We have previously discussed President Donald Trump’s firing of the intelligence community’s inspector general, Michael Atkinson — a move that many of us criticized (particularly after Trump made it clear that the firing was due to the fact that Atkinson informed Congress of the Ukraine whistleblower complaint). Yesterday, Trump unfairly attacked the Inspector General who authored a critical report on shortages in hospitals dealing with the outbreak. Trump appointed Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm but attacked her as a deep state hater despite a record of service to both Republican and Democratic Administrations. Now Trump has removed Glenn Fine — the acting Pentagon watchdog — to lead the group charged with monitoring the coronavirus relief effort. Fine is highly respected and appointed by a panel of inspectors general. All of these moves are unwarranted and dangerous attacks on our system of Inspectors General that should be condemned by both parties.
The new law specifies that the current inspectors general fill the position to oversee the massive spending on the Coronavirus. That was no reason given for Fine’s removal, which directly contradicts the selection process under the new law.
The attack on Grimm was particularly unnerving yesterday. What is interesting is that Admiral Brett Giroir, M.D., offered a convincing rebuttal to the IG criticism by pointing out that it was based on the period of acknowledged shortages — before the impressive distribution of new tests. He also expressed frustration that the IG did not bother to contact him to update such figures.
That would have been the perfect response but instead Trump launched into an attack of Grimm by demanding to know who appointed her. It turned out that he appointed her. However, Jonathan Karl also revealed that she served in prior administrations, including the Obama Administration. That led to a renewed attack on her character. Christi Grimm has an impeccable record of service and deserves better than such an ad hominem attack by the President.
This is wrong and the President needs to know that it is not acceptable. We have a system of inspectors general that is vital to deterring waste and mismanagement. It is not a popular job, but all citizens benefit from independent and professional figures like Fine and Grimm.
All you need to know is that Democrats wage political campaign with identity politics and other racist dogwhistles. Pretending both-side-ism misses the basic point that Dems are clearly beyond the pale. This Dims have no morals, no scruples, no interest other than self-interest, clinically narcissistic and have maturity level of a kid. That is what has brought us to where we are today. Add to that years of Democrat madness of growing government through years.
In 2020, we resolve not to look behind and judge the immoral war that was forced on Americans with Democrat lies. This time around – there should be nothing like them again in power. Pelosi, Schumer, Hillary, Obama and his dozens of coverups and abuse of power, all of them need to be put in jail and I very much hope we do not lose sight of that basic truism.
Democrats suck
Spete 17. Damn Straight!
Tried to delete my below replies and rewrite them with program grammar. Oh well. Trump 2020!
It’s not too hard really. considering the copy/paste tripe they splatter on these boards, an IQ greater than a list of Obama’s accomplishments that benefited black Americans will do the trick.
+10
REGARDING ABOVE:
Spete17 blogs from his Montana cabin; a self-described “lone wolf’ who loves guns. No mainstream media penetrates spete’s 10 Acres, a modest patch of scrub land.
REGARDING ABOVE
Seth Warner blogs from his West Hollywood gay bathhouse; a self-described Power Bottom who loves Hung Peckers
No gay man on Grindr would penetrate Seth’s Uranus, a veritable incubus of plague
Tom of Finland is the same commenter as our Laboratory Technician (or whatever he is) who keeps sharing his alleged insight into medical aspects of the Coronavirus. But he doesnt want readers to know of his other ‘intetests’.
All you need to know is that this subhuman scoundrel started his political campaign with birtherism and other racist dogwhistles. Pretending both-side-ism misses the basic point that Trump is clearly beyond the pale. This guy has no morals, no scruples, no interest other than self-interest, clinically narcissistic and has maturity level of a kid. That is what has brought us to where we are today. Add to that years of republican madness of hollowing out government through years.
In 2009, we resolved not to look behind and judge the immoral war that was forced on us with lies. This time around – there should be nothing like it. This guy needs to be put in jail and I very much hope we do not lose sight of that post November.
