# Goodbye, H.R. McMaster **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 16, 2018, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638 "2018-03-16T02:46:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/61 "2018-03-23T01:28:55Z")
So what’s the over/under on when we all get incinerated and die? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/62 "2018-03-23T01:46:58Z")
[Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6U9T3R3EQg&t=23s) are some videos to get us prepared. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/63 "2018-03-23T02:50:52Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > On one hand, I feel like Trump is rarely swayed by anyone. It’s hard for me to imagine Bolton talking him into authorizing something he didn’t already want to do. The trouble is if Bolton validates idiotic warmongering ideas by Trump, and enables him to start another debacle like the Iraq war…or far worse…something with North Korea. The question for me becomes, how much smarter and more patient is Bolton than the other ex-staffers who tried to manipulate Trump for their own ends? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/64 "2018-03-23T03:03:42Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6U9T3R3EQg&t=23s) are some videos to get us prepared. That video looks like it was made by the same people who made that stop motion _Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer_ feature that use to creep me the fuck out every Christmas. Between, that, the parents throwing ornaments at each other in violent raging arguments, having to listen to near-constant playing of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”, and Jimmy Stewart getting liquored up and hallucinating about an inept angel preventing him from committing suicide, the Christmas season really brings out the childhood post-traumatic stress disorder in me. But it’s still only my third least favorite holiday. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/65 "2018-03-23T03:14:28Z")
Trump was going for the trifecta in firing cabinet members. He’d also planned on firing Ben Carson and David Shulkin > **[White House aides planned to announce McMaster with other departures: report](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/379880-white-house-aides-planned-to-announce-mcmaster-with-other-departures/?rnd=1521772852)** > > President Trump’s announcement Thursday afternoon that he was replacing national security adviser H.R. McMaster with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton reportedly ru… ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/66 "2018-03-23T03:33:38Z")
One potential good aspect to Bolton’s hiring: Bolton really, really dislikes the Soviet Un…, er, the Росси́йская Федерaция. So he might actually manage to bring the President back from the path of pandering to President Putin. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/67 "2018-03-23T03:37:08Z")
That article reports that Carson blames his wife for the $31,000 coffee set. Classy. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/68 "2018-03-23T03:51:03Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > That article reports that Carson blames his wife for the $31,000 coffee set. > > Classy. [Bitch Spent All My Money](https://youtu.be/YXMVeEDd3kA) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/69 "2018-03-23T03:57:19Z")
In the 3/15 WaPo article that first reported that McMaster was next in line for the short haircut, there’s this (my bold): > [@](#): > > Trump is now comfortable with ousting McMaster, with whom he never personally gelled, but is willing to take time executing the move because he wants to **ensure both that the three-star Army general is not humiliated and that there is a strong successor lined up** , these people said. > **[Trump decides to remove national security adviser, and others may follow](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-decides-to-remove-national-security-adviser-and-others-may-follow/2018/03/15/fea2ebae-285c-11e8-bc72-077aa4dab9ef_story.html?utm_term=.9e3550cc4e6a)** > > The White House’s personnel turbulence creates uncertainty and gallows humor. As one senior official said, “Everybody fears the perp walk.” Instead, Trump announced the firing by tweet (surprising his admin) and replaced him with John Fucking Bolton. So, well done, Mr. President. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/70 "2018-03-23T03:59:56Z")
When McMaster and Mattis pull of the military coup that I hope to God they’re orchestrating at this moment, they will call it “operation mustache shave.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/71 "2018-03-23T04:02:48Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > One potential good aspect to Bolton’s hiring: Bolton really, really dislikes the Soviet Un…, er, the Росси́йская Федерaция. So he might actually manage to bring the President back from the path of pandering to President Putin. I thought I read he was involved with Cambridge Analytica? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/72 "2018-03-23T04:37:17Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > That article reports that Carson blames his wife for the $31,000 coffee set. > > Classy. “I let my wife spend government funds” is an interesting defense all on its own. “I let my wife spend government funds and did absolutely nothing to supervise her” is even better. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/73 "2018-03-23T04:47:11Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I thought I read he was involved with Cambridge Analytica? [You did](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/john-boltons-cambridge-analytica-connection.html). > [@](#): > > Bolton’s super PAC has paid Cambridge Analytica more than $1.1 million since 2014 for “research” and “survey research,” a Center for Public Integrity analysis of campaign finance filings shows. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/74 "2018-03-23T05:00:17Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > One potential good aspect to Bolton’s hiring: Bolton really, really dislikes the Soviet Un…, er, the Росси́йская Федерaция. So he might actually manage to bring the President back from the path of pandering to President Putin. Yeah, not so much. > [@](#): > > Bolton also has ties to Russia. In 2013, as NPR reports, Bolton saluted “a new era of Freedom for the Russian people” under Putin in a video made for The Right to Bear Arms, a Russian gun-rights group launched by Putin ally Alexander Torshin [From here.](https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/watch-john-bolton-praises-new-era-freedom-putin-bizarre-propaganda-video-russian-gun-group/) Oh, and Alexander Torshin sounds familiar? [He’s the Russian mobster/banker/friend of Putin](https://www.npr.org/2018/03/01/590076949/depth-of-russian-politicians-cultivation-of-nra-ties-revealed) who has contributed a great deal of money to the NRA. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/75 "2018-03-23T05:24:06Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > One potential good aspect to Bolton’s hiring: Bolton really, really dislikes the Soviet Un…, er, the Росси́йская Федерaция. So he might actually manage to bring the President back from the path of pandering to President Putin. All that means is that we can look forward to nuclear bombs from Russia in addition to China and North Korea. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/76 "2018-03-23T12:10:47Z")
Well, it’s a done deal. John Bolton is the real deal when it comes to militarism, a true believer in conspiracy theories and late 19th- and 20th Century aggressive, imperialist foreign policy. One by one, Trump is losing the (albeit already weak) opposing forces of moderation that were able to at least, at times, make him look presidential and to protect the country from his reckless impulses. The future is not good. The future is pain. And it unfortunately looks like it will require intense pain to inspire this country to rise up and reverse the dual politics of apathy and absurdity in this country. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/77 "2018-03-23T12:22:16Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > One potential good aspect to Bolton’s hiring: Bolton really, really dislikes the Soviet Un…, er, the Росси́йская Федерaция. So he might actually manage to bring the President back from the path of pandering to President Putin. But it’s not like all of Trump’s allies have cozied up to Putin. The President is a Putin asset - Putin and/or his oligarchs have some sort of leverage on Trump and nobody is going to be able to undo that. Nobody except Bob Mueller and a Democratic wave at the ballot box this November. And even then I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/78 "2018-03-23T15:23:38Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > So what do you guys see as the endgame? Is Trump’s administration going to assume some stability if he succeeds in surrounding himself with nothing but spineless sycophants? The thing is that I don’t think Bolton has the temperament to be a spineless sycophant. Trump hired Bolton because he was a hawkish blowhard bully just like Trump and so presumably after the signing of the NDA and loyalty oath they would as soulmates gayly prance hand in hand leaving war and destruction in their wake. The problem is that Trump also demands a level of obsequiousness, and personal debasement on the part of his staff. At some point Trump is going to utter one to many inanities, or spontaneously decide to reverse course destroying a month of careful preparation on Boltons part, and Bolton is going to lose it. Not, like his predecessors, in a private venting to friends that gets leaked to the Washington post, but loudly and in Trumps face. I give Bolton six months to a year max and then he’s out. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/79 "2018-03-23T15:49:52Z")
I’d like to share your optimism, but Bolton having been characterized during his 2005 Senate confirmation hearings as a “quintessential kiss up, kick down sort of guy” makes me fear he’ll do just that. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638/80 "2018-03-23T15:53:28Z")
Six months to a year is plenty of time to get the country into all kinds of horrific warmongering disasters – especially in the runup to the midterms, wherein we will be exhorted to stand united behind our heroic War President. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goodbye-h-r-mcmaster/810638.md?page=5)