Look, I picked the election wrong. It is no secret and I will 'fess up to what I called. I am not overly sorry that Hillary didn't win, as that would not be much better, in the opposite direction, than Trump winning. However, I said before the election that Trump was completely unprepared, unsuited, unqualified and incapable of being President.
Let's look at what we have to go on so far...and I get it, he is not President yet. Please, I understand the calendar. But, hear me out and think about my observations. Especially if you support Trump, because you are the only power we have as a nation, that the President Elect understands.
Out of a nation of 330 million souls, approximately half of which are politically aligned with Trump, 165 million souls, and Jefferson (like Jefferson Davis) Sessions is the legal eagle to run the Justice Department? A guy that could not get confirmed as a federal judge, in Alabama, 30 years ago, during Reagan, because of racist statements and evidence, he is the right choice for AG? He has not practiced law or been in court in 20 years, but he said good things about Trump and stood out there for him.
Michael Flynn, a guy that got fired from the DIA job (military replication of the CIA), because of assclownery, is the right guy to advise the most militarily powerful leader on the planet, in terms of intelligence. A pick so bad, it has to be for a job that requires no Senate approval, because that aint happening. But, he said good things about Trump and stood out there for him.
Speaking of approval not happening, there is Steve Bannon. Let's not call him a white supremacist. That kind of minimizes what he is. He is the megaphone of every creepy, racist, militant, sick society of hate power groups, all across the nation. The Joseph Goebbels of our nation. And, yes, considering all the Heil Trump, and one armed salutes happening, I think it is appropriate to make that comparison. Again, a pick so bad, it can't get near the Senate. But, he stood behind the scenes and lined up the all the hate groups for him.
Betsy DeVos, noted not for being an educator, or even all that talented an administrator, but especially noted for being one of the biggest enemies of public education in this nation, she gets picked for Education. Nothing to be construed there, except that the disadvantaged that rely on the public education system for their unbelievably small shot at the brass ring are about to get even more disadvantaged.
Ben Carson, at least with enough integrity to understand the stakes, is being mentioned for Housing and Urban Development, and is concerned he doesn't have the ability to do the job. Weird, but thank God for one honest man. He wanted to be President, but HUD is too much for him. Go figure that one out, and you are going to be able to interrupt Trumpery for us.
Nikki Haley, who is a fine governor, actually has done a decent job, but is governor of South Carolina. I live here. That is akin to being governor of Wyoming on the international stage, but she gets an appointment to be ambassador to the United Nations. Sorry, but that is about as unqualified a pick as there exists. And, I appreciate the talent and skill of Nikki Haley as an executive. She is a very credible pick for HUD, Transportation, Interior. But, it is like picking me to be the guy singing lead for your band.
Now there seems to be some debate between Rudy Guiliani and Mitt Romney for Secretary of State. Good God, Romney looks like a good choice suddenly, though he has zero experience whatsoever in foreign policy. He must have stayed in a Holiday Inn Express. But, compared to Rudy, he is fricking Kissinger. That is where we are people. We have bad picks that look good, only because there is credible evidence that it is possible to pick a fruit cake, dementia patient on every foreign government's payroll.
Look, I pray every day for our President Elect. I have a lot of skin in this game, just like you do. I have no desire to see him fail, because that failure involves a lot of pain for me and my family. But, this is like watching Rutgers play football and assume because they have red jerseys it is like watching Alabama play football. This is not how responsible and reasonable government works.
The fact is, no one likes the breadth and sway our federal government has over all aspects of life. But, just because we don't like it, does not mean we can just chuck it all and ignore it. Even if you want rid of the Department of Education, which I hear constantly, there are huge implications to our country in that goal. It can't just turn off tomorrow.
Well, it could. If you want a picture of that, take a look at water quality in Flint Michigan. The state took over and turned off the municipal actions. And, pretty much just let it flounder. Now, thousands and thousands of kids are lead poisoned. Not at risk, not potentially. An entire generation of children, in one of the most economically destitute and devastated parts of our nation, are forever burdened with the impact of lead poisoning. Unfortunately, these kids are predominately kids of color or poor economic prospects, guess that made it okay. And, the governor responsible for that? A Republican that no one considered capable of being the Chief Executive. See there things have precedents, real time, real life.
That is what the rest of America will look like, if left to the cast that is being assembled. These are people that are woefully unqualified and unsuited for the task they are being given. The Justice Department is not just about whether or not we investigate cops that shoot people for no damn reason. It is the most powerful arm of the Executive Branch. It is the most potentially intrusive, armed force on the planet, not beholden to a federal military command structure. They actually control more guns and troops than the Department of the Army.
Those of you that were part of electing Trump, you owe the future of our country at least this much. Start showing that you are not satisfied with the third tier picks already put out there. Because it gets worse from here. We have not had a completely and utterly ineffective Executive assembled, since 1928. Herbert Hoover, and a collection of insignificants that were utterly incapable of the tasks in front of them. We went from record highs in the stock market and economic growth after the election of one of the most "revered" Republican politicians since Roosevelt (TR). Within a year, we saw Black Friday, the stock market crash and free fall into the Great Depression. The next worse, George W. Bush, and his cast of clowns and Sith Lords. Remember how great the economy looked in 2008 and 2009?
That is what happens when a President assembles a team of hangers on, B List players, amateurs and political lackeys. The only people this President Elect will listen to, are those that filled up the polls he saw and listened to. If you were one of the people that he actually saw and listened to, I hope that you realize what he is doing now. Elections have consequences.
Change, in a bad way, is preferable to chaos. A guy that won't take intelligence briefings, tweets about some Broadway actor, and can't find high calibre people for big jobs, is what chaos starts out as. These are things that impact us every day. All of us, but most significantly those with the least power or voice to defend themselves.
We all know that. Yet, here we are. Want to know why people are scared? Want to know why people protest? Because there is reason to be scared. If you are the kind of person that would be okay with me taking your appendix out, this probably doesn't bother you. But, if you are the kind of person that would go find a surgeon to do that job, maybe you should pay attention and make some noise here.
Just saying.
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