Hutom. Typical,Clueless, Leftist Brainwashed by the Corrupt, Lying Media. Do your research, the Origins of the “Birther” theory started with the Hillary Campaign. Not Trump. This is a UNDISPUTABLE Fact! Here’s a Head Start. ‘Syndney Blumenthal and a female Staffer from Iowa”
Facts never matter to the Left wing libburturds….why else do you wage a war on a malaria drug that has been around for decades for lupus and malaria patients, all the while pretending to know better
they’re just liars….just like Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and on and on and on and on
Hutom. We sane people know who are the true Racists. Identity Politics Leftists like yourself whom is consumed by that Word!
pissy bitch…stfu
U.S. Response To Pandemic Crippled By Vacant Government Of ‘Acting’ Officials
“Actings” often struggle to be successful precisely because they’re temporary—their word carries less weight with their own workforce, with other government agencies or on Capitol Hill—and they rarely have the opportunity to set and drive their own agenda, push for broad organizational change, or even learn the ropes of how to be successful in the job given the usually brief period of their reign. Anyone who has ever changed jobs or companies knows how long it can take to feel like you understand a new organization, a new culture or shape a new role.
And yet up and down the org chart at DHS, there are people still learning the ropes. DHS is riddled with critical vacancies; according to the Washington Post’s appointment tracker, just 35 percent of its top roles are filled. Its chief of staff, executive secretary and general counsel are all acting officials, and there’s no Senate-confirmed deputy secretary, no under secretary for management, no chief financial office, no chief information officer, no under secretary for science and technology, nor a deputy under secretary for science and technology.
Even as we face a global crisis with complex travel restrictions and health guidelines, there are no Senate-confirmed leaders of any of DHS’s three border and immigration agencies—Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Nor is there a deputy administrator at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), as the airline industry faces an existential cutback to global travel.
Matthew Albence, the acting head of ICE, which faces a growing Covid-19 problem in its national network of detention facilities, has been “acting” for so long that he’s surpassed the 220-statutory limit for the role and instead is now technically the “senior official performing the duties of the director,” a legal term of art that’s become all too common around the federal government as vacancies linger in the Trump era. Ken Cuccinelli, the similarly-titled “senior official performing the duties of the USCIS director,” who is simultaneously also DHS’s temporary No. 2, the “senior official performing the duties of the deputy secretary,” is currently appealing a court ruling that he’s not even legally serving at DHS.
Edited From “Trump Dismantled The Very Jobs Meant To Stop The Covid 19 Response”
Today’s Politico
………………………………………………………………
This lengthy article cites numerous positions in the Executive Branch that are either vacant or filled with an ‘Acting’ Director. One realizes that’s Trump’s wrecking ball approach to government is tragically shortsighted.
Well if it’s from politico, than it must be true. LOL! Trump eliminated (1) position from the pandemic team. Facts are a Stubborn Thing! But lets blame a worldwide tragedy that started in Disgusting China, and lay it at the feet of President Trump. “Liberalism is a Mental Disorder.”
They all serve at the pleasure of the President. He has the final say.
Not the first time this president has abused his powers Tea.
Considering how you & Seth abuse this blog with your narcissistic, attention seeking, shill copy/paste bird cage content (nod to fake news outlets), of course those few readers that skim your scum conclude that you are trolling for George Soros funded groups.
But I digress….
Carry on
Killroy, What I suspect too.
What has been Trump’s fault so far? You could argue about 1 or 2 of these, the rest?……No.
David Frum in The Atlantic:
“…That the pandemic occurred is not Trump’s fault. The utter unpreparedness of the United States for a pandemic is Trump’s fault. The loss of stockpiled respirators to breakage because the federal government let maintenance contracts lapse in 2018 is Trump’s fault. The failure to store sufficient protective medical gear in the national arsenal is Trump’s fault. That states are bidding against other states for equipment, paying many multiples of the precrisis price for ventilators, is Trump’s fault. Air travelers summoned home and forced to stand for hours in dense airport crowds alongside infected people? That was Trump’s fault too. Ten weeks of insisting that the coronavirus is a harmless flu that would miraculously go away on its own? Trump’s fault again. The refusal of red-state governors to act promptly, the failure to close Florida and Gulf Coast beaches until late March? That fault is more widely shared, but again, responsibility rests with Trump: He could have stopped it, and he did not.
