If I could find one positive thing about Trump, maybe I could somehow stomach these horrid choices he's making for high profile positions. Like, one person who is in favor of some form of social justice. These are comically bad people for the positions they're taking on; either because they have little to no experience with the role they're about to have, or because they are so far removed from the issues they must face due to their personal wealth. A doctor with no political experience as director of HUD; a man who believes people in poverty should do the whole up-by-the-boot-straps thing and will likely support slashing public housing initiatives. An EPA director who doesn't believe in climate change. A vice president who is adamantly anti gay, and anti gay marriage, who believes in conversion therapy. A national security adviser who was fired by the Obama administration for mismanagement and who tweeted that he believes that "fear of Muslims is rational." An opponent of higher minimum wages for the labor department (sorry, struggling lower middle class folks who need a living wage, not from this guy). A former Goldman Sachs billionaire for the treasurer. Another billionaire for secretary of commerce. These are not people who understand the struggles of the lower or middle class; they are people who want to give tax cuts to the wealthy and deregulate the government so they can make more money. Who else? Another climate-change skeptic for the Interior Department. An outspoken critic of Obamacare for Department of Health and Human Services. A secretary of the Department of Education who supports school vouchers, so that families who can get their kids away from "those icky poor people" (quotes mine). An ambassador to the United Nations who has no international experience. Best of all, an alt-right wing KKK nationalist for chief strategist. Like, it almost funny that he is not able to choose a single person who might have a moderate view.
My hope is that the people he chooses will actually get close to those whose lives they are trying to impact negatively--talk to some people who don't have affordable housing, some teachers who are over-stressed and need more money in schools, some refugees who want to live in a safe country--and find that they can't support legislation that knowingly create a greater divide. My other hope is that people will continue to speak out about what's happening and to use their own voices to say what they think. So, if you're a writer, write about it. That's what I have to do. I don't think I can in good conscience blog about
The Bachelor while this is going on. It feels totally wrong not to do something more meaningful. Everyone--not just people who voted for Hillary or people who voted for Donald--should share their thoughts and try to find a way to make sense of why a large section of the country thought we needed a narcissistic, thin-skinned, creepy reality star in the White House. And why we are surprised when he turns out to be as shitty of a person in office as he was prior to taking office. If not shittier.
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