# Priebus gets the heave-ho **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 28, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344 "2017-07-28T21:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/61 "2017-07-29T12:56:27Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > It will be interesting to see how long Kelly lasts. He knows little of Washington, and is likely used to barking orders and having them followed. I could imagine him grabbing the Mooch by the throat and pinning him up against the wall if he pisses Kelly off. Kelly _ **should** _ be good in this position, he is exactly what Trump needs. If he’s going to be serious, he oughta be shadowing Trump and cut everybody else off, including Kushner and Ivanka. I have no doubt at all that he will snap Little Tony’s neck the first chance he gets and will tell Little Tony so. You are right in that he is not a civilian politico. I’m sure he’s a HUGE hardass ahshole, he’s already shown on the Sunday programs that he’s willing to lie straight up on a Conway scale. He’d be perfect in one of Ben Affleck’s Boston-themed movies, could play the good guy or the bad guy. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/62 "2017-07-29T16:06:32Z")
> [@ThisIsTheEnd](#): > > Kelly _ **should** _ be good in this position, he is exactly what Trump needs. If you don’t understand politics, the chief of staff position is a terrible one. I’ve seen no evidence Kelly understands politics. Trump keeps going for the wrong types of people to fill these roles. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/63 "2017-07-29T16:09:53Z")
[From here.](http://deadline.com/2017/07/reince-priebus-cnn-wolf-blitzer-first-interview-1202138422/) > [@](#): > > “It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve this President and our country,” Priebus said in his formal statement today before the CNN sit-down. “I want to thank the President for giving me this very special opportunity. I will continue to serve as a strong supporter of the President’s agenda and policies. I can’t think of a better person than General John Kelly to succeed me and I wish him God’s blessings and great success.” He hasn’t noticed where he’s bleeding from, has he? ---
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/64 "2017-07-29T16:14:28Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > If you don’t understand politics, the chief of staff position is a terrible one. I’ve seen no evidence Kelly understands politics. Trump keeps going for the wrong types of people to fill these roles. Right now what Trump needs is at least a semblance of order. It may not be what he WANTS, but it’s what he NEEDS. Kelly can let Trump watch TV all day or give him a fidget spinner to play with to keep him occupied. Kelly is at least capable of blocking the door and telling everybody else to STFU. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/65 "2017-07-29T16:27:33Z")
> [@ThisIsTheEnd](#): > > Right now what Trump needs is at least a semblance of order. It may not be what he WANTS, but it’s what he NEEDS. Kelly can let Trump watch TV all day or give him a fidget spinner to play with to keep him occupied. > > Kelly is at least capable of blocking the door and telling everybody else to STFU. Heh let him try blocking Ivanka or Jared and see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/66 "2017-07-29T17:09:25Z")
> [@ThisIsTheEnd](#): > > Kelly _ **should** _ be good in this position, he is exactly what Trump needs. > > If he’s going to be serious, he oughta be shadowing Trump and cut everybody else off, including Kushner and Ivanka. > > I have no doubt at all that he will snap Little Tony’s neck the first chance he gets and will tell Little Tony so. > > You are right in that he is not a civilian politico. I’m sure he’s a HUGE hardass ahshole, he’s already shown on the Sunday programs that he’s willing to lie straight up on a Conway scale. He’d be perfect in one of Ben Affleck’s Boston-themed movies, could play the good guy or the bad guy. Does the Mooch report to Kelly? Because he didn’t report to Priebus. In fact, I understand the Trump White House is organized differently than the norm, which was to have everyone (or almost everyone) report through the CoS. But Trump has a lot of people reporting directly to him – Ivanka, Kushner (I always want to call him Ashton instead of Jared), Kellyanne, (probably) Mooch, and maybe one or two others I can’t think of. This got me wondering how good a businessman he actually was (is?). Just about every major organization I can think of has only a handful report directly to the CEO. In fact, in a number of cases, there’s really one one exec that reports directly – the COO. Other times, it’s three to five. (If just three, they tend to be Top Finance & Admin, Top Marketing & Sales and Top Operations.) It’s just not efficient to have a lot of people reporting. And of course in addition to the WH staff the pres has a lot of other people reporting to him, in positions that for a number of reasons can’t realistically report through someone else. I know Trumpistas are going to say, “Of course, he’s a good businessman! He’s made a lot of money.” But making a lot of money by itself is not that great a measure of how good a CEO you are. The real question is how much you have made in comparison to CEOs at similar companies. So a CEO’s company showed $100 million in EBITA. A lot of money, indeed. But if CEOs in the same industry with similar assets/revenues/whatever made $200 million, the $100 million CEO is a lousy businessman. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/67 "2017-07-29T17:14:49Z")
given the extreme slanderous accusations by Scarimucci, I am surprised how calmly and professionally R.P. handled the situation. He even reinforced his support of Thrump and had not one bad thing to say about anyone. I recall McCain not having a public reaction to Thrump’s dissing of his POW history. It must be true, then, that revenge is a dish best served cold. Two years later, McCain found himself in a position to stick to Thrump, and he did. I suspect, somehow, Priebus will find some way to get similar dignified revenge. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/68 "2017-07-29T17:21:14Z")
Anny: “And of course in addition to the WH staff the pres has a lot of other people reporting to him, in positions that for a number of reasons can’t realistically report through someone else” I would add all the cabinet position to that list, but I don’t think that the fact they are a direct report allows them to pick up the phone and give Thrump a call whenever they please, or to ask for any sort of audience without good cause. I heard a former CoS explain it this way…regards access, if you ‘NEED’ to see the man, knock on the door. If you ‘WANT’ to see him, we’ll let you know when he has the time. If the ‘NEED’ wasn’t serious, don’t call us, we’ll call you in future. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/69 "2017-07-29T17:24:08Z")
