Apparently, one-third of all civilian Defense Department jobs are now unfilled. And the Secretary of Defense is being led around by the nose by Trump’s 29-year-old enforcer:
“DoD thinks White House is a rubber stamp, that it’s Esper’s position to fill and the White House is consulted as a courtesy. That may have been true in the previous PPO but that’s not how John McEntee operates,” said one administration official, referring to the head of the Presidential Personnel Office. “It will be a consultation, but the White House is going to play a major, major role in selecting the replacement.”
“McEntee’s going to win,” the official said.
A person close to the Pentagon and Capitol Hill said the White House office “has taken total control over staffing at DoD and anything that they perceive as disloyalty is a disqualification.”
“They want to make sure that there’s no hint or indication of conflicting loyalties,” the person said. “It’s complete and total control. … You have to be a 110 percent Trump supporter and they want nobody else. … The problem is they’re not going to identify, nominate and confirm enough people before November.”
By “conflicting loyalties” they mean loyalty to the United States vs loyalty to Dear Leader. We know from the firing of Pentagon comptroller Elaine McCusker who followed the law in the Ukraine mess, that loyalty also means choosing Trump over the rule of law.
I can’t even imagine what will happen if we have a major terrorist attack. Of wait, yes I can. We’re seeing it right now in the face of a global pandemic. He will demand that everyone spend all their time fluffing him and feting him, including the military and first responders all to make him look good regardless of what’s really going on.
The majority of the public knows he is a pathological liar and the rest are all brainwashed. What could go wrong?