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Donald Trump brilliantly managing his team of A-list talent. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Donald Trump is already publicly floating the first of what will probably be several waves of firings of his top staff, while the news is a daily procession of astonishing revelations that paint the president of the United States as a lazy, ignorant, temperamental man-child who flouts basic security requirements and signs major orders he has not bothered to read. Or so it might appear to the outside world. Christopher DeMuth, a distinguished fellow that is his actual job title at the conservative Hudson Institute detects a different pattern at work. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, the conservative scholar explains why President Trumps seemingly chaotic managerial style actually reflects a shrewd and even brilliant grasp of his power.

President Trump may be rediscovering a venerable method of leadership that has been forgotten in our era of ideological messaging, argues DeMuth. Rather than viewing disagreement as a problem, he attracts highly accomplished, strong-minded advisers who engage in vigorous debate. So the daily stream of Trump aides anonymously blaming one another for the administrations failures is actually, to DeMuth, evidence of the presidents sound management.

What are the specific practices that Trump has embraced to make his young presidency such a rousing success? DeMuth argues:

Apparently a lesser president would never have thought to make simple and popular promises like preventing terrorism and creating good jobs. DeMuth does not bother with the question of whether Trump has any policies to accomplish those goals he is sufficiently impressed that Trump would think to promise them.

Trump also has the cleverness to say crazy stuff:

Orthodox opinion believes that higher concentration of greenhouse gasses causes higher long-run temperatures, very few ineligible voters participate in presidential elections, and Trumps inaugural crowd had many fewer attendees than Barack Obamas first inaugural crowd. DeMuth does not quite endorse all of Trumps claims to the contrary, but sees his decision to provoke debates on such subjects as shrewd.

Trump has found the very best officials for his administration:

Carson and Perry are odd choices to support the claim that Trump has attracted elite talent. According to Trump himself, Carson is pathological and Perry is a moron. (He put on glasses so people think hes smart. People can see through the glasses.) To be sure, one might dismiss these insults on the grounds that Trump is a flamboyant liar who reflexively smears any critic who stands in his path, but aknowledging this would obviously complicate DeMuths argument, so he simply pretends that everybody recognizes that Carson and Perry (neither of whom had any experience in their new fields) are A-list cabinet picks.

The president has a wide-ranging thirst for knowledge:

Put differently, Trump reads no books, cannot digest any summary more than a single page, and instead watches endless television, and repeats wild, false viral rumors from fake internet sites.

DeMuth finds more good news:

It is perhaps true that, in the course of alarming close American allies like Germany, France, and even Australia, Trump has caused those countries to become more focused. DeMuth does not explain why this is beneficial. Trump has distracted his domestic opponents by embroiling himself constant and numerous scandals and repeating endless falsehoods. Here, again, DeMuth does not elaborate on why this is helpful.

Having praised Trumps frequent, unpredictable and wide-ranging tweets, DeMuth praises him for his taciturn qualities:

Trump did state that he had virtually finished a plan to repeal Obamacare, indicating the debate was over. But this comment reportedly confused his allies, who quickly discovered the plan Trump described was in fact entirely a figment of Trumps imagination. The debate has not even come close to ending.

Trump, argues DeMuth positively but vaguely, is doing good things in the intelligence field:

Trump attacked the Central Intelligence Agency, later visited the agency to deliver a rambling, self-aggrandizing speech about himself, appointed as director of National Intelligence Michael Flynn, a conspiracy theorist who pointedly rejects any data that fails to confirm his assumptions, and who Trump may well fire within his first month on the job. A good start! DeMuth does not explain what a bad start would look like.

Watching Donald Trump Try to Puzzle Out What Asset Forfeiture Means Is Deeply Discomfiting

Republican Senator Admits GOP Health-Care Plan Has to Remain Secret Because It Will Be Unpopular

April Ryan says her former friend got in her face just a few steps from the Oval Office.

Flynn said he apologized to Pence following reports that he misled the vice president about his calls with the Russian ambassador.

One Republican senator is getting impatient.

The National Security Adviser seems to be in limbo after misrepresenting his conversations with a Russian diplomat.

At press conference, Trump ranted about his electoral win and Mexico, while Trudeau delivered a small burn on refugee policy.

An extremely interesting defense of the presidents aptitude in The Wall Street Journals editorial pages.

A HRC 20 scenario denies her the dignity of being a trailblazer who will pave the way for another woman to win the presidency.

