The Honey Badger
When I was exploring Kenya in the late ’60s, I read several books by Robert Ruark, a well known novelist and big game hunter at the time. One of them was entitled, “The Honey Badger.” In it, I learned that this rather small critter was considered the meanest and most dangerous animal in Africa! Here is why:
Pretty impressive, huh? There is apparently no animal it won’t attack, and it is said that when it attacks a man, it goes straight for the crotch! OK, this was just a setup, for understanding an otherwise obscure motto/meme of the Breitbart News organization. You may have heard that Trump just hired their Executive Chairman, as CEO of his campaign organization. Although I must have, I don’t recall ever hearing anything about Steve Bannon before; but according to a comprehensive article last October, “This Man Is the Most Dangerous Political Operative in America,” he has an impressive resume indeed.
Bannon’s life is a succession of Gatsbyish reinventions that made him rich and landed him squarely in the middle of the 2016 presidential race: He’s been a naval officer, investment banker, minor Hollywood player, and political impresario. When former Disney chief Michael Ovitz’s empire was falling to pieces, Bannon sat Ovitz down in his living room and delivered the news that he was finished. When Sarah Palin was at the height of her fame, Bannon was whispering in her ear. When Donald Trump decided to blow up the Republican presidential field, Bannon encouraged his circus-like visit to the U.S.-Mexico border. John Boehner just quit as House speaker because of the mutinous frenzy Bannon and his confederates whipped up among conservatives. Today, backed by mysterious investors and a stream of Seinfeld royalties, he sits at the nexus of what Hillary Clinton once dubbed “the vast right-wing conspiracy,†where he and his network have done more than anyone else to complicate her presidential ambitions—and they plan to do more. But this “conspiracy,†at least under Bannon, has mutated into something different from what Clinton described: It’s as eager to go after establishment Republicans such as Boehner or Jeb Bush as Democrats like Clinton.
If you were as confused as I was, as to why Trump hired him, and why Paul Manafort willingly accepted the apparent demotion; or have been somewhat curious about Breitbart’s symbiotic interactions with the MSM of late, this article is for you. It is long; but I certainly found it informative and interesting enough to finish it. â—„Daveâ–º
I am anxious to read the article. Bannon is friends with Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah. Mercer is the guy who blew a gasket when Cruz failed to endorse Trump at convention.
If you have not read up on him yet he is a fairly interesting guy behind the scenes. Kind of one of these quirky forward thinking money moguls (hedge-funds) who is not afraid to spread the wealth for what might be a good cause.
Computer programmer was his basic game … whoda thought? … LOL
That is interesting, CT. I just installed a little plug-in to give you all access to basic HTML formatting buttons for your comments.
It seems to work! If interested, it is located here.
Now, let’s see how it looks. 😀 â—„Daveâ–º
Cool! I like it. My only complaint is that the link doesn’t open a new tab/window and leave this one on my site; but that is true for unformatted links too, so nothing is lost. I guess that is what the [Back] button is for. 🙂 â—„Daveâ–º
Unbelievable competition for Mr. Honey Badger. 😯 â—„Daveâ–º
OMG! Off with HER head … who or what is next the next door neighbor kid?
Let’s see how this test link works?
Robert Mercer Deep Pockets
Good link. Thanks. Big doings in the Trump campaign. I see that Manafort has now resigned; yet Trump is remaining disciplined, with the third effective speech in a week. I’d say he is getting serious. 😀 â—„Daveâ–º
Did you see Newt explain that Manifort most likely resigned because the Clinton campaign would continue to ping on the Manifort Issues?
He was quick to point out that Manifort played a big role in helping Trump get through the convention unscathed.
Your blog code does not recognize or is stripping the target=”_blank” command.
That should open the link in a blank window.
Bummer! 😉
It must be the plugin, CT. If I generate a comment with the full editor in the back-end, the target=”_blank” parameter works fine. â—„Daveâ–º
Yup those honey badgers are pretty bad ass. Possibly the most powerful symbolism is when it gets bitten by the cobra. It “went to sleep” for a little while. Last I knew any much larger animal including humans are dead.
As far as the article goes it’s somewhat interesting. The obvious assignment of noble motivations are concerning. As a jaded skeptic I can only wonder if without the obvious assignment of such nobility Bannon could just as easily be seen as part of the problem within the Washington system and bias news conglomerate from both sides. Political news has turned to nothing more than the art of personal destruction rather than dissemination of pertinent information. The only difference between Breitbart.com and Moveon.org is that Breitbart says and report things we like most of the time. That said I hope his goal is as stated. Cleaning up the mess of corruption that is the Washington cartel.
I make no secret of not being a big fan of Trump but this guy is actually the one that got him where he is. I hope he can turn him into someone electable. It’s not looking good so far. They burned a lot of bridges that they need to get him there. They may pull it off as being the only place to go for folks that could have crossed those bridges but he’s got a lot of work to do now getting them to the other side. I will probably cast a relevant vote against Hillary (as relevant as it will be in NY) but by the fates I still look for something to vote FOR.
Could Bannon be sitting on something about Clinton that will be her undoing in November? I don’t discount the possibility. He may be taking the reins to expose at just the right time and way. Now being too soon giving her time to weasel out of it like every other scandal that would put us in jail much less stop a presidential run.
BTW those burned bridges? Don’t be surprised at who may rebuild them.
Good assessment, especially the comparison between Breitbart and MoveOn. Read Sundance’s article referenced in my new post.
Was that meant to be cryptic? Because, to me at least, it was… 😕 â—„Daveâ–º
Yea, it may be a bit cryptic. Thing is I’ve given up trying to predict what the players in this cycles theater are going to do but they are not done. There are two major upsets still to come before October. If they come about they will be game changers. Keep the butter hot. It’s going to get boring for the next month but just wait for it.
Chris about the comparison between Breitbart and MoveOn.
Would you personally in the next millennia align with MoveOn?
My guess? Probably not … LOL 😉
You guess correctly. My comparison is not about content but function. They both do the same job. Just for different teams.
BTW I was drawn to an old post in Tspeak by a spam comment. I took the time to read the comments. It was fun to see what we were talking about three years ago. Some has no bearing today, but some was down right prophetic. If you want to kill some time just read the comment section. It’s a rather long thread. It had less to do with the original post than what’s going on today.
Hmmmm something went wrong with the link. http://tspeak.us/allen-west-western-conservative-summit-2013/
Hmm… Let me try it: 3-year-old political discussion
Yes, it was a great discussion, and an enjoyable trip down memory lane reviewing it. Thanks for sharing it, Chris.
I got a kick out of how I casually mentioned Trump, for the very same reason that I have been championing his masterful destruction of the GOPe. Then, Mary choked on it and was already falling for Cruz. Larry sure had Hillary’s inevitability nailed. Happier times, when politics still mattered to us, and we assumed that America still had a future… 😀 â—„Daveâ–º
Yep, those were some of the more prophetic parts.
BTW, which faction of the GOP that’s being destroyed remains to be seen. Seems to me the RNC which is the GOPe isn’t doing too badly these days. Even a loss doesn’t concern them.
Here’s a different perspective concerning Mr. Bannon. One that in my estimation may be a bit closer to the truth. It at least sounds more plausible to me. I Know Trump’s New Campaign Chairman, Steve Bannon. Here’s What You Need To Know.