"'I wouldn’t go to war with you people,' Trump told the assembled brass.... You’re a bunch of dopes and babies.'"

"For a president known for verbiage he euphemistically called 'locker room talk,' this was the gravest insult he could have delivered to these people, in this sacred space. The flag officers in the room were shocked. Some staff began looking down at their papers, rearranging folders, almost wishing themselves out of the room. A few considered walking out. They tried not to reveal their revulsion on their faces, but questions raced through their minds. 'How does the commander in chief say that?' one thought. 'What would our worst adversaries think if they knew he said this?'... Tillerson in particular was stunned by Trump’s diatribe and began visibly seething. For too many minutes, others in the room noticed, he had been staring straight, dumbfounded, at Mattis, who was speechless, his head bowed down toward the table. Tillerson thought to himself, 'Gosh darn it, Jim, say something. Why aren’t you saying something?'... The meeting soon ended and Trump walked out.... Standing in the hall with a small cluster of people he trusted, Tillerson finally let down his guard. 'He’s a f---ing moron'...."

From "'You’re a bunch of dopes and babies’: Inside Trump’s stunning tirade against generals" (WaPo)(adapted from the new book "A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America")(describing a meeting that took place July 20, 2017).

Ironically, it makes the people Trump called "dopes and babies" look like dopes and babies.

Why should their feelings be coddled?

The "sacred space" was "the Tank" at the Pentagon:

2E924 of the Pentagon, a windowless and secure vault where the Joint Chiefs of Staff meet regularly.... The Tank resembles a small corporate boardroom, with a gleaming golden oak table, leather swivel armchairs and other mid-century stylings. Inside its walls, flag officers observe a reverence and decorum for the wrenching decisions that have been made there.

Trump brought his own boardroom style. He got elected offering that. I see no reason why he should be expected to change to a style of "reverence and decorum" because that's what others in the room are used to and feel comfortable with. Why should those people be facilitated in their comfort and established old ways? During the Vietnam War era, we would have reacted with derision at expectations like that.

Here's an article (from January 2019) quoting Trump about The Tank:

"When I became President, I had a meeting at the Pentagon with lots of generals. They were like from a movie. Better looking than Tom Cruise and stronger. And I had more generals than I've ever seen, and we were at the bottom of this incredible room. I said 'this is greatest room I've ever seen.' I saw more computer boards than I think that they make today."

ADDED: Derision and contempt.

IN THE COMMENTS: Ken B wrote:

From Fodor, Top 10 American Sacred Spaces
1 Gettysburg
2 Arlington Cemetery
3 That cool windowless room with all the monitors
4 Bunker Hill
5 Nancy Pelosi's Closet
6 Ford's Theater
7 Nancy Pelosi's Other Closet
8 The Washington Monument
9 Faneuil Hall
10 Fort Sumter

"State Department staffers who talked to The Daily Beast described the secretary of state’s downfall as a liberation..."

"... even as they grimly recognized that recent history, literal and metaphorical, suggests that what follows liberation is chaos and occupation."

While career State Department officials have a highly difficult relationship with the president, whose approaches on everything from refugees to Russia to race relations have prompted a wave of diplomatic departures, they are in lockstep with Trump over hating Tillerson – though for much different reasons....

Is that a way to say that no one was surprised?

"In the end, no one was more surprised that Tillerson was fired than Tillerson" — Washington Post headline.

"We were not really thinking the same... Really, it was a different mind-set, a different thinking."

Said Trump talking to reporters today about his firing of Rex Tillerson, the NYT reports.

Mr. Tillerson found out he had been fired before dawn, shortly after his flight returned from a weeklong trip to Africa, said Steve Goldstein, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy. There was no indication during the five-nation visit that Mr. Tillerson’s departure was imminent....

What about Tillerson's calling in sick? Fake?

Mr. Tillerson has been out of favor with Mr. Trump for months but had resisted being pushed out. His distance from Mr. Trump’s inner circle was clear last week when the president accepted an invitation to meet with Mr. Kim, to Mr. Tillerson’s surprise....

His profound disagreements with the president on policy appeared to be his undoing: Mr. Tillerson wanted to remain part of the Paris climate accord; Mr. Trump decided to leave it. Mr. Tillerson supported the continuation of the Iran nuclear deal; Mr. Trump loathed the deal as “an embarrassment to the United States.” And Mr. Tillerson believed in dialogue to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis, but Mr. Trump repeatedly threatened military options.

Veteran diplomats said they could not remember a time when a president so regularly undermined his secretary of state so brazenly in the midst of a tense situation. Richard N. Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, who served many Republican presidents, last fall urged Mr. Tillerson to quit....