He met with the president and First Daughter at the White House.

The groom was the son of a major donor to pro-Trump super-PACs.

Mexicans marched against the wall, deportation, and Mexicos corruption.

The history is pretty clear: Presidents parties lose in midterms unless Americans are preoccupied with the kind of security fears Trump likes to fan.

Michael Bennett of the Seattle Seahawks said he doesnt want to be used by the Israeli government for public-relations purposes.

The college controversially named for a prominent defender of slavery will now honor a visionary female computer programmer.

The fitting depiction of our 45th president was quickly pulled.

Damage to a spillway at the Oroville Dam is threatening to flood the surrounding area.

And other scary leaks on how the Trump administration is handling national security.

The embattled national-security adviser could become the administrations first sacrifice to the realities of political turmoil.

The politics of Andrew Jackson reemerging in 2017.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe denounced the test from Mar-a-Lago with Trump in tow.

He also suggested that Democrats have nothing but flailing and screaming in response to the presidency of Donald Trump.

Read more from the original source:
Donald Trump Is a Managerial Genius, Explains Conservative Scholar - New York Magazine

Four Republican senators are on the fence about supporting President Donald Trumps choice for labor secretary, CNN andThe Washington Post report.

Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Tim Scott (S.C.)and Johnny Isakson (Ga.) are still reportedly unsure whether theyll back Andrew Puzder for the job. Collins told reporters Monday she is going to wait until the issues that have arisen are fully explored at Puzders Thursday confirmation hearing.

Those issues include accusations of domestic violencefrom Puzders ex-wife, Lisa Fierstein, who once appeared in disguise on The Oprah Winfrey Show to talk about her experience, according to Politico. The Washington Post reportsFierstein recently retracted the allegations.

Puzders nomination has also been riddled with controversy thanks to his past work as the chief executive of CKE Restaurant Holdings, which owns the Hardees and Carls Jr. burger chains. Under Puzders watch, the company broke worker safety laws, repeatedly stiffed workersand faced an immigration audit that led to the firing of about 1,200 undocumented immigrants. Puzder also once employed an undocumented immigrant as household help.

Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), have called on Trump to withdraw Puzders name from consideration for labor secretary.

They ought to withdraw Mr. Puzder before he further embarrasses this administration and further exposes the hypocrisy of President Trump, who says one thing to the American worker and does another, Schumer said last week.

Because no Democrats or independents have pledged to vote for Puzder, Republicans need at least 50 of the 52 Republicans in the Senate to vote in support of Trumps pick. If two GOP senators are swayed to support Puzder after his confirmation hearing this week, Puzder could be confirmed with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence, as happened with the confirmation of Education Secretary Betsy DeVosearlier this month.

View original post here:
4 GOP Senators Reportedly Undecided About Donald Trump's Pick For Labor Secretary - Huffington Post

New York Times

Donald Trump, North Korea, Kashmir: Your Morning Briefing New York Times Mr. Trump reacted with surprising restraint, intent on showing that he would not be baited into a confrontation. The president's foreign-policy positions are proving less radical than forecast on China and other countries. He meets with Prime Minister ... and more »

Read more:
Donald Trump, North Korea, Kashmir: Your Morning Briefing - New York Times

When Meryl Streep delivered a blistering critique of then-President-elect Donald Trump at the Golden Globes in January, the actress did so without mentioning his name.

On Saturday night, Streep again denounced Trump in similar fashion, this time at a Manhattangala for the Human Rights Campaign, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBT equality.

And just as in January, there was no questionto whom she was referring in herspeech, which was at times self-deprecating, poignant and politically provocative.

The actress's fiery speech directed at President-elect Donald Trump wasn't a completely new act. (Nicki DeMarco/The Washington Post)

If we live through this precarious moment, if his catastrophic instinct to retaliate doesnt lead us to nuclear winter, we will have much to thank our current leader for, Streep said, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He will have woken us up to how fragile freedom is. The whip of the executive, through a Twitter feed, can lash and intimidate, punish and humiliate, delegitimize the press and imagined enemies with spasmodic regularity and easily provoked predictability.

It was the first time the acclaimed actress had spoken so publicly about Trump since the Golden Globes. Her remarks last month triggered angry tweets the following morning from Trump, who called Streep one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood and a Hillary flunky who lost big.

