Although best-selling author Michael Lewis grew up before the age of internet outrage—which the public finds so attractive—he is willing, writer-wise, to “show not tell” outrageous things about Donald Trump, shortly before and after Trump took office. What a moron. Trump I mean, not Lewis.
The US has a law that, between the November election and the January inaugural ceremony, the in-coming president must have a transition team to get up to speed on what the federal departments, with millions of employees, are doing. Also the team would generate lists of suggested replacements in advance of the big day: Advance notice allows advance questions—because folks from the outgoing administration are forbidden by law to contact their new counterparts. When Trump refused to use his own money, or his campaign money, the transition team was forced to separately raise funds, such funds being raised by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
QUOTE
Bannon stepped off the elevator to find the governor of New Jersey seated on a sofa, being hollered at. Trump was apoplectic, actually yelling. You’re stealing my money! Your stealing my fucking money! Bannon and Christie together set out to explain to Trump federal law… Fuck the law. I don’t give a fuck about the law. I want my fucking money. Bannon and Christie tried to explain that Trump couldn’t have both his money and a transition.
Shut it down, said Trump. Shut down the transition.
UNQUOTE
Of course Trump and his people overruled all the lists of sensible replacements offered by the transition team, of course. (Face palm) In fact. the original team was all fired, in the days after the election, with their only notification of this fact being that they were not allowed into their building. (The federal law gave funds for the team’s office space)
Trump’s choices for department heads and committees were ludicrous, bizarre, and not very functional. And this was, for the most part, on purpose, as Lewis exposes in his book.
***By the way I wrote about the book quoted, The Fifth Risk. See my blog post of Christmas December 2023.
Now it’s early October and we are facing an election “too close to call.” I ask: Have Trump and his people learned any lessons? Besides the rumoured lesson, this time around, of not allowing any competent people into the White House who might, even a tiny bit, disagree with the orange haired person? Doubtful.
I wonder whether the electorate have learned anything?
Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to—… are numbered among Trump’s moron brigade.
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Sean Crawford
Vancouver
Sounds of seagulls, smell of sea
October
2024
Footnote: I guess I too love outrage: otherwise I could have switched the order of the last two sentences.
