In this position Tulsi Gabbard will be able to find out why she was put on the DHS “watch list” within the TSA. Additionally, I note that all of the nominations and appointments have come from within the group of campaign surrogates and campaign officials. Perhaps that filter disqualifies anyone else.
President Trump Announces his nomination of former Democrat Representative, former DNC Co-Chair, and former Bernie Sanders campaign spox, Tulsi Gabbard, to be Director of National Intelligence.
[Source]
I’m sorry folks, we are going to have to wait to understand the thinking behind this one. I have absolutely no idea. Mrs Gabbard has never led any organization of scale, nor held any position of intelligence review that I am aware of.
Other than being a campaign surrogate (via RFK Jr) and very close friend of Tucker Carlson, who I’m told is one of a small group organizing the cabinet appointments; together with Donald Trump Jr, Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk and Robert F Kennedy Jr. (currently living in Mar-a-Lago); I’m not sure what would be the plan for Tulsi Gabbard (maybe with guidance from Ric Grenell?). Like everyone else, I’m puzzled.
I read every sentence of that announcement carefully. I don’t see mention of a skillset attributable to IC organization or large institutional leadership. However, maybe it is Tulsi Gabbard’s inherent sense toward protecting constitutional freedom that is of great value. Gabbard does express a solid strain of Rand Paul type libertarianism.
I am aware that everyone associated with the intelligence position decision-making on the transition team believes the Intelligence Community (IC) is a worthy, important and valuable construct, unfortunately led by corrupt individuals. Newly appointed National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is one of many who hold this opinion.
The transition team earnestly believe the honorable IC ‘rank and file’ paradigm; a type of thinking/wish-casting that I dropped many years ago. As a consequence, perhaps they believe that changing the faceplates will stop the silo engineers from using the weapons within it. Frankly, I’m just not sure.
From a distance Tulsi Gabbard seems like a nice person, and I’m told she is very differential to consensus amid group settings.
Perhaps as the hub of the 17 agency intelligence silos, DNI Tulsi Gabbard will be able to organize a less harmful end result from the intelligence community.
Perhaps going in with a singular goal of changing the way information is classified would be enough sunlight to change the system, I just don’t know. I don’t even know if that’s their goal. Mrs. Tulsi Gabbard was not on my bingo card for possible ODNI candidates.
I will watch the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) confirmation hearing with great interest.
I want everyone to be successful, including ‘We the People.’
The ODNI was created as an outcome of the 9-11 Commission recommendations. In the era shortly after 9/11, the DC national security apparatus was constructed to preserve continuity of government and simultaneously view all Americans as potential threats.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) were created specifically for this purpose.
Washington DC created the modern national security apparatus immediately and hurriedly after 9/11/01. DHS came along in 2002, and within the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 the ODNI was formed.
When Barack Obama and Eric Holder arrived a few years later, those newly formed institutions were viewed as opportunities to create a very specific national security apparatus that would focus almost exclusively against their political opposition.
Here is the weird part. The ODNI was formed in 2004, with the intent for the office to be the pivot point of a national security radar. The DNI was intended to provide information to domestic agencies about foreign terror networks that would prevent something like 9-11 from happening again. However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has never, not for one day, operated on this intent. This is why they are such a critical position from my perspective.
The office was new, not established yet as a functioning silo, when Barack Obama and Eric Holder arrived in 2009. They quickly dispatched an idiot, James Clapper, into the operation so they could weaponize around the offices’ fulcrum point, the intelligence hub.
Prior to the DNI office existing, the CIA radar would sweep externally and then report to the Office of the President. The DNI was intended to take external radar sweep (CIA) and make it a full 360° circle, adding a sweep inside the USA that would be handled by the Dept of Homeland Security.
The DHS sweep and the CIA sweep would then be combined into a central collection hub called the ODNI. Everyone with responsibility for “national security” could access the ODNI material. Essentially and presumably, post 9-11 nothing like jihadists practicing flying airplanes would be missed again; at least that was the intent.
