Last night in Alabama the allegorical equivalent of Ft. Sumter took place, when evangelical extremist Roy Moore defeated Luther Strange, even though Strange had the endorsement, albeit vague and equivocal, of Donald Trump, who said he would “campaign like hell” for Moore in the event he won. Moore was victorious partly because of Trump’s fum fuh but mostly because Steve Bannon and Breitbart threw their weight behind him. And after last night’s flashpoint victory, Steve Bannon is letting no moss grow as he makes plans to go all over the country campaigning for candidates that fit the agenda of his “new right” which is anti-Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and vociferously anti-establishment GOP. Make no mistake, the Republicans are at war. CNN:.
Fresh off a win in Alabama, Breitbart chief Steve Bannon is taking action to keep up his role in a coming Republican divide.
A source familiar... said Bannon was likewise meeting with and talking to candidate teams in Tennessee and Mississippi.
Bannon was also looking to get involved with candidates from the West, with the source telling CNN that he was flying to Colorado to recruit. The source also said Bannon planned to speak at the Council on National Policy conference, a gathering of social conservative grassroots leaders about the ground game needed to "defeat elites" in coming races.
The elites he’s speaking of are the elites in the GOP. Steve Bannon is doing nothing short of starting a populist revolution in the streets — or trying to in any event. What does the titular leader of the GOP, Donald Trump, think of what his “wingman” Bannon is doing? Trump doesn’t have the faintest clue what’s going on and Bannon said as much Monday night on Fox News in an interview with Sean Hannity.
Washington Post:
But making that argument — that Trump was duped — also means arguing that he is capable of being duped, and apparently rather easily in this case. Inherent in Bannon's argument is the idea that Trump either isn't discerning enough to make that endorsement decision for himself, or at least that he doesn't do enough homework.
Bannon is basically confirming everything aides have said privately about how unsophisticated Trump is in consuming information. This is the president of the United States, and Bannon is talking about him as if he's still a total political novice — a weather vane, even.
That's a pretty stunning admission coming from one of the people who has worked closest with Trump.
The way the battle lines are divided are Generals Kelly and McMaster supporting the Old Guard GOP to Bannon’s “tear it down” Leninist agenda. Kelly came on board to impose order and discipline and has been characterized as a “one man choke point,” by those who have worked with him. Getting Trump the right information and keeping him on script has been Kelly’s goal from the outset — and you see how well it’s working, the UN speech and the rally in Alabama, both debacles, speak volumes as to how well Kelly’s control of Trump is working out.
Kelly came on board to right the badly listing ship of state. Steve Bannon is committed to burning it down. Fires at sea are remarkable sights. Keep your eyes open.