And now comes the “disavowal” tweets.
“Totally ill prepared and ill equipped John Bolton (I didn’t really know him) made up a story that he resigned. He is a liar and a terrible negotiator and I fired him like a dog. Sad!”
I’ll also note the (probable) Obama era effort to destroy Iran’s uranium refinery which, in end result, was likely one component of bringing them to the table for a deal.
Let him change *his *name. He’s the one who sucks.
In a darkly humorous correction, Bolton had a senior government job when that operation looks like it began.
He was UN Ambassador in 2006. That’s when the overall operation started under Bush. That’s not in a position where Bolton would be expected to have input but its an interesting example of continuity between administrations. That type of continuity often gets ignored in our highly partisan times. Bush started it. Obama accelerated it and approved some of the biggest attacks. The Israelis were likely key partners throughout. [Cite]
I just wish Trump’s cronies weren’t so meekly quiet when they get shitcanned. I don’t mean Cohen and Scaramucci – they already had credibility issues, so their outbursts just look like more attempts to stay relevant. I’m talking about the semi-respectable ones like John F. Kelly. They do their best to not show cracks in the GOP armor, even when Trump sasses them on their way out. They could go on the lecture circuit and explain how much of an idiot Trump is and get paid big bucks for it, but they decide to show *integrity *instead.
Trump would never acknowledge or show gratitude for integrity. He sees it as weakness.
As a CNN op-ed once put it, sooner or later Trump turns on everybody that is not immediate family. It’s actually nice to see since most of his appointees are assholes, and Bolton was a prime example. He’s a modern-day Dr. Strangelove. If Bolton had his way we’d already be in the middle of nuclear Armageddon.
My guess was that he wanted to divert attention from his weathermap fiasco and his “landing a military plane at an obscure airport so that it doesn’t close and hurt his resort” fiasco.
Sage Rat, while I concur with those points, can you find examples in the last several administrations where those were no longer US policy points? Because I don’t think so.
That a man can continue some policies while having other stances that damage US credibility and status (and I wouldn’t mind some evidence (yes, even in the Pit) in the world is a given. Bolton just was worse (IMHO) than others.
Press on.
I’ll grant that it’s simply my read of the situation but I would say that it’s reasonable to assume that Trump’s positions on things are transactional.
I do agree that the RNC, the deep state (e.g. the State Department, CIA, etc.) hold pro-Democracy / anti-tyranny stances. John Bolton, while more aggressive on those points than others, is not strange among them.
But, eventually, Trump will find someone his own speed. So whether or not Bolton is the best advocate for legalism and democracy that we could ever hope for, if the President’s next option for the role is Stephen Miller, I’m pretty hard on Team Bolton.
I’d prefer Mattis or someone, but I’ll take what I can get.
If you want cites that Trump’s thinking is transactional, I feel safe in saying that it can provided, but that I’d want to know if you really question the idea, first.
Ainsley Earhardt, National Security Advisor. You heard it here first.
You’re being too kind. Should Trump shoot himself in the head it will happen in the course of his trying to shoot someone else and missing very, very badly. He won’t deserve credit for doing something right.
Hey, if you’re going to post stuff like that, you have to make it clearer that you were sarcastically inventing a Trump tweet. Because I kind of believed that tweet was real and had to check to verify that it wasn’t.
https://images.app.goo.gl/YapkWXKEC1EBWjYh8
Personality stands in well for many other attributes that a person might need in any career.
I am thinking that Bolton was fired for scuttling Trump’s proposed talks with his new best friends the Taliban at Camp David, to take place on the anniversary of 9/11. This may have been a bridge too far for Bolton.
Although I admit it would have been absolutely *fascinating * to hear the Trumpistas try to say what a great thing it was for Trump to wine and dine Taliban leaders, and have a toast and a laugh right on the 9/11 anniversary.
I’m having a hard time deciding whom to believe in regards to the circumstances of this resignation (i.e., was he asked to resign or was it his decision). I mean, what do you do when you have two people of zero credibility disagreeing on how it went down?!?
While I may despise Bolton, I’ll take his word over Trumpster Fire any day. Hell, I’d believe O.J.'s version of events before I’d believe anything Trump says.
They can decide this way.
Not from central casting
Trump’s dislike for Bolton’s mustache is well known
Even his recent pruning to more Hitlerian proportions failed…
When has this ever been the case or am I being gaslight here? This country has a nasty history of supporting/instigating coups that overthrew democratically elected governments.
I won’t say that everything we’ve ever done was properly benign in intent. Some things may well have simply been, “The spice must flow.” (Or, in the case of Bush II and Iraq, “I gunna do what my daddy was too smart to do that they all voted him out of office for!”)
But, I do imagine that some amount of thought during the Cold War was that Communism was a greater evil than Democracy was a good.