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Open in TheBrain

mcmaster, HR n s adv

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bald dude ntbcw woman initials

Ginni scalp?!  (flynn tried to protect?)

8/21 cya on afghanistan judy w did not push hard; 5k taliban prisoners released by trump

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morn joe cagey aw shuck old soldier like boy hero GW no advice on election publishers made me bring out early?

trump twt discount fiction bin

an 8 24

H.R. McMaster — the three-star general who served as former President Donald Trump's national security adviser for a little more than a year — is shedding new light on how the 45th president of the United States was viewed by the rest of the world.

The New York Times is reporting that in his new book, At War With Ourselves, McMaster wrote that Trump was often outmaneuvered by world leaders who used flattery to take advantage of him. This was particularly true with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2018, McMaster described how he once saw Trump writing a complimentary letter to Putin to go with a copy of a New York Post article in which he called Trump a "good listener" while criticizing the American political system.

"Like a child with his Christmas wish list, the leader of the free world asked McMaster to send it to the Kremlin. It was especially bad timing: Evidence was coming to light that Putin had directed an assassination on British soil," the Times' Nicolas Niarchos wrote in his review of the book. "McMaster did not forward the note, later explaining to an infuriated Trump that his letter would 'reinforce the narrative that you are somehow in the Kremlin’s pocket.'"

READ MORE:Ex-aide: Trump would've 'lost his mind' if Putin confessed to election interference

McMaster wrote that foreign leaders treated the former president like a "chump" in their various interactions with him. During a 2017 trip across Asia, the former national security advisor recalled how he warned his boss to not let Chinese President Xi Jinping trick him into agreeing with policies that would benefit China and/or harm the U.S. or its allies. However, Trump wound up agreeing with Xi that military exercises in South Korea were a "waste of time" and that China had a case to annex Japanese territory.

"[Xi] ate our lunch," McMaster wrote in a note to then-White House chief of staff John Kelly.

Even when not dealing with international affairs, McMaster wrote that the Trump White House was a "vortex of vitriol" in which staffers were constantly trying to one-up each other with gratuitous displays of sycophancy combined with "accusations of disloyalty" against each other. He also regarded former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon (currently an inmate in federal prison) as similar to both the "Iago" character in Shakespeare's play "Othello," who plays on the leader's insecurities, and the "weird sisters" in the play "Macbeth," who rile up the king with prophesies.

READ MORE:Steve Bannon 'quite concerned' his prison mates will be 'dangerous criminals': report

While the former national security adviser never outright said Trump was unfit to serve a second term, Niarchos noted that McMaster was known for "strenuous expressions of humility," and didn't spare himself and other top advisors from blame for Trump's poor performance on the world stage. He cited Roman philosopher Seneca, who "emphasized the need to have control over one’s own mind."

"Trump’s anxieties and insecurities rendered him vulnerable," McMaster wrote in the book.

McMaster took over as national security adviser following the short-lived and controversial tenure of Major General Michael Flynn, who only served in the role for roughly three weeks before resigning. The Washington Post uncovered evidence that Flynn both had unsanctioned foreign policy talks with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and lied to the outgoing Obama administration about those conversations.

:{:{Click here to read the Times' full review of the book (subscription required).}:

:{READ MORE:'Why do they hate America?' Analysts slam new Republican party’s 'fealty to Donald Trump'

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/vladimir-putin-nuclear-weapons/

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wiki 7 22

Groundswell is a coalition of prominent American conservative activists, including Virginia Thomas, who began meeting in 2013 in order to fight progressivism in the United States and the Republican Party (GOP) establishment.[1][2][3] Groundswell went on to be influential in the White House of former presidentDonald Trump, conducting an effort to rid the White House and other government agencies of so-called "deep state" opponents of Trump.[4][5][3] The Groundswell Group played a significant role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential Election.[6]

According to leaked documents in 2013, the group had started staging "a 30 front war seeking to fundamentally transform the nation",[1] by such goals as undermining the power of former GOP strategist and Fox News analyst Karl Rove,[7] along with the 2012 Benghazi attack and the Operation Fast and Furious's gun-running issue,[8] repealing the Affordable Care Act, working behind the scenes to enact voter ID laws, and blocking Obama administration nominees.[1]

In 2021, Barbara Ledeen was named as a member of Groundswell in connection with her involvement in an undercover campaign by Project Veritas to discredit H. R. McMaster when he served as Trump's national security adviser in 2017 and 2018. Ledeen, longtime staffer for Senator Chuck Grassley on the Senate Judiciary Committee and wife of neoconservative foreign policy analyst Michael Ledeen, said she passed on information about McMaster's social calendar to Project Veritas which then used the information to plan an operation to secretly record McMaster making comments that would cause him to resign or be fired. Ledeen admitted passing on the information but said "I am not part of a plot."[4]

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https://www.axios.com/**2020/02/**23/trump-memos-deep-state-white-house

axios

the Trump White House and its allies, over the past 18 months, assembled detailed lists of disloyal government officials to oust — and trusted pro-Trump people to replace them — according to more than a dozen sources familiar with the effort who spoke to Axios.

Driving the news: By the time President Trump instructed his 29-year-old former body man and new head of presidential personnel torid his government of anti-Trump officials, he'd gathered reams of material to support his suspicions.

In reporting this story, I have been briefed on, or reviewed, memos and lists the president received since 2018 suggesting whom he should hire and fire. Most of these details have never been published.

