“We have to get the best people,” said Donald Trump when asked before he got to the Oval Office how he’d go about staffing his administration. “We need to get the best and the finest, and, if we don’t, we’ll be in trouble for a long period of time and maybe never come out of it.”
Oh, what a prophet!
Yes, Trump, in the presidency, has chosen the staff to join him in the White House. Unfortunately, they have been and are mainly a remarkably scandalous, corrupt collection of boondoggle champions, composing a dreadfully incompetent staff and arguably the worst-managed administration in U.S. history.
Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta resigned a week ago amid intense scrutiny from his role as a U.S. attorney. Therein, a decade ago, he made a deal with hedge fund financier Jeffrey Epstein that allowed Epstein to plead guilty to a lesser offense in a horrific sex-crime/sex trafficking case.
Trump told reporters a week ago that Acosta had decided to step aside. He called Acosta a “great labor secretary, not just a good one and a tremendous talent.” “This was him, not me,” Trump remarked in regard to the resignation decision as Acosta stood by his side. “I said to Alex, you don’t have to do this.”
But we know why Acosta resigned. He had become an embarrassment to Trump. I doubt that Trump had any idea whether he was doing a good job or not because he proven no interest in such matters. Of late, we’re aware that Acosta had been under pressure by White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney who viewed him as not aggressive enough in eliminating the rights of working people, ending workplace safety regulations, or supporting corporate interests.
Not a betting man, yet, what’s known about Trump leads me to believe he cared minimally whether Acosta gave the that monster, Epstein, a sweetheart deal. Nevertheless, Trump has proven he will work hard to provide special privileges to the wealthy and break laws to do it. He himself has bragged openly about abusing women and has been accused of rape. So, why would he care if one of his current or former rich pals molested young women.
Fact is, Trump is known for bursting into the dressing rooms of beauty contests to watch teenage girls dress and undress. He has been recorded on such occasions to comment that, “in a few years, I’ll be dating her” and has lustfully commented about his own daughter, Ivanka.
Regarding Jeff Epstein, he said, “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy who’s a lot of fun to be with. He likes beautiful women as I do, on the younger side.”
In the White House, what’s important to Trump is always looking good and staying in the limelight without negative distractions. After all, as with all the surviving White House staff, their job is not to reflect badly on Trump and that’s how Acosta failed him.
Acosta is just another turnover to Trump who will soon replace him. He apparently pays little attention to vetting these people who too often come from disgustingly blemished backgrounds. This condition, characterized by undesirability, is a chronic outcome throughout the Trump administration. Three-quarters of the original top White House position holders are gone for one reason or another, argued the worst record of that kind among the other 44 presidents. In the White House, pandemonium prevails with the only interest there being re-election. Meanwhile, we Americans are the big losers.
(Gene H. McIntyre shares his opinion regularly in the Keizertimes.)