SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
"The most dangerous thing of all is the Kelly is a good soldier and will do as he is told by Trump."(Photo: Molly Riley/AP)
Top 6 Falsehoods Embraced by New WH Chief of Staff John Kelly
John Kelly will get a lot of good will from having fired the foul-mouthed Anthony Scaramuchi. But should he? At least Scaramuchi had been gunning for Steve Bannon, the scary far, far right wing white nationalist who serves as White House strategist. You have a sense that while Kelly is just very, very conservative, there are lots of things about Bannon he is comfortable with. That isn't a comforting thought.
1. Kelly thinks we are under siege:
Aug 01, 2017
John Kelly will get a lot of good will from having fired the foul-mouthed Anthony Scaramuchi. But should he? At least Scaramuchi had been gunning for Steve Bannon, the scary far, far right wing white nationalist who serves as White House strategist. You have a sense that while Kelly is just very, very conservative, there are lots of things about Bannon he is comfortable with. That isn't a comforting thought.
1. Kelly thinks we are under siege:
"We are under attack from failed states, cyber-terrorists, vicious smugglers, and sadistic radicals. And we are under attack every single day. The threats are relentless."
As Michael Cohen wrote in response at the Boston Globe, "Cyber-terrorists have never killed an American citizen, no failed state threatens America and more Americans are killed by lightning strikes than sadistic radicals."
2. Kelly said that construction on Trump's border wall would begin by the end of this summer. It won't.
3. Nor is the wall needed or wanted by a majority of Americans. Kelly is almost delusional about US immigration enforcement: ""Nothing's been done in the past eight years to to enforce the border rules and regulations, not to mention many of the immigration laws inside of the United States..."
Fact: The Obama administration deported at least as many people as the Bush administration had, if you use the same definition for deportations in both administrations. By sheer reported numbers, Obama deported some 2.5 million people during his 8 years while Bush deported 2 million. They probably actually deported about the same number. Kelly's bizarre notion that the laws were not implemented since 2009 is flat wrong.
4. Kelly wanted to prioritize deportation of undocumented people who use marijuana on the circa 1910 grounds that it is a "gateway drug." It is not, or Colorado would be nothing but heroin addicts. Legalization of marijuana tracks with lower crime rates.
5. Kelly said of reports that Jared Kushner had met with the Russians during the campaign, before these reports were confirmed, that "any channel of communication" with Russia "is a good thing."
6. Not to mention Kelly's bizarre performance during Trump's first attempt at a Muslim ban, when he gladly acted without any regard to the US constitution and claimed to have authored the policy (Bannon and Miller sprang it on him). The most dangerous thing of all is the Kelly is a good soldier and will do as he is told by Trump.
Related video:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 Juan Cole
Juan Cole
Juan Cole teaches Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan. His newest book, "Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires" was published in 2020. He is also the author of "The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation Is Changing the Middle East" (2015) and "Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East" (2008). He has appeared widely on television, radio, and on op-ed pages as a commentator on Middle East affairs, and has a regular column at Salon.com. He has written, edited, or translated 14 books and has authored 60 journal articles.
John Kelly will get a lot of good will from having fired the foul-mouthed Anthony Scaramuchi. But should he? At least Scaramuchi had been gunning for Steve Bannon, the scary far, far right wing white nationalist who serves as White House strategist. You have a sense that while Kelly is just very, very conservative, there are lots of things about Bannon he is comfortable with. That isn't a comforting thought.
1. Kelly thinks we are under siege:
"We are under attack from failed states, cyber-terrorists, vicious smugglers, and sadistic radicals. And we are under attack every single day. The threats are relentless."
As Michael Cohen wrote in response at the Boston Globe, "Cyber-terrorists have never killed an American citizen, no failed state threatens America and more Americans are killed by lightning strikes than sadistic radicals."
2. Kelly said that construction on Trump's border wall would begin by the end of this summer. It won't.
3. Nor is the wall needed or wanted by a majority of Americans. Kelly is almost delusional about US immigration enforcement: ""Nothing's been done in the past eight years to to enforce the border rules and regulations, not to mention many of the immigration laws inside of the United States..."
Fact: The Obama administration deported at least as many people as the Bush administration had, if you use the same definition for deportations in both administrations. By sheer reported numbers, Obama deported some 2.5 million people during his 8 years while Bush deported 2 million. They probably actually deported about the same number. Kelly's bizarre notion that the laws were not implemented since 2009 is flat wrong.
4. Kelly wanted to prioritize deportation of undocumented people who use marijuana on the circa 1910 grounds that it is a "gateway drug." It is not, or Colorado would be nothing but heroin addicts. Legalization of marijuana tracks with lower crime rates.
5. Kelly said of reports that Jared Kushner had met with the Russians during the campaign, before these reports were confirmed, that "any channel of communication" with Russia "is a good thing."
6. Not to mention Kelly's bizarre performance during Trump's first attempt at a Muslim ban, when he gladly acted without any regard to the US constitution and claimed to have authored the policy (Bannon and Miller sprang it on him). The most dangerous thing of all is the Kelly is a good soldier and will do as he is told by Trump.
Related video:
Juan Cole
Juan Cole teaches Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan. His newest book, "Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires" was published in 2020. He is also the author of "The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation Is Changing the Middle East" (2015) and "Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East" (2008). He has appeared widely on television, radio, and on op-ed pages as a commentator on Middle East affairs, and has a regular column at Salon.com. He has written, edited, or translated 14 books and has authored 60 journal articles.
John Kelly will get a lot of good will from having fired the foul-mouthed Anthony Scaramuchi. But should he? At least Scaramuchi had been gunning for Steve Bannon, the scary far, far right wing white nationalist who serves as White House strategist. You have a sense that while Kelly is just very, very conservative, there are lots of things about Bannon he is comfortable with. That isn't a comforting thought.
1. Kelly thinks we are under siege:
"We are under attack from failed states, cyber-terrorists, vicious smugglers, and sadistic radicals. And we are under attack every single day. The threats are relentless."
As Michael Cohen wrote in response at the Boston Globe, "Cyber-terrorists have never killed an American citizen, no failed state threatens America and more Americans are killed by lightning strikes than sadistic radicals."
2. Kelly said that construction on Trump's border wall would begin by the end of this summer. It won't.
3. Nor is the wall needed or wanted by a majority of Americans. Kelly is almost delusional about US immigration enforcement: ""Nothing's been done in the past eight years to to enforce the border rules and regulations, not to mention many of the immigration laws inside of the United States..."
Fact: The Obama administration deported at least as many people as the Bush administration had, if you use the same definition for deportations in both administrations. By sheer reported numbers, Obama deported some 2.5 million people during his 8 years while Bush deported 2 million. They probably actually deported about the same number. Kelly's bizarre notion that the laws were not implemented since 2009 is flat wrong.
4. Kelly wanted to prioritize deportation of undocumented people who use marijuana on the circa 1910 grounds that it is a "gateway drug." It is not, or Colorado would be nothing but heroin addicts. Legalization of marijuana tracks with lower crime rates.
5. Kelly said of reports that Jared Kushner had met with the Russians during the campaign, before these reports were confirmed, that "any channel of communication" with Russia "is a good thing."
6. Not to mention Kelly's bizarre performance during Trump's first attempt at a Muslim ban, when he gladly acted without any regard to the US constitution and claimed to have authored the policy (Bannon and Miller sprang it on him). The most dangerous thing of all is the Kelly is a good soldier and will do as he is told by Trump.
Related video:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.