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.

Presidents I've Known

Trump has to clean up this mess

We are reposting an excellent commentary by an eye-witness to history. 

Roof, an astute observer with skills honed by a career in the Military, 

shares with us his observations.  We repost for your edification.

Presidents I've Known George Roof Chief Master Sergeant (Retired) US Air Force Because I am a "lifer" in the military, I've seen the impact of a President more than many of you can imagine. I enlisted with LBJ and saw just what a Democrat cluster flock was all about. I went to Vietnam and saw how we were constantly and incessantly  bombarded with micro-management from Washington that got thousands of military  people killed. I sometimes wonder if I'll get to heaven, but if I go to hell, I'm sure I'll  still be a few hundred floors above those bastards Robert McNamara, LBJ, John Kerry,  Jane Fonda, and yes, even the "hero" John McCain. After Johnson "abdicated" rather than having his ass waxed, I lived through  Nixon who was hawkish but allowed the generals (and there WERE a few real generals back then versus now) run the show. He was so out of touch  that he never knew North Vietnam was about to surrender when the Paris  Accord was presented. Only God could help us after Gerald Ford was beaten by Jimmy Peanuts  who'd been funded by Saudi money. The military was turned into  Section 8 and even the Whitehouse suffered the austerity. Then the light began to shine and Ronald Reagan swept into the fray.  He not only loved the country and the military, they loved him back.  Esprit d'corps was off the scale during his presidency. The Liberals  were slowly turning into socialists, however, and about this time all  the draft dodgers of the 1960's who'd been given amnesty by Jimmy  Peanuts were turning out college graduates with degrees in socialism. Bush 1 was an enigma from the CIA and though he never did much  either way, he NEVER DID MUCH EITHER WAY. Welcome to Bill Clinton. Clinton spent most of his two terms wagging the dog and creating the Oral Office, sending a bomber to blow up  Quaddafi's tent and killing a goat or two, while allowing the UN to  set up the infamous Black Hawk Down situation. He made history  by becoming only the second president to be impeached. I actually felt sorry for Bush 2. He was doomed to infamy from the start.  He thought most of America was still the rah rah patriots of WWII when  they were simply socialists waiting to feed him to the sharks. Then there came the Manchurian Candidate with a faked  (OK Democrats, let's say "of questionable origin" to assuage your PC  brains) birth certificate, who'd gotten a free ride through college under  a foreign student exemption, and whose college records and complete  life history had been sealed. (We know more about Thomas Jefferson's  bastard children than we do about Obama, Michelle, OR their two kids.) From his inaugural address, he slandered America and within days had  begun to encourage dissention of the races as well as slandering police who "acted stupidly." That was mild to the crap that would come in  doubling the national debt from what had been built by  ALL THE PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS COMBINED,  feeding us bullspit about how Muslims built this country, and nationalizing  American industries. Fueled by George Soros' money and using the  Air Force fleet as his personal charters, he appointed malcontents and  traitors into positions of authority. He trashed the Constitution by installing  "czars" (interesting he chose a title like that) to bypass Congressional authority.  By that time, Congress was completely corrupt on both sides of the aisle.  No one had balls to impeach this charlatan. Mysteriously, the lone outspoken conservative Supreme Court Justice  suddenly dies in his sleep at an Obama pal's hunting lodge and the  Supreme Court is evenly split. Finally, Congress shows some balls  and rejects Obama's nomination. The Libtards aren't worried because  the fix is in. Soros has paid demonstrators to cause turmoil at all the  Republican gatherings, Obama concedes that illegal aliens should  vote as they won't be prosecuted, and Soros-manufactured voting  machines are caught switching votes in certain precincts.  Hillary has cheated her way to the nomination and her lies are  completely ignored by the brainwashed minions of sycophants who  follow her. But a shocking thing happened on the way to the forum. Middle America had had enough and although the pollsters and the pipers tried to convince them not even to bother to vote, they were  fed up with the denizens of the swamp. It was time. Florida was  designated a "swing" state ignoring that all those old retirees living  in St. Petersburg, and the fed up Cuban Americans of Miami weren't  interested in their platform. Ohio and Pennsylvania, where coal  production was blacklisted and where Obama had ridiculed them  for "clinging to their Bibles and their guns," lay awaiting this supposed  "landslide" Hillary vote and creamed it. The Socialist world of the Democratic Party disintegrated.  An American who expressed unbridled love of country and respect  for police, firemen, and military steamrolled across the heartland and  the liberals realized their scheme was trashed. A CONSTITUTIONALIST  would be nominated to the Supreme Court and if the hag who'd claimed to retire if Trump were elected would actually leave, the Supreme Court  would have a massive majority of CONSTITUTIONALISTS for the next  40 - 50 years. Now, the same party who'd ridiculed Trump on his comments about  the election being rigged, started screaming that the election was  rigged. They even advocated having the election repeated. They  created mobs that burned and pillaged, stopped traffic, threatened murder, batter and rape of Trump supporters, and became the  anarchists that the socialist dream thrives upon. They run like  castrated pigs for safe zones and use diaper pins as their national  symbol. This is exactly what happens when political correctness takes  over and participation trophies are awarded to everyone. They  can't conceive how disgusting and subservient they have become.  Donald Trump may NOT be the best person for the job, but he's  such a welcome respite from the candy-assed whimps who've been running the swamp that it's refreshing to see. At the very  least, Donald Trump derailed the Socialist train and bought us  precious time. If he only does half of what he's promised, we'll  still be legions ahead of where Obama has dragged us.  Already, countries who held us in contempt are lining up to be  found in the favor of America. So for you liberal lurkers and you half-assed fence-sitters, kiss off.  You had your big hurrah and now your party is over. For you staunch  Republicans in office, don't gloat so much yourselves. You've been  put on notice by the American people that we're fed up with  ALL YOU BASTARDS and if you don't start putting America first,  you do so at your own peril. You might want to buy a copy of  George McGovern's autobiography and see how shocking and  humbling it can be for a professional politician to have to try  to find legitimate work once he falls from grace.  This election was pure, unadulterated AMERICAN.  Hillary got beaten and AMERICA WON THE ELECTION.  You can claim he's not "your president" all you want, but unless  you forfeit your American citizenship,  YES HE IS!!!! Go cry a river some place they need water.

