JOHN KELLY IS SCREENING HIS PREDECESSORS PHONE CALLS

[Judi Lynn]

JOHN KELLY IS SCREENING HIS PREDECESSORS’ PHONE CALLS
The beleaguered general is going it alone.

BY TINA NGUYEN
OCTOBER 6, 2017 5:59 PM

James A. Baker III, who served as chief of staff to Ronald Reagan, has described his former role as “the worst f***ing job in government.” And it’s true that White House chiefs of staff have their hands full: they must frequently question the most powerful person in the world, and they alone control the flow of people and information to and from the president—things that, in this administration, are made more difficult by the fact that Donald Trump is in charge.

So it would make sense that John Kelly might reach out to his predecessors for advice—a practice that’s pretty common in his relatively exclusive field. But according to Politico, which interviewed a half-dozen former chiefs, Kelly has let at least two of their messages go unanswered, and he hasn’t bothered to get in touch with the rest.

Kelly, according to White House officials, has seen less value in the lessons of his predecessors as he tests the limits of what military order can do for Twitter-happy Trump. Even former Clinton chief of staff Leon Panetta, who worked with Kelly when he served as Defense Secretary and Kelly was his senior military assistant, acknowledged in an interview: “I don’t really talk to him that much. It’s a little tough when you’re not there, getting a kind of first-hand sense of exactly how things are operating.”

A few things could explain Kelly’s reticence: his decades of experience as a commanding officer in the military, for one, which taught him leadership and management skills at a high level; or his months observing the White House in chaotic action, which uniquely prepared him to take over Reince Priebus’s role. Perhaps he’s just eager to prevent gossip from leaking out of a particularly leaky administration. Or maybe—just maybe—those hackers really messed with his voicemail.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/10/john-kelly-ignoring-chief-of-staff-calls

(Short article, no more text at link.)

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Kelly has his own agenda.

There is a reason it is an OUTRAGE we have a general in this position as well as others in the administration.


Because our choices are shit, we look to Kelly and others for common sense and reason when in reality we shouldnt.

[SummerSnow]

2. I agree. I never believed he was no different that Trump.

He just not as outspoken as him. He wants Trump to push his agenda but do it ...quietly. He does not fool me. Any person who works directly with Trump knows 'exactly' who he is.

[elehhhhna]

3. He's also failed to instill any discipline in Pumpkinhead.