On Saturday night, Streep addressed Trumps critical tweets about her.

Yes, I am the most overrated, overdecorated and, currently, I am the most over-berated actress of my generation, she told the gala audience to laughter, according to the Associated Press.

Streep added that she had become a target of attacks since her Golden Globes speech,including from brownshirts, a reference to the Nazi militia. Her publicist did not immediately respond to the AP to elaborate on the attacks Streep cited.

Its terrifying to put the target on your forehead, Streep said. And it sets you up for all sorts of attacks and armies of brownshirts and bots and worse, and the only way you can do it is if you feel you have to. You have to! You dont have an option. You have to.

She said that her usual instinct was to stay at home and read, garden and load the dishwasher but that the weight of all these honors drove her to continue to speak out.

[The dramatic rise in state efforts to limit LGBT rights]

In her nearly four-decade-long career, Streep has been nominated for 30 Golden Globe awards and 20 Academy Awards,more than any other actor for either honor. She has won both awards multiple times, along with numerousEmmys and Screen Actors Guild awards.

When Streep was named as a Kennedy Center Honors recipient, the performing arts center noted that the sheer breadth and joy of her artistry counts as one of the most exhilarating cultural spectacles of our time.

The American Film Institute presented her with its Life Achievement Award in 2004, citing her unparalleled talent and integrity. A decade later, Streep receivedthe Presidential Medal of Freedom, with the White House calling her one of our nations greatest actors.

On Saturday night, Streep received the Human Rights Campaigns National Ally for Equality Award.She dedicated the honor to her gay and transgender teachers, colleagues and friends. In particular, Streep remembered two teachers from her childhood in New Jersey: a middle-school music teacher who became one of the first transgender women in the country, and her piano teacher, who lived with his partner for more than 50 years.

I am not going to introduce you to all my gay teachers, just some of the most influential personalities in my past, the memorable people who made me an artist and who lived, unnecessarily, under duress, Streep said.

She then spoke about the progress that had been made in recent decades on human rights and equality.

[Trump administration signals change in policy for transgender students]

Amazingly, and, in terms of human history, blazingly fast, culture seemed to have shifted; the old hierarchies and entitlements seemed to have been upended, Streep said. Which brings us to now. We should not be surprised that fundamentalists, of every stripe, are exercised and fuming. We should not be surprised that these profound changes come at a steeper cost than we originally thought. We should not be surprised that not everyone is actually cool with it.

Streep ended with a call to live our lives with God or without Her, according to the AP.

All of us have the human right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, she said. If you think people were mad when they thought the government was coming after their guns, wait until you see when they try to take away our happiness.

Read a transcript of Meryl Streeps speech via the Hollywood Reporter.

Read more:

Meryl Streep called out Donald Trump at the Golden Globes. He responded by calling her over-rated.

The Golden Globes wasnt the first time Meryl Streep got political at an award show

The single most important line in Meryl Streeps Golden Globe speech

Excerpt from:
Meryl Streep slams Donald Trump in another emotional speech - Washington Post

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

He pleads his case forcefully.

Tech companies are writing a letter against it.

Courts continue to resist it.

What is Donald Trump supposed to do in order to get his executive order -- temporarily banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries -- enforced?

The president took his next step on "Saturday Night Live." He went to the People's Court.

"Mr. Trump, you understand this is a TV court, right?" the TV judge asks.

"That's OK," replied the president. "I'm a TV president."

The president, though, doesn't seem entirely au fait with the concept of a female judge.

"Thank you, judge. Or, what do you call a lady judge? A flight attendant?" he says.

The president forcefully makes his case. "I'm right, they're wrong," he says of the real -- or to him "so-called" judges who are ruling against his order. He also demands $725 compensation.

Trump brings in a character witness. He's someone who has the sort of character no one should doubt. I am, naturally, speaking of Vladimir Putin.

Putin defends Trump in his usual strong, topless manner. He describes the president as "my little American Happy Meal."

I won't spoil the ending. However, the TV judge has important words for the president: "You're doing too much. I want one day without a CNN alert that scares the hell out of me."

Or, some might add, a presidential tweet.

Batteries Not Included: The CNET team shares experiences that remind us why tech stuff is cool. Take a look here.

CNET Magazine: Check out a sampling of the stories you'll find in CNET's newsstand edition, right here.

Originally posted here:
SNL's Donald Trump takes travel ban case to People's Court - CNET