The big picture: Since Trump's Senate acquittal, aides say the president has crossed a psychological line regarding what he calls the "Deep State." He feels his government — from Justice to State to Defense to Homeland Security — is filled with "snakes." He wants them fired and replaced ASAP.

Let's get to the memos.

1. The Jessie Liu memo: Shortly before withdrawing the nomination of the former D.C. U.S. attorney for a top Treasury role, the president reviewed a memo on Liu's alleged misdeeds, according to a source with direct knowledge.

Between the lines: The Liu memo is not the first such memo to reach the president's desk — and there's a common thread in Groundswell, a conservative activist network that's headed by Thomas and whose members include Ledeen.

Thomas has spent a significant amount of time and energy urging Trump administration officials to change the personnel inside his government. This came to a head early last year.

2. The Groundswell memo: The presidential personnel office reviewed Thomas' memo and determined that some names she passed along for jobs were not appropriate candidates. Trump may revisit some given his current mood.

Potential hires she offered to Trump, per sources with direct knowledge:

:{:{}:

What we're hearing: These memos created tension inside the White House, as people close to the president constantly told him his own staff, especially those running personnel, were undermining him — and White House staff countered they were being smeared.

3. The State Department memo: In one extraordinary incident last year, President Trump passed along another action memo to histhen-head of presidential personnel, Sean Doocey (since pushed to State and replaced with former body man John McEntee). People familiar with the January 2019 memo say it came from conservatives associated with Groundswell. Though nobody I’ve spoken to has claimed credit for it.

The bottom line: As the New York Times' Peter Baker wrote on Saturday, "in some of the most critical corners of the Trump administration, officials show up for work now never entirely sure who will be there by the end of the evening — themselves included."

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-ginni-thomas-insane-hiring-memos-for-former-president-donald-trump

no lnx    Inside Ginni Thomas’ ‘Insane’ Hiring Memos for Trump

‘WRECKED’

Ginni Thomas’ suggested hires included known bigots and at least one suspected foreign spy, sources say.

Asawin Suebsaeng

Senior Political Reporter

Adam Rawnsley

Former Senior Researcher

Updated Apr. 02, 2022

Years before she became one of then-President Donald Trump’s most prominent coup supporters, Ginni Thomas was already notorious in his West Wing for, among other things, ruining staffers’ afternoons by working Trump into fits of vengeful rage.

“We all knew that within minutes after Ginni left her meeting with the president, he would start yelling about firing people for being disloyal,” said a former senior Trump administration official. “When Ginni Thomas showed up, you knew your day was wrecked.”

Ever since she became a welcome guest at Trump’s residences, Thomas—an influential and longtime conservative activist, and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas—had perfected a proven formula of enthralling and manipulating the president’s emotions and mood. On multiple occasions throughout the Trump era, Thomas would show up in the White House, sometimes for a private meeting or a luncheon with the president. She often came armed with written memos of who she and her allies believed Trump should hire for plum jobs—and who she thought Trump should promptly purge—that she distributed to Trump and other high-ranking government officials.

The fire lists were particularly problematic, as they were frequently based on pure conjecture, rumor, or score-settling, where even steadfastly MAGA aides were targeted for being part of the “Deep State” or some other supposedly anti-Trump coalition, according to people who saw them during the Trump administration. The hire lists were so often filled with infamous bigots and conspiracy theorists, woefully under-qualified names, and obvious close friends of Thomas that several senior Trump aides would laugh at them—that is, until Trump would force his staff to put certain names through the official vetting process, three sources familiar with the matter said.

“These fucking lists were so insane and unworkable.”

— one former Trump White House official

During the Trump years, these memos would astonish various administration officials, including those working in the White House Presidential Personnel Office (PPO). Some of these officials noticed that as the Trump term went on, the Thomas lists would increasingly feature a disproportionate share of names more suited to an OAN guest line-up than any functional government. (To be fair, well before Ginni Thomas became a recurring visitor, Trump would routinely hire people because they had entertained or excited him, via Fox and other cable-news appearances.)

Officials in the PPO regularly annotated the margins of Thomas’ hire lists, usually including a single line for each rejected name, explaining why the prospective hires did not work out. Some failed background checks, or suffered from security-clearance hold-ups. Other annotations noted that a specific individual was offered a job in the Trump administration, but turned it down for whatever reason.

Sometimes, the reasons for the White House’s preemptive rejection, despite Thomas and Trump’s best efforts, were more outlandish. According to a person who reviewed one of the Thomas lists, one annotation for a MAGA job candidate noted that that individual had made too many extreme or offensive jokes on social media that were still visible.

Another of these annotations claimed that one recommendation for a Trump administration position was, in fact, a suspected foreign-intelligence asset, or spy.

Thomas did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

Over the years, some of the specific names that Thomas had compiled and pushed to Trump and his West Wing have trickled out into the press. Among them were Fox News personality Dan Bongino, and the Trump-adulating Sheriff David Clarke.

And according to two sources with knowledge of the matter, Thomas had, unsuccessfully, advised the then-president to hire Frank Gaffney.

Gaffney, a former Pentagon official in the Reagan administration, has spent the past two decades embracing some of the more absurd conspiracy theories circulating in the far right. He has accused conservative anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist of being a secret agent for the Muslim Brotherhoodand believes that American adversaries are working on secret electrical device-frying “electromagnetic pulse” weapons to zap America back to the pre-industrial age.

“These fucking lists were so insane and unworkable,” said one former Trump White House official who had to personally deal with the Thomas-supplied memos and Trump’s fascination with them. “A lot of them were dripping with paranoia and read like they were written by a disturbed person.”

