Is national security policy now firmly in the hands of General McMaster and others who de-emphasize Jihad as an existential threat? When Dr. Sebastian Gorka left his position as deputy assistant to President Trump, many of us who fear a loss of focus on violent jihad were disconcerted, to say the least. But, like Steve Bannon, Gorka seems to be occupying the role of loyal outside kibitzer, a kind of shadow-cabinet positon that frees him to speak more frankly than he could as a federal official, but equally committed to supporting the president and his policies (those with which he agrees, anyway). It is almost as if the POTUS has two different squads of players on national security, with the McMaster team currently on the field, and the Bannon/Gorka/Flynn(?) team of counter-jihadists on the bench. Yesterday, Dr. Gorka appeared on Breitbart Radio on Sirius AM with Matt Boyle (full interview embedded below), and seemed to suggest that Coach Trump may be switching squads on the...(Read Full Post)