Patrick Shanahan, Pentagon – shake it all about ****

      

Another teddy-out-of-the-pram tantrum followed James Mattis’ stinging rebuke of Trump’s policies in his resignation letter. He’s now been ousted two months early in a petty-minded piece of spite by the supreme leader.

In as Acting Defense Chief at the Pentagon is Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive and Deputy to Mattis since 2017 with no military experience, no previous government experience and little experience with foreign policy.

Third time lucky on birth data. If accurate, he was born 27 June 1962, Aberdeen, Washington, so he’s a Sun Cancer in a protective Water Grand Trine to Jupiter trine Neptune, formed into a talented and driven Kite by Jupiter opposition Pluto, which will make him push social niceties to one side to get what he wants. This makes power-hungry Pluto the driving planet. His Pluto Jupiter opposition squares onto Mercury in Gemini making him quick-witted but also scattered and at times disorganized. His Saturn in scientific Aquarius opposes Venus and squares Neptune in Scorpio – fixed, stubborn but not always decisive. His Mars in steamroller Taurus is in a volatile, short-tempered square to Uranus.

It’s an odd mix with Trump since Shanahan’s Uranus is conjunct Trump’s Mars and Ascendant which is an explosive and edgy interface; with Shanahan’s Mars conjunct Trump’s midheaven which can turn competitive.   Although at this stage it isn’t clear if he will be confirmed or is merely a pro-tem filler to allow Trump to vent his spleen and kick Mattis out of the door faster.

 

7 thoughts on “Patrick Shanahan, Pentagon – shake it all about ****”

  1. While he grew up in Washington state, there are some public birth records that suggest he may have been born in California.

    Be careful about trusting Wikipedia for your information. Follow the sources and make sure they are reliable and not just repeating what is on Wikipedia.

  2. From a CNN article –

    “McCain also raised concerns over Shanahan’s background as a former Boeing executive. “I have to have confidence that the fox is not going to be put back into the henhouse,” McCain said, worrying about someone employed at one of the “big five” defense contractors taking on a leadership role at the Pentagon.
    Shanahan first joined Boeing in 1986 and worked for the major defense contractor for more than three decades before joining the Defense Department.
    More recently, he was Boeing’s senior vice president of supply chain and operations and his experience laid largely on the commercial side of the company. Dubbed “Mr. Fix-It” within the company, Shanahan was credited with turning around some of Boeing’s trouble-prone programs, including the 787 Dreamliner.
    Shanahan has recused himself from all Boeing issues and in his ethics agreement said he planned to divest from his Boeing-related financial interests.”

    https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/24/politics/who-is-patrick-shanahan-acting-defense-department-secretary/index.html

      • According to Washington state voter registration information, his birth date is June 27, 1962. Someone on wikidpedia keeps changing it to July.

        Also, he has been named as “Acting” SecDef effective 1/1/2019, so there is no “confirmation” involved. If he were to be nominated by Trump to be SecDef, then Senate confirmation would be required.

  4. I met and worked with Shanahan while he attempted to ressurect the 787 airplane program at Boeing. Slightly post-2008. Tall and impressive looking at over 6’6″.

    It was a Disaster. Employees branded him a runaway freight train. Always shouting and threatening. He was called in because of his “reputation” to fix production problems…using fire and brimstone as motivators. Eventually the Boeing culture actually overwhelmed him and he “transferred” after limited success.

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