After Thomas departed, he would soon summon a variety of government personnel—West Wing brass, national security aides, lawyers, and other underlings, depending on proximity or the occasion—to inform them he’d just spoken to “Ginni.”

Trump would then identify an official— or, sometimes, he would rattle off a string of names—who he said needed to be sacked “immediately,” according to people familiar with the matter.

When they could get away with it, several of these Trump administration hands would slow-walk these Thomas-inspired firing directives, and wait until Trump invariably forgot about it, cooled off, and moved on to other fixations and gripes. Others would scramble to try to calm Trump down themselves, advising their boss to reconsider, telling him that a firing or a larger purge in the middle of the Trump term would make him look bad or attract negative media attention.

Thomas’ interactions with the Trump administration have taken on a new significance since the January 6th House Select Committee released text messages showing her urging Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to help overturn the 2020 election. Members of the committee are now seeking to interview Thomas, whose efforts to overturn the 2020 election included attendance at a “Stop the Steal” rally on the National Mall the day of the insurrection.

“Trump loved talking to Ginni so much because he loved hearing about who was a Never Trumper, or allegedly one. He loved people who would flatter him, [as Ginni would do],”said Stephanie Grisham, once a top White House aide to Trump who has since had a very public falling-out with the ex-president. “But also, his obsession with loyalty aside, he just loved to gossip—all the time. That’s something else he got out of his series of meetings at the White House with Ginni Thomas.”

In the text messages released by the committee last month, Thomas defended Sidney Powell, the “Kraken” lawyerwhose election conspiracy theories were so outlandish they earned her a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit, the scorn of rank and file Republican officials, and sanctions from a Michigan court. At the time, a number of Trump aides were trying to distance the president from Powell because of her increasingly outlandish comments about bogus election fraud. Thomas, however, urged Meadows not to yield to mainstream Republicans, according to The New York Times.

In her texts with Trump’s consigliere, Thomas also showed a fondness for Steve Pieczenik, a far-right pundit and onetime Tom Clancy co-author whose conspiracy theories and bogus claims were so far-fetched even InfoWars briefly booted him from appearing on the network. Before he began pushing the fake stories about watermarked fraud-catching ballots that earned Thomas’ endorsement, Pieczenik had pushed QAnon conspiracy theories, claimed to have arrested Pope Francis, and spun bogus stories about prominent mass shootings being false flags.

During the Obama administration, Thomas and Gaffney participated in a conservative messaging effort known as “Groundswell.” The group, an informal network of conservative journalists, pundits, and political operatives, routinely met at the offices of the right-wing activist group Judicial Watch to coordinate talking points opposing the Obama administration’s agenda and plot the ouster of allegedly moderate Republicans like Karl Rove from the broader conservative movement.

The revelation of Thomas’ texts with Meadows prompted the January 6th Committee to seek an interview with her, according to CNN, but that effort falls far short of the more legally compelling option of a subpoena.

In the meantime, Congressional Democrats are divided over how to handle Thomas’ cameo in the Jan. 6 scandal. Some, like Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, have called for Thomas to recuse himself from Jan. 6-related cases while others like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have called for him to step down or be impeached.

But the lack of a Democratic supermajority in the Senate means neither of the Thomases are likely to have to give up their jobs just yet.

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herbert Raymond McMaster (born July 24, 1962) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 25th United States National Security Advisor from 2017 to 2018. He is also known for his roles in the Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Born in Philadelphia, McMaster graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1984, and later earned a Ph.D. in American history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His Ph.D. thesis was critical of American strategy and military leadership during the Vietnam War and served as the basis for his book Dereliction of Duty, which is widely read in the United States military. During the Gulf War, McMaster served as a captain in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, taking part in the Battle of 73 Easting.

After the Gulf War, McMaster was a military history professor at the United States Military Academy from 1994 to 1996, became a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Consulting Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).[3] He held a series of staff positions in the United States Central Command. In 2004, he took command of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and fought the Iraqi insurgency in Tal Afar. He became a top counterinsurgency advisor to General David Petraeus before serving as the Director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center. He also served as the Deputy to the Commander for Planning of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and, in 2014, became Deputy Commanding General of the Army Training and Doctrine Command.

In February 2017, McMaster succeeded Michael Flynn as President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor. He remained on active duty as a lieutenant general while serving as National Security Advisor, and retired in May 2018.[4][5] McMaster resigned as National Security Advisor on March 22, 2018, effective April 9,[6][7][8] and accepted an academic appointment to Stanford University in 2018.

McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Visiting Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a lecturer in management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[9][10][11]

Early life[

McMaster was born in Philadelphia on July 24, 1962.[12] His father, Herbert McMaster Sr., was a veteran of the Korean War who retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel of Infantry.[13] His mother, Marie C. "Mimi" McMaster (née Curcio),[14] was a school teacher and administrator.[15] He has a younger sister, Letitia.[15] He attended Norwood Fontbonne Academy, graduating in 1976; and high school at Valley Forge Military Academy, graduating in 1980. He earned a commission as a second lieutenant upon graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1984.[16]

McMaster earned a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in American history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). His thesis was critical of American strategy in the Vietnam War, which was further detailed in his book Dereliction of Duty (1997).[17] The book explores the military's role in the policies of the Vietnam War.[18] It harshly criticized high-ranking officers of the era, arguing that they inadequately challenged Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and President Lyndon B. Johnson on their Vietnam strategy. The book examines McNamara and Johnson's staff alongside the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other high-ranking military officers, and their failure to provide a successful plan of action either to pacify a Viet Cong insurgency or to decisively defeat the North Vietnamese Army. McMaster also details why military actions intended to indicate "resolve" or to "communicate" ultimately failed when trying to accomplish sparsely detailed, confusing, and conflicting military objectives. The book was reportedly much read in Pentagon circles and included in military reading lists.[19][20]

Military career[

McMaster's first assignment after commissioning was to the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood, where he served in a variety of platoon and company-level leadership assignments with 1st Battalion 66th Armor Regiment. In 1989, he was assigned to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Warner Barracks in Bamberg, Germany, where he served until 1992, including deployment to Operation Desert Storm.

