Very Dangerous Man: Based on His Words; Record; and New Revived Plan for Trump

“Clear and Present Danger” to America's Future

(Stephen K. Bannon)

I can’t say how much this kind of story and talk bothers me and now coming on the heels of this earlier story I posted here.

This new story comes from NBC News, and it is very startling and deeply concerning. Yet, from what we know, it’s also just like Trump and Bannon – and damn scary.

It seems to me that from their words, ideas, and possible plans that they act like its 1776 and our newly independent country needs to be restructured and as if to say that the last 245 years of our democratic nation, government, and life doesn’t mean a thing to either of them. 

Bannon still wants to “deconstruct” it all and “reconstruct it” to fit Trump’s image.  That in a word is insane by any measurement.

The NBC news story leads with this headline:

“Bannon fires up the shock troops for the next GOP White House”

WASHINGTON — Scores of former Trump political appointees gathered at a GOP social club (September 29) to hear Steve Bannon detail how they could help the next Republican president reconfigure government.

Bannon the told NBC News via a telephone interview: “If you’re going to take over the administrative state and deconstruct it then you have to have shock troops prepared to take it over immediately. I gave 'em fire and brimstone.”

Recall that Bannon ran Trump’s first campaign and later worked as a top adviser in the White House (that is before Trump fired him in August 2017) now says Trump's agenda back then was delayed by the challenges of quickly filling some 4,000 slots for presidential appointees at federal agencies and the steep learning curve for political officials who were new to Washington.

He is not alone in that view.

Bannon's appearance at the Capitol Hill Club came at the invitation of a new organization called the Association of Republican Presidential Appointees (ARPA), which was formed to create a resource for future GOP officials tapped to fill Federal jobs.

Jeffrey Shapiro, a former Broadcasting Board of Governors official who is one of the organizers of the new group said: “There are so many statutes and regulations as well as agency and departmental policies – it can be very overwhelming when you first come into office. This is an organization that now has a very narrow, clear, and much-needed purpose. Once it is operational, I think it could do a lot of good not just for the Republican Party but for the country.” 

Shapiro went on to say that organizers are still trying to determine who will lead the association, but he said the need for institutional memory is apparent, concluding: “What we’re hoping to do is build a base of people that can be available as a support system for political appointees who are coming in for the first time. It’s easy, if you know the rules, to accomplish your objective.”

As for Trump, he has frequently railed publicly about career civil servants and Obama administration political appointee holdovers whom he saw as obstacles to his agenda, referring to them collectively as “the deep state.”

Bannon said he wants to see pre-trained teams ready to jump into Federal agencies when the next Republican president takes office. For the most part, that means the tiers of presidential appointees whose postings don't require Senate confirmation saying: “We’re going to have a sweeping victory in 2022 and that’s just the preamble to a sweeping victory in 2024. And, this time we’re going to be ready — with a MAGA perspective, MAGA policies, and not standard Republican policies.” 

Bannon  was describing Trump’s slogan: “Make America Great Again” calling a 2024 electoral victory: A second Trump term.

The launch drew a crowd of roughly 200 former officials from multiple Republican administrations — although mostly they were former Trump appointees — that according to a person who attended and is not one of the organizers of the group.

My 2 cents: All this talk if very troubling and more so now with so many mad, angry, well-armed, and badly misinformed Republicans running around like those we saw on January 6. 

Now, those worries triple in size at this kind of story about Bannon’s plan for the “New United States of Trump.”

Time will tell of course, but with our country so badly divided now and which that seems to be worse with each passing week and the above story, – well it is very worrisome. Hopefully logical and rational minds will prevail. 

I still trust the general public, and hopefully I am not alone in that view. 

I am not one to cry wolf and run in wild circles chasing my tail over any issue, but what we have seen from Trump in the past, and now from Bannon and the RED state secessionist Republicans (my link above) calling for a break up of our country – well, that talk is downright very, very dangerous. 

I hope better minds will prevail and we get back on track – that is critical for us all. 

Finally, this review of Bannon from November 2016 (worth remembering).

Thanks for stopping by.