining about a 7/10. On every front Trump has been a breath of fresh air compared to the last 30 years. Not accepting that and giving acknowledgement is ridiculous.

cacimbo said...

Depressing. The swamp appears to be winning.

Robert Cook said...

"Trump seems to have surrounded himself with a bunch of drama queens. Cohn, Bannon, Gorka, Prebius, etc. who seem/seemed more interested in tooting their own horns than serving him."

Like master, like subordinates. Trump is a drama queen who is more interested in tooting his own horn than serving the people.

"We elected Trump - not Gorka."

When you vote for someone for office, you vote for everyone he employs to work in his administration.

Robert Cook said...

"What does this say about Trump's judgment?"

What does Trump's own behavior and statements say about his judgment?

Nothing good.

heyboom said...

Sebastian said...

Yes. Outside Trump rallies and the TDS-afflicted MSM, it's turning into the Jeb Bush administration, minus the competence.

Alongside this article were two others. One was about Trump formally ending the pro-transgender military policy and the other was how he is very likely to end DACA amnesty.

Adding this to the other things he's managed to accomplish, and I am still happy as hell to have President Trump in the White House.

mockturtle said...

Though we don't hear much about the SCOTUS these days, Gorsuch has already proven himself to be Trump's biggest accomplishment.

Earnest Prole said...

Gorka famously said "The era of the pajama boy is over January 20, and the alpha males are back." But that was before Jared Kushner made him his bitch.

hombre said...

Regardless of whether he was fired or resigned, there are indications that his claims are correct and he and his family endured a lot of calumny from the amoral left and their mediaswine to work for Trump. Trump is arguably dropping the ball any many areas.

Catholics and other Christians voted for Trump primarily to appoint con For example, other than Gorsuch, Trump has nominated 27 Title III judges. Four have been confirmed. Four! He should be in McConnell's face publicly and daily about this.

Instead, I get Trump's pitches for funds from RNC twice a week and I am a Trump donor, but not a Republican. The swamp is rising.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

"Trump is arguably dropping the ball any many areas."

Told you so.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

"The swamp is rising."

Well, what did you expect? LOL.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

"Depressing. The swamp appears to be winning."

It would be depressing to see someone like Trump loosed on America. Thank goodness he has some sane people around him now that Bannon and Gorka are gone. Stephen Miller should be next.

Michael K said...

But, Yes, the establishment wing of the Trump admin seems to be winning the internal battle struggles.

It's concerning but may be he decided to fight the domestic battles and let McMaster handle the foreign policy.

One thing at a time.

Ray - SoCal said...

I think he will be more effective outside the tent.

mockturtle said...

Gorka famously said "The era of the pajama boy is over January 20, and the alpha males are back." But that was before Jared Kushner made him his bitch.

What could be more degrading than to be Kushner's bitch?

pacwest said...

McMaster cleaned out a few others too.

"The Return of the Swamp Creatures"

J. Farmer said...

@Achilles:

Complete isolationism is stupid.

And who is arguing for that?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

The coup is over, America won. Trump and the Alt Right lost. The US is now safely in sane people's hands again. Trump is a lame duck, only 7 months in.

J. Farmer said...

@Unknown:

The coup is over, America won. Trump and the Alt Right lost. The US is now safely in sane people's hands again. Trump is a lame duck, only 7 months in.

First, the term "lame duck" makes no sense in that context. Second, the "alt right" is more than just a presidency. See, for example, Matthew Yglesias writing from a liberal perspective in Vox: The whole Democratic Party is now a smoking pile of rubble.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

"Second, the "alt right" is more than just a presidency."

The Left is more than just the Democratic Party.

D.E. Cloutier said...

"I can't tell you how disappointed I am in Barack Obama," an old business friend who supported Obama wrote in an email to me several years ago.

"Barack Obama as president, George W. Bush as president -- it makes no difference," I wrote back. "The bureaucrats run the country."

Now Trump wants to drain the swamp.

In my circle of acquaintances in Washington, DC, the federal government bureaucrats inside and OUTSIDE the U.S. Defense Department are a little bit in awe of America's military generals.

By surrounding himself with generals, Trump may have found a way to get some things done.

J. Farmer said...

@Unknown:

The Left is more than just the Democratic Party.

Agreed. But in a political movement, political power is kind of important.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

"By surrounding himself with generals, Trump may have found a way to get some things done."

