tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028559600285418296.post1040934241256404582..comments2024-03-09T03:16:23.856-05:00Comments on Hampton@: big announcementalexanderofyorkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16423348843384221975noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8028559600285418296.post-75984415225458721162017-01-26T20:56:11.511-05:002017-01-26T20:56:11.511-05:00Stupid and dangerous:
Speaking on Thursday in...Stupid and dangerous:<br /><br /> Speaking on Thursday in Philadelphia at an annual retreat for Republican lawmakers, Mr. Trump seemed to think Mike Pompeo, the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, would be among the senators, representatives and party operatives hooting and hollering in the crowd.<br /><br /> “Where is Pompeo? Where the hell is he?” Mr. Trump said, scanning the crowd.<br /><br />Because we really, really want the CIA to become a partisan political organization. We really want to see the head of our Intelligence Service guffawing and pounding down martinis with folks plotting how to screw over the American people with their legislative agenda. <br /><br />This wasn’t a one-off either. According to The Hill he repeatedly asked for Pompeo’s whereabouts during his speech, like he was presenting at an awards ceremony.<br /><br />This is yet another example of someone lacking even a fundamental understanding of how our government operates. As The New York Times patiently explains, Pompeo, the new head of our Intelligence service, was not in attendance at the GOP policy huddle:<br /><br /> The C.I.A., like the military, is supposed to be apolitical, and its chief does not have a direct role in creating administration policies. Though Mr. Pompeo has attended the Republican retreat in years past — he was a Republican representative before taking over the C.I.A. on Monday — it would be considered highly inappropriate for him to take part in his new role running the country’s premier intelligence agency.<br /><br />But of course Trump doesn’t know this. In fact, the thought that there might be something “inappropriate” about mixing the Intelligence Services with a partisan political gathering like this probably never crossed his mind.<br /><br />Or maybe he just thought he was back in Russia.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com