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Kelly to the rescue!

Spindrift

Time Person of the Year, 2006
Spindrift
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Messages
19,246
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Right here!
No, not KellyAnne but General John Kelly.

He could possibly save the Trump administration single-handed. It's well-known that Trump loves 4-star generals and he's a Marine to boot.

He may be the one person who could get Trump to stop doing stupid things like the trans ban or DJT-Jr.'s letter. He won't get him to stop tweeting but he might get him to tone it down. I think the acid test is if Steve Bannon is still there 6 months from now. If Kelly gets rid of Bannon and marginalizes Jared and Ivanka, then there is hope that Trump will finish out his term. It also might set up Kelly for 2020.
 
Trump has at best a mixed history in choosing generals, see Michael Flynn for example.
 
I doubt he will do it, he's part of the problem. JK has said that the Mexican border wall will start construction in a month, and he said that a few months ago. He is also against slowing any wars in the middle east. He was against women in combat roles and is against closing Gitmo. He supports Trump's racist policies against Muslims as well.
 
thaiboxerken said:
I doubt he will do it, he's part of the problem. JK has said that the Mexican border wall will start construction in a month, and he said that a few months ago. He is also against slowing any wars in the middle east. He was against women in combat roles and is against closing Gitmo. He supports Trump's racist policies against Muslims as well.
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I'm talking rescue from the Republican point of view. If he can get the Trump administration to stop embarrassing itself every 20 minutes, he will be a GOP hero.
 
Spindrift said:
No, not KellyAnne but General John Kelly.

He could possibly save the Trump administration single-handed. It's well-known that Trump loves 4-star generals and he's a Marine to boot.

He may be the one person who could get Trump to stop doing stupid things like the trans ban or DJT-Jr.'s letter. He won't get him to stop tweeting but he might get him to tone it down. I think the acid test is if Steve Bannon is still there 6 months from now. If Kelly gets rid of Bannon and marginalizes Jared and Ivanka, then there is hope that Trump will finish out his term. It also might set up Kelly for 2020.
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I doubt that Kelly will be be able to get Trump sorted out because about the only thing that is certain about Trump is that:

If you give Trump the benefit of the doubt, then he will always disappoint you.
 
Crossbow said:
I doubt that Kelly will be be able to get Trump sorted out because about the only thing that is certain about Trump is that:

If you give Trump the benefit of the doubt, then he will always disappoint you.
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Kelly's job is to try to get Trump to at least talk to him before he goes off on some tangent. I'll bet that Trump agreed to that, whether or not Trump can stick to it 100% is doubtful but if Kelly can cut it down somewhat it will be a big deal.

The firing of the Mooch is a signal that Kelly is in charge. How long that continues is up in the air, but I think Kelly is Trump's last best hope to salvage his administration.
 
Spindrift said:
Kelly's job is to try to get Trump to at least talk to him before he goes off on some tangent. I'll bet that Trump agreed to that, whether or not Trump can stick to it 100% is doubtful but if Kelly can cut it down somewhat it will be a big deal. ...
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Trump does not listen to advisors in any consistent, sustained fashion. Not to Ivanka, not to Bannon, not to no-one. Why should Kelly be any different?

I agree in fact that it is probably Kelly's main goal and job to reign in Donald. He will fail. Pretty soon. And that's why I predicted Kelly is the next senior administration member out.
 
I agree. I think it most likely that Kelly, like those before him, will find Trump a worse fool and a worse boss than he'd imagined, the mistakes and stupidities a requisite for the job. Feel the invisible grip around the throat...."you will not fail me again...." Next!
 
Oystein said:
Trump does not listen to advisors in any consistent, sustained fashion. Not to Ivanka, not to Bannon, not to no-one. Why should Kelly be any different?

I agree in fact that it is probably Kelly's main goal and job to reign in Donald. He will fail. Pretty soon. And that's why I predicted Kelly is the next senior administration member out.
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If that happens I won't be surprised, but I just get the feeling that Kelly is going to be different, the immediate firing of Mooch is an example. We'll see who else gets their walking papers in the next few weeks. And as I said, if Bannon goes, then Kelly is the man who can get Trump to listen.

