It needs to be understood that Trump is attempting to find a candidate here who will please the billionaire neocon Sheldon Adelson, who threw his support to Trump after Trump won the Republican nomination.
The New York Times reports:
Mr. Bolton remains under consideration for the job. And he enjoys a powerful ally in Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate and Republican megadonor who favors the kind of hard-nosed posture that Mr. Bolton would bring.But what if Trump decides that it is going to be impossible to get Bolton confirmed by the Senate?
Mr. Adelson’s backing has gone an especially long way with Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is expected to take on an important but still undetermined role in the new administration.
Given how intense the opposition to Mr. Bolton is, nominating him would further complicate what is already expected to be a bumpy confirmation process for Mr. Trump’s State Department team.
To please Adelson, the next option could be the only person that is an equally warhawkish neocon. The New York Times again:
Another name that has been mentioned as a possible deputy to Mr. Tillerson, according to two people with knowledge of the transition process, is Elliott Abrams, a former Bush adviser. Mr. Abrams was at times critical of Mr. Trump during the 2016 campaign, but less pointedly so than other foreign policy veterans. He also served in the State Department under President Ronald Reagan and has been discussed as a possible deputy secretary of defense, the two people said.
The only difference bewteen Bolton and Abrams is that Abrams is a smarter and this more dangerous neocon.
Of course, we might end up with a double whammy. Bolton at State and Abrams with the Defense Department.
-RW
Let me see if I have this right, a world renowned expert in oil and mineral resources, backed by an army of unhinged neocons bent on waging eternal war no matter how ludicrus the endeavor! Are we watching a literal Frankenstein-esque reanimation of the Dick Cheney and Richard Perle neocon cult that destroyed the middle east?
ReplyDeleteSheldon Adelson must be of the opinion that Dick Cheney's neocon capos were just not up to the job, and that his hand picked crew will get the job done!