If Donald Trump can be superficial, so can we…
The recent revelation that Donald Trump is running his search for his presidential cabinet picks much like a Hollywood casting call is not surprising. He has demonstrated a cavalier reality TV approach the entire tenure of his campaign. The surprise is the faux outrage of the news media www.businessinsider.com/.... Scarily, if neocon John Bolton looked more like George Clooney we may very well be facing World War III. Bolton has been itching to bomb some Middle Eastern country, especially Iran, for at least ten years. Bolton has tried to convince the world that a nuclear armed and surrounded Israel is less dangerous than a developing Iran www.thedailybeast.com/....
The option of an Israeli preemptive strike would be much more effective and pointed than a U.S. strike. The ability and strength of the U.S. is to continue never ending peace talks through administration after administration and avoid war. Mr. Bolton would love to circumvent that uneasy peace. The world has truly kicked the can down the road since 1967, but kicking the can is much better than crushing it against our collective foreheads.
Can we trust John Bolton?
Real military commanders try at all cost to avoid war because they have seen, up close, the devastation it causes to body and mind. Ret. Marine Corps General James “Mad Dog” Mattis, nominated for the Secretary of Defense and who prefers the moniker the “warrior monk” is the perfect example. Mattis has decried torture and is famous for his use of diplomatic warfare when possible www.yahoo.com/.... I am skeptical of Donald Trump’s appointments because he wants form over substance and that is not to be found in central casting. Mr. Trump’s first public impression of General Mattis is that he bears a resemblance to famed General George S. Patton www.politico.com/..., so Trump wants “blood and guts.” Fortunately, his short-sided superficiality may save us from a toy soldier like John Bolton, who lobbied hard for Deputy Secretary of State, Whew! Even some Republicans, Rand Paul, Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates object stringently. Paul made the requisite criticisms of President Obama, on TV recently, but fervently objects to former Ambassador and Undersecretary Bolton being anywhere near the State Department, again www.cbsnews.com/....
The fact that Bolton, who still, defends the invasion of Iraq does not bode well for peace or prosperity. The cavalcade of prospects from Rex Tillerson and his ties to Russia to Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education with her public aversion to public schools is frightening. Donald Trump seems more intent on caging his flock as opposed to shepherding them. Reportedly he thrives on conflict, according to those who know him. That may be a great business style but that does not suit the mandate of the Preamble to the Constitution, “promote the general welfare.” The President-elect came to celebrity from a sound stage and built his political fortunes on a lie www.washingtonpost.com/.... The role of leadership, possessed by America, is not a Hollywood production or a scene from the TV series Survivor. The king of the coiffure has won a historical place at the table of American leaders, let us just hope he does not get a stray hair in the meal. America made a choice and I hope the world does not gag on the consequences.
Vote 2018, it’s not too late!