THE MAN HAS NO SHAME, or common decency

Just when you thought it could NOT get any worse…

Our 45th president couldn’t define the words “humble” or “class” if you gave him a dictionary, and ALL day to compose a three paragraph commentary.

Nauseating, aunts and uncles!

IN THE COMING DAYS…

I don’t think I’m revealing anything new…John McCain (R-AZ) and our 45th president have utter disdain for one another.

Fair enough?

Well, McCain secretly traveled to northern Syria last weekend to speak with American military officials, and Kurdish fighters at the forefront of the push to drive the Islamic State out of their de facto capital of Raqqa, according to The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post.

The unusual visit, which officials said was organized with the help of the U.S. military, came as the Trump administration is debating plans for an accelerated military campaign against the Islamic State.

This was believed to be his first visit to Syria since McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, first went to rebel-controlled Syria in 2013, when he met with leaders of the Free Syrian Army, the umbrella group supported by America and its allies.

McCain is believed to be the first U.S. lawmaker to travel to the Kurdish-controlled area of northeastern Syria since it became a hub for American special-operations forces who are aiding local forces in the fight against Islamic State.

After traveling to Syria, McCain met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish capital. Erdogan is pushing the Trump administration to sideline the Kurdish fighters that U.S. military leaders view as a vital ally in the fight against Islamic State.

It is rare for U.S. politicians to travel to Syria. Last month, Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), secretly traveled to Damascus, where she held a controversial meeting with President Bashar al-Assad.

Trump has asked the U.S. military to present him with a new plan to destroy Islamic State, and the report is supposed to be finished by the end of the month.

Central to the debate is whether or NOT to rely on Kurdish forces to take Raqqa, a city with a Sunni majority that is likely to be wary of Kurdish control.

U.S. officials involved in the debate say that it would be difficult, if NOT impossible, to launch a successful assault on Raqqa in the coming months without working with Kurdish forces. Turkish leaders have been pushing the Trump administration to sideline the Kurdish fighters, but they have NOT presented any viable alternative plan.

This is “how” very bad things happen in the undefined military world of unintended consequences!

THE BANK WAS OPEN!

The end of February, first 10-12 days in March…then The Dance.

For college basketball fans, it does NOT get any better!

This time of year, I get hardly any sleep at ALL…so what?!?!

Schools desperately trying to get into the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament with quality wins down the stretch, before their respective conference tournaments, which leads into the big tournament, and a chance at the Final Four.

Last night, we witnessed such a game between Duke and Syracuse [who needed a win].

Watch instant insanity [the good kind]…

Moments and memories for a lifetime!

THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE

Extraterrestrial Beings.

Paranormal Activity.

Mysterious Circumstances.

Inexplicable Responses.

No, no, I’m NOT talking about the disappearance of aircraft and ships in the North Atlantic Ocean.

What I’m referring to is much more sinister than something as trivial as that kind of hocus-pocus.

My triangle is about Spicer (Sean) and Bannon (Steve) and McMaster (H.R.).

Something, at least, on the surface of it, that portends to give ALL of us tons more entertainment!

Witness our favorite press secretary’s imitation of Harry Houdini yesterday…

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said yesterday that if President Donald John Trump’s newly appointed National Security Adviser, H.R. McMaster, wanted to remove chief strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council’s principals committee, the president would “take that under serious consideration.”

“The president has made clear to him he’s got full authority to structure the national security team the way he wants,” Spicer said of McMaster, whom The Weave appointed Monday as his new National Security Adviser. Spicer made the remarks in the daily White House’s version of The Twilight Zone briefing.

When asked if McMaster’s control over his team would extend to control of the principals committee, and the potential removal of the chief strategist, Spicer said that  McMaster “would come to the president and make that recommendation, but the president would take that under high—you know, serious consideration.”

Spicer added that in meetings with people for the position of national security adviser over the weekend, “The president made it very clear with McMaster and the other candidates that they had 100% control and authority over the national security committee.”

McMaster, thus far, has remained ‘silent’ and has NOT indicated any changes he would like to make regarding the National Security Council.

Spicer said that General McMaster, currently a three-star lieutenant general, would remain on active duty while serving as National Security Adviser. As such, if he retains his three-star rank, his appointment would be subject to Senate confirmation [which should NOT present any issues at all], according to a statement from a Senate Armed Services Committee aide. If he moves down a notch to a two-star major general, he wouldn’t be subject to Senate confirmation, The Washington Post is reporting.