The weird part is that because the DNI was immediately weaponized, the office has never functioned to the purpose of its intent. No one truly knows what the office possibilities consist of because no one has ever seen anyone try to functionally control the hub.
the DNI office has never been used for good. In a strategic way, that could be used to our advantage if you are talking about leveraging silos against each other.
Example: The DNI can assemble material from any silo. Meaning the DNI can reach into any IC silo and extract anything they want. Under the original authorities given to the DNI, this authority exists. So, let’s spread the wings on this office and do exactly what it is permitted to do, only this time extract for the purpose of showing the President what is happening in every silo.
In essence, the DNI *CAN BE* deployed like a super strong cross-silo inspector general’s office. Force the other IC silos to comply with the demands of the DNI. This has never been done. But the DNI has this unique power.
The DNI can make the FBI, DOJ, DOJ-NSD, DoD, DoS and CIA provide anything and everything they demand. Instead of the other silos using blocks and threats against the office of the President, use the authority of the DNI to get them without confrontation. Then use the DNI to declassify the documents (if requested by potus), instead of the originating silo.
Can you see how the DNI office can be repurposed to be a seriously strong weapon in the toolbox of the President, against the schemes of those inside the various IC silos. The DNI becomes much more important than the CIA Director, NSA Director, FBI Director, Attorney General, etc, because the DNI can just show up and say, “give me this.” That’s the whole functional purpose of the DNI office that has never been exerted; let’s flippin’ use it.
Let’s use the office of the DNI as the central information hub that takes information from inside the corrupt silos, then provides that information to the President who puts sunlight upon it. Each corrupt silo penetrated with disinfectant. This could begin a process to pull down the shadow operations and let the American public see what has been happening inside our IC apparatus.
To accomplish this approach the National Security Advisor to the President (NSA), in this scenario, Mike Waltz, would be the person who tells the DNI exactly what they are looking for.
How does NSA Mike Waltz know what to look for? Because the National Security Advisor is the head of the National Security Council (NSC).
Now you see why I say put the strategic and scruffy people like Mike Flynn, Kash Patel, etc in a stripped down NSC.
Let the NSC monitor the silos with specific intent, then provide Trump’s NatSec Advisor Mike Waltz with details on what appears to be happening and where. With the approval of the President, the NSA Waltz then turns to DNI Gabbard and says, “POTUS wants this, go get this.”
Raw, unfiltered, unredacted information. The silo administrators end up in a fight with the DNI Gabbard, not the office of President Trump. President Trump then uses the power of his office to support the demands of DNI Gabbard.
Under this approach the DNI has a lot more power; yet funnily, it’s power they already have – yet have never utilized.
Unfortunately, the DNI needs to be confirmed by the Senate Intelligence Committee – so, this factors into who can achieve the position.
She was the only Democrat in Congress to meet with PDJT privately after he overcame their election steal attempt in 2016
Tulsi Gabbard recalls when she was told ‘how dare you meet Donald Trump in 2016
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/tulsi-gabbard-recalls-when-she-was-told-how-dare-you-meet-donald-trump-in-2016/articleshow/113574222.cms
Love this pick.
Tulsi isn’t ready for this position & all it’s traps & pitfalls today, but she will do the advance work, be well prepared & loaded for bear by January 20th.
I agree.
How do you know she is not ready? What evidence exists to support your statement? Trump picked her. He’s sharper than anyone commenting here tonight. All of us.
Simply, she’s not. She has little to No IC experience & she’s not a deep Washington insider. Yes she was a congressman for 8 years & served 1 year on the House Select Intelligence Committee, but she’s about to enter a different world where everyone will be out to protect their own, stay employed, remain unicarirated & not have their security clearance(s) pulled (arguably for many the most important thing). For preservation sake, they will attempt to deceive, distract, disrupt, demoralize & fight her with everything they have.
You shouldn’t walk into a den of vipers & believe you’re safe because you held a garden snake as kid & weren’t scared.
I have every confidence she’ll be a well-oiled machine ready to handle these manipulators once she arrives.
I don’t speak anecdotally but from a position of experience.
But to your point, other than my opinion of what I believe to be the case, I have no evidence to support my statement.
We’ll see 👀.
Exactly the feeling that had me choose my screen name many years ago.
Good people is waying down experience on Trump’s balance scale.
You mean like a never before elected politician, 70 y/o real estate mogul to become a 2 time President of the United States?
Yes, exactly.
Yes. I will vote for common sense and willingness to directly attack tough challenges over some back-scratching flunky with a membership-card.
It is easier for an outsider to learn the relevant details of the job than it is for a longtime insider to unlearn years of institutional corruption.
“YES!” Isn’t it funny how “unprepared” so many said of President Trump in 2016 and he turned out to be the best.
Love it!
She supported President Trump and took a lot of heat for it.
He continues to show me that not only is he wise, but loyal to those who stand with him.
Looking forward to Inauguration and beyond!
I wonder if the ODNI role will be smaller than present. Re-organize its scope to pare it down.
“I’m sorry folks, we are going to have to wait to understand the thinking behind this one. I have absolutely no idea. Mrs Gabbard has never led any organization of scale, nor held any position of intelligence review that I am aware of.”
Credentials are overrated.
As Mr. Spock said to Dr. McCoy – Talent above credentials.
Agreed,
She has a grasp of the nature of the UniParty and the threat it poses to the MAGA agenda.
President Trump has spent enough time with her to understand that.
Running a large organization of any kind takes talent.
The IC is the fourth branch of government, as Sundance keeps reminding us.
“The DNI can make the FBI, DOJ, DOJ-NSD, DoD, DoS and CIA provide anything and everything they demand. ” She will have to find a way of ensuring that she actually does have access to raw intelligence, and the IC/Deep State is not hiding information and covert activities from her. She has to know when she’s being stonewalled.
Mike Waltz could be a help, but it’s unclear if the NSC and NSA could go deep enough to find the IC’s hidden secrets.
I’d rather see her as head of the VA, and Rick Grenell as DNI.
I was also hoping for Grenell as DNI and Tulsi head of the VA.
Her job is not to “run” the IC (unconstitutional fourth branch of government,) her job is to disassemble it and break it down to something that advances US national interests rather than subverting them.
We don’t need somebody to operate the Swamp, we need somebody to drain it.
EXACTLY….and part of Trumps X factor (as evidenced ad nauseam FOR YEARS on The Apprentice ) is his ability to spot diamonds in the rough, match people to tasks, and motivate/SCARE them into performing beyond their perceived limitations.
That’s why ONE REASON we voted for him……
“Scaramucci’ is Italian for “Dog shit in the rough”.
I 2nd that emotion…
but sometimes you just don’t see it in time….and you get “Stinkfoot”….
Credentials these days are like used toilet paper stuck on your shoe.
Waaay too often a “tending serious” political argument I have had with strangers falls down to the “I have tis and that credenetial. I know more than you about xyz…”
even though their so called credentials have little to do with xyz
Academia is a pool of arrogance topped off with smugness and gobs of real-world ignorance.
A PhD in English Literature knows nothing about just about anything else, and even these days not much about classical English Literature. Don’tcha know they were just a bunch of white guys.
When she/he/it starts going there it’s time to say, “You might want remove that toilet paper from your Balenciaga sneaker.”
That “trust the experts” nonsense didn’t pan out so well the last thousand times it has been invoked.
Experts brought us the Covid disaster,
Experts got us into the Afghan war disaster, ran the Afghan 20 year sinkhole, followed by the even bigger Afghan exit disaster.
Experts told us “inflation was transitory” and published all the bogus economic statistics to pretend it was
Experts told us we needed an open border to “do the jobs Americans will not do.”
Experts ruined our education system at every level and turned it into a grooming gang
Experts moved all our jobs overseas and moved all the third-world’s crime and poverty over here.
Experts told us the Chinese spy balloon couldn’t possibly be dangerous
Experts set fire to overturned train cars full of toxic chemicals
Experts told us we couldn’t clean up deadfall in the forests because of “global warming” and then told us the resulting out of control wildfires were caused by “global warming.”
Et Cetera Et Cetera. You get the idea.
An “expert” is someone who knows more and more about less and less.
An expert in English literature knows a lot about character.
Exactly! Pick a established credentialed statesman, guess what you get. Pick a credentialed ( age and “education and/or positioned ) – Guess what you get. Pick a MAVERICK – GUESS WHAT YOU GET! Sound Boots and Saddles – let’s get this battle going!
Sometimes you must give to get. He got a lot and now he is giving a lot. As long as they stay loyal I don’t see catastrophic impacts
Right. And NOBODY there is working in a vacuum or without a net….
All these picks are really outside of the norm . Most all of President Trumps picks are new blood . Not the same old swamp creatures . (Still a few I guess ). Overall I like it .
Tulsa may not have a lot of large scale leadership experience but, she has a fantastic bullshit detector
I’m thinking – wasn’t DJT winning the presidency on his first go around, outside of the norm??
Pretty sure it was and he did pretty damn good – so hopefully (with a lot of help) Tulsi will do just fine!!
Her name is Tulsi.
Good Ole autocorrect
Yes. So far no K Street lobbyists, consultants or think-tank people. No “long time departmental staffers.” No academic theoreticians. No holdovers from past GOP administrations.
Trump is implementing the “Discontinuity of Swampy Government” plan.
Don’t be confused, it’s a great choice. Tulsa is like me, and so many others: a former Democrat who has seen the light. In fact I think people like us are the strongest supporters of MAGA — no “battered conservative” syndrome for us!
Stupid spellchecker!!
MAGA welcomes every American citizen! I’ve been a battered conservative since the ’80’s, but the times they are a changing!
How many of these picks pretty much could only assume the office anytime in the next 10 years under our current GOPrick RINOrats leadership? Are several of these tapped to be recess appointments as the only way they could really get in? Especially, Gaetz.
Tulsi Gabbard to DNI is a bit of a head scratcher. Unless the idea is to put someone in there who is a complete outsider with an axe to grind against the organization. Someone with no love for “muh beloved instatooshin.”
And she is that. So is Matt Gaetz as Attorney General. More than a little thin on qualifications and experience leading a large agency, but definitely has a grudge against it.
Who better to get in there and cause trouble? Gaetz, if confirmed, will go to town on Barr’s Bondo. The question is, will they be able to do anything constructive.
Exactly- find out what happened and right the wrong
Gaetz is smarter than people give him credit for, imo. To me, his biggest flaw is knowing when to push and when to sit back and let results come to him.
It also depends on your definition of constructive. It ain’t all going to be fixed in 2 or 4 years. Shoot, I’ll be happy if we just cause some of the denizens of the bureaucracy to vacate under the bright, hot sunlight of discovery.
Gaetz is the “RINO bait.” His confirmation vote will reveal whether or not Thune and his Senate buddies are MAGA’s friend or foe, whether Thune will honor all the promises he made to Trump this week. It’s a TEST.
Tulsi isn’t captured by the IC, as far as I know. Other than that, her military credentials and Congressional record give me confidence that she’ll be up to the job. After all, winning a seat in the totalitarian-Democrat state of Hawaii requires some kind of high, political IQ.
I think she’s one who will grow in this office, and deliver for America. (Yeah, I’ve very wary because some of her core political positions run 180 degrees against my own. I don’t think she’ll be a traitor, like some in the previous Trump Administration.)
Thus of us aware of the Neocon plans to launch a series of wars for their own interests using American Blood,sweat,tears, and debt slavery money, understand Tulsi is opposing the Neocon/Deep State. Secular Syria was and should be our friend not enemy. Here she is going against the Deep State.
