Should we sound the alarms across this nation when Trump has not yet become president and has not even completed the process of selecting his cabinet and advisers? Shouldn't he be given more time before overreacting to his choices?
Well, when one sees a disaster in the making it's imperative that alarms be sent out to try to prevent it from happening. In the case of the HMS Titanic, several nearby ships, at least one of which knew the HMS Titanic was on a course heading directly into the iceberg fields, sent messages to the ship warning the captain to quickly change course. But the captain chose not to alter course and a terrible tragedy took place. The lesson to be learned is that dire warnings must be heeded, not ignored.
At a time when we need the best and brightest Americans, possessing the best backgrounds and qualifications to occupy high levels of responsibility in this government and to provide leadership in solving this county's many serious problems we get this collection of individuals who can hardly be considered to agents of change but, rather, give the appearance of being no more than examples of Trump cronyism.
Some might say that issuing such warnings is a useless exercise that it will accomplish nothing and that may well be the case. But I think that it's very important for the American people to be forewarned about some of these very troubling and potentially dangerous selections so that they have the opportunity to make strenuous objections to their representatives in Congress, in the hope that the most unqualified will not be approved.
To do nothing is the worst thing we can do; that's what we in America have done for far too long, quite the opposite of what we should be doing; strenuously objecting when such actions on our part are necessary.
You would think that a newly elected U.S. president would attempt to surround himself with the most competent individuals to help him govern this nation. Well that concept just got thrown out of the window when we look at those Trump has chosen so far. This is like watching a bad dream beginning to evolve.
So let's take a look at those Trump has selected:
With his selection of Reince Preibus, former chairman of the Republican Party, the titular head of the embedded Establishment, which Trump thoroughly castigated during his campaign, he is indicating that he is not about to break the hold that this powerful, deeply embedded entity has on this government and is simply taking command of it.
Next we have Steve Bannon, the former chairman of Breitbart News, that right wing propagandist website that has a history of publishing stories that are anti-Semitic, misogynist and racist. With this selection of Bannon as one of his right hand men he is signaling that this is not going to be an administration that promotes peace and harmony between all Americans but will, if anything, create more and deeper divisions between various elements within this society.
Then there is Steve Mnuchin, his pick for Sec. of Treasury; a Wall Street insider who was a high level Goldman Sachs executive for 17 years. Is this the kind of independent thinker that we need to oversee the country's extremely complex financial systems? Do we think he is not going to initiate policies and take actions favorable to the interests of Wall Street and America's major corporations?
How about retired General James Mattis, commonly referred to as "Mad Dog" Mattis; a career soldier who has referred to Muslims as a great danger to America. Why in the world, when you have so many choices of competent candidates, would you choose someone whose beliefs and actions have earned him the nickname mad dog?
Then there is another retired general, Michael Flynn, chosen to be National Security Adviser; he has been a very vocal anti-Islamist who has advised Trump that America is involved in a world war against Islamists. He also has stated that Islamic law is spreading in the United States which is a completely false assertion. It's essential to fight against any terrorist threats but the danger lies in seeing Flynn leading the efforts to put this nation's Muslim population under tight surveillance, including the creation of a national registry.
It's just been reported that Trump has plans to nominate yet one more retired general, this time Marine General John Kelly, known as a "border hawk", as Secretary of Homeland Security. Trump is quite apparently surrounding himself with extremely aggressive hard-line military men; what next, some kind of military controls over this society?
How about Ben Carson who, during the election campaign, exchanged petty insults with Trump and recently said he didn't feel like he was capable of heading a major government agency? Trump has chosen this former neurosurgeon to head up the Dept. of Housing & Urban Development. Brilliant move Donald!
Betsy DeVos, is his choice for Secretary of Education; she's a firm supporter of charter schools and someone who wants to see religion become a much greater part of our system of education, even though the separation of church and state has long been maintained in this country. Mixing religion, government and our system of education is something that never, ever should be allowed.
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