Trump Did NOT “Put Good People Around Him”

I am friends with quite a few politically conservative people even though I am a liberal. One of the most common claims I heard from these friends during the primaries and after Trump was elected was that “Trump will put good people around him.” Let us take a look at several key appointments:

Stephen K. Bannon is Assistant to the President and Chief Strategist and was recently elevated to a permanent seat on the Security Council by an Executive Order. The same Executive Order also demoted the director of National Intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff because these two security experts would only attend meetings when “issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed.” Bannon, on the other hand, will have a seat at ALL security meetings. Do some research on Bannon and you will quickly see that he is a neo-Nazi and is not a qualified security expert.

Betsy DeVos was just confirmed (VP Pence had to break the tie) as Secretary of Education. She has NO EXPERIENCE in the public education system that she now heads. Her Congressional testimony was embarrassing. So much so, that even a few Republicans voted against her! FYI: Her family donated more than $200 million to the Republican Party over the years but that could not possibly have mattered, right? /sarcasm

Scott Pruitt will be Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt has sued the EPA 14 times and has been a fossil fuel and chemical company front man for years. He is a well-known climate change denier although now he has moved his goal post by stating that the climate is warming but scientists are unsure how much is due to humans. Hint: humans are responsible for ALL of the global warming since 1950 and will continue to be for a few centuries. Having Pruitt head the EPA is like hiring a fox to guard the hen house. I could find no evidence that he has ever been an advocate for the environment nor for public health.

Rick Perry will be Secretary of Department of Energy (DOE). In a 2011 Presidential debate he forgot the name of this department and also said he would abolish it if he were President! Numerous sources also reported that Perry was unaware that the DOE was responsible for our nuclear weapons program. Obviously a bad choice.

Ben Carson will be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He has no experience in government, period. He is a surgeon.

I am not asking for Trump to appoint progressives but I do expect the country to be led by competent, qualified people. My conservative friends should also hold Trump and the GOP to this same standard. There are qualified Republicans for each of these important positions. Choose some of them instead. Right now, it looks like it is Party before Country and Big Oil before People.

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