Noem out. Is Bondi next?

Noem out. Is Bondi next?

Kristi Noem is out at Homeland Security. Seems that the republicans were more upset over her spending $200 million on self-promotions than they were with her bungling of the ICE operations in Minneapolis. Trump has moved her to something he just seemed to have just made up – the Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, Trump’s new so-called security initiative in the Western Hemisphere. Even before it begins the initiative is being mocked. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said “Let me congratulate the former Homeland Security secretary on her appointment to be the Shield of the Americas, which I’m pretty sure the president came up with when he watched the last Avengers movie.” Ted Lieu (D-CA) said “Thank you to Trump for promoting Kristi Noem to Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas, a position that Trump literally created a few hours ago. Pleas also promote Pam Bondi to be Special Attorney General to the Shield of the Americas.” I guess this goes with the so-called Board of Peace. The Shield of the Americas is to target drug trafficking, the cartels and illegal immigration. 

Now that Noem is out, the democrats will set their sights on ousting Pam Bondi and Stephen Miller next. They may get some help with republicans on Bondi who has been sharply criticized for her bungling handling of the Epstein files. That seems to have upset republicans more than her mismanagement of the “Justice” Department. 

As to Stephen Miller, the democrats will get no republican support to oust perhaps the most odious of all presidential advisors. Miller is the key architect of Trump’s deportation policies and was a vocal advocate of using military force to acquire Greenland. Even Trump said of Miller that he (Miller) wouldn’t stop until everyone looked like him – white and bald? Miller has been called every name in the book by those on the left – and some on the right. Racist, bigot, callous, sinister, malevolent, cruel, heartless, venomous, toxic, dangerous, depraved, fascist, brutal and unbalanced are only a few. Yes, perhaps to all of these. 

But there is literally no republican support to remove him. In fact, republicans are more likely to defend his actions. Lindsey Graham says “People can disagree with Stephen on rhetoric and they can disagree with him on policy but the question is, ‘Is Miller in jeopardy in Trump World?’ Absolutely not. It doesn’t matter what a senator thinks about a president’s adviser, as long as the president has confidence in that adviser.” More than a dozen Republican senators have praised Miller and pushed back against those who want to diminish Miller’s clout at the White House including Tennessee’s Bill Hagerty who says “Stephen has effectively pushed for policies that are making America safer, like in Memphis in my home state of Tennessee, more prosperous, and more respected around the world”.

One of the few vocal republicans critics of Miller is North Carolina’s Thom Tillis who of course is not seeking reelection. Tillis is also a critic of Trump seeking to indict Fed chairman Powell on charges of lying to congress. On Miller’s remark about Greenland, Tillis said “Look either Stephen Miller needs to get into a lane where he knows what he’s talking about or get out of this job.” On the senate floor Tillis said “I’m sick of stupid. I want good advice for this president, because I want this president to have a good legacy. And this nonsense on what’s going on with Greenland is a distraction from the good work he’s doing, and the amateurs who said it was a good idea should lose their jobs.” Tillis even called Miller a “sycophant.” Saying “A sycophant is more than just a ‘yes-man.’ It refers to someone who acts excessively servile toward someone important in order to gain an advantage.”

The senator compared Miller to Tolkien’s Grima Wormtongue from “The Lord of the Rings,” who is an adviser to a king. “He uses whispers and false flattery to control the King’s decisions, all while secretly serving Saruman,” the North Carolina Republican continued in his post. “He is a classic example of a sycophant who uses his position to poison a leader’s standing for his own benefit.” Actually, by invoking Wormtongue, the wicked counsellor who whispers evil counsel direct into the king’s ear, Tillis is actually complimenting Miller.

I am sure that Tillis knows that in this and most administrations, being a sycophant is more the rule than the exception. But Miller is by no means a unique feature in the political arena. He is probably no more of a Svengali as say James Carville, who was the evil persona of the Clintons or Lee Atwater to Reagan.  Aristotle said that ‘tyrants are always fond of bad men, because they love to be flattered’, establishing a connection between misrule and bad counsel. The same is true for non-tyrants as well. But the evil counselor serves as a useful foil to the political leader as foes can concentrate on the advisor as a proxy for attacking the leader. And when that advisor’s use life has expired, they can be jettisoned rather than the leader removed (see Kristi Noem). That time has not yet arrived for Stephen Miller.