Tulsi Gabbard Says Syria’s Assad Not ‘Enemy’ of U.S., Country Poses No Direct Threat
https://www.newsweek.com/tulsi-gabbard-syria-bashar-al-assad-enemy-kurdish-foreign-policy-morning-joe-1321014
She has personally felt the sting & harassment of the corrupt DOJ under Biden. She did nothing wrong other than oppose them politically. I love the way Julie Kelley spells justice. It’s R E V E N G E. The dems weaponizing the justice department with corrupt judges & harm they’ve done to MAGA, J 6ers, & Trumps family will be addressed & dealt with.
Very little IC experience. That said, that might be a good asset right now.
Like RFK Jr, she took no small amount of heat for just meeting PTrump, let alone getting aboard the MAGA train.
Unless this is a DJT pump-fake….I’m willing to see how this one unfolds.
Maybe 6-dimensional chess?
My faith in PDJT is unwavering. Being a person with no political background, I have no basis to question his choices.
Nah -forget that multi dimensional nonsense. President Trump is willing to take a risk on an appointee if he thinks the person has potential. It doesn’t always work out. Remember Rex Tillerson?
If the past is an indicator, appointees who don’t perform will be fired quickly.
Thanks for your advice, which I will ignore.
hummm.
Tulsi Gabbard is a whole lot better than that 75 year old idiot from Indiana that continuously sabotaged President Trump!
We are off to a decent start, maybe better then we think.
Some of the DC creatures are being moved out of the way. Some nominations are a chess move to open up a spot for another. If they fail in their adjudication of their respective duties, then they become Nikki Haley!
We can bemoan that they never ran an organization that big. That just might be, in the sense of DC, the real secret. Hopefully these organizations are downsized in the process!
Some of these appointments are perhaps intended as a shot or 2 or 3 across the bow.
Watch half of the FBI and DOJ retire early in the next 2 months.
Rats scramblin.
It’s gunna happen.
There are forced moves at the end of a chess match. Early retirements are welcomed, but no one should think retiring = escaping criminal or civil liability for wrongs committed.
I do think that, on top of everything else President Trump is doing with these nominations, he is forcing the Cabal’s hand.
In other words, the nominations are the equivalent of “I intend to shatter the CIA into 1,000 pieces and scatter them to the wind.”
We all know what happened next.
Not entirely off topic, in the environs of Mordor recently, I observed five military age males, a young woman, and someone who reminded me of a Lt. Col. in terms of how he carried himself, pile into a black van. All of them Chinese, speaking in Chinese.
Maybe something. May be nothing. But it may be that the DS alliance last ditch panic move is being organized, and is shortly about to launch.
My wife is from Taiwan, and I can tell you, as we are North of Mordor by an hour and half, and are there every couple weeks, the place is absolutely full of communist agents. And, the FIB’s don’t do a thing.
I have a hunch lots of those FBI and DOJ types will be shopping for a retirement home somewhere with a nice warm climate near a beach in some country with no extradition treaty with the US.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
https://x.com/3th3ric/status/1856827216803631574
Swamp creatures beware…
She will have the largest budget of any of the IC groups, please use to track terrorists and not freedom loving American citizens
THE BANKING RELIEF ACT under FDR made ALL us citizens “enemies of the state”. He rewrote TWEA and included american citizens. The Patriot Act made us “domestic terrorists.”. That is why “licensure” for everything—because you are an enemy. Few realize that since FDR—every president since has extended or declared a state of emergency. Ever wondered why?
Terrorists foreign and domestic…
“Differential to consensus” can be a problem.
Wanting to please s everyone because of fwellings is not a good trait when what is needed is a maverick with a can-do, take no crap disposition is what is needed, imo.
Unless there is another play to marginalize this position and have someone or some other way to get the ‘job’ done.
Not real thrilled with this one.
Would have much more preferred Grennel or Nunes, or even Gaetz and had Paxton as AG.
It is what it is.
Deferential?
Read the post and you will it.
