The “Latest” NY Times Anonymous Source

It’s not just that the special counsel looms large. Or that the country is bitterly divided over Mr. Trump’s leadership. Or even that his party might well lose the House to an opposition hellbent on his downfall. The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations. I would know. I am one of them.

To be clear, ours is not the popular “resistance” of the left. We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous. But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic. That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.

Don’t get me wrong. There are bright spots that the near-ceaseless negative coverage of the administration fails to capture: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more. But these successes have come despite — not because of — the president’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective. From the White House to executive branch departments and agencies, senior officials will privately admit their daily disbelief at the commander in chief’s comments and actions. Most are working to insulate their operations from his whims. Meetings with him veer off topic and off the rails, he engages in repetitive rants, and his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back.

“There is literally no telling whether he might change his mind from one minute to the next,” a top official complained to me recently, exasperated by an Oval Office meeting at which the president flip-flopped on a major policy decision he’d made only a week earlier. The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House. Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful.

It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t. The result is a two-track presidency. Take foreign policy: In public and in private, President Trump shows a preference for autocrats and dictators, such as President Vladimir Putin of Russia and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and displays little genuine appreciation for the ties that bind us to allied, like-minded nations. Astute observers have noted, though, that the rest of the administration is operating on another track, one where countries like Russia are called out for meddling and punished accordingly, and where allies around the world are engaged as peers rather than ridiculed as rivals. On Russia, for instance, the president was reluctant to expel so many of Mr. Putin’s spies as punishment for the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain. He complained for weeks about senior staff members letting him get boxed into further confrontation with Russia, and he expressed frustration that the United States continued to impose sanctions on the country for its malign behavior. But his national security team knew better — such actions had to be taken, to hold Moscow accountable.

This isn’t the work of the so-called deep state. It’s the work of the steady state.

Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over. The bigger concern is not what Mr. Trump has done to the presidency but rather what we as a nation have allowed him to do to us. We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility.

There is a quiet resistance within the administration of people choosing to put country first. But the real difference will be made by everyday citizens rising above politics, reaching across the aisle and resolving to shed the labels in favor of a single one: Americans.

Facts

Let’s put this all in perspective with Bullet Points!

• “Anonymous” Think about the fact that such a derogatory Op-ed would be printed in a national newspaper that is supposed to be impartial, honest, and transparent. It contains a series of negative attacks against a sitting President, and is supposedly to be penned by a senior member of that president’s staff! “Anonymous” source? Who reading/listening to this really feels there’s something fishy about this entire process AND the opinion piece? It’s no secret that the owner, publisher, editors, columnists, and reporters at the New York Times despise Donald Trump. It’s no secret they have taken every opportunity to print horrendous stories that contain every conceivable type of nasty allegation against Mr. Trump. Over and over again, this paper has printed “factual” stories that have on numerous occasions been exposed to be complete fabrications. Yet with that history, the Times expects Americans to ignore their history of purposely telling lies and to simply believe that an anonymous White House senior staffer not only wrote this Op-ed for publication but is working with an entire segment of the White House staff surreptitiously actually running the policies of the White House behind the President’s back!
• For a moment let’s assume someone there really did write and submit this to the New York Times. Look at the content and the claims made. According to this source, this group of staffers sees themselves as knowing what’s best for Americans, what presidential policy should look like, are quietly framing legislation and policy on all fronts, and as American heroes are “steering the administration in the right direction until — one way or the other — it’s over.”
• The “right direction.” I am trying to understand what direction that might be. Obviously, this “group” does not believe in the Constitutional right of every American to vote their conscience in each election and those elected are then legally empowered to fulfill the responsibilities of the office for which they were elected. They obviously don’t trust that Americans had the sense or prudence to elect this president, are too stupid to understand what craziness would result in America if his campaign promises were fulfilled. Those policies were revealed to Americans months and even years before those staffers ever thought they had a chance to work in the White House. Oh….the President HAS implemented dozens of those policies (I guess over their hard work to thwart behind-the-scenes his doing so) that have resulted in the unequaled and never-before-achieved employment numbers, tremendous corporate expansions, hirings, implementation of new technology, billions of corporate dollars kept abroad re-patriated back to the U.S. to fuel expansion, growth, employee raises and bonuses. That doesn’t sound like the work of some back-office pirates contemplating mutiny OR a deranged politician who apparently cannot even complete sentences in a conversation or make a phone call.
• This person is (with all of this animus, anger, regret, and frustration) still working in the White House. Why? Purportedly to steer the ship — the U.S. — out of the Trump troubled waters back into the waters they have empowered themselves to determine as “safe.”

