CIA veteran calls 'shenanigans' on unqualified Jared Kushner: 'We have the third string in the WH'

[DonViejo]

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/02/cia-veteran-calls-shenanigans-unqualified-jared-kushner-third-string-white-house/

[raging moderate]

1. DU Rec.

[panfluteman]

2. The Bitter, Hyper-Polarized Partisan Divide Between the Democrats and the Republicans

was the primary weakness that Putin exploited in the 2016 election. Just think - if you come in from the outside and throw a monkey wrench into a political system marked by constant opposition, obstruction and bickering back and forth, you can really screw things up big time. And those inside the system will never be able to agree or come to a consensus as to exactly what happened, much less how to fix it.

The other big weakness that Mr. Putin exploited was our voodoo politics electoral college system of electing the president. Putin didn't have to penetrate the voting systems in all 50 states - and in 2016, it all came down to just 3 crucial rust belt states. We already know that the whole electoral college system has invited a lot of domestic political corruption at the state level in states with Republican governors - gerrymandering, vote purging and voter restriction laws designed to prevent the young, the poor, the disabled and people of color - who all tend to vote democratic - from voting. All Putin had to do in an election that was going to be a close one anyway was to aid and abet Republican efforts in just a few battleground states to nudge them over the top.

If we are ever to get our democracy back - or our republic, if you happen to be a Republican and prefer that word - we need to reform our electoral and voting system from top to bottom. We need to end gerrymandering, or severely curtail it to keep voting districts competitive for survival of the politically fittest. We need to end vote purging and strengthen the protections for voting rights. We need to return to manual paper ballots, because they can't be hacked. And getting rid of the electoral college would also make it a lot more difficult for hostile outsiders to come in and tip our elections.

[panfluteman]

3. Jared Kushner is Living Proof

that, for Trump, loyalty is everything, and actual knowledge, expertise and competence count for absolutely nothing. Either Trump feels , in his boundless egotism, that he already knows everything there is to know and doesn't need any expert help, or is a crook and usurper who wants to put know-nothing lackeys into key positions who will be pliable to his devious demands - or maybe both, as the particular case requires. I also suppose that Trump, as the least knowledgeable, least prepared president we have ever had, does not like his own ignorance and incompetence to be exposed by those who know more than he does.