During the Gulf War in 1991 McMaster was a captain commanding Eagle Troop of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of 73 Easting.[21] During that battle, though significantly outnumbered and encountering the enemy by surprise as McMaster's lead tank crested a dip in the terrain, the nine tanks of his troop destroyed 28 Iraqi Republican Guard tanks[22] without loss in 23 minutes.[23]

McMaster was awarded the Silver Star. The now famous battle is featured in several books about Operation Desert Storm and is widely referred to in US Army training exercises. It was also discussed in Tom Clancy's 1994 popular nonfiction book Armored Cav.[24]

McMaster served as a military history professor at West Point from 1994 to 1996, teaching among other things the battles in which he fought. He graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1999.[25]

McMaster commanded 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment from 1999 to 2002, and then took a series of staff positions at U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), including planning and operations roles in Iraq.

In his next job, as lieutenant colonel and later colonel, McMaster worked on the staff of USCENTCOM as executive officer to Deputy Commander Lieutenant General John Abizaid. When Abizaid received four-star rank and became Central Command's head, McMaster served as Director, Commander's Advisory Group (CAG), described as the command's brain trust.

In 2003 McMaster completed an Army War College research fellowship at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. In 2004, he was assigned to command the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (3rd ACR). Shortly after McMaster took command the regiment deployed for its second tour in Iraq and was assigned the mission of securing the city of Tal Afar. That mission culminated in September with Operation Restoring Rights and the defeat of the city's insurgent strongholds. President George W. Bush praised this success, and the PBS show Frontline broadcast a documentary in February 2006 featuring interviews with McMaster.CBS's60 Minutes produced a similar segment in July,[26] and the operation was the subject of an article in the April 10, 2006, issue of The New Yorker.

Author Tim Harford has written that the pioneering tactics employed by 3rd ACR led to the first success in overcoming the Iraqi insurgency. Before 2005, tactics included staying out of dangerous urban areas except on patrols, with US forces returning to their bases each night. These patrols had little success in turning back the insurgency because local Iraqis who feared retaliation would very rarely assist in identifying them to US forces. McMaster deployed his soldiers into Tal Afar on a permanent basis, and once the local population grew confident that they weren't going to withdraw nightly, the citizens began providing information on the insurgents, enabling US forces to target and defeat them.[24][27] After hearing of McMaster's counterinsurgency success in Tal Afar, Vice President Dick Cheney invited McMaster to personally brief him on the situation in Iraq and give an assessment on what changes needed to be made to American strategy.[28]

McMaster passed command of the 3rd ACR on June 29, 2006, and joined the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, as a Senior Research Associate tasked to "conduct research to identify opportunities for improved multi-national cooperation and political-military integration in the areas of counterinsurgency, counter-terrorism, and state building", and to devise "better tactics to battle terrorism."[29]

From August 2007 to August 2008, McMaster was part of an "elite team of officers advising U.S. commander" General David Petraeus on counterinsurgency operations while Petraeus directed revision of the Army's Counterinsurgency Field Manual during his command of the Combined Arms Center.[30] Petraeus and most of his team were stationed in Fort Leavenworth at the time but McMaster collaborated remotely, according to senior team member John Nagl.[24][27]

Based on his date of rank as a colonel, McMaster was considered for promotion to brigadier general by annual Department of the Army selection boards in 2006 and 2007 but was not selected, despite his reputation as one of "the most celebrated soldiers of the Iraq War."[31][32][33][34] Though the Army's rationale for whether a given officer is selected is not made public, McMaster's initial non-selection attracted considerable media attention.[35][36][37] In late 2007, Secretary of the Army Pete Geren requested that Petraeus return from Iraq to take charge of the promotion board as a way to ensure that the best performers in combat received every consideration for advancement, resulting in McMaster's selection along with other colonels who had been identified as innovative thinkers.[24][38]

[](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Photo_of_Major_General_HR_McMaster_Taken_at_his_new_duty_station_in_June_of_2012_Fort_Benning,_GA.jpg)

McMaster as commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence in 2012

In August 2008, McMaster assumed duties as Director, Concept Development and Experimentation (later renamed Concept Development and Learning), in theArmy Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC) at Fort Monroe, Virginia, part of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. In this position he was involved in preparing doctrine to guide the Army over the next 10 to 20 years. He was promoted on June 29, 2009.[39] Of the 978 members of the West Point Class of 1984 commissioned into the U.S. Army, McMaster was the second promoted to General Officer.[40] In July 2010 he was selected to be the J-5, Deputy to the Commander for Planning, at ISAF (International Security Assistance Forces) Headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan.

McMaster was nominated for major general on January 23, 2012, and selected to be the commander of the Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning.[41] In February 2014, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel nominated McMaster for lieutenant general and in July 2014, McMaster pinned on his third star when he began his duties as Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and Director of TRADOC's Army Capabilities Integration Center.[42]

Army Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey remarked in 2011 that McMaster was "probably our best Brigadier General."[43] McMaster made Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in April 2014. He was hailed as "the architect of the future U.S. Army" in the accompanying piece written by retired Lt. Gen. David Barno, who commanded U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005. "Major General Herbert Raymond McMaster might be the 21st century Army's pre-eminent warrior-thinker," Barno wrote, commenting on McMaster's "impressive command and unconventional exploits in the second Iraq war."[44] Barno also wrote, "Recently tapped for his third star, H.R. is also the rarest of soldiers—one who has repeatedly bucked the system and survived to join its senior ranks."[45] In 2014, retired Army Gen. Jack Keane, a former Army vice chief, commented, "It is heartening to see the Army reward such an extraordinary general officer who is a thought leader and innovator while also demonstrating sheer brilliance as a wartime brigade commander."[46]

McMaster requested his retirement from the Army following his March 22, 2018 resignation as President Trump's National Security Adviser,[47] asking that he leave the service "this summer."[48]

National Security Advisor[

On February 20, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump nominated McMaster for National Security Advisor following the resignation of Michael T. Flynn[49][50] on February 13.[51] McMaster said at the time that he intended "to remain on active duty while he serves as national security advisor."[52][53]

Because McMaster intended to remain on active duty, his official assumption of the National Security Advisor's duties and responsibilities required a United States Senate vote; lieutenant generals and generals require Senate confirmation of their rank and assignments.[54] On March 6, 2017, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 23–2 to recommend to the full Senate that McMaster be confirmed for reappointment at his lieutenant general rank during his service as the National Security Advisor.[55] The committee recommendation was referred to the Senate on March 7, and the full Senate confirmed McMaster by a vote of 86–10 on March 15, 2017.[56]

In early August, McMaster was targeted by what some deemed a "smear campaign" after he fired several National Security Council staff members.[57][58][59] White House officials and journalists suspected Steve Bannon of leading these attacks.[60][61] Attorney Mike Cernovich, radio host Alex Jones and Breitbart News were among the foremost promoters of the anti-McMaster campaign; Cernovich's website for the campaign also included a cartoon depicting McMaster, which the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) labeled antisemitic.[62][63] In addition, the Center for Security Policy criticized McMaster for being insufficiently conservative and for not supporting Trump's agenda.[64][65][66] The anti-McMaster campaign prompted dismissive responses by administration officials, and a statement from Trump affirming his confidence in McMaster.[67][68]

According to reports, McMaster had called Trump a "dope" in July 2017, which a spokesman for the National Security Council denied saying "Actual participants in the dinner deny that General McMaster made any of the comments attributed to him by anonymous sources. Those false comments represent the diametric opposite of General McMaster's actual views".[69][70]

In February 2018, McMaster said that it was "incontrovertible" that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. McMaster, who spoke a day after a federal grand jury indicted more than a dozen Russians in connection with the interference, was addressing an international audience at the Munich Security Conference, including several Russian officials.[71]

Dismissal[

On March 15, 2018, it was reported that Trump had decided to dismiss McMaster from his position at a later, unspecified date. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied the reports in a tweet, claiming nothing had changed at the National Security Council.[72]

On March 22, 2018, McMaster resigned as National Security Advisor after conflicts with Trump,[73] and disagreements with him on key foreign policy strategies, including the administration's approach to Iran,[74] Russia, and North Korea.[citation ^needed] He said in a statement that he planned to retire from the military sometime in the next few months.[4] According to reports, the military was resistant to promoting McMaster and granting him a follow-on assignment,[75] while McMaster was not inclined to accept the positions that were offered.[76] Trump announced John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, as McMaster's replacement.[6] McMaster's ousting closely followed the departures of several other high-ranking officials in the administration, including Trump's longtime assistant andcommunications director Hope Hicks, national economic advisor Gary Cohn, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson."[77] As with Tillerson's dismissal, Trump first announced McMaster's departure from the administration via a public tweet.[7][8][78]

McMaster's retirement ceremony was held on May 18, 2018. It took place at Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall, and was presided over by General Mark A. Milley, the Army Chief of Staff.[79] Among the decorations and honors McMaster received was a third award of the Army Distinguished Service Medal.[80]

  1. "Sources: McMaster Mocked Trump's Intelligence At A Private Dinner". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  2.  Nguyen, Tina (November 20, 2017). "An "Idiot" and a "Dope": McMaster Reportedly Unloads on Trump During a Private Dinner". Vanity Fair. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  3.  Held, Amy (February 17, 2018). "Trump Chides McMaster For Saying Evidence Of Russian Interference 'Incontrovertible'". National Public Radio. Washington, DC.
  4.  Parker, Ashley; Dawsey, Josh; Rucker, Philip; Leonnig, Carol D. (March 15, 2018). "Trump decides to remove national security advisor, and others may follow". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  5.  Woody, Christopher (March 22, 2018). "National security adviser H.R. McMaster is out; John Bolton set to replace him". Business Insider. New York.
  6.  David E. Sanger and Steven Erlanger (May 7, 2018). "Unswayed by Allies, Trump Is Expected to Leave Iran Deal, Diplomats Say". The New York Times. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  7.  "Trump and McMaster have seemed anxious to part but so far remain together". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  8.  Woody, Christopher (March 23, 2018). "Trump reportedly wanted to get McMaster out of the White House with a promotion — instead he's leaving the military altogether". Business Insider. New York.
  9.  Michael Wolff's explosive book on Trump: the key revelations, The Guardian, Martin Pengelly, January 5, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  10.  Trump, Donald John [@realDonaldTrump] (March 22, 2018). ""I am pleased to announce that, effective 4/9/18, @AmbJohnBolton will be my new National Security Advisor. I am very thankful for the service of General H.R. McMaster who has done an outstanding job & will always remain my friend. There will be an official contact handover on 4/9."" (Tweet). Retrieved March 22, 2018 – via Twitter.

Post-military career[

HarperCollins published McMaster's memoir, Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World in September 2020.[81]

Positive reviews of the book included Cliff May, Founder and President of Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), who said of the book "...with H.R.’s thoughtful, substantive, and intellectual approach. Battlegrounds lives up to this expectation, and then some. As a historian, as well as a soldier and strategist, General McMaster explores the development of the complex challenges facing America in the 21st Century.",[82] and Steve Cohen, an attorney at Pollock Cohen LLP in New York and a former member of the U.S. Naval Institute Board of Directors, who said it was "...a sober, thoughtful, intelligent volume that deserves shelf space for anyone serious about U.S. foreign policy in the first part of the 21st century."[83]

Negative reviews included Spencer Ackerman, who said the book "is disinterested in shedding any significant light on the Trump administration...The geopolitical perspective McMaster offers in Battlegrounds, in keeping with his year as national security adviser, pretends that Trump hasn't happened.",[84] and Gregory A. Daddis, who wrote of the book, "The entire treatise is an advertisement for coercive diplomacy, yet offers little exploration of the potential consequences of constant coercion of others, and of the increased risk of war that follows."[85]

In September 2018, McMaster began work as a Bernard and Susan Liautaud Visiting Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.[86] He was appointed to the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellowship at the Hoover Institution and serves as alecturer in management at the University's Graduate School of Business,[87] effective September 1, 2018, as that institution had announced on July 2 that year.[88]

McMaster is a member of the Atlantic Council's[89] Board of Directors, and in 2019 became an Advisory Board Member of Spirit of America, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports deployed US personnel.[90] In 2020, McMaster became a board member of Zoom Video Communications ,[91] and advisor to Mischler Financial Group Inc.[92] He is Chairman of Ergo's Flashpoints Forum, a consultancy firm. In September 2021, McMaster joined the advisory board of the geospatial-intelligence corporation Edgybees.[93] At the end of 2021, he joined the advisory board of the artificial intelligence corporation C3 AI.[94] In January 2022, he joined the advisory board of Strider Technologies,[95] a software firm focused on economic statecraft risk vis-à-vis strategic competition with China.[96]

Decorations and badges

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sparked by 11 21 kyle BS parasite --> maker/taker --> job creator double god term?

god literally made something from nothing // entrepreneur ayn rand hero  iron man musk

aha the bizMAN is rationale and clear-eyed vs hysterical alarmists; relies on numbers and reason; a biz is inefficient, and our ceo/prez will balance out budget/checkbook, eliminate waste fraud and abuse so the taxcuts will pay for themselves by magic, provide only minimal important service like billion$ jet fighters and cut those lazy POC from food stanps so they can be independent/ producers not takers.

ayn rand agenda 21 BS biggest damage?

ayn /maggie say no society--> djt no community of nations:

tisch maine timeline:

2017 (June)

President Trump announces that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate

Agreement

Stephen Bannon and the anti-globalist, climate denying contingent of White House advisors

trump the personal entreaties of Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio, Pope Francis, Ivanka Trump, Rex

Tillerson, European Union heads of state and many others. Oblivious to the fact that the

emissions standards under the Agreement are voluntary, subject to revision, and entail no

penalties for noncompliance, the President calls the deal “draconian,” imposing unfair standards

on American companies and employees. “At what point does America get demeaned? At what

point do they start laughing at us as a country?” Trump says. “We don’t want other leaders and

other countries laughing at us anymore. And they won’t be.” 

The New York Times observes that

“Mr. Trump’s decision to abandon the agreement for environmental action signed by 195 nations

is a remarkable rebuke to heads of state, climate activists, corporate executives and members of

the president’s own staff, who all failed to change his mind with an intense, last-minute lobbying

blitz. The Paris agreement was intended to bind the world community into battling rising

temperatures in concert, and the departure of the Earth’s second-largest polluter is a major

blow,”* and its editorial board calls the withdrawal “disgraceful.”**Wall Street Journal

headlines declare: “U.S. Climate Pivot Puts a Reluctant China in Driver’s Seat: Trump’s

withdrawal from Paris accord gives China a new opening to exert sway on a big global issue” ***

Some find a May 30 op/ed in the Wall Street Journal by presidential advisors H. R. McMaster

and Gary Cohn as illuminating on the withdrawal decision in: “The president embarked on his

first foreign trip with a cleareyed outlook that theworld is not a ‘global community’ but an arena

where nations, nongovernmental actors and businesses engage and compete for advantage.”

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Writes David Brooks in The New York Times: “That sentence is the epitome of the Trump project.

It asserts that selfishness is the sole driver of human affairs.”****

Al Gore’s statement on the

withdrawal declares that “Removing the United States from the Paris Agreement is a reckless and

indefensible action. It undermines America’s standing in the world and threatens to damage

humanity’s ability to solve the climate crisis in time. But make no mistake: if President Trump

won’t lead, the American people will. Civic leaders, mayors, governors, CEOs, investors and the

majority of the business community will take up this challenge. We are in the middle of a clean

energy revolution that no single person or group can stop. President Trump’s decision is

profoundly in conflict with what the majority of Americans want from our president; but no

matter what he does, we will ensure that our inevitable transition to a clean energy economy

continues.”*****

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers states that “We may have our

first post-rational president,” and that “It is possible that last week will be remembered as a

hinge in history — a moment when the United States and the world started moving on a

path away from the peace, prosperity and stability that have defined the past 75

years.”****** The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication reports that US voters favor

staying in the Paris Agreement by a margin of 5 to 1, and that half of Trump voters support staying

in, with fewer than 3 in 10 saying we should not stay in.******* The formal process of

withdrawal will likely take four years, and not be final until after the 2020 presidential election.

