I am so sick of this subject...
De Facto's National Security Advisor, sincerely, a true star, among the best and the brightest of the beat and the brightest, Gen. H.R. McMaster, was on ABC's "This Week" Sunday news show, also the best of that bunch...when George Stephanopolous hosts it. Unfortunately, he did not. Martha Raddatz filled in for him and she missed some things, didn't press McMaster as she should have and didn't pick up on a crucial irony, nor where McMaster gave away the de facto administration's true policy on...this thing that makes me puke. An edited (by moi) transcript cum learned commentary by the afore referenced idiot blogger:
MCMASTER:..Well, the president has made very clear that he is not in the business of announcing in advance exactly what he’s going to do in any particular situation.
That is the brilliant "unpredictability" of Trump.
RADDATZ: But the military option’s still on the table?
MCMASTER: Well, all our options on the table undergoing refinement and further development.
That was his best shot at a dodge and it was pathetic. McMaster barely held the party line there on "unpredictability." Put that dodge went right over Raddatz' head. OH!
...
Raddatz:...[North Korea said] Trump’s aggressive tweets were making trouble.
Does the aggressive language increase the likelihood of conflict?
Now, this is an interesting answer. McMaster has difficulty NOT being candid. His boss has difficulty BEING candid.
MCMASTER: I think it should make clear [i.e. Trump's tweets] to the North Korean regime that it is in their best interest to stop the development of these weapons, to stop the development of these missiles, and to denuclearize the peninsula. And so I think while it’s unclear [i.e. Trump's tweets! Stephanopolous would have pounced.] -- and want to -- do not want to telegraph in any way how we’ll respond to certain incidents, [He belatedly realized he had criticized the Tweeter-in-chief there and he started stumbling but quickly came back to the message: Unpredictability is good.] it's clear that the president is determined not to allow this kind of capability to threaten the United States. And our president will take action that is in the best interest of the American people. [Pablum.]
RADDATZ: You know, one of the big concerns here, General McMaster, is how North Korea would respond to aggressive action or some sort of preemptive strike. How do you think they would respond?
MCMASTER: Well, that’s what particularly difficult about -- about dealing with this regime, is that it is unpredictable... [There's the irony and McMaster must have wanted to crawl into a hole as soon as those words were out. Unpredictability is good in a stupid impulsive dealing with a paranoid psychopath. The virtue of unpredictability should have the logic of reversibility if it is sound, what's good for the stupid impulsive is good for the paranoid psychopath. But McMaster knows better: a hot line was set up in the Kremlin and in the Oval Office after the Cuban Missile Crisis because of the dangers of miscalculation due to unpredictability. And both the Americans and the Soviets at the time were rational! One was not a stupid impulsive nor the other a paranoid psychopath. Clarity and directness in speech and action are crucial to avoid inadvertent nuclear war. Raddatz...This irony, this logical contradiction, Zoom! right over head.]
...
MCMASTER:...I think, it’s really the consensus with the president, our key allies in the regions -- Japan and South Korea in particular, but also the Chinese leadership -- that this problem is coming to a head. [That sounds ominous, right? When a pimple comes to a head on my ass I POP that sucker, and you will see lots of headlines that incorporate "coming to a head." You will not see many on what follows. Only USA Today a few hours ago.] And so it’s time for us to undertake all actions we can, short of a military option, to try to resolve this peacefully. [Martha Raddatz? Hello? Are you there, Martha Raddatz? The fig leaf of that earlier inartful dodge just fell off and Raddatz doesn't see it. The internal wrestling McMaster was doing with the message of "Unpredictability uber alles" and what McMaster KNOWS, that unpredictability is the WORST strategy in a crisis with a paranoid psychopath, McMaster lost that wrestling match with himself and let the cat out of the bag: Team Trump has ruled out military action.]
...
MCMASTER:...So in the coming weeks, months, I think there’s a great opportunity for all of us -- all of us who are really the threat now of this unpredictable regime [Stephanopolous: "Which unpredictable regime, General?" McMaster would have run off the set.] to take action short of armed conflict, so we can avoid the worst. [So, he said it twice, no military action. Having missed it twice, Raddatz segued away from the peninsula to Syria. Ms. Raddatz PISS POOR job there, PISS POOR.]
