tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post6997464857646472232..comments2024-03-28T21:56:51.675-04:00Comments on Face to Face: GOP does the hiring even if Trump does some firingagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-42643595469039946492017-12-01T14:16:40.174-05:002017-12-01T14:16:40.174-05:00A misleading phrase is "personnel is policy&q...A misleading phrase is "personnel is policy". It suggests that what is up in the air is who gets the job -- person A or person B? Only when that contest is settled, will we know what kind of policies will be pursued from that position -- those of A or those of B.<br /><br />In that view, there are only individuals as actors. It is one individual vs many other individuals to get the job, and then policy is the outcome of this individual-level struggle. Typical myopic individualism, usually coming from the Right / Conservatives.<br /><br />In reality, "Policy selects personnel". The job description says jihadist enabler, so the job goes to a jihadist enabler rather than an opponent of jihadism. The job description is "written" by a group -- the coalition that is in control -- and that group makes the choice of who to fill that slot.<br /><br />This is the collective / institutional view, where groups and groups of groups are actors. Usually coming from the Left / Progressives.<br /><br />What is up in the air, and under a sometimes vicious contest, is which policies are to be pursued. For the first 70 days, the Trump movement was pushing its policy agenda, and selecting personnel in line with that -- Flynn, Sessions, Bannon, et al.<br /><br />Now that the GOP has hijacked the policy agenda, personnel changes have been made to fit the same old Republican bullshit -- McMaster, Pompeo, Rosenstein, Wray, et al.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-5966261733314974812017-12-01T14:00:07.403-05:002017-12-01T14:00:07.403-05:00In Syria they've simply switched the Kurds in ...In Syria they've simply switched the Kurds in for the jihadists. Kurds are now on the payroll of the Saudis, and as usual armed and assisted by Uncle Sam. Supported at least politically by Israel.<br /><br />Their role is to be the mercenaries for the jihadist power, Saudi Arabia.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-33017382077434139582017-12-01T11:36:12.253-05:002017-12-01T11:36:12.253-05:00This is one ray of hope, and that is that they sto...This is one ray of hope, and that is that they stopped the assistance to the jihadists in Syria. Since the whole thing was covert and under-reported in the US press, its hard to see what was exactly going on there. Bloggers keep saying that the Justice Department has been doing encouraging stuff on immigration, though its hard to see what.<br /><br />Overall I agree and one lesson with Trump, which was already apparent from Obama, is that the president has become a figurehead office.Ednoreply@blogger.com