[see 2015 (December)]

*Michael Shear, “Trump Will Withdraw U.S. From Paris Climate Agreement,” New York Times, June 1, 2017,

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/climate/trump-paris-climate-agreement.html

**Editorial Board, “Our Disgraceful Exit From the Paris Accord,” New York Times, June 1, 2017,

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/opinion/trump-paris-climate-change-agreement.html

***Brian Spegele and Te-Ping Chen, “U.S. Climate Pivot Puts a Reluctant China in Driver’s Seat,” Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2017,

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-climate-pivot-puts-a-reluctant-china-in-drivers-seat-1496380249

****David Brooks, “Donald Trump Poisons the World,” New York Times, June 2, 2017,

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/02/opinion/donald-trump-poisons-the-world.html

*****The Climate Reality Project, “Statement by Former Vice President Al Gore on Today’s Decision by the Trump Administration

to Withdraw from the Paris Agreement,” June 1, 2017, https://www.climaterealityproject.org/press/statement-al-gore-us-commitmentparis-agreement

******Lawrence Summers, “After 75 years of progress, was last week a hinge in history?” Washington Post, June 4, 2017,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/after-75-years-of-progress-was-last-week-a-hinge-in-history/2017/06/04/2085b91e-47cf11e7-bcde-624ad94170ab_story.html?utm_term=.7ccf9ee984ec

*******Jennifer Marlon, Eric Fine, and Anthony Keiserowtiz, “Majorities of Americans in Every State Support Participation in the

Paris Agreement,” Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, May 8, 2017,

http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/paris_agreement_by_state/

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/military-veterans

It's time for Americans to end their ritualistic fawning over veterans. When former members of the U.S. armed forces visit the White House to promote military coups, they prove that veterans do not automatically, uncritically warrant our praise.

In an era of perpetual war, this may appear blasphemous. America's all-volunteer force has borne the burden of a militarized foreign policy in the wake of 9/11 that has sent more than two million servicemen and women overseas to keep our nation safe. These veterans have sacrificed immensely, some in heroic fashion. Incredibly brave men and women still populate our military ranks.

Yet in society's haste to thank them for their service, veterans have become, in far too many ways, an inviolable sect beyond reproach. Any criticism risks bringing forth a slew of anti-patriotic opprobrium. Such blanket adulation must end. And this most chaotic of years demonstrates why.

In one of the more contentious political seasons in American history, few malefactors have exceeded the duplicity of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who has called on President Trump to suspend the Constitution and declare martial law so military leaders can oversee a redo of the 2020 election. Never mind that Flynn, who pled guilty to misleading the FBI, once swore an oath to uphold that very Constitution.

Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney has echoed Flynn's sedition entreaties. The Vietnam War veteran also petitioned for martial law in the aftermath of a free and fair election, but then went further still, imploring Trump to cancel the Electoral College, suspend habeas corpus and arrest Democrats for treason.

Below these conspiracy theorists might be found veterans like Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, embracing his party's hyper-partisan talking points to ridicule the working-class background of his colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. To Crenshaw, his political opponents were "nuts" and didn't "know hardship" like he did. (Democratic senatorial candidate MJ Hegar relied on similar tactics in Texas.) Apparently, in these narratives, only veterans understand adversity and suffering.

Nor have senior military leaders and veterans accorded themselves well in foreign policy. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a 1986 West Point graduate, slow-rolled acknowledging Joe Biden as president-elect and publicly quipped he would help usher a "smooth transition to a second Trump administration." The policies Pompeo have supported — one source recently described him as a "global arsonist" — hardly have advanced our national interests overseas.

Even well-respected officers have been largely derivative in their approach to U.S. foreign policy. Retired Lt. Gen. and former national security adviser H.R. McMaster, in his latest book, has recommended a national security strategy based on little beyond what one reviewer has deemed "a more muscular and constant use of force." When President Trump authorized the assassination of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, chief of Iran's Quds Force, other retired generals described the act only in terms of "American deterrence," without questioning its moral or legal justifications.

And none of us should discount that some American veterans have acted immorally in our recent wars, a point of vital concern for our society, if not for our president. Texas Republican chair Allen West — who recently called for secession — received a military reprimand for threatening to shoot an Iraqi detainee,while Eddie Gallagher, Clint Lorance and Robert Bales, among others, either have been accused or convicted of killing civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. Do these men deserve our admiration simply because they wore a uniform?

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1020 an

trump ‘is aiding and abetting Putin’s efforts’: HR McMaster

Sky Palma Raw Story

During an appearance on MSNBC this Thursday, former National Security advisor to President Trump, H.R. McMaster, was asked if President Trump is posing a greater threat to the 2020 election than Vladimir Putin.

McMaster said that he agrees Trump is "aiding an abetting...

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neglected

Denial in the White House

Trump's top advisers—none of whom are at the Bonn talks—now include Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has said that America should not "bow down to radical environmentalists"; chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow, who praised Trump's retreat from Paris as ending "the war on fossil fuels"; and national security adviser John Bolton, who views the accord as a threat to U.S. sovereignty. Trump's entire cabinet is overwhelmingly hostile to the climate treaty, but these three newcomers hold special sway.

