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Home » Ratcliffe confirmed…

Ratcliffe confirmed…

The New Neo Posted on by

…as director of national intelligence.

That’s a role that’s been rather in the news lately, isn’t it?

Here’s a take on it from the Guardian that almost made me laugh: “Trump loyalist John Ratcliffe confirmed as new US intelligence chief.”

“Trump loyalist” – how shocking, that Trump might choose someone on his side. When the Democrats do it, they are just electing sober, non-partisan patriots.

Democrats allowed a quick vote on the nomination this week, dropping their usual procedural delays in a signal that they prefer Ratcliffe over Grenell. But most Democrats still opposed his nomination, making Ratcliffe the first DNI not to win broad bipartisan support since the position was first created in 2005. The vote was 49-44.

Democrats said they were skeptical that Ratcliffe would be an independent leader, despite his assurances during his confirmation hearing. The Republican has been an ardent defender of the president through House impeachment and investigations into Russian interference.

The Democrats can’t wait to get Grennell out of there.

Comments

Ratcliffe confirmed… — 10 Comments

  1. Grennell is a heat seeking missile. I wonder where Trump will deploy him next.

  2. Grenell started to clean up the Augean Stables, that rats’ nest, that den of vipers, and did more in—was it even a month—than anyone could have reasonably expected.
    Extraordinary.
    Hope that Ratcliffe can continue the momentum.
    There’s still lots to do.

  3. A big step forward. The Dems have created logjams. And they’ve intimidated plenty of competent people “if you work for Trump you’ll never be employed in this town ever again”.

  4. From Redstate’s story –

    The New York Times sent out a rather audacious and tone-deaf tweet which said: “Former officials have expressed concern that Representative John Ratcliffe, President Trump’s pick to serve as director of national intelligence, will politicize what is supposed to be a nonpartisan job.”

    Too partisan? May I remind them that James Clapper, the king of partisanship, served as the DNI under Obama? And that Obama’s CIA Director, John Brennan, is a subject of interest in U.S. Attorney John Durham’s criminal investigation?

    Is there a rule which says Democratic presidents can nominate partisans, but Republicans must choose nonpartisans? Are there any nonpartisans in Washington?

    Why, yes – there IS such a rule.
    And there are NO nonpartisans anywhere in the country any more, so it seems.
    Those who pretend to be usually are not, and official party affiliation is no guarantee that one’s partisan credentials match their personal actions, as Mueller et al. so amply demonstrated.

    However, being partisan today does not necessarily mean being a Democrat or a Republican.

    https://www.walkawaycampaign.com/our-mission

    Daily Caller podcast featuring Brandon Straka, which gives a lot of detail about how he started the WalkAway campaign, literally as a one-man-show.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQAFkzP6aBE&feature=youtu.be

  5. From the Guardian’s story –

    Ratcliffe worked to separate himself from the president at his confirmation hearing, including by saying he believed Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, a conclusion Trump has resisted. He said he would communicate to Trump the intelligence community’s findings even if he knew Trump disagreed with them and might fire him.

    Still, the position carries unique challenges given the president’s inclinations to politicize intelligence and to bend intelligence agencies to his will. Trump has openly rejected intelligence community assessments at odds with his own viewpoint, including on the Russian interference.

    Trump has also shown himself as eager to have intelligence agencies investigate matters that he hopes will support his political positions, with agencies now trying to determine whether the coronavirus pandemic emerged in a laboratory in China, a notion that has so far been dismissed as a conspiracy theory.

    Media is not biased, no sirree, not at all.

  6. Now…fire Wray.
    Grennell as FBI head so he can burn it down & scatter the ashes.

  7. “The Democrats can’t wait to get Grennell out of there.” – Neo

    Some people loved Grenell (me included) – I hope Trump does move him around the agencies. Would love to see a Tweet: “Don’t make me send Ric back there!”

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2020/05/21/grassley-praises-grenell-as-the-most-transparent-government-official-during-his-lifetime-n2569239

    “Before serving as Acting DNI, Grenell was the U.S. Ambassador to Germany where he strengthened U.S. relationships and held Europeans leaders accountable to major agreements like NATO.”

    Europe just wishes Trump hadn’t kept him as Ambassador during his stint at DNI.

  8. I thought Grennell was still Ambassador to Germany and only temporarily at DNI? And oh, John Guilfoyle, what a wonderful idea — Grennell as temporary FBI Director.

  9. Kate–That’s actually a great idea.

    Bring Gennnell in to be the hatchet man to clean up an Agency, then, when the job’s been done, appoint a reliable permanent head for that Agency, and move Grenell on to temporarily head up the next Department that needs to be cleaned up.

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