This time Trump's holiday rant won't distract us
Sorry buddy, we’ve been there. You can’t change the subject.
Even at Christmas news is impossible entirely to tune out. I heard that Mr. Trump has offered up a holiday greeting. You know what I’m talking about, the one where he wishes a Merry Christmas to his followers, then talks about taking part of Panama and making Canada a state. The one where he calls the millions of us who didn’t vote for him lunatics. What a Debbie downer he really is!
And yet, in a way, his rant is welcome.
Unlike during his first term, I now have the benefit of experience with this sort of thing. I know that what he says doesn’t matter in the normal sense of being predictive of his behavior. After all, he promised to release tax returns, to avoid conflicts of interest, to visit striking union workers, to introduce a health care plan, and of course none of that happened. This time, instead of paying attention to what he says, I know to listen for when he says it, and to think about why he said it.
After reflecting, I want to thank Mr. Trump for helping me have a lovely holiday.
You see, his outrage-blathering about what are essentially acts of war by the United States against countries that are our friends and allies is meant to be distracting. And why would he want to distract us now?
Well, the House Ethics Committee- a Republican controlled committee “determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Matt Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.” Mr. Gaetz was Donald Trump’s first choice for the highest law enforcement job in the country. I can see how Mr. Trump would not want his in-coming administration to be completely tarnished by this news.
Photo Credit: AP file photo
The rest of his nominees are now also in trouble. Bill Webster, the only person ever to lead both the FBI and the CIA wrote a letter to members of the Senate urging them not to confirm Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel, Trump’s choices to lead DNI and the FBI. He wrote that Gabbard has “a profound lack of intelligence experience.” And of Patel, he noted, “his record of executing the president’s directives suggests a loyalty to individuals rather than the rule of a law- a dangerous precedent for an agency tasked with impartial enforcement of justice.”
Trump’s poor judgement and his contempt for our military is also getting more attention because of his choice of a FOX TV host for Defense Secretary.
And of course, the country has not forgotten that Trump’s idea of the best person to lead our public health agencies, RFK Jr. is opposed to well established public health ideas, like vaccinations, fluoridation of water, and not leaving severed bears’ heads in public places.
Mr. Trump takes office in a few weeks, yet he has so far failed to give America qualified and fit nominees for the most important jobs in government.
And now, it looks like the U.S. Senate might just surprise us all and do its job. They have already refused Trump’s demand that his nominees skip hearings and be approved by recess appointment. They have asked for FBI background checks over the objection of Mr. Trump who offered instead to use a private security firm to look into his choices. They are, instead, scheduling hearings like they normally do.
Unless, of course, we forget about all of this and instead pay attention to the saber rattling about Canada. And that’s what Mr. Trump’s Christmas message is all about. He went on record threatening our allies and friends and called half of America names so we would pay attention to him rather than the work of the Senate on his nominees. Sorry buddy, we’ve been there. You can’t change the subject.
By the way, this is how it’s done: from my family to yours, have a happy, healthy, peaceful New Year.