Evil Chauncey Gardner
by digby
This piece by McKay Coppins called “Trump’s Right-hand Troll” about the odious Stephen Miller is a must read. I particularly liked the part about how Trump makes decisions:
When President Trump needs to learn about an issue, he likes to stage his own cable-news-style shout-fests in the Oval Office. In lieu of primped pundits, he has to make do with White House staffers, but the basic concept is the same: Two people with conflicting points of view whacking away at each other as forcefully—and entertainingly—as possible. Trump seems to process information best in this format, according to people who have worked in the administration. Often, when the debate lacks a voice for a position the president wants to hear articulated, he will call Miller into the room and have him make the case.
Miller “can play both sides for the sake of the argument,” Gidley told me. “He can come in and play the staunch conservative or the Democrat, because he understands both.” What’s more, he often wins. “You can pull a debate-club argument out of a hat and Stephen can argue it convincingly,” a former administration official said. “It’s not that he knows everything in the world—it’s that he understands Trump. He’s been dealing with him a long time, and he understands how he inputs information.”
Miller told me that while there is sometimes a need for a devil’s advocate, he spends most of his time pushing for positions that he believes in. Indeed, a review of his record thus far leaves little doubt about the agenda he’s trying to advance, from more aggressive law enforcement to a conservative-nationalist economic policy. Notably, he’s emerged as one of the most strident immigration restrictionists in an administration known for such draconian measures as forcibly separating children from their parents at the border.
He is an evil troll who is much smarter than the president and knows how to activate his inherent bigotry and hate.
Also, the president is a cretinous moron. It’s not enough that he can’t read anything. Apparently, he also can’t understand a verbal briefing. He needs to have his people act out “issues” in “Crossfire” format and then picks the one who “won” which undoubtedly means he chooses whomever is the biggest asshole.
It’s “Being There” except Chauncey is a neighborhood thug.
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