The top story of the hour is President Trump's decision to remove top adviser Steve Bannon from the National Security Council. This passage from the report in Bloomberg is quite striking:
A White House official said that Bannon was placed on the committee in part to monitor Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and never attended a meeting. He’s no longer needed with McMaster in charge of the council, the official said.
If in fact the sole purpose of Bannon's presence on the NSC was to monitor Flynn then why the hell did President Trump appoint Flynn as his NSA in the first place? Clearly there were misgivings about Flynn whether it be his relationship with Russian officials, as a lobbyist for the Turkish government or Lord knows what else (and by Lord, I don't mean Jeffrey Lord). Whatever the reason, what was Trump thinking? The better question might be if he was thinking.
I wonder if new NSA H.R. McMaster gave the Trump White House an ultimatum - either remove Bannon from the NSC or appoint your third NSA in less than 2½ months into your term?
Actually, it could have been the fourth because if you remember Trump offered the position to Admiral Robert Harward who immediately declined and reportedly didn't want to dine on a "shit sandwich". Under the circumstances, who could blame him?
But let's make no mistake. Bannon might not be on the NSC anymore, but he's still in the White House. For a man who's legacy it is to legitimize white supremacist thought, his cancerous influence will be felt elsewhere and will probably not be so easily treated.
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