Kremer’s Corner: Trump fooled many people, bigly

Jerry Kremer

One of the reasons that a substantial number of voters chose Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton was their belief that Trump was going to shake things up in Washington.

Outsiders such as me were of the opinion that his extensive television exposure, if elected, would enable him to easily convey his message and his priorities.

It looks like a lot of people were fooled, bigly.

The first 40 plus days of his administration have been an unmitigated disaster.

His early morning tweeting is an example of how politicians can shoot themselves in the foot.

Presidents are supposed to convey lofty messages to assure the country that all is well in the seat of power, but not this president.

He generates mixed messages every day of the week, almost all of which get in the way of his responsibility to govern.

Many of his defenders say he has made “rookie mistakes,” but in baseball if you are a rookie you get few chances before they ship you back to the minor leagues.

In politics, there is no grace period for the supposed leader of the free world and Trump has yet to prove he deserves one.

There have been so many serious mistakes made that it is hard to prioritize which ones should be at the top of the list.

Let’s start with the people who are his voice to the public.

You can pick anyone from Kelly Ann Conway to Stephen Miller and all of his choices have been a disaster.

There is no one day where the messenger isn’t saying something that contradicts the President.

Conway’s defense of General Flynn was followed by his firing one day later.

Miller was drafted to go on all of the Sunday morning shows and he proceeded to tell America that the courts are wrong and the president is the last word on what is legal and what isn’t.

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, seems to stub his toes every hour on the hour.

He declared that there is no reason for there to be an investigation into Russia’s ties to the Trump campaign saying, “There is no there there.”

Twenty-four hours later, the spotlight is on Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Trump’s son-in-law, both of whom have met with Russian officials.

The selection of a number of members of the President’s cabinet totally contradicts the President’s campaign pledge to “drain the swamp.”

His new EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt made a career suing the EPA, is opposed to any discussion about climate change, and as an Attorney General accepted large contributions from the fossil fuel industry.

Don’t be shocked over the next year when dozens of regulations are scuttled that relate to clean air and clean water.

The new Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price was engaged in many stock transactions involving industries that were under the jurisdiction of his House Committee.

His purchase of stocks that would benefit from committee actions was ignored by the senate in its rush to confirm him to the post.

The new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has received Russia’s highest honors for a non-citizen, but that issue was totally ignored by the Senate.

To cap off the whole mess, many of the candidates for the cabinet were rushed through without being fully investigated by the Office of Government Ethics.

Now that this White House cabinet is now in place, the real question is whether they will be consulted at any time in the future?

Donald Trump is not a man who freely seeks advice on matters and is used to having his own way on everything.

It looks nice to have the barons of Wall Street as your advisors and a group of distinguished generals, but in the end will there be any real consultation in times of crises?

Steve Bannon, an ultra-conservative, who was not voted upon by the Senate, appears to have more to say than the entire cabinet.

All of us who have been in politics appreciate loyalty from our staff.

They were there when you needed them.

But, President Trump sticks up for his staff even when the whole world knows that they are on the way out the door or are in political hot water.

That’s not loyalty.

That’s  pure blindness to the truth and obliviousness to the facts.

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