“Priebus gets the heave-ho” cries out for a whole _We Didn’t Start The Fire_ sequel. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/70 "2017-07-29T17:27:09Z")
Thrump knows he is supposed to ‘delegate’. Just like in his business life, delegation goes to people who are loyal to him and who don’t try to do the job the way they want to, but, rather, the way Thrump tells them to. This sort of limits his choices, pretty much to those folks who jumped on his campaign bandwagon, and those who by the nature of their previous employment as military officers are inclined to follow the chain of command without question. That pool may be getting shallow. Anyone whose loyalty first is to the Constitution is a questionable hire, even some who say they are Christians first, Americans second and Republicans third. I suspect Pence is not as close a confidant as it might first appear, for example. ---
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/71 "2017-07-29T17:56:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Heh let him try blocking Ivanka or Jared and see what happens. Well, he’s _ **capable** _ of it. Whether he’ll try remains to be seen. One thing he’s not is a clown. So we’ll see whether entering the center ring at the circus turns him into a clown or a ringmaster. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/72 "2017-07-29T17:56:25Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > given the extreme slanderous accusations by Scarimucci, I am surprised how calmly and professionally R.P. handled the situation. He even reinforced his support of Thrump and had not one bad thing to say about anyone. I recall McCain not having a public reaction to Thrump’s dissing of his POW history. It must be true, then, that revenge is a dish best served cold. Two years later, McCain found himself in a position to stick to Thrump, and he did. I suspect, somehow, Priebus will find some way to get similar dignified revenge. That’s the thing. If Spicer or Priebus have fit (i.e. act like Trump) on the way out, they damage their credibility when the day comes that they can strike back, assuming they do want to. They would look like a bitter former employee out for revenge with nothing but lies and slander. Now, if they say something they are more believable. Not to the Trump base of course, Trump will call them lying losers and they’ll buy it, but to independents and non-Trump diehards it will be more convincing. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/73 "2017-07-29T18:34:39Z")
> [@ThisIsTheEnd](#): > > Well, he’s _ **capable** _ of it. Whether he’ll try remains to be seen. > > One thing he’s not is a clown. So we’ll see whether entering the center ring at the circus turns him into a clown or a ringmaster. I don’t think Priebus is a clown. I don’t like the guy, but I think he’s an okay manager. He just isn’t the type of person Trump admires. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/74 "2017-07-29T19:47:30Z")
Remember: Trump hires only the best people. Clearly they become terribly incompetent after being hired. Because when they come in, they are the best. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/75 "2017-07-29T20:11:41Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Doing it in the business world is one thing, but doing it in a town where hardly anyone’s a native and where they each represent their own constituencies, many of which have no love for Trump, is entirely different. It’s doable, but it requires some thinking and calculating ways to break people down, not just impulsive reaction anytime someone pisses him off. … I agree with you that it’s different from the business world. DJT doesn’t seem to have figured that out yet. I was addressing this comment of yours in a previous post: > [@asahi](#): > > …The question is, can he do it? Does he know how? He doesn’t seem to have a political strategist he can rely on now, which is a problem, because he needs one. To continue with the current post: > [@](#): > > Trump’s fate depends on whether he has the discipline to adhere to a strategy, which is something he’s managed to do for weeks at a time, but not much longer. Remains to be seen I agree. He doesn’t have one ounce of discipline. Weeks at a time? More like hours. As for his fate, he’s doomed. \*Après \*Trump, _le déluge_. I just hope there’s something left for the rest of us… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/76 "2017-07-29T20:22:31Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I don’t think Priebus is a clown. I don’t like the guy, but I think he’s an okay manager. He just isn’t the type of person Trump admires. Agreed. I didn’t understand why Trump hired him as CoS in the first place. He did not seem like a good fit for Trump at all. I know nothing about this Kelly guy, so I guess we’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/77 "2017-07-29T20:29:09Z")
I thought the general wisdom was that he gave Priebus the job as a peace offering to “the establishment” not that Trumped liked him particularly. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/78 "2017-07-29T20:51:03Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I thought the general wisdom was that he gave Priebus the job as a peace offering to “the establishment” not that Trumped liked him particularly. Yes. It was to show that Trump was going to be a “grown up” and pivot to be presidential. That he was going to work with the majorities in the house and senate to get things done. And they fell for it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/79 "2017-07-29T21:08:22Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I thought the general wisdom was that he gave Priebus the job as a peace offering to “the establishment” not that Trumped liked him particularly. Could be. But still a stupid reason to give someone that job. Set them up as SecAg or something, but CoS is such a critical post and one where you are constantly interacting with each other. You need someone who is 110% on your side in that post. We’re talking about the Hand of the King here! ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344/80 "2017-07-29T21:47:50Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > If he picks his fights carefully enough, he could pull it off. He’s still in the middle of a twitter fight with Rosie O’Donnell. This is not a man who picks fights carefully. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priebus-gets-the-heave-ho/792344.md?page=5)