Even at this point, the incompetence of the Trump administration never ceases to amaze

So much for the positive influence of Jared and Ivanka

We seem to keep trying to ascribe some level of competence or normality upon the Trump Presidency. Such efforts are akin to a child anthropomorphizing animals — because we humans want to see human behavior in animals, we attribute human motivation to them. But just as animals rarely think like humans, so too does the Trump administration rarely behave like a normal, competent White House.

Consider the most recent effort. In yesterday’s The New York Times, political scientist Matthew Dickinson argued that there is a strategy behind Trump’s decision to replace his Chief of Staff John Kelly at this time. He asserted that like most other White Houses at this point in their term, the Trump administration is getting ready for the re-election campaign.

But as usual with Donald Trump, there is no strategy. This is just a group of grifters who ended up in the most powerful position in the world through criminal activity and a cosmic joke. Ivanka, who many once hoped would be a moderating influence on her father, has turned out to be a rapacious influence interested only in her own enrichment. And even Melania, who many on the left imagined to be secretly appalled by…