Declaration of Independence

We fought foreign troops, brought in by our government to control us, on our soil

In recent discourse on FaceBook, we've discussed Trump's comment alluding to a Second Amendment [i.e., energized by the NRA] response to The Establishment should there be interference with the Presidential Election in November.  

We were challenged on that statement by a young PhD discussant who declared such an action to be treasonous, an allusion to a physical threat of assassination, and a misreading of the Second Amendment as the right of the People to take up weapons against their government.

We're DHS, and we're here to protect you

We disagree on all counts given the egregious actions of our sitting President, who has usurped the powers of Congress through a variety of means, in addition to his unchallenged Executive Orders, the expansion of the Department of Homeland Security to 240,000 employees and which has become his private army equipped with weapons of war, the implementation of Exercise Jade Helm -- a violation of Posse Comitatus which was, without question, a dry run for the imposition of Martial Law in those states where citizens are heavily armed, the introduction of foreign military forces to patrol our states, the threat of using Homeland Security forces to "supervise" our Presidential elections, and in short, a broad array of abuses of his power.

Our Continental Congress

We provide for your perusal a copy of our Forefathers' Declaration of Independence from England, whose colonial representatives abused their authority and imposed the equivalent of martial law, bringing in foreign troops to impose the King's authority on the colonial citizens.






We've highlighted in red those issues which remind us of current conditions which lead us to question the actions of both the Executive and Legislative branches of our government -  and grieve at the assassination of Justice Scalia, whose Constitutional interpretations were respected by legal experts both Liberal and Conservative - and whose would have been the prime influence over the Supreme Court in the event of a questionable election.

Consider this  a reminder of the history lessons on how our country was formed, and specifically the reasons we sought our independence from England rather than following in Canada's footsteps.  

Notably, Common Core has removed all references to both our Revolution and our Civil War so our kids are no longer exposed to this history in our school system.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 

— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, 

— That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. 

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 

This ragtag army defeated the most
powerful country in the world

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. 

— Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. 

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. 
[Substitute Obama for "King"]

To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has (Congress has) refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.  

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

[Note: Obama's Executive Orders bypass Congress]

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

[Note: Obama has removed senior military leadership and replaced them with political puppets]

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

[Note:  Obama's has used the DOJ to persecute political enemies, but has ignored criminal activities of Democrats such as Hillary Clinton]

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

[Note:  Obama's expansion of the government bureaucracy, particularly Homeland Security, now at 240,000 employees, with heavy tactical Military armaments to become a de facto national police force]

The Founding Fathers never envisioned the DHS
[nor would they have approved it]

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies (1.34 million) without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

[Obama has invited the UN military forces into the US to "maintain order"]

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

[We currently have nearly 100 taxes, absorbing almost 50% of our incomes]

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury: [Patriot Act]

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses: [Patriot Act]

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

0bama's Illegals -- Mostly Military Age Men

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

[Note: Obama has invited the UN to bring in troops to maintain order in the US]

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

Black Lives Matter and Antifa

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages [illegal aliens] whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince [0bama), whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 

— And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

----

Will the Establishment attempt to impose the New World Order on us by destroying our legitimate election process?