I’m starting to really like Steve Bannon, Trump’s pick to be Chief Strategist on the White House Staff. Sort of like what Karl Rove was for GWB.
It’s not like it’s a man crush or anything. I’m still loyal to John Stockton, former point guard for the Utah Jazz, Patriots Coach Bill Belichik, and my main man, Barack Hussein Obama. Did I tell you he’s the only guy since Eisenhower to get over 51% of the popular vote twice?
Up until a couple of months ago, I wouldn’t have known Bannon from a cord of wood. That’s an old Tip O’Neill line … another guy I really liked.
The Tut Tut Caucus is coming for Bannon. Because he’s slotted for the President’s Staff, he doesn’t have to go through Senate confirmation. Confirmation Hearings are where Senators demonstrate that you cannot serve six years in the Senate and not become a complete jerk … (Obama got out just in the nick of time).
So, what's their problem with Bannon? The usual package … insensitivity amounting to prejudice on race, religion, and gender that disqualifies him from polite company, never mind service on the President’s Staff.
Who’s leading the charge against him? The Queen of Correct Rachel Maddow, of course, backed up by 650 female graduates of Harvard Business School and Wall Street Journal Columnist Bret Stephens, to name three.
Rachel Maddow. I don’t watch Rachel Maddow very often. I’ve observed from prior viewing that her specialty seems to be exposing conservative Christians in the act of un-Christian behavior. She has no qualms about identifying wrongdoers as Christians while pointing out their misdeeds. Good for her. Apparently the job pays well.
If misbehavior is present in the Jewish Community, it tends to escape Rachel’s notice. Whether that has anything to do with the ownership of her TV network (Comcast) and its controlling shareholder, Brian Roberts, I have no way of knowing.
What did not escape Rachel’s notice is that while Steve Bannon was editor of Breitbart news, it ran a story in which a Jewish person, Bill Krystol, was identified as a “Renegade Jew”. Stand back, folks … Rachel is going righteous! She made it sound like the word "Jew" was contemptible, the way she drew it out … hey, it’s a short word, it doesn’t take that long to say it. Practice it, Rachel. You can do it.
Rachel neglected to tell us that the author of the story, David Horowitz, was Jewish and the founder of the website, Andrew Breitbart, is also Jewish, as is the current Breitbart CEO, Larry Solov. I wonder why she concluded that that was not useful information for her viewers.
650 Harvard Business School Graduates. On November 18, 2016 the New York Times published an open letter from 650 female graduates of Harvard Business School. The letter did not refer to any personal dealings of the signatories with Bannon, who is also a Harvard Business School graduate. They did point out that in a 2011 radio interview, Bannon used the term “dykes” to describe some women from elite Eastern universities.
Not good … no doubt about it.
In defense of Bannon, I would say: 1. A lot has changed on gay consciousness in the last 5 years; 2. According to the Homosexual Encyclopedia, the term "dyke" does not contain the pejorative connotation that it did decades ago; 3. Is that all you got?
Wall Street Journal Columnist Bret Stephens. Bret Stephens is a Rupurt Murdoch hack. He is also a nasty piece of work. His specialty is the shiv in the back. Leave an impression without really owning the position. His piece in the November 22 edition of the Journal uses the words “antisemitic” and “tropes” without specifically accusing Bannon of being antisemitic. He criticizes Bannon for advocating “America first” policies because according to Stephens, it implies that others are loyal to other countries.
Well Bret, maybe they are. Take for instance Hillary backer and billionaire Haim Saban, who has been known to tell anyone who will listen, “I’m a one-issue guy, and Israel is my issue.” Or, the late Joan Rivers, who said, “I vote on two issues, Israel and taxes.”
Conclusion
There's no question that Steve Bannon is a little rough around the edges. He was attacked on CNN by Elizabeth Warren, who I like, as a white supremacist. Anderson Cooper, who was conducting the interview, interjected that there was no evidence of that. Senator Warren backed off immediately.
That's what's going on with Steve Bannon. He has no organized support and plenty of organized critics. For a balanced view on Mr. Bannon, take a look at the New York Times piece by Scott Shane from November 27, 2016, Combative, Populist Steve Bannon Found His Man in Donald Trump. The New York Times is not in the business of carrying water for antisemites, white supremacists, and gay bashers.
Hang in there, Steve Bannon.
I will post again on Wednesday, January 11, 2017 or before if the news flow dictates.
Comments are welcome at tomc[at]wednesdayswars[dot]com. Comments will be addressed in subsequent posts.