The turning point for Mr. Tillerson came when NBC News reported that he had called the president a “moron”.... The growing distance between the men was on clear display during Mr. Trump’s trip to Asia in November, when Mr. Tillerson visited the prison that once housed Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona who is a frequent critic of the president.

But perhaps the most puzzling part of Mr. Tillerson’s tenure was his poor oversight of the State Department. As a former top business executive, his managerial skills were thought to be his chief asset....

What a dismal finish for this man!

Trump lowers the boom on Tillerson.

"Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!"

Trump just tweeted.

ADDED: I like the Astros photo-op that's the top of Trump's twitter page right now:



I love the blue checked jacket on Altuve and that other guy (who's got an entire suit in blue plaid).

I liked the way Trump pronounced "Jose Altuve," making it sound like poetry:

Awkward moment between Donald Trump and José Altuve. #Astros pic.twitter.com/BQHgclZEYa

— Richard W. (@IceManNYR) March 12, 2018

You see the spin there. For more of that kind of ideating, see "Jose Altuve's Day At The White House Looked Pretty Awkward" (Deadspin). I look at the same pictures and think, Altuve, #1, looked great, and, #2, was behaving in a careful, controlled way that's exactly what you should do when you are on camera and in the background for a 20-minute photo op. Anyone taking constant photographs in that situation can frame an instant — like this — where he seems to be thinking what you'd like to project into his head, but that strikes me as propaganda. I don't know if Altuve talks about politics, but I don't think he's even an American citizen. He's Venezuelan. If I were Venzuelan, I'd be most worried about Venezuela, and looking at Trump, I'd be thinking, is there some way he can help Venezuela?, or, if I was inclined to the hostility anti-Trumpers are seeing in his face — Why hasn't President Trump done something yet about Venezuela?

AND: What's up with the "plaidgate" tag? I was seeing if I had a tag for "plaid" — I didn't — and the old tag "plaidgate" came up, so I added it. It's presence on this post just represents the subject of whether plaid means something.

ALSO: From last December, "A former top national security official says Venezuela is one of Trump's top 3 priorities — alongside Iran and North Korea" (Business Insider).

"The White House has developed a plan to force out Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, whose relationship with President Trump has been strained..."

"... and replace him with Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, within the next several weeks, senior administration officials said on Thursday," the NYT reports.

Is this really happening?

I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017

...Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017

What's going on?

He sincerely believes the time for talk is over. He intends to take military action.

He's done talking, but he won't do anything (unless NK makes a first strike).

He's calling attention to the good-cop/bad-cop routine he's doing with Rex Tillerson.

He's deviously bolstering Tillerson's efforts to negotiate with North Korea.

He's a crazy/incompetent/dangerous President, and it's truly frightening.

 

pollcode.com free polls

ADDED: Poll results:

"We're not your enemy, we're not your threat but you're presenting an unacceptable threat to us and we have to respond."

"We do not seek a regime change, we do not seek the collapse of the regime, we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula, we do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th parallel."

Said Rex Tillerson to North Koreans.

Trump in Arabia — the raw footage.

Scene 1:  

The 81-year-old King walks — with a cane — to greet President Trump:



It was 100+ degrees in Riyadh yesterday. The old king may be used to it, and he's got loose, mostly white clothing, but what keeps Trump and Melania — in their cinched black outfits — from keeling over? (Hillary keeled over on 9/11 when it was only 79°.)

Scene 2: 

Trump bobs to the rhythm alongside the Saudis doing the old "sword dance" (not real swords though, right? (because how could the Secret Service permit that?)):



Trump's moving without really doing the dance is reminiscent of his (sometimes mocked) swaying at the African American church:



And how did Tillerson and Wilbur Ross look doing the sword dance, with Priebus and Bannon wistfully wallflowering:

Scene 3:  

Trump gets a medal (does he bow or does he figure out some other body-lowering move so people wouldn't say he bowed (except all the haters (of course, they said he bowed)?):



Here's the famous Obama bow to the king (done in greeting, not by necessity if you want to receive a medal (not that Trump's people couldn't have nixed the medal-giving)):

"President Trump appeared to acknowledge Tuesday that he revealed highly classified information to Russia — a stunning confirmation of a Washington Post story..."

"... and a move that contradicted his own White House team after it scrambled to deny the report," WaPo reports.

“As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety,” Trump wrote Tuesday morning. “Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.”...

Trump's tweets undercut his administration's frantic effort Monday night to contain the damaging report. The White House trotted out three senior administration officials — National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — to attack the reports.

The president's admission also follows a familiar pattern. Last week, after firing FBI director James B. Comey, the White House originally claimed that the president was acting in response to a memo provided by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein.