The lying about the coronavirus by hosts on Fox News and conservative talk radio is Trump’s fault: They did it to protect him. The false hope of instant cures and nonexistent vaccines is Trump’s fault, because he told those lies to cover up his failure to act in time. The severity of the economic crisis is Trump’s fault; things would have been less bad if he had acted faster instead of sending out his chief economic adviser and his son Eric to assure Americans that the first stock-market dips were buying opportunities. The firing of a Navy captain for speaking truthfully about the virus’s threat to his crew? Trump’s fault. The fact that so many key government jobs were either empty or filled by mediocrities? Trump’s fault. The insertion of Trump’s arrogant and incompetent son-in-law as commander in chief of the national medical supply chain? Trump’s fault.
For three years, Trump has blathered and bluffed and bullied his way through an office for which he is utterly inadequate. But sooner or later, every president must face a supreme test, a test that cannot be evaded by blather and bluff and bullying. That test has overwhelmed Trump.
Trump failed. He is failing. He will continue to fail. And Americans are paying for his failures…..”
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/americans-are-paying-the-price-for-trumps-failures/609532/
Hey, ‘who knew’ Trump would be so dumb? Answer: ‘Everyone outside the rightwing bubble’.
It’s all about Trump, but never his fault
It’s the sick twisted fake news media propaganda that will kill people from discouraging them from taking the drug hydroxychloroquine, just because they hate Trump. Thank you to the Democrat state representative Karen Whitsett, for crediting President Trump for saving her Life!
The specific use of medications needs to be left up to doctors and based on medical science. Otherwise it could be quite dangerous. Hydroxychloroquine does have nasty side effects and it is only worth the risk if the drug works. This is not a political issue and shame on Trump for making it one.
Acting Secretary Of Navy Resigns After Insulting Dismissed Captain Of Carrier
Acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly, whose fiery insults of a naval officer who raised alarm about the service’s handling of a coronavirus outbreak prompted widespread condemnation, has resigned, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
The decision comes after Modly traveled from Washington to Guam on Monday to give a speech to the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, whose commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, Modly removed last week.
During profanity-laced remarks, Modly assailed Crozier’s character, angering many of ship’s 5,000 sailors.
Modly, speaking to the ship’s crew over a loudspeaker, accused Crozier of either leaking a letter about his concerns to the media or of being “too naive or too stupid to be the commanding officer of a ship like this.”
The remarks, leaked to the media in written and audio form, prompted condemnation from family members of the crew, which has more than 170 coronavirus cases, and several Democratic lawmakers. By Monday night, Modly had released a statement apologizing for insulting Crozier, who has tested positive for the virus, but insisting that Crozier had written the letter with the intention of creating a stir.
“Captain Crozier is smart and passionate,” Modly said. “I believe, precisely because he is not naive and stupid, that he sent his alarming email with the intention of it getting into the public domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation on his ship.”
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper had asked Modly to apologize with the hope that the move would be sufficient to move beyond the controversy, according to a senior administration official.
Edited From: “Acting Navy Secretary Resigns After Insulting Aircraft Carrier’s Ousted Captain”
Today’s Washington Post
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-04-covid-average-actual-infections-worldwide.html
Highly underreported. Maybe 20 times the reported number.
Christi Grimm has an impeccable record of service and deserves better than such an ad hominem attack by the President.
Really? Had you ever heard of her before yesterday?
No and neither did you.
“Ms. Grimm brings two decades of leadership and expertise in health and human services programs. She is a leading expert in program integrity issues related to HHS programs, with particular emphasis on health care services provided in home and community-based settings. Ms. Grimm serves as an executive liaison by engaging with Government partners, national professional associations, and the private sector, and she frequently represents OIG as a speaker at educational programs and before Congress and the media.
