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Lucinda

(31,170 posts)
Sun Feb 12, 2017, 12:42 PM Feb 2017

Stephen Miller - The Believer - Politico piece tying Miller to Sessions and Bannon

The Believer
How Stephen Miller went from obscure Capitol Hill staffer to Donald Trump’s warm-up act—and resident ideologue.
By JULIA IOFFE June 27, 2016

It's a long detailed article and it's really hard to pick out what to share. Basically the piece tracks Miller from college to his being the warm up guy that was ramping up the crowds before Trump came out to speak at campaign rallies. He was so good at getting the crowd going that I truly believe Trump could have just showed up and drooled and the crowds would have cheered him as the best thing ever. That is a dangerous skill to have.

LOTS WORTH READING HERE

"...Trump had been coming under fire for his response to the Orlando shooting, and that night in Dallas Miller pivoted from whipping up fear and loathing to whipping up fear and loathing and then calling it love. As the crowd began to chant “Build the wall!” a grinning Miller explained. “We’re going to build that wall high and we’re going to build it tall,” he said. “We’re going to build that wall, and we’re going to build it out of love. We’re going to build it out of love for every family who wants to raise their kids in safety and peace … We’re building it out of love for America and Americans of all backgrounds...”

"...But among this roster of political outsiders, Miller stands out, especially for people who understand the new forces afoot in Republican politics. He's deeply connected to some of the most powerful insurgent threads in the Washington GOP, most notably Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions and the Breitbart media machine. As an aide on Capitol Hill, he was a behind-the-scenes architect of the successful effort to kill comprehensive immigration reform in 2014. And while it’s hard to gauge how much Trump is amenable to influence by anyone—at least, by anyone that he didn’t beget—there is no question that Miller is deep, and serious, on the one question that most drives Trump's unlikely campaign.

Miller’s talent for combining operational zeal with the ability to effectively frame an idea into one devastating laser beam made him a prized Sessions lieutenant in Washington. “When it comes to issues and messaging and policy, there isn’t anybody else that I’ve known that would be as valuable to a presidential campaign as he,” Sessions told me. “Maybe other than Karl Rove...”

"...Miller had always existed at the political margins, but Trump’s rise has allowed him to advance to the vanguard, and he clearly enjoys it. He grins at the podium, he savors the crowd’s reactions, even if they periodically boo him for not turning the stage over to Trump fast enough. “All the anger right underneath the surface just waiting to come through, about what I don’t know,” says a former staffer with the Republican leadership on the Hill. “I’ve seen the videos of him getting the crowd fired up. People that knew him when he was on the Hill, I don’t know how to describe the reactions people had to the videos of him. Maybe creeped out a little bit? Like, what’s going to happen when this guy gets the power?” He pauses as a thought dawns on him. “Oh my God,” he says. “He’s going to find out that I spoke with you and I’m going to end up in a camp somewhere...”

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Stephen Miller - The Believer - Politico piece tying Miller to Sessions and Bannon (Original Post) Lucinda Feb 2017 OP
Douchebag underpants Feb 2017 #1
I've been sitting on this Politico piece for a week or so. Wanted to do some more Lucinda Feb 2017 #4
Miller is basically an updated version of this guy: dalton99a Feb 2017 #2
Absolutely. cilla4progress Feb 2017 #3
Yep. I really think Trump alone could not have swayed crowds like he did. Lucinda Feb 2017 #5
I thought so too, seeing him on ABC this morning. ginnyinWI Feb 2017 #6
Yep. Lucinda Feb 2017 #11
That's exactly what I thought too. betsuni Feb 2017 #12
Okay now that I've actually read that piece... underpants Feb 2017 #7
Yep. Megga DB. Lucinda Feb 2017 #10
Miller's main media debut today did not go well as his laser like focus was met by an equal laser Fred Sanders Feb 2017 #8
Yep. He may not be ready for media push back, but he has Trump's ear, and Lucinda Feb 2017 #9

Lucinda

(31,170 posts)
4. I've been sitting on this Politico piece for a week or so. Wanted to do some more
Sun Feb 12, 2017, 12:52 PM
Feb 2017

research but since he is topical today, I decided to go ahead and post. I missed this article when it first came out.

I used to teach an Intro to Theatre class for college students, and talked about how easy it is to sway people politically when you get the right speaker and add in the campaign spectacle. This guy is dangerous, a true believer, with the ability to ramp people up. Bad combo.

Lucinda

(31,170 posts)
5. Yep. I really think Trump alone could not have swayed crowds like he did.
Sun Feb 12, 2017, 12:53 PM
Feb 2017

Miller set them up, he knocked them down.

underpants

(182,548 posts)
7. Okay now that I've actually read that piece...
Sun Feb 12, 2017, 01:34 PM
Feb 2017

It is clear that my initial take on him was correct. He's a douchebag.

Fred Sanders

(23,946 posts)
8. Miller's main media debut today did not go well as his laser like focus was met by an equal laser
Sun Feb 12, 2017, 01:38 PM
Feb 2017

like focus by George Stephanopolous insisting Miller provide the actual evidence thousands of folks were bussed in from Mass. to NH to illegally vote as said repeatedly as fake news by his bossenfuherer. Miller squirming away to another topic repeatedly said it all.

Lucinda

(31,170 posts)
9. Yep. He may not be ready for media push back, but he has Trump's ear, and
Sun Feb 12, 2017, 02:42 PM
Feb 2017

Trump thinks he did a great job today...

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