Summary

If you have not yet surmised this: I don’t believe this “anonymous” source even exists. I feel strongly — especially with the ridiculous past exposures of New York Times reporters’ fabrication of stories — this is a non-existent source with outrageous manufactured story elements.

How many times does it take for you to hear lies from a liar before you question the viability of everything the liar says? How many times will the Times lie before you refuse to believe what they publish — especially an Op-ed replete with bombastic allegations that heretofore are unreported and unconfirmed. But wait: using “anonymous” sources allows one to say anything, quote anyone, make numerous allegations, and expecting benign acceptance of a willing public. I am confident that is what we are experiencing with this.

We have reported extensively — as have numerous other reputable news sources  — of the danger of reliance upon anonymous news sources. Those who use those sources claim that without identification protection, details of a presidential administration wrongdoing, illegal and/or inappropirate actions of government agencies and individuals, and even their illegal activities would remain unknown. In a way, I can “kind of” agree with that. (hey: “kind of” agree with sounds a bit like being “kind of” pregnant!) But then I remember this: Congress crafted a federal whistleblower program that not only protects those who step forward with information such as that revealed in this Op-ed, but the whistleblower is rewarded financially for doing so. Why then would the New York Times “anonymous source” want to remain in the shadows? Any reasonable person in the White House would know that with the release of this Op-ed, their identity will certainly be ferreted out and they will be exposed and almost certainly terminated.

But that should never be necessary. This person — if they exist — should immediately resign their position. No American who really believes in the American political system, the structure and operation of the presidency, and the sensitive nature of running a White House, would even consider working under such conditions as are alleged in this story.

The release of this Op-ed has begun another Trump feeding frenzy — especially in the Media. Here’s how it works:

“Bubba Gump Newspaper” prints a story that quotes an anonymous source who said Jack and Jill went up the hill. Then “Barney Fife News Network” airs a television breaking news story that says: “According to confirmed sources, we have verified that Jack and Jill went up the hill.” Barney Fife Network did not verify the source or the accuracy of the story. Their “confirmed source” was “Bubba Gump Newspaper!”

This is how today’s Mainstream Media functions. One will release a story. The others may half-heartedly make attempts to confirm independently from a reputable source the truth of the story. But usually, they simply use the news outlet that originated the story as their “confirmed source!” It happens every day.

In fact, regarding the Trump-Russia FISA warrant, the basis was at least in part based on such a process:

The FBI leaked information about Carter Page and his Russian contacts to a news source so that news source would publish it. When published, other news sources immediately picked up that story and ran with it. Then the FBI went to the FISC requesting a FISA warrant, stating in the warrant application that “multiple sources have confirmed that Carter Page actually met with Russians promoting a meeting between Trump and Russian President Putin.” Their “multiple sources” were the news agencies that re-published the original story leaked by the FBI! The original source was not a source, but was the FBI.

Today’s media cannot be trusted to tell the truth. That’s sad but true.

Let’s hope those 45,000 sealed indictments (yep: the number is up to 45,000 now) begin being unsealed and executed soon. “Aren’t you afraid there are indictments in there of President Trump, his campaign members, his family members, and Republican lawmakers?” You know what: I REALLY DON’T CARE! I want the truth on the street. I want the discontinuance of news releases based on information obtained from “anonymous” sources. I want complete transparency without hiding anything.

Mr. or Ms. White House senior staff member anonymous source: either be quiet and trust the decision made by your bosses — the American people — to make Donald Trump the American CEO to operate the business of the country, or resign and sell your story — with supporting and verifiable evidence — to the New York Times.

Maybe you already have sold it to them.

If I was you I would have.