Trump last month took the unusual step of adding Bannon, a former media and financial executive who was an architect of the president’s campaign strategy, to the National Security Council’s principals committee [gigantic misstep by Carrot Top],  while downgrading the status of the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  The move – which meant Bannon would be invited to ALL council meetings – drew criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, who questioned whether Bannon’s addition would insert domestic politics into national-security decision-making.

This has ALL of the earmarks of a potential tsunami of epic proportions, aunts and uncles.

WARRIOR-SCHOLAR

Before leaving his Florida White House yesterday, our 45th president named Army Lieutenant General Herbert Raymond “H.R.” McMaster the new National Security Adviser.

On the surface, one NEVER knows whether he will be what is needed as the key security counselor to Trump. That result will be dictated by time and events.

McMaster, whom Trump called “a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience,” accepted the post, making him the first active-duty U.S. military officer to take the job since Colin Powell and John Poindexter held it under Ronald Reagan.

Also, Trump said Mr. Kellogg, a retired three-star Army general who was under consideration for the top job, would resume his role as chief of staff to the National Security Council.

McMaster steps in to lead a National Security Council that has largely been in disarray, with many career staffers uncertain about their roles, and concerned about a lack of input into the policy-making process on a host of issues. With certainty, they were NOT about to get it – intelligent input –  from the likes of the two Stevies: Bannon and Miller.

Also, McMaster is taking the job at a time when several high-stakes foreign policy challenges are under review by the new administration, including North Korea, Russia, Syria and Iran. And the move comes amid a cloud of questions about Russian ties and people close to The Weave, which were fueled by Mickey Flynn’s departure [latest word is he’s going to co-host The View].

Carrot Top‘s decision ends a search that raised questions about how much autonomy the new national security adviser would have. Some prospective candidates expressed concerns about how much control they could exert over staffing decisions and NSC processes. Reports say that McMasters will be given ‘free reign’ in choosing his own people. Let’s hope that’s the case.

The choice of General McMaster drew praise in Washington, where he is well known.

A military strategist with extensive battle experience, McMaster, 54 years old, is a decorated officer with leadership experience in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a 1984 graduate of West Point.

His 1997 book “Dereliction of Duty,” is known/acknowledged as a seminal work across the U.S. military, looking at how the failure of uniformed leadership [Joint Chiefs of Staff] to stand up to civilian decision makers helped Lyndon B. Johnson and his advisers [specifically Robert Strange McNamara] lead the country deeper into a quagmire with NO – absolutely NONE! – proper strategy in Vietnam.

Full Disclosure: I had the honor of being on several Vietnam War conference panels with McMaster in the late ’90s and early 2000s, he’s the real deal. I love the selection by Trump!

PROFITS SQUEEZED, along with SPIRIT

Wal-Mart figures for the Holiday period have just been released.

While the company’s sales were strong compared to several other brick-and-mortar retailers like Macy’s and Target, their e-commerce business really put a noticeable drain of the overall profits.

Wal-Mart indicated that sales in stores open at least 12 months rose 1.8% in the quarter ended Jan. 31, the 10th consecutive quarter of gains. It was their 10th consecutive quarter of gains.

But the strength of the company’s U.S. store business continues to come at the expense of profits, which fell 18% in the quarter.

The retail behemoth is investing billions to raise U.S. store worker wages, lower prices and expand e-commerce sales to better compete with Amazon.

Wal-Mart’s global e-commerce sales growth decelerated compared with the previous quarter. Online sales rose 16% including the first full quarter of sales from Jet.com Inc., which Wal-Mart purchased in September. In the previous quarter e-commerce sales rose 21%.

Wal-Mart’s U.S. store changes are bearing fruit at a time when many retailers roped to large store footprints are struggling, challenged by shoppers gravitating to less-profitable online buying and discounters offering low prices. Investors have become wary of the retail market after several reported weak holiday sales including Target, Macy’s and Kohl’s.

Soon, there will be NO more Breakfast with Santa, anywhere…any more.

That’s a joy of childhood a family can’t enjoy online!

But, then, Santa, and the real reason for Christmas can’t be found on your SmartPhone any way.

Does any one care about that?

Doubtful…

GULLIVER in a LONG TIE

“…First a surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships.”

One of the trillions of things that I’m noticing being a septuagenarian is how much smarter Jonathan Swift is in the 21st century, than he was in the mid-20th century. At least for me.

