Trump's Hatchet Job

We publish commentary which is incisive

 and applicable to current events. 

This was written by an author who prefers 

anonymity, but the content is a superb 

analysis of President Trump's business 

management style as applied

to Washington politics.

How things work in the real world of business and corporate America; most notably. the concept of the "hatchet man."

Say you are a business tycoon. You just successfully completed a large-scale acquisition and merger, bringing together multiple smaller companies into one conglomerate. After the merger, you want to put your own people in charge of everything. 

However, all those smaller companies had their own executives - and, at least for the short term - you need to keep many of them around the keep things running. 

So, you keep many of those executives around, and let them retain their own senior staff. You even appoint one of them - the head of the largest of the companies you acquired - to be the CEO of the conglomerate, and he pledges to get all the departments working together harmoniously.

After a transition period, some of them are doing fine in the new conglomerate - but others are clearly causing trouble. In fact, the one you appointed CEO is clearly a disaster. The newly merged departments are working against each other.

Furthermore, you have good suspicion he is dealing in insider trading - nothing you can take to a prosecutor, but there is a lot of circumstantial evidence building up. Worse, he is not only doing his own dirty dealing, but it appears he may even be leaking intellectual property to your competitors, helping them take market share from you.

Clearly, he has to go - and go now.

Problem is, many of the senior employees in your conglomerate are loyal to him. If you just fire him and put in your own chosen CEO, you know you could get a lot of backlash from disgruntled employees. And in your business, there is such a small profit-margin that you really can't afford anything at all that threatens performance. So what do you do?

In comes the hatchet man.

The hatchet man is someone you bring in for the sole purpose of slashing the problems and shaking things up over a very short period of time - but doing it in a way that deflects any blame or blowback away from you. As soon as the problems are hacked away, the hatchet man leaves - taking the ire and resentment with him, and leaving you free to bring in your new team for a fresh start.

This happens in the business world all the time. 

And Donald Trump is a businessman. 

[One of our jobs was as a Hatchet Man in the Intel Community (IC) many years ago; the process worked quite well there to eliminate "dead wood", and, of course, it is time to renew that process with today's IC.]

He knows this. He has lived this. We've seen him do it on "The Apprentice." We've read about it in his books. This is not a surprise to anyone. Except for liberals and never-trumpets.

Enter Scaramucci.

Scaramucci - Hatchet Man

Liberals and never-Trumpers see recent events as proof of a Hitler-clown-circus spectacle, as evidence that Trump is unhinged and our government is in the hands of madmen! 

Anyone who understands the business world and Donald Trump fully understands that what we just witnessed was a perfectly executed hatchet man maneuver.

When Trump won the election, he essentially performed the political equivalent of an acquisition and merger. He brought together different political factions - establishment Republicans, conservatives, tea party, religious right, moderates, independents, cross-overs - into one winning political coup. For some, it was a hostile takeover - and if they were going to be dragged in against their will, they would sure as hell resist.

This is where Reince Priebus came in.

Priebus - Dead Meat

Priebus, as the then-chairman of the Republican National Committee, was hired as White House Chief of Staff to be a sort of post-merger CEO. I

It was his job to bring all these political factions together and get them to work harmoniously. But he failed. Worse, there is ample evidence to suggest he not only failed, but worked against Trump and the Trump agenda. 

Look at the leaks. Look at all the chaos. Look at all the bureaucracy continuing to work at odds with the president. Priebus - and a number of other people around him - had to go.

Back to Scaramucci.

Donald Trump had known for some time that Priebus was a disaster. He was going to give him his six-month trial period - that's a fairly common thing in the private sector. After that, heads were going to roll. But Trump himself couldn't be seen as the hatchet man. He needed to be able to lead after the bloodbath. 

So what does to do? 

He turned to an old friend he had known for many years - someone with nothing to lose, someone who could step in with a hatchet and hack away, someone who can then just walk away from it all and leave the slate clean. 

He turned to Scaramucci.

So what did Scaramucci do? 

He came in swinging. He fired a few people to make a quick example and then told others they could "resign" immediately if they wanted to - but if not, they would be fired. Others saw what was going on and quit of their own accord.

                                     That problem CEO, Priebus? 

Mucci to Priebus: YOU'RE FIRED!

Oh, the new "structure" of the organization put Scaramucci in direct competition with Priebus - and Priebus threw up his hands and announced

 "fine, I'm out of here." And Scaramucci did it all in a way that is spectacularly visible to draw all the fire from Trump critics.

[Most notably, by drawing Priebus out from his position as Chair of the GOP, Trump eliminated Priebus' power as an adversary since the scramble of power brokers to replace Priebus ensured he could not return, and guaranteed that it would take years for Priebus' replacement to create a power base.]

So how did it all end? 

It ended up with Trump putting in his new CEO - the one he probably wanted from day one, but held back - and the new CEO says 

"OK, Scaramucci - you are no longer needed here."

New Chief of Staff: General Kelly

General Kelly now has a clean slate to start fresh - and Scaramucci takes all the heat. Where the Left and Never-Trumpers see a circus freak-show, realists from the business world see a perfectly executed post-merger hatchet-man job.

The political wonks see Kelly taking command as the first sane thing to happen in this administration. They don't realize they've been played, and played perfectly. And soon, we will likely see some other changes that move the Executive Branch further towards what Trump has wanted from Day One. 

And then watch the real swamp-drainer get to work. 

Oh, and Scaramucci? 

He got a sweet deal out of all this - no doubt, he and his friend Donald Trump talked it all out first.

Scaramucci was already facing a nasty divorce that would result in the liquidation of his business to divide assets. A little-known law allows people who are legally required to sell a business as a condition of employment in the Executive Branch (to prevent conflicts of interest) to defer the taxes on their profits from the sale.

Scaramucci was going to have to sell his company anyway due to his pending divorce. Now he and his soon-to-be ex-wife just saved $80 million in taxes. So don't think for a moment all this was an unplanned mess that went awry. Scaramucci and Trump knew exactly what they were doing.

All of this was planned - and foreseen by folks in the business world. 

Scott Adams wrote before Trump was inaugurated that, to his critics, the first year of Trump would be a play in three acts:

Act One - Trump is literally Hitler.
Act Two - Trump is not literally Hitler, but Trump is incompetent.
Act Three - Trump is not incompetent, but we don't like his policies.

We've seen this play out.

From election night up through the first 100 days, the Left was out rioting and acting as though Trump taking office was literally the end of Western Civilization.

But after 100 days, when Trump had failed to do evil-dictator things like round up all the brown people and put the gays into camps and force women to stay home and have babies, it became farcical to continue the "Trump is Hitler" narrative.

And so from that 100 day point up until now, it has been the "Trump is incompetent" game. 

Look at all the chaos. 

Look at all the leaking. 

Look at all the tweets. 

Now, we begin Act Three. 

With Priebus out and Kelly in, things will settle down. Pretty soon, all the Left -- and the RINOs will have to say is "we just don't like Trump's policies."...Act Three.

And once that happens, the Left is dead, as will be the GOP if they don't get behind Trump. 

Because, Trump's policies are policies that most Americans actually agree with. 

We should put America first. 

Build back our economy. 

Create jobs. 

Strengthen the military. 

Protect the border. 

Outside of a few densely-populated liberal strongholds like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and - of course - Washington, DC, Americans in general agree with all of this. So when all the Left has to say is "Trump's policies are wrong," the Left, and Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell, will literally be telling most of America, "you people are stupid."

Trump will win 47 states in 2020. The Left will be scratching their heads and wondering what the hell happened. And you'll be able to look back and say, 

"hey, some of us told you all this back in 2017"

Consider this a free lesson in Advanced Business Administration as applied to Politics 401.

North Korea - War?

Follow @SpookdBlog

The sound of sabers rattling is rapidly becoming deafening.

Bibi sees the invisible

North Korea [NK] has been threatening the US and South Korea now for about 40 years, and on occasion, has actually attacked US soldiers and South Korean villagers and fishermen.  Listening to Supreme [and beloved] Leader Kim Jong-un rant, stamp his feet, and threaten the end of the world reminds us of Bibi Netanyahu's claims that Iran has nukes -- thus his demand that the US declare war on Iran. 

[Goodness! Did Kim Jong-un take obnoxious lessons from Bibi?]


The world, which is nearly unanimous in sanctioning NK, pretty much recognizes that it is a rogue state with no reason to exist other than to serve as a buffer between China and potential invaders allied with the US.  It's not much of a buffer, but there are about 25 million North Koreans, with 9.5 million in uniform, whom China regards as ultimately dispensable from a ground action perspective.  And, China and the Soviets provided North Korea sufficient armament to make it dangerous enough to be noticed and a distractor to the US.

What's at stake here.
Is there actually a threat?

Here's the North Korean Military:

1) Lots of artillery, much of it dating back 70 years.  Their most sophisticated 170mm Field Gun has a range of only 32 miles, a bit short of Seoul.

2) Most of their MBTs [Main Battle Tanks] are 50+ years old.  The newer ones are retrofitted 30 year old tanks.
 
3) Their Air Force has some modern fighters and bombers, but none compare to US technology.
 
4) Their surface Navy is dilapidated and essentially a coastal defense force
 
5) They have a large submarine force - but most are second-hand rehabs.  Their miniature subs are effective, and the GRU reported that one of them was responsible for blowing up the Deepwater Horizon in the Caribbean.

6)  Their Strategic Rocket Forces include missiles dating back 25 - 50 years and are Soviet and PRC hand-me-downs,

7)  Nuclear arsenal?  Well, sort of; ancient warheads retrofitted to fit the smaller NK missile bodies capable of carrying them; all three of them.




