Trump fires Bannon and Bannon declares war on GOP!!
As a political observer I am perplexed by the recent actions of Steve Bannon. Steve Bannon has returned to Breitbart News as the Chairman in August. This was after he was fired by Donald Trump.
He was the White House Chief Strategist for about six months. He also was part of National Security Council meetings. He had no previous experience in this area but that seems to be par for the course with the Trump Administration. It seems strange that one can get fired by an administration and then become that administration's biggest cheerleader. Corey Lewandowski would love to get a job back. He was fired by Trump and then hired by CNN as a talking head for Trump.
The Republicans are in an enviable position right now. The control the White House, the Senate and Congress. They were able to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and are eyeing a few more positions in some justices retire. They have been unable to secure the legislative victories that should go with the majorities that they enjoy. Many Republicans were elected based on the shared hatred of the Affordable Care Act. President Trump was going to repeal the ACA on Day One of his Presidency. It has fractured the Republican Party like no other issue. They were unified against even having a hearing for Democratic Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. I have never seen such unity. President Trump is so worked up about the lack of success on repealing Obamacare that he stopped the government subsidies that helped low income people afford insurance.
The first salvo fired by Steve Bannon against the Republican Party for was for Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore. Donald Trump went to Alabama to stage a rally for Luther Strange. Besides calling Mr. Strange 'Big Luther' in reference to his 6'9" frame, Mr. Trump mentioned very little about any legislative achievements or the political acumen of the candidate. Roy Moore's extreme views and actions have caused consternation among mainstream Republicans. He was removed from the Alabama Supreme Court for refusing to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Judicial Building. He was suspended from the same court in 2016 for enforcing a ban on same sex marriages despite the fact that this was deemed unconstitutional. He is anti-gay, anti-Muslim and far-right. He also has ties to neo-Confederates. I am confused as to why President Trump would not have supported this guy.
Steve Bannon also has focused his ire on Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell. It was a serious juxtaposition of views yesterday when in the morning the President declared that he understood Bannon's anger against the Republican establishment. Less than two hours later he was hosting a presser with Mitch McConnell talking about the strength of their relationship. It has to be hard being 'friends' with Donald Trump. Ask Tom Price, Michael Flynn, Reince Preibus and Sean Spicer. If he mentions that you are a good man then your days are numbered. Bannon is trying to field candidates now against Mitch McConnell. This has to make for an uneasy alliance with President Trump with tax reform on the table. The benefits of tax reform for the middle class are still murky. The lack of details has not deterred the administration from touting the massive cuts in spite of our need for tax dollars due to recent natural disasters and the border wall that has not been built.
Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee has become an outspoken critic of Donald Trump and his Twitter rants and flip flopping on issues. Naturally, Steve Bannon wants him to do the honorable thing and resign immediately. Bob Corker is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and should be respected for his knowledge of diplomatic relations between nations. He feels that Mr. Trump's flippant remarks about North Korea, Iran and other countries are leading us to World War III. Mr. Trump has castigated Senator Corker on Twitter numerous times. He has even made comments about his height by calling him 'Liddle' Bob Corker. I thought that the name calling should have ceased once he was elected. I am convinced that he knows no other way to respond to criticism.
The impact of Steve Bannon's war on his own party will be reflected in the midterm elections in 2018. Senator Heller in Nevada and Senator Flake in Arizona need to up their fundraising immediately. The Republicans also need to govern like they are in the majority. President Trump has referred to Democrats as obstructionists. This is pretty confusing when his party is in power. He went on record yesterday as not being the one to blame. This is a pretty damning excuse when he promised that winning was going to be so routine that we would be tired of winning. Even though I am a Democrat, our decision to exit the Paris Accord, pull out of the Iran Nuclear Agreement and weaken the EPA does not feel like winning. Maybe Steve Bannon's war will help to get the person who fired him back on message. We will see.
He was the White House Chief Strategist for about six months. He also was part of National Security Council meetings. He had no previous experience in this area but that seems to be par for the course with the Trump Administration. It seems strange that one can get fired by an administration and then become that administration's biggest cheerleader. Corey Lewandowski would love to get a job back. He was fired by Trump and then hired by CNN as a talking head for Trump.
The Republicans are in an enviable position right now. The control the White House, the Senate and Congress. They were able to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and are eyeing a few more positions in some justices retire. They have been unable to secure the legislative victories that should go with the majorities that they enjoy. Many Republicans were elected based on the shared hatred of the Affordable Care Act. President Trump was going to repeal the ACA on Day One of his Presidency. It has fractured the Republican Party like no other issue. They were unified against even having a hearing for Democratic Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. I have never seen such unity. President Trump is so worked up about the lack of success on repealing Obamacare that he stopped the government subsidies that helped low income people afford insurance.
The first salvo fired by Steve Bannon against the Republican Party for was for Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore. Donald Trump went to Alabama to stage a rally for Luther Strange. Besides calling Mr. Strange 'Big Luther' in reference to his 6'9" frame, Mr. Trump mentioned very little about any legislative achievements or the political acumen of the candidate. Roy Moore's extreme views and actions have caused consternation among mainstream Republicans. He was removed from the Alabama Supreme Court for refusing to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Judicial Building. He was suspended from the same court in 2016 for enforcing a ban on same sex marriages despite the fact that this was deemed unconstitutional. He is anti-gay, anti-Muslim and far-right. He also has ties to neo-Confederates. I am confused as to why President Trump would not have supported this guy.
Steve Bannon also has focused his ire on Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell. It was a serious juxtaposition of views yesterday when in the morning the President declared that he understood Bannon's anger against the Republican establishment. Less than two hours later he was hosting a presser with Mitch McConnell talking about the strength of their relationship. It has to be hard being 'friends' with Donald Trump. Ask Tom Price, Michael Flynn, Reince Preibus and Sean Spicer. If he mentions that you are a good man then your days are numbered. Bannon is trying to field candidates now against Mitch McConnell. This has to make for an uneasy alliance with President Trump with tax reform on the table. The benefits of tax reform for the middle class are still murky. The lack of details has not deterred the administration from touting the massive cuts in spite of our need for tax dollars due to recent natural disasters and the border wall that has not been built.
Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee has become an outspoken critic of Donald Trump and his Twitter rants and flip flopping on issues. Naturally, Steve Bannon wants him to do the honorable thing and resign immediately. Bob Corker is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and should be respected for his knowledge of diplomatic relations between nations. He feels that Mr. Trump's flippant remarks about North Korea, Iran and other countries are leading us to World War III. Mr. Trump has castigated Senator Corker on Twitter numerous times. He has even made comments about his height by calling him 'Liddle' Bob Corker. I thought that the name calling should have ceased once he was elected. I am convinced that he knows no other way to respond to criticism.
The impact of Steve Bannon's war on his own party will be reflected in the midterm elections in 2018. Senator Heller in Nevada and Senator Flake in Arizona need to up their fundraising immediately. The Republicans also need to govern like they are in the majority. President Trump has referred to Democrats as obstructionists. This is pretty confusing when his party is in power. He went on record yesterday as not being the one to blame. This is a pretty damning excuse when he promised that winning was going to be so routine that we would be tired of winning. Even though I am a Democrat, our decision to exit the Paris Accord, pull out of the Iran Nuclear Agreement and weaken the EPA does not feel like winning. Maybe Steve Bannon's war will help to get the person who fired him back on message. We will see.
Steve Bannon is now persona non grata at Breitbart and in the Republican Party. His contribution to Fire and Fury has sealed his fate as an also ran.
ReplyDelete