title: Is The Washington Post Waging a ‘Media War’ on President Trump?
text: 21st Century Wire says The leftist media machine and the Washington Post are going after President Trump again. Are Josh Rogin and the The Post waging a media war against President Trump?Trump said last Wednesday that he,  will absolutely do safe zones in Syria  for refugees fleeing violence. A statement certainly indicating that he supports humanitarian efforts to set up refugee camps for displaced Syrians. Amid concerns that this might mean an increased US/NATO military presence in the zone the The Post and mainstream media has taken the opportunity to take the comment and paint it as a military escalation before any details of said plan have been released. One must wonder, where was The Post s warning of escalation of violence and criticism of the Obama administration when the so-called  Rebel Fighters  where being funded, armed and trained by the Pentagon, CIA and US State Department? Lindsay Graham and John McCain pushed these policies very openly and were only criticized by independent journalists.In another example of The Post going after Trump with a broad smattering of deception, Josh Rogin released an article and report titled:  The State Department s entire senior administrative team just resigned  this week. That headline went viral among consumers of leftist media outlets and has made its way into the apparent media war against Trump talking points of the week.Conversely, Allegra Kirkland of Reuters reported, at the same time, that the  Entire State Department Management Team Fired By Trump Admin. How do we reconcile these polar opposite narrative reports from the right and left sides of mainstream media?Is that an accurate headline by Rogin? Did the  entire senior administrative team resign? Is Kirkland s headline accurate? Did Trump fire the entire State Department management team?The short answer to these questions appears to be, no.At most, eight employees left the State Department. Furthermore, it appears to be an outright falsehood to claim that any of them left in protest of a Trump presidency or that there is a mass exodus of crucial members of the State Department. It also seems that it is yet another falsehood to claim that they were fired by Trump s administration.Do these claims show an intentional misleading of the readers by both the right and leftist media giants, a gross misunderstanding of the transition process at the State Department or both?The Ron Paul Institute re-posted an analysis on this situation from WeMeantWell.com that is brings more facts to light. Compare what you read below with Josh Rogin s talking points for an interesting view into how the mainstream leftist media is spinning stories about the Trump administration.The Ron Paul Institute & WeMeantWell.com bring some perspective to the topic below: Ron Paul InstituteYesterday at the State Department five officials resigned or retired. Another one today.The media has gone near-insane, claiming State is crumbling in protest under the Trump administration. This is not true. What happened at State is very routine.Leaving the Department are head of the Management Bureau Pat Kennedy (above), Assistant Secretary of State for Administration Joyce Anne Barr, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Michele Bond, Ambassador Gentry O. Smith, director of the Office of Foreign Missions, arms control official Tom Countryman, and Victoria Nuland.Here s the story:  No one at the State Dept resigned in protest.  No one was formally fired.  Six people were transferred from or retired from political appointee positions. Technically those who did not retire can be considered to have  resigned,  but that is a routine HR/personnel term used, not some political statement. The six are career Foreign Service career personnel (FSOs) They previously left their FSO job to be appointed into political jobs and now have resigned those (or retired out of the State Department) to return to career FSO jobs. A circle. They are required to submit a letter of resignation as a matter of routine when a new president takes office.  As for perspective: only one Under Secretary of State (Alan Larson) stayed through the transition from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush. It is routine for senior officials to leave or be reassigned.  Several of the six are connected to the Clinton emails and/or Clinton s handling of Benghazi. One of these people, Pat Kennedy, played a significant role in both, as well as many other controversial issues during Clinton s term. Sources tell me that although officially Kennedy  retired,  he was more or less required to do so by the Trump administration.  I have no information on the others, whether they were asked to retire, or just part of a reshuffling of positions and will routinely be reassigned. Most likely the latter, as such reshuffling is very common as administrations change. As everywhere in the government, the new administration fills its own political appointee slots.  Some of the six will hit mandatory retirement age on January 31 anyway.  Reports that these people represent  senior management  at State confuse terms. Because of the odd way State is organized, four of the six work in the Management Bureau, M in State talk. Kennedy was the head of the Bureau. The four play varying roles and collectively are not the senior management of the State Department. Two work in other parts of the Department (Countryman and Nuland) and are more directly tied to policies likely to change under the new administration.  All six persons come from offices with a deep bench. It is highly unlikely that any of the work of the State Department will be impeded by any of these changes. Every office has a second, third, fourth, etc., person in charge who will step up pending formal replacements to be nominated and confirmed. This is all part of the standard transition process.  As an example, I worked in the Bureau of Consular Affairs for most of my 24 years at State, including working with/for Michele Bond, one of the resignees. I personally know the people in the next rank below her, and all have equal experience and tenure as Bond. There will be no gap in experience or knowledge as some press reports have fretted. There will be no void. A slightly more dire, but responsible take, here.  There will very likely be more, similar,  resignations  and reshuffling at State. New political appointees will bring in their own staff, for example. But unless and until an employee holds a press conference to announce s/he is resigning out of protest, the media should take care to calm down, verify facts, and report accurately.  The Washington Post stated these changes were part of an  ongoing mass exodus of senior Foreign Service officers who don t want to stick around for the Trump era.  I am not aware of any other noteworthy departures (two lesser officials left earlier this month in circumstances not clearly connected to Trump) and as stated above, the six did not resign in protest. Regardless, eight people in any context do not constitute a mass exodus.  The Post article is, in my opinion, grossly alarming. It reflects a reporter apparently unfamiliar with transitions Continue this report at The Ron Paul InstituteREAD MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Trump FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV