BANNON now Bannout

MajGenl.Meade · Post by **MajGenl.Meade** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 6:06 pm

Stephen K. Bannon, the embattled chief strategist who helped President Trump win the 2016 election but clashed for months with other senior West Wing advisers, is leaving his post, a White House spokeswoman announced Friday.

“White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve’s last day,” the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a statement. “We are grateful for his service and wish him the best.”

Earlier on Friday, the president had told senior aides that he had decided to remove Mr. Bannon, according to two administration officials briefed on the discussion. But a person close to Mr. Bannon insisted that the parting of ways was his idea, and that he had submitted his resignation to the president on Aug. 7, to be announced at the start of this week. But the move was delayed after the racial unrest in Charlottesville, Va.

The loss of Mr. Bannon, the right-wing nationalist who helped propel some of Mr. Trump’s campaign promises into policy reality, raises the potential for the president to face criticism from the conservative news media base that supported him over the past year.

Mr. Bannon’s many critics bore down after the violence in Charlottesville. Outraged over Mr. Trump’s insistence that “both sides” were to blame for the violence that erupted at a white nationalist rally, leaving one woman dead, human rights activists demanded that the president fire so-called nationalists working in the West Wing. That group of hard-right populists in the White House is led by Mr. Bannon.
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On Tuesday at Trump Tower in New York, Mr. Trump refused to guarantee Mr. Bannon’s job security but defended him as “not a racist” and “a friend.”

“We’ll see what happens with Mr. Bannon,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Bannon’s dismissal followed an Aug. 16 interview he initiated with a writer with whom he had never spoken, with the progressive publication The American Prospect. In it, Mr. Bannon mockingly played down the American military threat to North Korea as nonsensical: “Until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that 10 million people in Seoul don’t die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons, I don’t know what you’re talking about, there’s no military solution here, they got us.”

He also bad-mouthed his colleagues in the Trump administration, vowed to oust a diplomat at the State Department and mocked officials as “wetting themselves” over the consequences of radically changing trade policy.

MajGenl.Meade · Post by **MajGenl.Meade** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 6:07 pm

That was the NYT. OTOH....

(CNN)President Donald Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon has been fired, two White House officials told CNN Friday.
A source told CNN that Bannon was given the option to resign but was forced out. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed Bannon's departure but did not say whether he was fired or resigned.

ex-khobar Andy · Post by **ex-khobar Andy** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 6:40 pm

I am trying to get stuff done around the house. I need to get that stupid piece of trim painted. I need to figure out why the garage door opener has stopped working. I need to plant some grass seed in that bare spot.

Somehow this White House is stopping me from doing anything but sitting in front of my laptop and the TV tuned to CNN.

Donald Trump is probably negatively affecting the country's productivity. I wonder - can this effect be measured?

rubato · Post by **rubato** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 7:17 pm

The WH is just letting a little pus out to relieve the pressure. The suppurating carbuncle is still there.

yrs,
rubato

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 7:42 pm

I thought that the interview Bannon gave was a calculated risk on his part, essentially daring Trump to fire him...

If Trump didn't fire him after all the undermining trash he talked, the message he would have been able to send to those in the WH who wanted him out (like Kelly and McMaster) would have been, "See? I can do anything and Trump won't fire me, so you can forget about getting rid of me, I ain't going anywhere"

Guess he miscalculated...

Long Run · Post by **Long Run** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:16 pm

Or, he wanted out for whatever reason and he decided this is a good time to bring the attention onto himself and his situation, thereby moving the nano-second attention span of the media away from the latest stepping in dog-doo-doo story.

rubato · Post by **rubato** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 12:06 am

Some political insiders are saying he was just drunk (and/or coked up). Given his appearance and record of blackouts it is a reasonable theory.

yrs,
rubato

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 12:58 am

Gee, I hope this doesn't happen...

It would be a great loss to comedy:

Controversial Trump Aide Sebastian Gorka May Be The Next To Leave The White House After Steve Bannon’s Firing

Between stock market traders and just about everyone on social media, the news of Steve Bannon’s firing on Friday sent ripples throughout the American press. According to several reports detailing the immediate aftermath of the ex-White House chief strategist’s removal, however, these same ripples are reverberating throughout the administration, especially on matters pertaining to the future of Sebastian Gorka. Many thought the controversial counter-terrorism aide to President Donald Trump would exit the White House back in April, but his former Breitbart pal’s ouster just might be the final nail in the coffin.

Despite his alleged connections to anti-Semitic, far right groups in Europe, Gorka remained a part of the White House staff due to Bannon’s protection and Trump’s love of his blustering media appearances. With Bannon out, however, The Daily Beast reports Gorka’s fate is “extremely uncertain” — especially since his more recent television punditry has “displeased” Trump’s chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly:

Kelly had recently undertaken an internal review of West Wing staffers’ responsibilities and portfolios. And another White House adviser said that the chief of staff “doesn’t know what [Gorka] does except go on TV sometimes.” For these reason, Gorka’s long-term future with the White House is “extremely uncertain,” this source continued.
Adding additional fuel to the fire, a Bloomberg report on Bannon’s firing cites “two people with knowledge of the situation” who claim Gorka “also may face removal from his post” following his champion’s departure from the White House. Unsurprisingly, Gorka is currently on vacation and wouldn’t provide The Daily Beast with an official comment for their story. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, meanwhile, told reporters she didn’t have “any update on that front” when asked about Gorka’s fate. [That kind of response from the WH press secretary is usually a good indication of "dead man walking"...]

http://uproxx.com/news/sebastian-gorka- ... on-firing/

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 2:26 am

Maybe General Kelly can bring some sanity to this shit show after all?

After Tuesday, Trump is basically a lame duck for the next 3 years. He can't fix showing his darkest true colors the way he did, everyone now knows he is a monster.

dales · Post by **dales** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 2:45 am

After Tuesday, Trump is basically a lame duck for the next 3 years.

I don't know about you, BSG...........I can't handle Drumph for another 3 years.

The sooner he's gone, the better.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 3:25 am

Maybe General Kelly can bring some sanity to this shit show after all?

He's certainly going to do his best to achieve that objective...

But even if he gets rid of Bannon and Gorka, and Miller...

He's still going to have to deal with the Lunatic-In-Chief...The Mad King...

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 4:22 am

Bannon obviously knew his "off the record" remarks would go on the record. I feel he got the intended results he was seeking.

His book is going to be a doozy.

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 5:10 am

-"BB"-

ex-khobar Andy · Post by **ex-khobar Andy** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 5:12 am

I can't help wondering if this was the religious right's plan all along. Pence would never get elected; but maybe just maybe he could ride Trump's coattails and then we get rid of the host and the parasite is king? All carefully orchestrated by Bannon. Trump is bannon-fodder.

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 6:29 am

I have suspected this myself since Pence was picked . . . he's a dangerous Christofascist who will usher into power the American Taliban.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 7:50 am

Here are some of the things we will no longer have going on if Mike Pence becomes the President:

1. We will no longer have a President who embarrasses us day in and day out...

2. We will no longer have a President who says he believes that Vladimir Putin is more believable than 17 US intelligence agencies...

3. We will no longer have a mentally unstable malignant narcissist become a " Christofascist "

(Whatever the hell that is...)

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 8:05 am

Here's a place to start:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christofascism

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 1:38 pm

My list of people who I would rather have as President besides our current so-called President is a long one...

It runs from Ted Cruz to Al Gore, and Dick Cheney to Joe Biden...

I have a very broad and expansive view when it comes to the question of "Who would you prefer to Donald Trump?"

I'd even make it a coin toss with John Edwards...

(Yeah, Edwards is a narcissistic sociopath, but that makes him worse than Trump.....how?.... )

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 2:42 pm

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 2:51 pm

In just six months, Donald Trump has managed to make himself the worst President in American history...

Worse even than James Buchanan, who stood idly by while his country dissolved...

Trump isn't standing idly by while his country dissolves...

He's actively and enthusiastically engaged in it's dissolution...

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