I think Trump has a weakness for Generals that was instilled in his military school days. If Hillary had four-stars he'd hire her as chief of staff, okay maybe not that much of a weakness.

Would I bet on this? Not without 20 to 1 odds or better. If Kelly can't straighten things out then the next 3 and a half years will make the last six months look like the good ole days.
 
Spindrift said:
Being a general contributes to why he was chosen and Kelly is not Flynn. He's doesn't have the well-known messy baggage that Flynn had coming in.
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What qualification for being CoS does Kelly have besides not being Reince? And the only qualification Reince had was not being Bannon. It seems the bar has been lowered so much that simply not making the worst choice for the job, i.e. Sessions, Scaramucci, is seen as praise worthy.
 
Spindrift said:
If Kelly can't straighten things out then the next 3 and a half years will make the last six months look like the good ole days.
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If Kelly can straighten this and keep it straight for 3 1/2 years, Kelly will have demonstrated some brilliant skills in managing bosses and staffs and could be held as one of the great chief of staffs.

However, I'm not holding my breath. I think only a chief of staff with mind control powers could do that.
 
Stacko said:
What qualification for being CoS does Kelly have besides not being Reince? And the only qualification Reince had was not being Bannon. It seems the bar has been lowered so much that simply not making the worst choice for the job, i.e. Sessions, Scaramucci, is seen as praise worthy.
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I would think being a general in the Marines would require some skill at administration .and management.
I think Kelly is qualified from a management viewpoint, but whether he is up to the political end of the job is another matter.
 
Stacko said:
What qualification for being CoS does Kelly have besides not being Reince? And the only qualification Reince had was not being Bannon. It seems the bar has been lowered so much that simply not making the worst choice for the job, i.e. Sessions, Scaramucci, is seen as praise worthy.
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The CoS is a trouble-shooter, run-interference, get-it-done, do-the-dirty-work, keep-the-troops-in-line position. A Marine Corps 4-star General who was Commander of US Southern Command and senior military assistant to the Sec of the DoD is well-qualified for the job. You don't get those jobs without political skills.
 
Kelly's first real test is the handling of the fake Fox News report about Seth Rich. He's got to find someone to hang it on and hopefully for Kelly he has candidates other than the POTUS.
 
Spindrift said:
The CoS is a trouble-shooter, run-interference, get-it-done, do-the-dirty-work, keep-the-troops-in-line position. A Marine Corps 4-star General who was Commander of US Southern Command and senior military assistant to the Sec of the DoD is well-qualified for the job. You don't get those jobs without political skills.
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It's been pointed out that the last general to be CoS was Alexander Haig, from May 4, 1973 to September 26, 1974 - a month after Nixon stepped down. He probably deserved credit for keeoing the WH running while Nixon was preoccupied with Watergate, but he could not save the President, and was said to have pushed him towards resigning.
 
Oystein said:
Trump does not listen to advisors in any consistent, sustained fashion. Not to Ivanka, not to Bannon, not to no-one. Why should Kelly be any different?

I agree in fact that it is probably Kelly's main goal and job to reign in Donald. He will fail. Pretty soon. And that's why I predicted Kelly is the next senior administration member out.
Click to expand...

A military general will approach this position different than anyone in his family, associates, or career politics.

I think first he will do what he is familiar with. Objectives, Goals, Strategies, Tactics.
Get Trump to outline his objective. Then his major goals towards that objective. Kelly can then develop the strategy and tactics and change as needed.
There needs to be a clear agreement and a respect for the chain of command Kelly puts in place. He cannot guard the front door if the back door and all the windows are wide open. Anyone who hinders the objective is out (except Trump himself!).

If Kelly can convince him that a drastic change in culture is Trumps idea and get him to develop his own vision for it, it just might work. To get a culture of loyalty, extremely important to Trump, he will need to stop interfering with other government leaders and let Kelly handle any concerns the President has. Basically, Trump needs a job description he can follow.

When Trump starts getting praised for his restraint, perhaps it will enforce the new behaviors.

Kelly will need to be the Supernanny of all Supernannies to pull it off.
 
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