Along for the Ride: How Trump’s newest Cabinet members could be the Horsemen of a Facist America. Two weeks ago, President-Elect Donald Trump made appointments for what are considered to be some of the most important and influential cabinet positions of any White House administration: Attorney General, Director of the CIA, the National Security Advisor, the U.N. And just like President-Elect Trump’s unanticipated election to the country’s highest office, the appointments are equally just as startling. Trump’s selections are perfect for the job of bringing in the reign of American Facism: right wing extremism, coupled intolerance and overbearing authoritarianism. And rather then simply lie complacent and hope for the best, let’s take a look at his selections to better understand how their remarks and political stances come directly in opposition to the American values of equality, progress, and free speech. Jeff Sessions-Attorney General-Jeff Sessions.jpg The U.S. attorney turned Senator from Alabama supported Trump’s run for President from the beginning. In February, he became the first U.S. Senator to support him. He was hand selected by Trump to be Attorney General, the head of the Department of Justice. However, Sessions, in 1986, could not be confirmed as a federal judge because of racist comments he admitted to saying during a trial of the KKK in which members of the Klan lynched a black man and slit his throat, in retaliation for the killing of a white
On March 16, 2016, President Barrack Obama nominated U.S. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy on the U.S Supreme Court. What could be President Obama strategies for doing so? How this could affect the presidential elections and the candidates? How will this affect both the Democratic and Republican parties?
It has been more than a few months since Justice Antonin Scalia had passed away and the president needed to replace him. In March of 2016, President Obama nominated Merrick Garland and since then Garland has been visiting with senators at Capitol Hill, where he has been submitting the questionnaires and customary disclosure, and preparing for a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee (Ulrich). The Senate Judiciary Committee generally examines nominees for the position of the Supreme Court Justice.
“Donald Trump is the only Republican candidate who seems to have any inclination to act strictly in America’s interest. More importantly, he is the only Republican candidate who is willing to even address the problem. Trump may not have been right to say that we need to stop letting more Muslims into the country or, at least, examine the issue, but he wasn’t crazy to suggest it either”.
Within the past few months the American people have witnessed violence from Isis and ultimately have fallen into a state of fear and confusion in regards to the safety of the nation. In response, Presidential candidate Donald Trump feels he has the capability to “make America great again” (Berman). In Russell Berman’s article “Donald Trump’s Call to Ban Muslim Immigrants,” he discusses Trump’s plan to address the issue: a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Because he is afraid of more attacks occurring in the United States, Trump stands up for these beliefs even though many people believe they are words of prejudice. Trump is not the only person who acts with prejudice when scared. Playwrights Arthur Miller
This precedent had great impact in the conduct of the Presidency because it ensured the President would be well-informed on matters which may have been alien to him but were very common among his Cabinet members. The President’s lack of experience was compensated for by having members with past experience in certain affairs updated with the latest in their department. This precedent set by Washington disregarded the President’s own shortcomings to provide the most effective approach when dealing with matters abroad or
According to The White House Staff, “Appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, the members of the Cabinet are often the President’s closest confidants.” (updated
In his first 100 days, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has perhaps done more to advance the priorities of President Trump than more than any other member of the executive cabinet.
When Associate Justice Antonin Scalia perished in Texas from natural causes, the focus was on the storm of controversy that was sparked by the now vacant space on the highest court in the nation, rather than the great tragedy of an honorable and long-serving government official passing away. While this does paint a sorry picture of our nation's focus on who has the power rather than individual's happiness, the altercation caused by the urgent, important, and pressing question of who should appoint the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and who the next Associate Justice should by is in many ways essential to what our country's main policies become in the next fifty years. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the senate majority leader and thus
The Trump Administration has nominated quite a few controversial cabinet members. Nominating everyone from the wife of the Senate Majority to retired 4-star generals, the Trump Administration has sparked debates over almost every cabinet seat selection. One of the most controversial nominees was the new Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos. Devos, the daughter of billionaire industrialist and founder of Prince Corporation, Edgar Prince, and a well-documented supporter of school choice with ties to the Reform Christian community, was the only cabinet nominee in American history to receive a tied vote in the Senate. The tie was ended in a historic vote of the Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence. Pence confirmed Devos as the new Secretary
Trump acts as a religious figure where he dictates the morality of the collective. The collective has the power to impose moral expectations on the individual that explains their actions. Many people identify with the Republican party where their views are dominated by the collective in which they identify with and thus, support their collective leader. Durkheim defines religion as a system of beliefs and practices that unite a community through “collective effervescence” that forms “harmony and unison of movement[s]” (Durkheim 1915, 218). The force of collective on individuals could be uncontrollable and it dominates their bodies and perceptions that leads to “outlandish behavior” (Durkheim 1915, 218). Trump supporters lose themselves in a rally and experience a sense of euphoria by being in a collective and cheering on what they considered is sacred. Trump claims to provide his followers the sacred while protecting them from the “profane” such as the Mexicans or the Muslims. The followers believe in the faith of a “better America” and possess totems that represent their unity such as the red hat or the campaign
This is what many Republican Senators believed President Obama would do. Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah stated “this appointment is about the election. So I’m pretty sure he’ll name someone the [liberal Democratic base] wants” However, to the shock of many Obama did quite the opposite.
The President of the United States is under continual scrutiny, and for good reason. Often times Presidents are unable to garner a high approval rating from the public because either they are not able to influence government enough, or in some cases exert too much power over the government. Very few Presidents have been considered successful in modern times and often when Presidents first enter office they are shocked at the difficulty which influencing government entails. There are many possible changes that could be made in order to increase effectiveness. These changes concern the election progress, the transactional relationship between the President and Congress, the term structure and the nomination process. These changes are especially
President-elect Trump's cabinet nominations and White House staff choices signal dark times ahead; therefore, it is important to shed light on some of the associated implications. Here
Lastly the media also has a large role in the appointments. They media can often be viewed as a popularity guide. Since it is a very powerful entity, the president does not wish to accumulate bad press and therefore could be found be very choosing the appointment that would be in his best favor. Newspapers (the NY Times) and TV stations (CNN) as well as radio broadcaster (such as Imus) have huge audiences. If they feel that a president made a bad selection they let people know about and what say can have a large impact on how the president is viewed. The president would want to avoid this at all
Donald Trump, as the new elected President, is starting his huge transition. A very important part of this transition is choosing the people that are going to work with him. He has started to consider candidates for his cabinet; For example, as potential candidates for the Secretary of State, we can see John R. Bolton and Bob Corker, to mention some. Trump has no elective-office experience, the reason why the people he chooses for key jobs in the White House could have a big influence in his presidency. After meeting with President Obama on Thursday, Trump expressed the idea that he was looking forward to working with him, significant reason why Obama could have an impact in his appointments.