US Special Ops chief: US government 'in unbelievable turmoil'

Washington (CNN)The head of US Special Operations Command said Tuesday that the US government is in "unbelievable turmoil," a situation that he suggested could undermine US efforts to fight adversaries such as ISIS.

"Our government continues to be in unbelievable turmoil. I hope they sort it out soon because we're a nation at war," Army Gen. Raymond "Tony" Thomas told a symposium in Maryland.

While it wasn't exactly clear what Thomas was referring to, his remarks come less than 24 hours after retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was forced to step down as national security adviser, becoming by far the shortest tenured adviser in history.

more at link http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/14/politics/us-special-ops-government-turmoil/index.html?sr=twCNN021517us-special-ops-government-turmoil0500AMVODtopLink&linkId=34513692

Not just Flynn: Here are 4 more Trump loyalists with troubling ties to Putin’s Russia

1. Jack Kingston:

Former Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) was in Moscow in December meeting with American business leaders to discuss what changes are forthcoming in the relationship between the two nations, Raw Story reported.

“Trump can look at sanctions,” Kingston told NPR during his overseas visit. “They’ve been in place long enough. Has the desired result been reached? He doesn’t have to abide by the Obama foreign policy. That gives him a fresh start.”

Kingston served as an advisor to Trump on the campaign and is currently a paid Republican commentator to CNN and in an interview with Jake Tapper, he revealed he works for a law firm that has offices in Russia but claimed he was there as a private citizen.

More at link: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/not-just-flynn-here-are-4-more-trump-loyalists-with-troubling-ties-to-putins-russia/

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/kellyanne-conway-tweets-love-you-back-to-white-nationalist-and-then-quickly-deletes-it/

Kellyanne Conway tweets ‘Love you back’ to white nationalist — and then quickly deletes it

President Donald Trump’s White House adviser, Kellyanne Conway, retweeted a Valentine’s Day note from a white supremacist on Tuesday. The user, whose name is “Lib Hypocrisy” with a frog meme — now recognized by the Anti-Defamation League as a hate symbol of the alt-right white supremacist movement — wrote, “Your strength & resiliency in face of vile hatred, bigotry, & sexism of the unhinged Left is a daily inspiration! Love you!”

Conway retweeted the user, writing “Love you back. Happy Day to the Hapless Haters.” Her tweet has since been removed.

...Trump was going around tables during dinner asking guests what he should do about Priebus and Spicer—a crowdsourcing game he reportedly played when he was deciding which candidate to choose for vice president, and again, when picking who he would nominate as secretary of state. (A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to request for comment.)

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Both Bannon and Kushner have tried to articulate their improbable mutual affection. In explaining the unlikely relationship between himself (an orthodox Jew whose grandparents survived the Holocaust), and Bannon (who ran the alt-right Web site Breitbart News, which has published anti-Semitic comments), Kushner defended his colleague’s character in an interview with Forbes. “What I’ve seen from working together with him was somebody who did not fit the description that people are pushing on him. I choose to judge him based on my experience and seeing the job he’s done, as opposed to what other people are saying about him.” Bannon had a similar take. “If you’re in a foxhole with him, and fighting with him, you’re a brother, and he will defend you nonstop,” Bannon told New York Magazine.

Nevertheless, a perception existed during the campaign and transition that Kushner was a moderating voice to Bannon’s nationalistic agenda. Kushner, after all, came from a major Democratic family. He hosted fundraisers for Corey Booker. He privately reassured his friends and business leaders in his orbit that his father-in-law and Trump’s team would pull back from some of the extreme rhetoric that they peddled on the trail once they got into the West Wing. As one source close to Kushner described to me last month, Kushner was thought of as the “secure line” as a result—someone whom moderates could call in order to be heard by the president and to hear what the president really planned to do behind all that political bombast.

But now, a month into his new job in the West Wing, Kushner appears to have become a true believer in Bannon’s agenda. Several sources told me that Kushner was defensive about the executive order that temporarily barred Muslim immigrants and refugees. The longtime friend said that when he pointed out that refugees had not, in fact, been responsible for any of the terror attacks on U.S. soil, Kushner, he said, answered by saying that that was not true.

more at link
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/02/jared-kushner-donald-trumps-true-believer

The president and his allies believe career NSC staff assigned from other agencies are out to get them. In turn, some NSC staff believe Trump does not possess the capacity for detail and nuance required to handle the sensitive issues discussed on the calls, and that he has politicized their agency by appointing chief strategist Bannon to the council.