Donald Trump’s campaign showed voters his ‘ideology’ was a mix of populist thought that could be echoed at any number of small diners, bars, bingo events, and family get-to-gathers. The usual suspects: Croatians (or some nationality) are taking our jobs; Mexican criminals are ruining the country, we need a wall; America is losing all over, look how ISIS and Iraq push us around; Obama, er Clinton is going to take our guns; Obamacare is a job killer; What is this climate change BS: We spend too much on welfare (ie blacks, minorities, women, children); Lock her up. If there is a coherent philosophical view of the role of American government in there, please show me.
Meanwhile, the mainstream GOP goal has been since Reagan to dismantle the FDR New Deal and Liberal Democracy (and revisions thereafter): 1. Tear down the welfare state (Medicare, Medicaid, ACA, Unemployment, various other safety nets); 2. Privatize everything for the wealthy few’s gains (Social Security, public education, prisons, health care, public lands); 3. Roll back the regulation of entities that would strip the middle class of wealth and ‘benefits’ (Wall Street regulations, destroy public lands, knock down labor unions, stop bargaining); 4. Introduce massive tax breaks for corporations and rich taxpayers; 5. Destroy advanced education, or at least make it a voice of conservative propaganda; 6. Control women and take away their choices; 7.) pound all non-mainstream lifestyles (gay rights, etc). In other words the hard-working, smart, filthy rich do not want to give anything to someone who really is lazy and doesn’t deserve a glance.
Basically two groups elected Trump: Republicans who vote the party line while deceiving themselves about the candidate’s actual behavior history and policy stances, and those who want to Make America Great Again take the country back to some black and white movie that never existed when Caucasian protestant land-owning men ruled, while the uncivilized and weak world cowered at the great homogeneous and powerful behemoth America was. Women and minorities are to be seen (some not in my neighborhood) and not heard.
So how do Trump’s cabinet picks betray the struggles within the GOP, or within the ruling elite now?
Reince Priebus, allied with Paul Ryan and traditional Republicans apparently leads the charge to ram through the Anti-Liberal Anti-New Deal agenda. This wing now has: Mike Pence as VEEP (anti anything progressive); Jefferson Beauregard Sessions as Attn General (for white rule, against choice, against minorities; against the liberal view); rich orthopedic surgeon Tom Price in HHS (hates Medicaid, Medicare, ACA; hard line conservative); Wife of Mitch McConnell and rich Elaine Choa at Transportation; Amway money and anti-public education Betsy DeVos at Education; wealthy ex-Goldman Sachs and Hollywood financier Steven Mnuchin head of Treasury; Super-wealthy investor and ignorant of mining safety regs Wilbur Ross at Commerce.
The drain-the-swamp fans get: Alt-Right plotter Steve Bannon and National security wacko General Michael Flynn.
Potential Cabinet Anti-New Deal members may include: a huge malignant climate-denier (Myron Ebell); a Ruthless suppressor of liberals Kris Kobach at Homeland Security; Total Tea Party disaster Kansas-destroyer Sam Brownback at Ag; and other powerful wealthy hawks at Defense and State (yes including super-wealthy Mitt Romney).
‘Neutral’ appointees: Nikki Haley for UN (traditional GOP); and maybe Ben Carson who is somewhere in Lala Land when he occasionally wakes up.
Drain the Swamp? Looks like the “We Are the Swamp” take over. Trump has appointed a parade of multi-millionaires or billionaires who will tilt government to the rich and invested. The mal-distribution of wealth and resources (including public lands and public education) will be exploited and beaten like a Govt mule.
So tell me, all you protest-voters, who in this menagerie of super-wealthy people and Washington-insiders is going to drain-the-swamp? Sounds like drain-the-taxpayer treasury-into-rich-pockets. Like manipulate the rules and regs and enforcement, for rich Trump and his rich family and wealthy buddies.
Protest-Trump is losing badly. Wealthy-Trump is winning big league. Will all those red-state protest voters, all those unemployed or under-paid blue collar workers, and all those liberal-haters wake up before the coffers of Trump/USA Inc are drained and the armed forces are used to guard the wealthy’s estates domestically and internationally?