I was looking for your take on it. There’s my answer. I like her opposition to the Neocon-L—- wars setting up their WWIII.
My view is that he is setting up multiple level plays with his moves
Top level (highly visible):
The War of Stories. I could put the fancy name of “heuristics” on that, but basically it connects to the reality that the human mind is pre-set to understand the world in terms of stories.
The “Gabbard in place to take revenge for being put on the terror watch list for domestic flights” works in that war of stories.
It is reality TV for the average Joe. It comes with heroine already in place, as she battles the bad guys.
Think of the visible cabinet as made up of some very real players (Homan, Miller, imo Hegseth) and some folks who might develop into being real players (Gabbard), and some side players destined to fail (Rubio, Noem, Stefanik) because of the impossibly compromised institutions they’ve been nominated to run. But that’s okay, because they were already in line for destruction
At the same time, we set up the rivals competing for the top spot in 2028 storyline (the Apprentice).
All of which keeps the people engaged, and rooting for the team throughout the four years. It also keeps the Blob distracted, expending ammunition, and rightly fearful because they know what they did to Gabbard, and Gaetz, and others.
In the meantime . . . off stage, the whole theater is undergoing a restructuring.
Think about how much has happened in the last 8 years. All the documents quietly declassified into the FBI Vault. All the SpaceX flights. The CHIPS Act . . .
Zoom out.
Yeah, I’m beginning to think the ‘appointed’ positions are going to be the hammer behind the scenes while the nominees that have to be Senate approved are a deflection and window dressing.
Not sure why one has to be appointed to DNI to figure why they were put on a watch list for betraying democrats. She didn’t jump ship to not get a position in the Trump admin. Quite a few coat-tailers in this election.
The only thing I know about her from memory is that she was in a medical unit in Iraq when things were super nasty. I am guessing she got her fill of war from being there. Then when she came home, she blew off an important VA hearing as a Congresswoman to go surfboarding w/a reporter. Maybe she has grown up since then? Or has better staffers to tell her to not do such a stupid thing?
She seems like a nice person, w/a nice delivery, but definitely is one of the ones that has her story memorized and canned ready to go at a moment’s notice.
She was in a medical unit her first tour.
After completing an officer training program, she did a tour in Kuwait with an MP unit.
” she was in a medical unit in Iraq when things were super nasty. I am guessing she got her fill of war from being there.”
I note the general age of those Trump is picking, suggesting to me he is elevating people who he thinks have a chance to be around for some time as new leaders within government and the Republican party.
I want a wipe-out of the FBI leadership and those who followed Wray and Abbate’s orders willingly! If Gaetz gets the position in the DOJ, I am sure he will gather many scalps!
I especially want Mayorkas to face nothing but trouble from this new administration, even if defending himself bankrupts his life savings and retirement funds.
I also want to learn Obama has left his Washington residence to live in another home far, far away. George Clooney can join Kevin Costner out in Wyoming on a hunting trip with Liz’s dad, Dick. In my dreams this might happen!
I agree.
I saw this tweet today and it describes how it looks to me.
https://x.com/Sunnygal62/status/1856811792766312784
I agree.
President Trump is looking towards MAGA Future for generations to come.
Therefore, I believe he is hiring those who are not entrenched in the system, yet have tickets that can help them learn the jobs and understand the work environment.
They can also be beneficial in making the necessary changes, since they are NOT entrenched.
Love the humor! Thanks.
Planck’s principle as applied to politics. Ideological change occurs one funeral at a time.
“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it …”
“An important scientific innovation rarely makes its way by gradually winning over and converting its opponents: it rarely happens that Saul becomes Paul. What does happen is that its opponents gradually die out, and that the growing generation is familiarized with the ideas from the beginning: another instance of the fact that the future lies with the youth.”
— Max Planck, Scientific autobiography, 1950, p. 33, 97
Colloquially, this is often paraphrased as “Science progresses one funeral at a time”.
Look…
The source of corruption is $$$.
The source of the corrupt $$$ is cut off.