From 2014 to 2019, Ms. Grimm was the Chief of Staff and Deputy Inspector General for the Immediate Office. She directed OIG’s strategic planning, was responsible for effective execution of OIG’s priorities, and advised on a wide variety of policy and operational matters. As Chief of Staff, Ms. Grimm created and chaired OIG’s Engagement Committee, a senior executive forum that deliberates on OIG investments. Prior to becoming OIG’s Chief of Staff in 2014, Ms. Grimm served in leadership roles in the Immediate Office, including Director of Policy and Programs and Senior Advisor for Program Oversight. Ms. Grimm began her career with OIG in 1999 as a Program Evaluator and later served as a Senior Program Analyst in OIG’s Office of Evaluation and Inspections. She designed and conducted groundbreaking work to improve quality and safety in hospitals, stop unqualified providers from enrolling in Medicaid, and improve the process for appealing Medicare payment decisions.
Ms. Grimm previously worked at CMS, conducting national assessments of contractor performance. Ms. Grimm holds a Master of Public Administration from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado, Denver. She is also a graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Senior Managers in Government. Ms. Grimm has received the Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Management and the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency Award for Excellence in Management.”
but attacked her as a deep state hater despite a record of service to both Republican and Democratic Administrations.
You don’t know what people mean when they say ‘deep state’ do you?
I do. Airhead attack by Trump true believers of our meritocratic civil service by those who think political patronage and nepotism are superior models.
Trump unfairly attacked the Inspector General who authored a critical report on shortages in hospitals dealing with the outbreak.
Given how glacial has been Mr. Horowitz in his pacing, isn’t it odd they’re producing such rapid assessments, producing assessments in a protean environment of the state of play three weeks ago, and producing assessments which have nothing to do with employee misconduct?
It’s a crisis doofus, and the report is based on interviews of hospitals between March 24-27
Glenn Fine was nominated September 29, 2016 by Obama and placed in the position 10 days before Obama left office.
If you aren’t inherently suspicious of ANYONE fitting that profile, then you haven’t been paying attention.
indy:
Fine previously served as the Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) from 2000 until January 2011. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 2000. Prior to his appointment as the DOJ Inspector General, Fine served as Special Counsel to the DOJ Inspector General from January 1995 until 1996, when he was made Director of the OIG’s Special Investigations and Review Unit.[2]
Immediately prior to joining the OIG office at the Department of Justice, Fine had been in a private law practice in Washington, D.C. Before entering private practice, Fine served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Washington, D.C. United States Attorney’s Office from 1986 to 1989. In those three years, he prosecuted more than 35 criminal jury trials and handled numerous grand jury investigations.[2]
Don’t know who you are but it’s clear that nothing President Trump could do would meet with your approval. This, to my thinking, mitigates the significance of your opinion.
Trump said he would run the govt like a business to increase efficiency. Since the announcement of the (legal) election results he has been under attack down party line by Democrats who announced (prior to the swearing in) “Now we begin the impeachment process.” No president in over a century has moved forward and accomplished so much positive for America while under constant withering attack who have demonstrated an unwarranted and uncivil level of hatred. While Democrats have broken the law, filed illegal FISA warrants, spied without cause, filed illegal subpoenas for the phone records of private citizens simply because they dared support our President, sold crude T-shirts “Impeach the F….er!” On their tax payer paid for web site, a know nothing parrot bar maid who is completely controlled by her campaign manager (and whose web site lies about her heritage and upbringing to get sympathy votes) an ex-Sec of State who has yet to be held up to answer for multiple crimes, an ex-president who had from the beginning the goal of Socializing America and shredding our Constitution (read his Masters Thesis), even an out of control congressman who threatened Supreme Court Justices by name…etc.
the once admirable Democratic Party now is awash in mud slinging, machinations of a successful coup d’etat and party line hatred and ignorance. Pelosi has lost all control and has forfeited any dignity she once commanded and the lead candidate for President is awash in family crimes and stumbling over simple sentences. Bernie Sanders will weep that the DNC has once again robbed him of his rightful crown despite his long history of support of ultra-socialists and tin-pot dictators calling on Congress to fund them even as they ranked among the worst of human rights abusers.
