I was very surprised to see Trump elected president, though I was not surprised by the reaction from people who strongly opposed him. To Trump’s opposition, he represented the epitome of sexism, racism, homophobia and xenophobia that plagues the United States. To Trump supporters, Trump was an antiestablishment candidate that promised to rid the government of corruption and rebuild jobs and infrastructure, improving the lives of millions of Americans in the process. Whichever narrative you buy into, Trump’s appointments for his cabinet and transition team so far have been great disappointments.
Jeff Sessions will be a very dispiriting choice for those claiming to want to drain the swamp and for those who want Trump to have a good stance of civil rights. Jeff Sessions is basically against all women’s reproductive health rights and has a history of making racist remarks. For example, Sessions has joked about how he would support the KKK if they didn’t smoke pot. This is obviously completely unacceptable. Sessions is a racist individual, and recent displays he has done to show that he supports civil rights, such as commemorating Rosa Parks, seem very fraudulent. So, our new attorney general is likely to be racist. Way to go Trump.
Steve Bannon, head of Breitbart news, has been accused of being an anti-Semitic white nationalist and has been criticized for some of the articles the newspaper has published. Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck compared Bannon to Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels.
Brietbart columnist Milo Yiannapolous is commonly cited in criticisms of Bannon. Yiannapolous, who is Jewish himself, claims that the fact that Bannon hired him and turned him into a star is proper evidence that Bannon is not anti-Semitic. Yiannapolous has written many articles he claims to be satire, but these articles include one telling gay people to get back into the closet and another claiming that birth control makes women “fat and unattractive.”
Bannon described himself as not a white nationalist but an economic nationalist. In other words, Bannon claims to want to rebuild inner cities and make whites, blacks and Latinos all more prosperous. This would be great if Bannon really helped Trump improve anything, but as of now I am not hearing about any solid plan that I am convinced will better anyone in America, besides possibly those who by Trump’s tax plan would be receiving tax cuts.
Trump is considering retired general Michael Flynn for the position of National Security Advisor. This is a very dangerous decision, as Flynn holds several extreme views. Flynn has made comments comparing Islam to a cancer. Flynn has also made several false accusations, including one claiming that Florida senators voted for Sharia law to be enacted in the United States. Flynn was at one point the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency under the Obama administration, but was forced out for apparently being a very poor manager.
What interested Trump in Michael Flynn? Probably extreme comments confusing Islam with radical Islamic terror. Trump has criticized Democrats for refusing to call terror attacks committed by Muslims Islamic terror. To me this is a reasonable criticism, for if an act of violence is carried out for religious reasons, there is definitely a need to recognize those reasons. However, to generalize all of a religious population, especially one as massive as Islam as a cancer to society is completely ridiculous and frightening, bringing back memories of Hitler’s ideas that Jews were a cancer to German society.
Flynn also advocated for the arrest of Hilary Clinton, despite two FBI investigations resulting with Clinton not being indicted. Flynn has also been linked with Vladimir Putin. What is up with Russia’s investment with Donald Trump? Likely the end of NATO, granting Russia less regulation of its border political activities.
I do not believe Trump will compromise national security, but I do believe with Flynn as security advisor will further Trump’s isolationists stances. Isolationism has its merits, but Flynn’s incompetence and paranoia of Islam make him a less than ideal choice.
Appointments also endanger net neutrality. Jeffrey Eisenach and Mark Jamison were both selected to be members of Trump’s transition team, both men not supporting net neutrality.
Many Trump supporters admired Trump for his support of free speech, however net neutrality might allow internet providers to have the power to censor lots of people. Whether someone supports free speech or civil rights, Trump has made some very poor decisions so far as president elect.