Powell literally slammed the door in shame, knowing damn well that We The People aren’t buying the garbage{debt} anymore.
The Govt {Federal Reserve Bank} is in receivership.
Trust God. Fear not.
For the past 4 years President Trump has orchestrated this planting. I’m more than willing to wait for the harvest. May every bite be delicious.
OK, I don’t get it either. But, you’ve said many times that we’re in an ‘abusive’ relationship with our own gov’t. Maybe we can improve that relationship by changing it up a bit, e.g. Vance, Hegseth, Gabbard, etc.
The same old recipe does not work; PDJT is taking a sledge hammer to the stove and I for one am ready to take a seat at his table.
Look as it this way, if his intentions are honorable and he fails, then our system of government is irreparable and we’re left with ‘refreshing the tree of liberty’. If he screws it up, then shame on us for trusting him and, again, we’re left with ‘refreshing the tree of liberty’.
Steadfast!
There is a strategy here, a 16 pound strategy as you mentioned. If the 4th box turns out to be the only avenue left, which many of us Do Not want, it will not be pleasant.
He said he made the mistake last time of taking people’s recommendations for many positions. There were a lot of hangers-on around and people picked out of the blue (Rex Tillerson) who while being unconventional or appearing to be a change from the traditional power structure were still not loyal. If he’s picking campaign surrogates, he’s choosing people who actually have/had skin in the game knowing the stakes if he’d lost. These are people who burned the proverbial boats in publicly coming on board with the Trump Agenda.
“The Director of National Intelligence serves as the head of the U.S. Intelligence Community..”
The CIA will report directly to Tulsi Gabbard who will in turn report directly to Trump.
Gabbard earned a great deal of respect when, in 2020, she said the US was funding bio lab research in the Ukraine.
She was accused of being a traitor by her fellow democrats for saying that. They accused her of pushing Putins agenda.
She never backed down.
https://www.newsweek.com/tulsi-gabbard-bio-labs-ukraine-russia-conspiracy-1687594
She is one tough cookie when it comes time to tell the truth.
I think Trump likes that around him.
Her pronouns are: her, and hellcat.
Too confusing, really
https://legalinsurrection.com/2024/11/rep-matt-gaetz-resigns-from-congress-after-attorney-general-nomination/comment-page-1/#comments
Gaetz is “burning the boats” victory or die.
I don’t understand many of these picks, but I guess it isn’t necessary for me to understand at this moment in time.
We voted for President Trump because we trust him to lead the MAGA movement and because we are confident that he will do his absolute best to restore our constitutional republic. He will fight for us and he’s willing to die for us.
Knowledge and understanding of President Trump’s plans will come in due time. In the meantime, I can be puzzled and patient at the same time. I’m good with that.
Perhaps the actual control over each department will come from higher up, like Stephen Miller. They just need honey badgers of the proper orientation to enforce those orders. RELEASE THE HONEY BADGERS!
A good take: President Trump isn’t going to make the same mistake again. This time he’s appointing fiercely loyal outsiders who want to come in and upset the apple cart.
You should send this to Trump world and Tulsi to illustrate how the office can be used (if you don’t think they’re thinking of it in this way).
I’ll give her lack of managerial and IC experience a pass, and hope she gets installed.
For one thing, she has learned from her earlier mistakes. Turning your back on old affiliations and being articulate about the why of that, shows some character right there. As to ability, she only needs to hire well and guide well.
Her current rank is 05 light colonel if she’s still a reservist. She started out as an enlisted medic, went to Officer Candidate School, and was top graduate in her class. That career progression is not an easy row to hoe, swamp critters would not try that route.
Good pick on Trump’s part. She may be effective. And like SD said, she’ll be able to find out just who put her on the TSA watch list.
if we’ve learned one thing about those in the swamp….
there is no real experience that is needed other than knowing how to swim in the swamp and vote with the puppet masters…
I like that trump is not hiring from with in the deep swamp and they are all people who are quick to learn on the job and most importantly willing to learn from Trump.