Democrats have no good candidate and no good options and very few good statesmen/women. Now it seems that attacking President Trump is all that they DO have!
Trump 2020
Pence 2024
Pence 2028
Schiff Felony Conviction
Pelosi Alzheimer’s Ward
LIKE!
Don’t fire the person whose job it is to deliver bad news, or truthful criticism. Of course activists who abuse their position of authority to undermine government should be removed. Other than that, if someone is doing a good job, leave them be.
I have not heard the reasoning given for the firings, and so cannot comment on whether they were fair or not. Throughout President Trump’s time in office, there have been some firings I have agreed with, and some I have not.
A reminder, Trump is a genius:
LA doctor sees success treating patients with coronavirus.
“”Every patient I’ve prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symptom-free,” Cardillo told Eyewitness News. “So clinically I am seeing a resolution.”
https://abc7.com/coronavirus-drug-covid-19-malaria-hydroxychloroquine/6079864/
AND:
Fire all of the Inspectors General and put in people who will do the job.
OK, Young, here’s what’s going on. Trump can never lie. If something he says is not true, it still cannot be a lie, so he has to manufacture facts that make the lie not a lie. He bullies or purchases doctors to support what he says because he can never be wrong. Fox News supports what he says with purchased doctors. There are good reasons why a drug approved for one use might not be safe for another use–because it hasn’t been proven either safe or effective for patients who have a different condition, and therefore different risk factors. Anecdotal reports are meaningless, and in this case, may be dangerous. There are good reasons why scientific methodology is used to study drugs–to eliminate the chance that favorable results could be due to factors other than the drug under study, and to learn what the risks and benefits are, as well as proper dosing and monitoring.
Participants are placed in two groups: control and study groups, randomly, and the groups are matched for gender, ethnicity and other important factors. Then the double-blind technique is used, in which neither the patient nor the investigator knows which patients got the study drug and which received a placebo. If you think these things aren’t important, consider this: with COVID-19, it has already been shown that there are greater risks of morbidity and mortality based on race, gender and blood types.
Hydroxychloroquine is approved for malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. As a side effect, it can prolong the Q-R interval of the EKG, which can cause an arrhythmia. Arrhythmias can be fatal. It has not been subjected to testing with COVID-19 patients, so it is not reasonable to assume that it is safe for such patients, and here’s one reason why: because COVID-19 can cause a myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle itself. A heart muscle under attack by a virus might be far more susceptible to an arrhythmia, so it is logical to believe that in such a case there is a greater risk for an irregular heart rhythm from Hydroxychloroquine. That’s the answer to Trump’s question: “what do you have to lose”? Maybe your life.
Then, there’s the fact that Trump owns stock in Sanofi Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures Hydroxychloroquine.
Where’s Jared?
Natacha, When you are on your back, gasping for breath do you want to wait two years for double blind studies ( which you won’t get) or are you going to take a drug that has been showing spectacular results?
Don’t pretend to answer. I already know what you will do though I wouldn’t mind if you refused it.
Whoever is feeding you your long screeds is making you look stuoid.
This is actually one of Nutchacha’s better days.
Seth Warner, however…..someone needs to take away his arsenal of Adderall, Cocaine and Crystal meth, dirty needles and bags of paint chips
Yes, someone else is in his cubicle today…or in his head. Both appear to be sock puppets.
Seth has been called many things on this blog but never intelligent, original or in the last 6 months Peter Hill, John Burgoyne, Enoch Poor, or Alpha Top
😛
You keep listening to Fox News, and their only reason for pushing a drug that is not proven either safe or effective for COVID-19 is political–to help the Dear Leader, who was trying to downplay the seriousness of this pandemic to prevent the economy from going into free fall when he began promoting this drug as a “game changer”. He had always tried to use the booming economy he inherited from Obama as a selling point, but now we’re looking at a recession. Also, he has a financial interest in the company that sells hydroxychloroquine.
