Former South Carolina Governor and the United States Ambassador to the UN for Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, kicked off her book tour yesterday. Haley tossed former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and ex-Chief of Staff John Kelly in the pit like a fat South Carolina hog. Ms. Haley accused the two former officials of “undermining” the President. I suspect we will see a lot of the former Governor because her book is due to be released soon. Pardon me if I bastardize a line from another famous Haley;
When the clock strikes two, three and four,
I’ll be ready for twenty- twenty-four.
Ms. Haley could not be any more obvious with her hypocritical ambitions. She has straddled the Trump wall calculating a run for the presidency in 2024 to a fare-thee-well. Haley was once fierce in her rebuke of Mr. Trump, “During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation.” Haley said of Trump. Following that verbal F-35 bombing raid, Mr. Trump aimed his anti-aircraft twitter finger at Haley, “She's weak on illegal immigration, and she certainly has no trouble asking me for campaign contributions,” said Trump.
Ambassador Haley knows she needs the Trump base, so she is balancing precariously on the wall of sanity and Trump-ism. She has covered for him on subjects such as attacking the late Congressman Elijah Cummings, while safely nestling herself in the Republican bosom of criticism of his Syrian/Kurd policy. She called his Muslim ban “un-American” but excused his “go back to their home country” comment aimed at four American Congresswomen of color. "No, it’s not appropriate," Haley agreed before defending Trump, “But I also can appreciate where he was coming from,” she added.
If Haley sounds unfocused or wishy-washy it is on purpose. Unable to influence the electorate on facts the Republican playbook has been to distract, deflect and disenfranchise. Haley’s book, making sure to out who she sees as Trump’s enemies, is her attempt to keep herself relevant in the Trump world. I believe this is to keep her 2024 presidential aspirations from being tweeted out of existence.
The one thing I will agree on with the former Ambassador is if the situation was so dire why would a veteran [Kelly] who has shed his own blood as well as that of his late son, duck, and cover. Where was the warning to the American people from Tillerson and Kelly? According to Haley, the reasons for their recruiting her into the fold was to “save the country.” I will admit, General Kelly has a sterling military record and has paid the ultimate price as a Gold Star father, but he too fell under the spell of Trump-ism. The Gold Star wife of Sgt. La David Johnson was being accompanied by Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson to accept his body when Sgt. Johnson’s widow received a call from the President of the United States. To say the call was acrimonious is to be generous because Myeshia Johnson asserts the call only served to increase her pain. Later Kelly lied about Rep. Wilson’s actions in the aftermath of the call. He could speak up and demean Rep. Wilson and in absentia Mrs. Johnson, but he could not speak to America to “save the country.” I suppose Nikki Haley’s skirt was in use elsewhere.
Vote in 2020 for Change.