Maybe. More likely they are there as a check on Trump himself. Trump didn't foresee that they would soon be running the country for him, it remains to be seen if they work to further Trump's agenda. I'm not convinced.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

"The Left is more than just the Democratic Party."

"Agreed. But in a political movement, political power is kind of important."

LOL, how much "political" power do Bannon and Gorka or the Alt Right have now? Breitbart has no more power to influence people than does any publication, left or right.

Michael K said...

"The Left is more than just the Democratic Party."

Nice of you to admit it.

ANTIFA is now the Democrat Party.

Plus, of course, the the World Workers Party, and also the Democratic Socialists of America, both of which the martyr of Charlottesville was a member of.

J. Farmer said...

@D.E. Cloutier:

In my circle of acquaintances in Washington, DC, the federal government bureaucrats inside and OUTSIDE the U.S. Defense Department are a little bit in awe of America's military generals.

By surrounding himself with generals, Trump may have found a way to get some things done.


I am not sure why this should be. One of the things that has been bothersome to me about Trump is his seeming overconfidence and over reliance on the ability of generals.

The Rise of the Generals

If All You Have is a Mattis, Everything Looks Like a Nail

J. Farmer said...

@Unknown:

LOL, how much "political" power do Bannon and Gorka or the Alt Right have now?

Did you read Yglesias' article that I linked to? That's what I am referring to.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

From Farmer's linked Vox article.

The point here is not that the Democratic Party has suffered some kind of knockout blow from which it will never return. Every bad electoral defeat is overinterpreted by some circle of pundits as signaling the death knell for one party or the other, and the loser always comes back.

Indeed, given the existing down-ballot weakness of the Democratic Party after the 2010 and 2014 midterms, Hillary Clinton’s loss does more to hasten Democrats’ resurrection than to delay it. A Republican president in office will tarnish the brand of blue-state Republican parties, making it easier for Democrats to regain ground in their own turf
.

YoungHegelian said...

The coalition that elected Trump is so bizarre & unique that it's no surprise that members of the coalition are ending up disappointed. In a normal administration, the disappointed would be sidelined & fed platitudes about "our job here blah, blah, blah". Trump, in true corporate style, fires his non-producers out with a cannon. It's a jarring rejection of the old ways of doing political business.

Expect much more "disappointment" as the Trump administration continues.

J. Farmer said...

@Unknown:

Nothing in you quoted or highlighted contradicts my point. Recall your comment I was responding to: "The coup is over, America won." Not sure how winning a presidential election amounts to a "coup," but the very words of Yglesias' you quoted should give you pause before doing an end zone dance.

Achilles said...

Blogger J. Farmer said...
@Achilles:

Complete isolationism is stupid.

"And who is arguing for that?"

Anyone arguing to leave Afghanistan before the taliban is completely destroyed and allowing it to regain control of Afghanistan.

Earnest Prole said...

What could be more degrading than to be Kushner's bitch?

Kushner dressing Gorka in black-and-red plaid onesie pajamas?

J. Farmer said...

@YoungHegelian:

The coalition that elected Trump is so bizarre & unique that it's no surprise that members of the coalition are ending up disappointed.

I don't think it's really that bizarre or unique. I think the Republican coalition that came to dominate in the second half of the 20th century more aptly fits that description. Trump is not the person to pull of a major political realignment, but I think he helped define the path that others can follow. And the path is what I like to call "nationalism," to wit: skepticism towards military adventurism, restriction of immigration (illegal and legal), and suspicion of neoliberal trade arrangements. Compare that to "globalism," which dominated the establishment of both major political parties: support for interventionism abroad, support for managed trade agreements under the misnomer "free trade," and support for nearly unfettered immigration.

Achilles said...

"Yes. Outside Trump rallies and the TDS-afflicted MSM, it's turning into the Jeb Bush administration, minus the competence."

This is just fucking stupid and so is anyone that believes it.

J. Farmer said...

@Achilles:

Anyone arguing to leave Afghanistan before the taliban is completely destroyed and allowing it to regain control of Afghanistan.

That has to be the broadest definition of "complete isolationism" I've ever heard. By at least 2014, nearly half of Americans were likely to describe the Afghanistan War as a "mistake." I thought the same thing 13 years before that.

Bob Ellison said...

