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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... 3dbc1dc59b

Trump has decided that the joint chiefs of staff are not a necessary presence on the National Security Council, but his chief political aide in the White House is. There is no precedent for this in American History.

I'm wondering what it will take for the alarm bells to start going off among the GOP leadership in Washington, and when they will realize that their thin majority is in danger of giving way to a landslide of opposition, and that as awareness of this whole Trump circus of incompetence increases, he is lighting the fires not only of his own demise, but of theirs for either standing by and looking stupid, or complicity for the sake of political expedience.

McCain seems to get it.

http://nypost.com/2017/01/29/mccain-say ... oncerning/

I think Trump considers the military brass to be part of the swamp he's bent on draining. They will tell him uncomfortable truths if allowed to speak. So muzzle them. I'm not sure anybody has a clue how much of this it will take for the Trump electorate to overwhelmingly recant. But I hope it doesn't take too long. I want to be able to vote in the United States in 2018.

Anything with Steve Bannon in it makes me cringe. The wisdom of people who have actually been in combat or who have sent people into combat isn't wanted. After all, Trump learned more in "military school" than the generals know.

This indicates that Trump places the political viewpoints (and perceived political responses) of the very right wing of Americans (Bannon-ish) above the sum total of intelligence (DNI) or the understanding of military options (JCS).

Some (notably Reince Priebus the Chief of Staff) have walked back on this saying the DNI and JCS can “of course” participate if they like to and they will be consulted when needed.