So, what's the big deal over this Mouse That Roared?

Why didn't we simply obliterate this paper tiger 15 years ago after the first threatening gesture?




Our Media, fueled by the thrill and excitement of sending our troops back into war, is anxious to sell advertising on its new web sites and during commercial breaks for its talking heads and other mindless comic venues.


Our Military-Industrial Complex [MIC] wants to keep its weapons systems contracts alive and immune from Sequester cuts.

DOD needs to justify its civilian employee population of 718,000 and its budget of $500 Billion

Room for 1 more general?

The Pentagon needs to have a visible threat to justify 500 generals and 162 admirals -- including 30 at the 4-Star rank.

[Figures are vague, but it is estimated that we now have roughly five times as many flag rank [generals and admirals] today as we had in World War II.]

Our Navy now has nearly more admirals than it has ships.

For the most part, our military leadership is not so much interested in neutralizing the NK Military Threat as it is in testing our new weapons and intelligence technology in battle-field conditions.

The Air Force is keen on engaging enemy fighters, while our Rocket Forces are interested in testing out their bunker busters [the one they launched into the Pentagon was pretty effective, but that was 12 years ago]; and they'd like to test the new SAMs, and Patriot missile upgrades.  Our Net-Centric crowd is anxious to see how vulnerable our systems are to NK hacking and electronic attack. and above all, our Drone Contingent is anxious to test the Predator and all the new miniature drone clones.

But, you say, we already know the NK military is using weaponry and equipment that is, for the most part, nearly 70 years old.  What's the challenge there?

Well, after WWII, our military was not allowed to start or fight any global wars, so, we and the Soviets and the Chinese engaged in Proxy Wars [e.g., Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan] so that we could see and test out military equipment. 
[Our infamous hostage rescue attempt under Jimmy Carter demonstrated the US Military was woefully unskilled and ill-equipped].

What's our capability?

Not as good as Google Earth, but, actually, we can do a lot better

1)  We monitor every communication and military movement down to the oil change on Kim's limousine.  Although there is considerable artillery in position, and Kim has been moving more of it to key positions, we know precisely where each tube is, and the air pressure in each tire of the vehicle towing it.  We can even check the temperature in Kim's bathroom [urp!].

If Kim Jong-un were to launch an artillery and rocket bombardment on South Korea tomorrow at 9:00 am, North Korea could lie in smoldering ruins by 9:05 am, having been bombarded with US state-of-the-art artillery and missile fire, Stealth bombing runs, Drone attacks, and lots of shouting and carrying on by South Korean [ROK] troops -- who would then rush across the border to seize NK positions, and to capture tens of thousands of North Korean troops -- who are anxious to relocate to South Korea by any means.


2)  But, that won't happen...

Kim who?

     a.  Officially, there will be hand-wringing in Washington over whether the US can legally engage since the attack will be against South Korea. The lawyers will sort it out in a matter of weeks.  And, the situation will escalate day-by-traumatic day.  The talking heads will babble, John Kerry will look forlorn as he begs Kim to act rationally, and Mr Obama will be able to act Presidential this time [as opposed to his failed Benghazi spontaneous riot scheme.


     b.  Just how much damage can we inflict without looking like we're mean old bullies to be condemned by our Socialist UN friends?  [Why can't you just get along!]

Best that we do so only a little at a time; it can be a conflict of attrition, and we'll sacrifice a few hundred US and ROK troops, and there will be harumphing and haranging on Capitol Hill -- but no action, since most will have received substantial campaign donations from Defense Contractors.

M-1989 [Koksan] 170mm Gun [range: 32 miles]

c.  But, the real reason? 
Both Russia and China will be feeding Kim weapons and technology that they want to test against US capabilities.  And, knowing that, we will stretch out the conflict to see how effective our new technology is.  Will our stealth aircraft evade their radar advances?  Will they be able to jam our GPS systems?  Will they infiltrate our tactical headquarters in ROK uniforms and kill our intelligence people?


[Rick Francona photographed this NK weapon during the first Gulf War (1991)]




Will there actually be a military conflict?

Sort of. 
We have to have SOMETHING to satisfy the Media.
We have to have SOMETHING to allow Mr Obama to act Presidential.
We have to have SOMETHING to offset the Sequester cuts.

So, we'll have a flurry of activity, maybe have a few bombs go off, and then we'll have endless replays and Monday morning quarter-backing by the Talking Heads. 

                                                                                                    [Oliphant]

We'll also need to tread cautiously since we don't want to annoy our Chinese debt lords as we did when MacArthur drew them into the Korean War by announcing he was about to invade them [he was safe and sound in Japan at the time].

In the meantime, China and Russia will be gearing up for a power play.

[But, that's a whole nother blog post!]