It looks like they're not merely lying, they're incompetently lying, failing to get their story straight before they start talking. That's the simplest explanation of what we are seeing. Or do you think it's some "genius" move and I'm just failing to see the brilliance?

I wonder how McMaster, Powell, and Tillerson feel about the way they were used. Did Trump exploit them and then immediately blindside them? If so, would they resign and talk about it?

ADDED: Ben Sasse explains it: McMaster didn't really say what the media were saying he said:

“When I look at McMaster’s quote, it’s a pretty technical quote,” Mr. Sasse said. “I think it’s actually something quite different from a full rebuttal of the story.”

Incredibly, the NYT article where I got the Sasse quote, doesn't have the verbatim "pretty technical quote" from McMaster that Sasse is talking about. It only says: "General McMaster told reporters on Monday that The Post’s account “as reported” was 'false'...". I had to google it! Here:

The story that came out tonight as reported is false. The president and the foreign minister reviewed a range of common threats to our two countries, including threats to civil aviation. At no time, at no time, [were] intelligen[ce] sources or methods discussed. And the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known. Two other senior officials who were present, including the Secretary of the State, remember the meeting the same way and have said so. [They're] on the record accounts should outweigh anonymous sources. I was in the room. It didn't happen.

"Putin Meets With Tillerson in Russia After Keeping Him Waiting."

The NYT reports.

After Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson waited for much of the day, wondering whether he would get to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin, the two men sat down at the Kremlin late Wednesday afternoon in the first face-to-face meeting between the Russian leader and a top official in the Trump administration....

Was this a scripted dance?

Probably yes.

Probably not.

Oh, give me a break. You don't need another option unless it's so close to 50-50 that you need a knife's blade to tippy-toe across. Or do you just not understand what is meant by "scripted dance" and yet you still need to be able to vote? What is your problem?!

 

pollcode.com free polls

"Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said on Tuesday that the reign of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was 'coming to an end' and warned that Russia was at risk of becoming irrelevant..."

"... in the Middle East by continuing to support him. Mr. Tillerson, in comments made just before he traveled to Moscow for a high-stakes summit meeting, sought to clear up the United States’ position on Syria while also declaring that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia needed to choose whether to side with Mr. Assad or the West. Russia can be a part of the discussions 'and play an important role,' Mr. Tillerson said at a Group of 7 meeting in Lucca, Italy, or it 'can maintain its alliance with this group, which we believe is not going to serve Russia’s interests longer term.'"

The NYT reports.

Also in the NYT this morning: "Feud Over Syria Missile Strike May Have an Upside for U.S. and Russia."

“The hope for a privileged relationship demanded big gestures and compromises, special restraint and complaisance of the tango partners,” Aleksandr Baunov wrote in an opinion piece on the analytical website Carnegie.ru, of which he is editor. “Now none of it is necessary, and the partner can fearlessly step on the other’s toes.”...

Aleksandr Shumilin, head of the Center for Research of Middle Eastern Conflicts, said Mr. Putin was interested in weakening Russia’s dependence on Mr. Assad and did not want to feel responsible for all of his actions.

“The problem is that Russia cannot afford to distance itself in public, as Mr. Assad has already become a hero of the Russian television,” Mr. Shumilin said. “Therefore, on the surface the rhetoric will remain the same, but deep inside there will be efforts to establish some kind of a cooperation and mutual understanding.”

Enough about squeaky, it's time for Spicey.

From "White House Tries to Soothe British Officials Over Trump Wiretap Claim" (in the NYT).

5th highest-rated comment: "And this is the man that has the nuclear codes? It was be laughable if it weren't so downright terrifying."

Which reminds me of this other thing on the NYT front page right now: "Rex Tillerson Rejects Talks With North Korea on Nuclear Program."

“The policy of strategic patience has ended,” Mr. Tillerson said, a reference to the term used by the Obama administration to describe a policy of waiting out the North Koreans, while gradually ratcheting up sanctions and covert action....

Mr. Tillerson’s tougher line was echoed by President Trump on Twitter later Friday. “North Korea is behaving very badly,” he posted. “They have been “playing” the United States for years. China has done little to help!”

Isn't it suicidal to veer toward a pillar?

The headline at the NYT right now is giving my too-concrete brain a concussion:



Trying to sneer at Trump while adulating Obama can get you into trouble. But if you click through to the article, the "pillars" metaphor is used with a more soothing verb: "Trump Embraces Pillars of Obama’s Foreign Policy."

Is this veering/embracing — this new respect for Obama's approach — the consequence of the arrival of Rex Tillerson?

The administration’s abrupt turnaround also coincided with Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson’s first day at the State Department and the arrival of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in South Korea on his first official trip. Both men are viewed as potentially capable of exerting a moderating influence on the president and his cadre of White House advisers, though it was unclear how much they had to do with the shifts.

