During Monday’s The 11th Hour on MSNBC, serial liar Brian Williams trotted out an expert panel of Trump critics and let them loose to smear the President’s actions against North Korea. “On the one hand, Brian, when you have a dangerous stand-off with a nuclear-armed adversary, of course, you would like to think that within our government we have stability, methodical planning, every step is very calculated,” declared Politico’s Michael Crowley, “And I'm not sure we can be certain that that’s happening in this administration right now.”
Crowley began his comments by suggesting that Trump’s approach to foreign policy is that of Nixon’s “madman theory.” Basically, the theory says you act so unpredictably that your adversary can’t predict your actions and will come to the table to negotiate.
“But I definitely see that as part of the strategy here, to kind of psych the North Koreans out, to try to dislodge this status quo, by suggesting we're just crazy enough to do the thing that George W. Bush or Barack Obama would never do,” he explained, “I just don't think it has a high probability of working.”
Those comments opened the floodgates and unleashed anti-Trump condemnation from the other commentators.
Former CIA chief of staff, and Obama administration lackey, Jeremy Bash railed against the President and claimed that the military would resent Trump’s leadership:
Can I jump in here and say, the hallmark of military capability is discipline, it's uniformity. It's why the military wears uniforms, and people who come into the military on their very first day, they learn to salute. They have respect for the chain of command. If at the top of the chain of command there's someone who's erratic, undisciplined, unpredictable it causes the whole chain of command to disintegrate.
Bash was followed up by failed McCain campaign aide Nicolle Wallace, who chided Trump’s mental state. “I would just jump in and say that I think he's passed the madman test with flying colors,” she smeared. And according to her, Trump’s reputation in the eyes of the military wasn’t the only thing at stake. “And I think the actual test he's facing right now, is whether he can sit atop that chain of command and command the respect, not just of his own military and is own deputies who respect that sort of order, but of the world,” she asserted.
Obviously, baseless personal attacks are par for the course for political analysts on MSNBC. As each one of these commentators has a history of animosity against the President. Meanwhile, Williams, the disgraced NBC anchor, just sat back and let them spew their personal biases.
Transcript below:
MSNBC
The 11th Hour
April 17, 2017
11:11:09 PM EasternMICHAEL CROWLEY: Well, one interesting question, Brian, is whether in this context, a little bit of perceived insanity, is actually something the White House wants. Is trying to cultivate. You know, there's this sort of “madman theory” of national security. Richard Nixon tried to play this card, which suggests to your adversary, “I'm just crazy enough, that I might do the thing no one else in my shoes has dared to do before, you really can't predict my behavior.” And I'm seeing some of this in the signaling from this administration.
…
On the one hand, Brian, when you have a dangerous stand-off with a nuclear armed adversary, of course you would like to think that within our government we have stability, methodical planning, every step is very calculated. And I'm not sure we can be certain that that’s happening in this administration right now. But I also would suggest that as people watch the way this unfolds, they think about the possibility that Trump is actually trying to use this to his advantage, in a way that could be dangerous, I should add.
But I definitely see that as part of the strategy here, to kind of psych the North Koreans out, to try to dislodge this status quo, by suggesting we're just crazy enough to do the thing that George W. Bush or Barack Obama would never do. I just don't think it has a high probability of working. But I do think that's probably what's working here.
JEREMY BASH: Can I jump in here and say, the hallmark of military capability is discipline, it's uniformity. It's why the military wears uniforms, and people who come into the military on their very first day, they learn to salute. They have respect for the chain of command. If at the top of the chain of command there's someone who's erratic, undisciplined, unpredictable it causes the whole chain of command to disintegrate. And then you kind out that your military capability is actually lost. So, I think this is a major strategic disadvantage for the United States of America.
NICOLLE WALLACE: I would just jump in and say that I think he's passed the madman test with flying colors. And I think the actual test he's facing right now, is whether he can sit atop that chain of command and command the respect, not just of his own military and is own deputies who respect that sort of order, but of the world. And the world is watching how he faces his first test.
…