I don’t trust her. She spent her entire life as a Democrat until basically last Tuesday. Just because she spent three years giving Carlson a stiffy on TV is no reason for this.
PA Senate Race now going to a “recount” a la Marc Elias/ Al Franken cheat….
29,000 votes difference.
while NOT ONE WORD from the GOP ……….is ANYONE fighting for McCormick??????????????
Elias didn’t have to do anything. The margin is less than required by state law to force a mandatory recount.
That said, expect a pitched battle.
“I’m not sure what would be the plan for Tulsi Gabbard (maybe with guidance from Ric Grenell?). ”
Perhaps she can get confirmed by the Senate “swamp creatures” and Mr. Grenell would get flak.
Apparently the last thing Trump wants in his DNI is somebody the establishment and IC are comfortable with. Making them un-comfortable could be part of the plan.
I think she will prove her detractors wrong. Sorry, Sundance, I see Tulsi Gabbard as a good pick for ODNI BECAUSE she has no association with the slime of the Intelligence Community.
On the Patrick Bet David podcast, Charlie Kirk was flexing his feathers stating that he is in on these decisions at Mar-A-Lago. It explains a few of the appointments. Seems the fraternity brothers are working overtime filling the seats of power.
The podcast also included Chris Cuomo – who voted for his brother as a write-in for President. I find that if we want to know what the Establishment is doing – the PBD podcast is a great way to hear it from their own mouths.
There are not many who have even acknowledged the weaponization of the intelligence/administrative state, but she has, point blank. She has spoken like someone who gets it.
Yes, the position could be a real asset to Trump if used correctly. In any case, if we worry about her lack of experience in this environment – what’s lost, given that we were fine without it and would be as happy to see the position disappear completely anyway?
Finally, this gives her a role where she could serve the administration and American people well while steering clear of those issues where she has not been ideologically conservative.
WTH happened to Ric Grenell?
I read somewhere that he was sick … was he around on the campaign trail at all?
He did have cancer not long ago and I haven’t heard if it was in remission? I mentioned this yesterday.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Grenell#Personal_life
This is like watching a Marvel Universe movie of a League of Incredible People, including Wonder Woman and Lara Logan as Princess Xena.
Tulsi Gabbard, Matt Gaetz, and Pete Hegseth all have personal axes to grind with “The Swamp.”
Trump putting them in these positions is like going to your local animal shelter and coming back to the farm with three feral cats.
You lock the cats in your feed barn knowing by the end of the week the barn will be free of rats.
The first reaction most entrenched interests have, at least in business which is my background, is to say: “well that’s just the way we’ve always done it..”. Sometimes it takes an otherwise talented outsider to challenge the status quo.
Credentials are a gating mechanism of the elite. I hope she goes in there and effs sh!t up.
Sometimes those who started out on the wrong side of things can turn out being the strongest assets once they wake up and switch sides. Plenty of examples… even a guy named Andrew Breitbart. And anyone who’s been here for a long time know that little old ME started out pretty far gone. I was not only a Dem, but was even fairly far to the left on most issues. Of course I let everyone here (incl Sundance) know that, and yet I was still welcomed with open arms. My transition was slow, but once I got red-pilled on various issues I was totally ashamed of where I had once been, and I realized just how the brainwashing and gaslighting had affected me. And once I was fully red-pilled, I got ANGRY at the slime who had done that to me. And I think that’s a bit of what has happened to Tulsi.
Which is why I believe she CAN be trusted. Just because she was once on the wrong side of a lot of stuff doesn’t mean she can’t be trusted. I would think that you guys here trust ME, right? You don’t care where I started out, what’s important is where I ended up, right? Well… I’m willing to give Tulsi the same benefit of the doubt.
“There’s ALWAYS room for jello!”
The titles remain the same but perhaps PDJT is revising job descriptions? Maybe that’s why he appointed her. I wonder where Ric Grenell, a true loyalist and smart man with tons of experience, will fit in?