I don’t think it’s because trump is amused by chaos: I think in Trump’s mind, a chaotic office is a successful one. It means everyone competing for his attention, which somehow means that all the best ideas and strongest individuals will rise to the top. That’s not even remotely how it works, but he’s convinced it is.…

See, as much as I vote Democratic, I can’t do that: if there is a truly reprehensible person representing the Party, than I cannot responsibly vote for that person. Do you think voting the Party ticket is doing the Republicans any good right now? I think voting for the Party to elect the President has resulted in deep…

This is one of the most ABNORMAL Presidencies in history. I’m not acting as this is a normal ANYTHING. I am very aware of the bizarre shifts this Presidency is taking, but to assume that Kelly is somehow going to be a ‘shadow President’ is placing a lot of assumption on the nature of the CoS office itself.

But Trump wasn’t offering the quid pro quo: he was offering to up end the system in a manner even the most extreme of the other candidates were incapable of offering. Between him and Rubio, I would have voted Rubio: I dislike him and his policies, but I know exactly what voting for him gets, just as I know exactly…

That’s not him running things, however: that’s him doing the job of the Chief of Staff. The CoS is essentially a filter to the President, in addition to managing his agenda, staff, and policy implementation. It’s essentially a very senior aide or secretary. So, if he is successfully filtering people, he’s doing what…

Believe me, I know: I’m not waiting on pins and needles for him to suddenly realize the weight of the office and act as he needs to. Every time someone said, “This is it: he’s going to be Presidential now,” I just knew that we needed to wait for the next shoe to drop. I’m just observing the obvious: many of these…

You shouldn’t worry too much: while we do want more civilian oversight than less of the military, many of the civilian leaders in the Executive Branch are former military officers. It tends to be a natural pipeline for officers to move into federal civilian service once their tenures end, and Kelly, McMasters, and…

It’s entirely possible, but I doubt it will be Kelly ‘running’ things. The position of Chief of Staff is one of the most strenuous and demanding positions in the Executive Branch, so to take the responsibilities of the President and pile them on to the Chief of Staff position is frankly unworkable. It’s not exactly a…

We take what we can get: frankly, having him in the Commander-in-Chief slot wouldn’t be as much of a problem with a functional, skeptical Congress and strong subordinates, but he lacks both of these things (and seems to be doing everything to prevent either thing from happening). Another saying we have in the military…

She’s already tweeted she looks forward to working ‘alongside him.’ That indicates trouble in the future, frankly. Ivanka and Jared are going to be the real problems for Kelly to deal with.

I am, and it’s a phrase that is very common in the military. It did raise my eyebrows, but not as much as other phrases could have. I think it just demonstrates a lack of understanding on optics: other Presidents have used the phrase ‘my generals,’ and it’s not inaccurate: they are his generals. He is their commander,…

I doubt that: he’s taking the slot because the President wants him to take to the slot. He’s enamored with Generals, and he likes to surround himself with them. I think it’s likely to see some clashes in the upcoming months as those two personalities come into conflict with each other.

It’s an interesting theory, but I don’t buy it: on the Mooch’s end, I think, he seemed to legitimately think he would be around for a while, and tried to. Frankly, he did appeal to Trump, who thought (I think) that the Mooch was doing all the right things. The problem was that he overshadowed the President, and…

It’s possible, but I see Kelly and Bannon butting heads a lot, especially in regards to access to the President: Bannon is in a weird position where he (technically) can access the President when he wants to, but Kelly is supposed to be the filter that limits access to the President by design. They could end up in…

Liars of the Fall, known for it’s gripping end where Priebus goes out on his own terms and dies, fighting a naked Steve Bannon in the woods.

Right on the nosey.

And there goes another staffer....

It’s not really that authoritarian (and he’s not wrong: I mean, I refer to ‘my Joes,’ and ‘my sergeants,’ so it’s not too much of a stretch), but I do feel he means it in a different manner than I do.

This is what I think will be the most likely outcome, honestly. I may be surprised, and Kelly may be resilient, but it feels like the Trump White House is going to have a revolving door.

This is why I’m skeptical of Kelly’s new tenure as Chief of Staff.