Until recently, hope ran high among other delegations that Trump's previous top economic and foreign advisers would persuade the president to keep the U.S. commitment to Paris.

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, well-acquainted with the history of climate negotiations as former chief executive of Exxon, had told Congress he believed that the U.S. should keep "a seat at the table." Former economic adviser Gary Cohn had given a warm hearing to former Secretary of State James Baker and allies who came to the White House early on to make the conservative case for a carbon tax—earning him the derogatory nickname "Carbon Tax Cohn" among his opponents on Trump's staff. And although Brig. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the previous national security adviser, muted his views on the Paris Agreement, many close observers, including President Obama's climate envoy Todd Stern, said they had expected him to be an advocate for the U.S. to stay in the agreement, a high priority for military allies in NATO and for possible adversaries like China.

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an

The removal of Steve Bannon from the National Security Council was first revealed in the capital’s dullest publication, the Federal Register, and explained in the country’s most influential conservative newspaper, the Wall Street Journal.The register published an executive order from President Trump, giving full control of the National Security Council to National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. The order shows every sign of having been written by McMaster himself. In the Journal,Bannon resorted to spin, explaining his demotion as a planned success, part of his master plan to save the NSC from White House demon du jour Susan Rice.

"Susan Rice operationalized the NSC during the last administration," Bannon said. "I was put on to ensure that it was de-operationalized. General McMaster has returned the NSC to its proper function."

Breitbart duly echoed Bannon’s spin, adding the less-than-electrifying news that Energy Secretary Rick Perry will join NSC meetings.

In this case, dull reality matters more than political spin.

McMaster now has control of the NSC agenda, which is to say he has control of the policy options presented to the president, and Bannon does not. Of course, Bannon is still a trusted adviser and still attends NSC meetings. But he will have a lot less influence over what Trump sees, especially in a crisis.

Which is why Trump’s allies are worried. WikiLeaks wonders if this is a CIA victory.

Follow

:{[WikiLeaks :{}:

✔

@wikileaks](https://twitter.com/wikileaks)}:

The empire strikes back? Steve Bannon ("Counsel to the President") off NSC Principal's Committee and CIA Director on https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2017-07064.pdf …

8:53 AM - 5 Apr 2017

Michael Flynn Jr., son of the ousted NSC adviser whose conspiratorial ravings disqualified him for a Trump administration job, senses a White House failure of nerve.

Follow

Michael Flynn Jr @mflynnJR

Fact 1: Flynn/Bannon most loyal to DJT (both out at NSC)

Fact 2: McMaster wont say "Radical Islam"

Is WH serious abt defeating our enemy? https://twitter.com/prisonplanet/status/849655122120593408 …

9:31 AM - 5 Apr 2017

Flynn is correct that McMaster doesn’t like to use the term “radical Islamic terrorism.” But is WikiLeaks right that the CIA “empire” has struck back at Trump/Bannon because of their hostility to the U.S. intelligence community? Is Bannon’s defenestration the revenge of the so-called Deep State?

I don’t think so, for three reasons.

First, the fact that the CIA now has Bannon’s seat on the principals committee means that Trump’s CIA director Mike Pompeo will have a place at the most important meetings, instead of Trump's chief propagandist. That’s a net plus for the agency as an institution, but not a huge one, nor a new one.

Second, this move was publicly announced and attributed to a specific government official, McMaster, in an open government publication. The presidential order doesn’t signal any new encroachment of secretive national security agencies on the powers of the Madisonian government (meaning Congress, the White House and the courts). If there is a “Deep State” of unaccountable U.S. decision-makers, it does not announce its work in theFederal Register.

Third, there is another, simpler explanation: Bannon was simply outwitted by more experienced Washington operators.

McMaster made clear to Trump he wanted authority and Trump, a graduate of military high school who avoided the draft, has no ability to stand up to him in a face-to-face meeting. Ditto for Bannon, who served in the Navy three decades ago and has had no national security experience since.

David Rothkopf, author of two histories of the National Security Council and publisher of Foreign Policy magazine, said McMaster’s success is a "sign of a smart, effective bureaucrat and leader. This restores the traditional structures to the NSC. It is putting in place a professional team of national security advisers. It gives McMaster more authority and restores the roles of the military and intelligence leadership.”

McMaster did not act alone. Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently took Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on a trip to Iraq as part of a Pentagon charm offensive. And Secretary of Defense James Mattis has been wooing the White House and tutoring out-of-his-depth Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

As Politico’s Bryan Bender recently reported:

Two officials said that both Mattis and Dunford have spent a considerable amount of time meeting privately with the commander-in-chief, who graduated from military school as a teen but never served, to discuss a range of issues facing the armed forces. They declined to provide further details. Dunford and Mattis have also invited White House advisers to high-level meetings in the Pentagon, said the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Not coincidentally, Politico reports that Kushner “has asked searching questions—sometimes for hours—of inside and outside advisers about the White House's performance and complained about Bannon in particular, according to people who have spoken with Kushner.”

In particular, Kushner “has told people that Bannon’s desire to deconstruct the government, is hurting the president.”

Trump’s hostility to the national security agencies is more rhetorical than real, as his new deference to McMaster and Dunford indicates. Bannon didn’t lose out to the Deep State of national security agencies. He seems to have lost out to the deep family of Trump.

Jefferson Morley

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