I wanted to get a picture of a man hugging a pillar to illustrate this article, and I found one at this 2013 Daily Mail article about the new fad of "koala-ing":  "First it was planking and then owling but now an even stranger craze inspired by an iconic Australian animal is sweeping the internet — koalaing."

Trump is koalaing Obama's pillars.

Tillerson confirmed by the Senate, 56 to 43

The Democrats who voted yes were Mark Warner, Heidi Heitkamp, and Joe Manchin.

The NYT writes:

The many votes against Mr. Tillerson’s confirmation made his selection among the most contentious for a secretary of state in recent history, and he takes his post just as many traditional American allies are questioning the policies of President Trump. In the past 50 years, the most contentious confirmations for secretary of state were those of Condoleezza Rice in 2005, who passed by a vote of 85 to 13, and Henry Kissinger in 1973, who was confirmed 78 to 7.

I wonder how many people take this "contentiousness" seriously as anything about Tillerson as opposed to Democratic Senators dedicated to obstructing Trump.

There's also the news that Jeff Sessions has been approved by the Judiciary Committee:

The action came on a straight party-line vote, with 11 Republicans supporting their former colleague from Alabama and nine Democrats opposing him.

There was some byplay in the committee as Senator Franken attacked fellow committee member Ted Cruz when Cruz was out of the room. Cruz's co-Texan John Cornyn objected Franken's "disparaging a fellow member of the committee here in his absence," and Franken said, "Well, he should be here — first of all — and, secondly, he disparaged me." Cornyn said if Franken wanted to disparage Cruz he ought to "do it to his face," and though Senator Grassley tried to break up the fight, Franken, as the NYT put it "went right on talking — with Mr. Cruz at the center of his attacks."

I'd like to see the video. I really doubt if Democrats are winning any new fans here. If the idea is to make us feel that Trump is the lout, they've got to refrain from looking loutish.

AND: Hey, remember "Lout Rampage"?



ADDED: Ah, here's the video of Franken:



Cornyn succeeded in breaking up Franken's written presentation and drawing out Franken's irascibility. Franken had elaborate prepared remarks that included talking about Cruz and didn't want to vary from them. I don't think he knew Cruz wouldn't be there.

"President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday officially selected Rex W. Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, to be his secretary of state."

The NYT reports.

In saying he will nominate Mr. Tillerson, the president-elect is dismissing bipartisan concerns the globe-trotting leader of an energy giant has a too-cozy relationship with Vladimir V. Putin, the president of Russia.

A statement from Mr. Trump’s transition office early Tuesday brought to an end his public and chaotic deliberations over the nation’s top diplomat — a process that at times veered from rewarding Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of his most loyal supporters, to musing about whether Mitt Romney, one of his most vicious critics, might be forgiven.

What was chaotic? That's a word they've been trying to stick on the transition from the beginning. A search in the NYT archive for trump transition chaos got 43 hits!

The Times forefronts this statement from John McCain:

“Vladimir Putin is a thug, bully and a murderer, and anybody else who describes him as anything else is lying,” Mr. McCain said on Fox News.

Is that the language of diplomacy? If Trump had said "Vladimir Putin is a thug, bully and a murderer," he'd have been regarded as a lout who doesn't have any idea how to talk like a President. But here's McCain saying that anyone who doesn't use that kind of crude, brutal language is a "liar." You're a liar if you don't baldly insult the world leaders you're trying to deal with? Yet somehow Trump is portrayed as the off-the-rails hothead and McCain is the wise, elder statesman.

I'm just teasing, saying "somehow." I know how, and you do too. McCain got defeated in his bid for President. If he, a Republican, were running for President or had been elected President, his words would be presented as evidence — part of a swell of evidence — of his unfitness. Safely defeated, McCain is the quotable statesman — quotable because he usefully disparages the Republican who did get elected.

Now, I'm at the end of the article, and I see what I suppose is meant to support the assertion that the search for a secretary of state has been "chaotic." Trump looked first to Rudy Giuliani and then moved to Mitt Romney, and then Kellyanne Conway spoke openly about Trump supporters who opposed Romney. Thereafter:

Mr. Tillerson emerged as a contender on the strong recommendations of James A. Baker III, the secretary of state under President George Bush, and Robert M. Gates, the former defense secretary, according to a person briefed on the process.

Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon argued for Tillerson, then Trump met with him for 2+ hours on Saturday and made the decision. Is that "chaotic"? I can't help feeling that if Hillary Clinton were picking a Secretary of State through a process like that it would have been presented as methodical, careful, and beautifully indicative of a brilliantly competent presidency to come.