De Facto's National Security Advisor, sincerely, a true star, among the best and the brightest of the beat and the brightest, Gen. H.R. McMaster, was on ABC's "This Week" Sunday news show, also the best of that bunch...when George Stephanopolous hosts it. Unfortunately, he did not. Martha Raddatz filled in for him and she missed some things, didn't press McMaster as she should have and didn't pick up on a crucial irony, nor where McMaster gave away the de facto administration's true policy on...this thing that makes me puke. An edited (by moi) transcript cum learned commentary by the afore referenced idiot blogger:
MCMASTER:..Well, the president has made very clear that he is not in the business of announcing in advance exactly what he’s going to do in any particular situation.
That is the brilliant "unpredictability" of Trump.
RADDATZ: But the military option’s still on the table?
MCMASTER: Well, all our options on the table undergoing refinement and further development.
That was his best shot at a dodge and it was pathetic. McMaster barely held the party line there on "unpredictability." Put that dodge went right over Raddatz' head. OH!
...
Raddatz:...[North Korea said] Trump’s aggressive tweets were making trouble.
Does the aggressive language increase the likelihood of conflict?
Now, this is an interesting answer. McMaster has difficulty NOT being candid. His boss has difficulty BEING candid.
MCMASTER: I think it should make clear [i.e. Trump's tweets] to the North Korean regime that it is in their best interest to stop the development of these weapons, to stop the development of these missiles, and to denuclearize the peninsula. And so I think while it’s unclear [i.e. Trump's tweets! Stephanopolous would have pounced.] -- and want to -- do not want to telegraph in any way how we’ll respond to certain incidents, [He belatedly realized he had criticized the Tweeter-in-chief there and he started stumbling but quickly came back to the message: Unpredictability is good.] it's clear that the president is determined not to allow this kind of capability to threaten the United States. And our president will take action that is in the best interest of the American people. [Pablum.]
RADDATZ: You know, one of the big concerns here, General McMaster, is how North Korea would respond to aggressive action or some sort of preemptive strike. How do you think they would respond?
MCMASTER: Well, that’s what particularly difficult about -- about dealing with this regime, is that it is unpredictable... [There's the irony and McMaster must have wanted to crawl into a hole as soon as those words were out. Unpredictability is good in a stupid impulsive dealing with a paranoid psychopath. The virtue of unpredictability should have the logic of reversibility if it is sound, what's good for the stupid impulsive is good for the paranoid psychopath. But McMaster knows better: a hot line was set up in the Kremlin and in the Oval Office after the Cuban Missile Crisis because of the dangers of miscalculation due to unpredictability. And both the Americans and the Soviets at the time were rational! One was not a stupid impulsive nor the other a paranoid psychopath. Clarity and directness in speech and action are crucial to avoid inadvertent nuclear war. Raddatz...This irony, this logical contradiction, Zoom! right over head.]
...
MCMASTER:...I think, it’s really the consensus with the president, our key allies in the regions -- Japan and South Korea in particular, but also the Chinese leadership -- that this problem is coming to a head. [That sounds ominous, right? When a pimple comes to a head on my ass I POP that sucker, and you will see lots of headlines that incorporate "coming to a head." You will not see many on what follows. Only USA Today a few hours ago.] And so it’s time for us to undertake all actions we can, short of a military option, to try to resolve this peacefully. [Martha Raddatz? Hello? Are you there, Martha Raddatz? The fig leaf of that earlier inartful dodge just fell off and Raddatz doesn't see it. The internal wrestling McMaster was doing with the message of "Unpredictability uber alles" and what McMaster KNOWS, that unpredictability is the WORST strategy in a crisis with a paranoid psychopath, McMaster lost that wrestling match with himself and let the cat out of the bag: Team Trump has ruled out military action.]
...
MCMASTER:...So in the coming weeks, months, I think there’s a great opportunity for all of us -- all of us who are really the threat now of this unpredictable regime [Stephanopolous: "Which unpredictable regime, General?" McMaster would have run off the set.] to take action short of armed conflict, so we can avoid the worst. [So, he said it twice, no military action. Having missed it twice, Raddatz segued away from the peninsula to Syria. Ms. Raddatz PISS POOR job there, PISS POOR.]
