Kash immediately shakes up FBI

JD Vance doesn't even use his last name assigned at birth, so Republicans have a long history of identity affirming nomenclature.

 

Then he would have stepped aside for an open primary. He and his cared about themselves first or we wouldn't have this problem

 

I’m talking about what he did as President, not as a candidate.

 

He was potus. It was a potus decision. He gave us DT 2.0. That is his legacy. Too selfish to step aside

 

No doubt he should have stepped aside and most Dems I know thought he would.

However, that doesnt mean the new candidate would have won. The maga message of continuous lies resonated with far too many. Disappointing finish for Biden, but I think he accomplished more than he currently gets credit for. Dems are weak on messaging and branding. IMO, if any Dem gets the blame for djt's return, it would be Garland.

 

the turrriibble candidate they ran almost won. a true leader, tested through primaries, separated from Biden would have easily won. DT arguably ran against two of the most disliked potus candidates ever to lead a ticket. Both put there by the political machine with no real primary. Put Kam in a true open primary and she doesn't crack the top 5. Just not a good politician/speaker

 

Well, this is no doubt a waste of time, but I have some to waste so here goes -

I dont know anyone left or right that opposes deporting hardened criminals. It's the process that is the problem. Still waiting for a realistic immigration policy from djt other than just building a wall or locking everybody up and/or deporting them. Recall he killed the last bipartisan attempt for progress on immigration. Both sides own the problem.

Every Dem I know supports public education, Pubs not so much. Pubs support pouring more tax dollars into private education and putting politicians in charge of public universities. In fact many Pubs discount college education.

Calls for effective law enforcement from the right has now become a joke given trump's pardoning of the Jan 6 criminals and his ability to use his power/$$$ to avoid prosecution.

Anybody that has worked in corporate America should know that merit-based hiring is pretty subjective and often just a term to hire "people I like". Is trump's cabinet really merit based?? the best of the best?? Reminds me of hiring football coaches.

Eliminate gov waste? Sure, but as always the problem is in what is considered "waste". Be careful in not throwing out the good with the bad. It is much easier to tear down than build up. How much waste did trump eliminate in his first term? The budget deficit soared to record levels. Time will tell regarding the impact of doge and I credit Pubs for claiming that they are fiscal conservatives, but truly there are none that I see and it's been that way for a long time.

As for the Dems being the party of nasty commentary/rhetoric that's a laugher. Not even most trumpsters buy that. When I hear that, I am always reminded of that warm and fuzzy maga bumper sticker "F--- your feelings".

 

A different candidate "might" have won, but "easily"? Nah, dont think so. Kicking an incumbent VP to the curb always has risks. Doesnt matter now anyway.

Ive talked to too many people that would have voted for trump no matter who the opponent was. Too many believed trump lies on the economy, taxes, Qanon conspiracies, his victimhood, etc, etc. Historically, the Dems are always a fractured bunch unlike the Pubs. Hopefully, the Dems get their act together for the midterms and have 3 years to unite behind a winner. No idea who that would be.

 

What if your momma was your daddy?

 

the middle mattered, less than 500k votes int he middle and no DT 2.0. Kam is a historically bad politician on a national stage. if the people chose someone else in an open primary so be it. that whole attitude of worrying about what it looks like is why dems continue to flounder. get the best candidate, regardless of what it LOOKS like. they failed to do so because they were worried about what something looked like and gave us DT 2.0

 

“This is beyond problematic,” said Christopher O’Leary, a former senior FBI official who retired in 2023. “Any hope that Kash could be steered by having experienced leaders around him is out the window. We now have two conspiracy theorists and election deniers running our premier law enforcement and intelligence agency.”

FBI agents express shock and dismay over naming of right-wing podcaster to No. 2 post

 

Experience and merit are early victims of Trump's vendetta.

 

Neither candidate or campaign in 2024 provided enough incentive for 88 million eligible voters (18 or older, citizens, nonfelons) - approx 35% of the electorate to register or cast a vote.
Roughly 1/3 of our citizens do not participate.
Shouldn't this factor be driving our national political narrative?

 

Well, I just don't buy the " it's the Dems and/or Bidens fault" we have trump 2.0. Trumps presidency is all on those that voted for him for better or worse. To say otherwise is like blaming the victim for a crime.

 

I don’t think it’s so simple to say it was due to Joe not stepping down and Kamala being a poor candidate. Incumbent parties all around the globe lost elections with better candidates. Far right parties made gains in many countries. Coming out of Covid induced inflation the incumbent parties took the brunt of the electorates’ ire, rightly or wrongly.

 

wow, this is putting us all at risk, decentralize command so communication failures can flourish. can you say 9/11

expects staff to make changes that would require $100M in funding with no additional funding from Congress..

Trump’s FBI chief ordered 'so many changes employees couldn’t tell if he was serious': WSJ
On his first official staff video conference, FBI Director Kash Patel didn't waste time listing a significant number of major changes he intended to make to the bureau.

That's according to a Thursday report in the Wall Street Journal, in which President Donald Trump's new head of the FBI held fast to his promise of shaking up the nation's top law enforcement agency upon taking charge. Patel was said to have immediately ordered changes to the bureau's command structure, making it based by region as opposed to being centralized out of Washington D.C. He also demanded the FBI's fitness requirements for agents to be increased and announced plans to set up a partnership between the FBI and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC (the mixed martial arts league owned by Trump backer Dana White). Several people on the call told the Journal that Patel "rattled off so many changes that employees couldn’t tell if he was serious about all of them."

Wall Street Journal reporters Sadie Gurman and Aruna Viswantha additionally wrote that Patel announced that 1,500 FBI staff would be moved from Washington D.C. to cities with high crime rates like Cleveland, Detroit and Minneapolis. However, one person on the call informed Patel that such a move would cost roughly $100 million and that it spending bureau funds on that project may require an act of Congress. "Patel was unmoved," Gurman and Viswantha wrote. "Figure out how to do it anyway, and fast, he told them."
...................................

In addition to serving as the ninth director of the FBI, Patel has also been named the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms – which is the first time any FBI director has worked a second job. The Trump administration has not explained how it expects Patel to fulfill his duties of overseeing both law enforcement agencies given the strenuous nature of both jobs.