The GOP did not dominate in the second half of the 20th century, nor in the first two decades of the 21st. The Dems had complete control of Congress until 1994, and got it back again in 2004. That was, what, about 70% of control over about a century? The Dems just kept putting up lousy POTUS candidates, but they got Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Weak memories.

harrogate said...

J. Farmer:

It's iknteresitg how people still associate Trump with "suspicion of neoliberal trade agreements." He talked a lot of shit on the trail, but on that front the GOP seems to have totally neutered him now that he's in office.

And both parties appear to have neutered him re "skepticism towards military adventurism."

It's almost as tho when it comes to economic and foreign policies, it doesn't matter what the people want or whom they elect. That's part of why Trunp is still at his loudest with the rave baiting and the "wall" blathering, and the Dems are still at their loudest on the identify politics front.

J. Farmer said...

@Bob Ellison:

The GOP did not dominate in the second half of the 20th century,

That was poor wording on my part. What I meant was the coalition that dominated the Republican Party in the second half of the 20th century, not that the Republican Party was dominant.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

"Not sure how winning a presidential election amounts to a "coup," ....."

Farmer, you totally misunderstood my point. The coup was perpetrated by the Generals on Trump. The Generals and America won, Trump and the Alt Right lost.

J. Farmer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alex said...

More likely fired for his associations with white supremacists. Trump has purged the last 'undesirable' from his circle. Now we can get on with the country's business unfettered by accusations of white supremacy, no?

Alex said...

Unknown... the alt-right lost. Trump was never with them. Trump is for Trump.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

"... Trump is for Trump."

Well, yes. Most of us knew that way before the election. It is interesting though that the Alt Right and White Supremacists endorsed him so enthusiastically. Were they stupid for placing their trust in him?

J. Farmer said...

@Unknown:

Ah, I see. So then it's safe to say you're pro coup? Particularly if orchestrated by generals? Very interesting. One may even be inclined to use the "f" word to describe such an arrangement. Luckily I'm not a fan of such descriptive anachronisms.

J. Farmer said...

@unknown:

It is interesting though that the Alt Right and White Supremacists endorsed him so enthusiastically. Were they stupid for placing their trust in him?

Choosing the best of bad options is part and parcel of electoral politics.

cubanbob said...

I suspect that next November when the Democrats again get smacked down by the electorate that they will double down on stupid again. Trump doesn't need the so-called Alt Right around him, the Left and the Democrats ( I repeat myself) are doing a fantastic job of driving those people inclined to American nationalism towards Trump and to anyone running as a Republican and away from the Democrats. In thirty four out of fifty states the Democrats are starting to become both an annoyance and an irrelevance and none this is being accomplished by the Republicans on their own.

hombre said...

It is interesting to watch Unknown and the other lefties argue ongoingly for sedition and the perpetuation of the Democrat/GOPe swamp.

Yay, bogged down in Afghanistan, lefty policies that gave us the new invasion of Europe, increasing health insurance costs, unprecedented crony capitalism, million dollar litigation to avoid FOIA disclosures that expose gov't corruption, intelligence "operatives" who illegally acquire and disclose classified and other data to the media for political or financial gain, masked, club-wielding thugs attacking people in the streets to thwart free expression of ideas, politicizing the FBI, etc. And those are just things that ought to be partisan neutral for moral, intelligent people.

What's next? Waging war on inanimate objects made of stone and marble. Changing the names of cities and buildings named after Latin and Hispanic explorers. How about indiscriminately branding people as neo-Nazis whose fathers and uncles fought and died to stop the German Nazi menace, ignoring Islamist extremism, resurrecting the all but defunct KKK, waging war on the police and the First Amendment? All this after nominating for President a crooked, worn out old harridan without a single significant achievement other than marrying a serial sexual predator? Really?

After that, let 'em railroad a duly elected President? Some things would be worth fighting a civil war over.

Jael (Gone Windwalking) said...

“The S&P has been rather soft for a couple of weeks, it may not be a coincidence.”

... dollar is in dolor ... wall is getting duller ... India’s a dower ... Pakistan is dour ... Renminbi’s still a doer! ...

MikeR said...

As usual with political appointees, I had never heard of him before. But judging by his quote, good riddance. I for one have been pretty happy with Mr. Trump's foreign policy. In fact, I wish I had as much to celebrate in his domestic policy.