>While the press and most Americans were focused on the Trump ban on immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, a move of potentially greater significance to the nation appears to have slipped under the radar for the most part. The press has focused on Trump’s rushed order that took many government employees by surprise, and its effect on families, and American businesses. Putting the ban in place may have been suggested by Steven Bannon, a major Trump advisor. The media prominently covered the demonstrations against the ban, the way judges had put a halt to some of the orders, and the way various lawyers had come to the aid of the detainees. There is no question that this move by Trump contradicted American values, such as a welcoming embrace for refugees and those buffeted by war and persecution, and that his order may be unconstitutional in some ways.
However, while the immigration bru-ha-ha was taking place, Trump changed the make-up of the National Security Council, potentially putting the nation at greater risk and providing his campaign manager and chief advisor Steven Bannon with greater power. Bannon, who had been a right-wing agitator and the CEO of Breitbart News before hooking up with the Trump campaign, did have some minimal military experience, having served in the Navy when he was much younger. But he was not a military or intelligence expert.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence were removed from the Council, and told to participate only when the Council considers issues in their area of responsibility. This is really bizarre when you think about it, as every issue before the National Security Council should involve input from the DNI and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Why should President Trump have removed them from the Council and put Steven Bannon with no expertise involving national security in their place.
It sounds as if the idea may have come directly from Bannon, who convinced Trump that he could play a useful role on the Council. The order elevates Bannon over the DNI, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and above top military and intelligence advisors, and puts him on a level with the Secretaries of Defense and State. Bannon is basically a political appointee who now may be considered President Trump’s top dog on military and intelligence issues, with a direct line to the president’s ear.
The president’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, declared that the move at the NSC was done to make an antiquated and bloated bureaucracy more efficient, a talking point that makes no sense. Past high-level officials from both parties were surprised and disturbed by the action, which was seen as injecting politics into national security issues, which is a strong no-no. Political repercussions should never be a consideration when dealing with national security.
And why should someone like Bannon, with no significant military or intelligence expertise be on the National Security Council. It appears as if Trump has raised him to be his second in command, above his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his White Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus who was appointed at the same time as Bannon. Bannon also appears to have supplanted General Michael Flynn as Trump’s main source of national security information, with Flynn having made some missteps in his interactions with Trump.
But the Bannon role is particularly concerning because of his access to Trump and the way the president follows his advice. As his role has expanded, he has accumulated more power. One wonders if Bannon has become the Trumpian equivalent of Rasputin who was the influential advisor to Czar Nicholas, the last Russian czar who was deposed and killed by the Communists at the time of the Revolution. Given his history of involvement with white supremacists and the alt-right, Bannon presents a danger to American democracy with his position in the Trump White House hierarchy. The question is whether the Republican establishment can get Bannon out before he does too much damage? Otherwise, America is even in more trouble.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
graphic by DonkeyHotey – Steve Bannon – Caricature, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53846293
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020