There are no valid studies showing “spectacular results”. Anecdotal reports are not science or even evidence. Correction to above post: hydroxychloroquine prolongs the Q-T interval on the EKG, not the Q-R interval.
Young. Absolutely Brilliant!
Tell that to Democratic State Representative Karen Whitsett, and the Father of Dr Mark Siegel you Heartless Moron!
Natacha.
Young is obviously Trump U grad.
That’s your best shot?
The Dear leader and Stable Genius is really getting sick and tired of being accused of all the things he has done. The dear leader shall not be questioned about anything that he wants to do. The dear leader will fire anyone that even questions his decisions. The rule that the dear leader has proclaimed is that he is not responsible for his actions. The dear leader can and shall break any rules or law. The dear leader does not lie. The dear leader can change facts or any truth he feels does not agree with him and him alone. Let it be said, let it be written.
Pres. TRUMP has the right to fire anyone he has no faith in or turns out to be a deep state/Obama/anti Trump plant.
I say good for him, fire the lot of never Trumpers and Cup plotters now, CLEAN SWEEP.
We do not need another fake and false impeachment we need ACTION to take of the COVID-19 and OPEN the Economy.
Come on, Professor Turley, the plural of “Inspector General” is “Inspectors General,” NOT “Inspector Generals.” Like “Attorneys General” and “mothers-in-law.” You knew that from high school, right?
Don’t be an ass.
He produces great articles every day.
“POTUS wants to know everything we’re doing.”
– Lisa Page to FBI paramour Peter Strzok
_________________________________
The rancid cesspool that was and still is the 7th Floor, with emphasis on its involvement in the Obama Coup D’etat in America, provides justification for decades of dismantling the antithetical, corrupt, treasonous, communist government and welfare state in America. Christopher Wray is a product of the 7th Floor. What’s that tell you? AG Barr is not directing Special Prosecutor John Durham to bring the Obama Coup co-conspirators to justice. He is conducting an inexorable, narcoleptic, “white wash” and cover-up which he has designed to extend well into the Biden administration where it will simply fade away before our very eyes.
At the core of the issue, taxation for redistribution or individual welfare, regulation beyond money, commerce and land and naval Forces, and deprivation of any aspect of private property are self-evidently unconstitutional. Individual freedom and truly free enterprise, not hindered but facilitated by government, constitute the essence of American fundamental law.
The American Founders did not prescribe or abide anything approaching affirmative action, quotas, welfare, food stamps, rent control, social services, forced busing, minimum wage, utility subsidies, WIC, TANF, HAMP, HARP, TARP, Dept.’s of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Labor, Energy, Obamacare, Social Security, Social Security Disability, Social Security Supplemental Income, Medicare, Medicaid, “Fair Housing” laws, “Non-Discrimination” laws, etc.
Every war produces collateral damage and acceptable losses which may be considered after victory is achieved.
To drain the globalized, communist swamp is President Trump’s “Finest Hour.”
_____________________________________________________________
“I have thought it right upon this occasion to give the House and the country some indication of the solid, practical grounds upon which we base our inflexible resolve to continue the war, and I can assure them that our professional advisers of the three Services unitedly advise that we should do so, and that there are good and reasonable hopes of final victory.”
– Winston Churchill
I think the very fact that an IG released the report to the media without notifying the task force of the results first is very suspect. If this IG’s first priority was oversight and making sure the task force was doing its job ethically and to the best of their ability – that would have been the first call. This person had a political agenda
“This review provides the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other decision-makers (e.g., State and local officials and other Federal agencies) with a national snapshot of hospitals’ challenges and needs in responding to the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This is not a review of HHS response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have collected this information as an aid for HHS as it continues to lead efforts to address the public health emergency and support hospitals and other first responders. In addition, hospitals may find the information about each other’s strategies useful in their efforts to mitigate the challenges they are facing.”
So you release to the press first and then they take it to the press conference. It clearly says it was for HHS.