This Woeful Blogger and the Lament About Political Blogging

I haven’t done a lot of blogging on politics lately. It’s so hard to do when there is so much going and the ground can shift under your feet at any minute. Take for instance the recent drama over the Veteran Affairs (VA).

 

Donald Trump fires VA Secretary David Shulkin. Li’l Donnie once remarked that Dabid Shulkin would never hear the words “you’re fired” from Trump. But Trump was getting an earful from the hard right that Shulkin was not cooperative enough with Trump’s agenda which includes efforts to privatize VA operations, a step most veterans oppose. 

 

So Li’l Donnie nominates Ronny Jackson because he’s a doctor, an admiral in the Navy and he was standing there.  Basically the vetting the process for Trump boils down to essentially “Hey, why not this guy? Yeah, let’s see what happens.” Early on there were no questions about Jackson’s rep as a doctor or his personal character but what the fuck did this guy know about running a sprawling agency like the VA?

 

Then some other stuff starting bubbling up, allegations that Jackson was a little too quick with the prescription pad for pain pills and sleeping pills and “hey, I need help waking up” pills. And what’s this we hear about Jackson drinking too much? And creating a hostile work environment? 

 

To be fair, a lot of these allegations were just that, allegations. Allegations with some weight to them, enough to give both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate pause to think, “Whoa! What is the deal…really… with this guy?”

 

Whatever the basis for these allegations, this whole mess should’ve never gotten this far.

 

A competently run White House would have checked Jackson’s background before the President would’ve nominated him.

 

A  competently run White House would’ve unearthed these concerns before letting this guy get anywhere near a Senate confirmation hearing.

 

A competently run White House would have answers for any allegations if there was nothing to them.

 

This is NOT a competently run White House.

 

Here was Li’l Donald Trump’s process for picking Ronny Jackson to head up the VA:

 

“OK, fired David Shulkin from the VA. Shuilkin was Obama’s fault. Need cheeseburger. Also need new VA head. Maybe a doctor? Military guy? Military doctor guy? That would be YUGE! America will love it, like Hawkeye on MASH. And America will love ME for picking him! Speaking of love, I need a cheeseburger. OK, stay focused, Donald. Military doctor guy for head of the VA? Hey, what about that Jackson guy? Lonnie? Donnie? Ronny! Yeah, that’s it. He’s a military guy. He wears a uniform. Army? Marine? Navy? Nah, can’t be the Navy. He would be on a boat. And he’s a doctor. He’s the most important doctor in the world. He’s my doctor. But he doesn’t have a lot to do since I’m the most perfectly healthy person on the planet. I’m putting a lot work into this; I’m gonna need two cheeseburgers. So it’s done; Ronny Jackson will head up the VA. Perfect! Now, where are my cheeseburgers?” 

 

The problem is this whole mess with the secretary of Veteran Affairs is just ONE thing. 

 

What about Scott Pruitt at the EPA? What’s up with Trump attorney Michael Cohen? What about Stormy Daniels?  What’s Robert Mueller up to with the Russia probe? What’s going to happen with the Iran nuclear deal? What’s going on with North Korea? What’s with these trade wars that Trump seems determined to start?

 

There’s just too much shit to keep track of. Between Trump’s own moronic incompetence and the ultra right wing conservatives who are only too happy to be complicit in Trump’s moronic incompetence as long as they get what they want, it is a recipe for endless chaos and disaster.

 

And way too much for this woeful blogger to try and keep track of.