Making Sense of Trump/Bannon: January 31, 2017

Quick notes on the fan-and-shit from last night, the firing (or resignation) of Sally Yates. She was Acting Attorney General (Jeff Sessions is the nominee; he's not yet been confirmed). She refused to defend the immigration order. (It's already being challenged in court. It's the AG's job to defend it.) Yates, a career officer was fired immediately. Another career officer, Dana Boente, replaced her.

Here's a solid basic take from an experienced team of reporters. 

It's taken 72 hours (or more) but Congress is finally waking up. And still not sure what to do. But people are rubbing their eyes and yawning and saying "Eh, what? What's up, man?" Or something like that. Here's a summary as of the morning of January 31.

One thing Congress is finally realizing (!) is that its own work is being usurped. It's not just department and agency heads who are being kept in the dark, but Congress as well. This report from Politico, which is, in my view, a reliable source, is fascinating. Someone's been making deals with the devil.

Perhaps the most interesting response to the immigration situation was this unexpected editorial from the New York Times editorial board. Even if you don't read it, look at its headline.

See? It's not just me. 

As noted above, as of this moment, Jeff Sessions has not been confirmed (indeed, his hearings are underway this morning). Of everything I've read, this caused my jaw to drop damn near all the way to China. I spent most of the 1990s living in Mobile, Alabama, home of Jeff Sessions. He was newly elected at the time. As near as I could tell, he was a total dimwit.

So when Trump named him as AG, I was like, wha??? 

Well. Silly me. No exaggeration about where my jaw landed. Of all I've learned over the past months, this surprises me more than anything. 

Back to Bannon: Here's more information about his appointment to the National Security Council. Contrary to rumor, he does NOT require Senate confirmation to sit on the NSC.

Finally, I stumbled across this while tracking links. I've not listened, but plan to find time. From March 2016, when Trump was still one of many in the campaign. Breitbart Radio. Bannon talking to Steve Miller. Steve Miller is the White House insider who is being blamed  for fucking up the immigration memo. It's the bus stop adjacent to the Oval Office.  

Oh: One last thing. The phrase "Saturday Night Masscre" refers to an event in 1973: President Richard Nixon fired an Attorney General who refused to obey an order. Part of the larger group of events known as Watergate.