Gulliver’s Travels…the classic.

Well, guess what?

Donald John Trump risks seeming more like Gulliver, the giant tied down by an army of resilient, if smaller, adversaries…with each passing hour.

The Weave is confronting more opposition than any he faced in his barnstorming campaign, or anything seen in the first month of any modern presidency, with protests, legal challenges [NOT enough for me!!!], congressional opposition, and parts of the federal bureaucracy mobilizing to resist.

The scope of opposition to Carrot Top is remarkable for a new president. Others have faced protests and legal disputes [Nixon, Billy Clinton and W jump out at you, of course], but none of the magnitude and persistence that Tweety Bird has encountered so early in his presidency.

The anti-Trump resistance has helped block his immigration ban/policy; slow his health-care plan/agenda; delay his cabinet nominees; throw Mike Flynn out of the White House; and, shine a bright light on sleazeball Andy Puzder toward becoming our Labor Secretary, while turning many of Trump’s public appearances into occasions for raucous protests [NOT near enough, nor loud enough, for me, thank you!].

Trump has said that protests and legal challenges to his policies represent the clamor of sore losers who do NOT want to acknowledge that elections have consequences. Of course that’s true, but can just imagine the likes of Trump and his band of ‘deplorables’ if Grandma H had won…hello, Moto!

The most potentially corrosive resistance may yet come from within the federal bureaucracy itself. We’re already seeing/hearing sighs of that fracturing daily.

Many of the president’s lillypads and allies remain optimistic that he will regain his footing and rack up important victories in the future, like confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch [whom I like] to the Supreme Court, and passage of tax reform. But, to do so, even Trump’s sissies say his White House could use some tighter management by Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, including a crackdown on leaks. Getting a lot of sleep since the 20th of last month, Reince?

Broader opposition to Trump will mobilize during next week’s recess from decentralized, grass roots sources…literally across the country. The Prairie is very uneasy about the person wearing the red ball on his nose at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and has been since January 21, 2017.

By the way, is any one living in the White House any more?

SWEDEN becomes a CENTERPIECE

During the course of his rambling tirades last Saturday night in Florida, The Weave revealed once again “how” completely unprepared he and his inner sanctum of sycophants are to run our White House…

This is an individual on a fool’s errand, aunts and uncles.

There’s simply too much helium in his balloon!

Once again, this is what happens when we elect a person who gets his background news, and daily briefings, from FOX; The National Enquirer; and, Alex Jones.

Does any sane person even think for a second that Donald John Trump has ever read more than a paragraph on Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and/or Madison?

“Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within.”    – Tennyson

WARREN REPORTS, WE LISTEN…

Toward the end of last year, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway dumped $900 million worth of Wal-Mart stock. It was the fourth consecutive quarter it had pared its position, according to federal filings. The move supports the concerns The Sage of Omaha and others have voiced about the world’s largest retailer and its uphill battle against online behemoth Amazon.

While Wal-Mart has taken substantial steps to improve its e-commerce operations, tomorrow’s earnings report for the key holiday season may likely show just how much further it still has to go.

Analysts polled by FactSet estimate fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $1.29 a share, down from $1.49 a year earlier. Revenue for the period ending in January is expected to have risen 1% to $131.1 billion.

Wal-Mart has a long road ahead. The company generated $3.6 billion in e-commerce sales in the third quarter, only 3% of its total revenue. By comparison, Amazon logged $43.7 billion in its most recent reported quarterly revenue.

And, political turbulence, which already has taken a toll on Wal-Mart’s shares, threatens to make business conditions more difficult. The strong dollar has hurt Wal-Mart internationally since it gets roughly one-quarter of its total revenue from overseas, with Mexico being a key contributor. Wal-Mart has 2,373 stores in Mexico, roughly 20% of its locations.

Retailers including Wal-Mart have tons to lose if Trump imposes new tariffs on trade or a border-adjusted tax. That is because many of them rely heavily on overseas factories for the goods they sell.

More drama from our 45th president in the coming days…

 

OUR NARCISSIST-IN-CHIEF

The state of America was clearly, and definitely, exhibited yesterday afternoon…

Trump has NO intention of governing!

Or, removing the red ball from his nose…

Barnstorming plays perfectly to his scrambled personality.

Early reports this morning are indicating that the man Carrot Top invited up on to the stage with him will be appointed the new National Security Advisor.