Donald Trump has appointed Rex Tillerson, the sitting CEO of ExxonMobil, as Secretary of State. Which is really weird. Why are Democrats focused on something relatively minor: his relationship with Russia?
Smooth Transition of Power
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We keep hearing that Democratic officials are being polite and deferent to president-elect Donald Trump because they respect America’s tradition of smooth transitions of power. Given what Trump has said during the campaign, and the people he has appointed so far, however, that may not be appropriate.
The Future Is Branded
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Why does the Trump-Pence campaign keep selling swag online, even after winning the presidency? From the mind that gave you Trump Air and Trump Steaks, here comes Trump’s highly branded America.
Hillaryites Blame Their Victims
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Progressives repeatedly warned center-right Democrats that Hillary Clinton was more likely to lose to Donald Trump than Bernie Sanders, that abandoning the progressive base to court Republicans (as Hillary did) was electoral suicide, and that the #BernieOrBust contingent would sit home on Election Day unless Hillary made significant concessions to the party’s leftist base. They were ignored and insulted and snubbed. Now, incredibly, center-right Democrats are blaming the progressives whose support they did everything to deride for Trump’s victory. If progressive support was important enough to cost Hillary the campaign, why didn’t she act like it?
Rick Perry, Reporting for Duty
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Rick Perry, the Texas governor appointed by Donald Trump to run the Energy Department, will report to work in January to a department whose name he couldn’t recall in a gaffe that effectively ended his 2012 primary campaign. A rocket scientist he is not.
Trump’s Cabinet, In General
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Donald Trump has appointed a surprising number of generals to civilian cabinet positions, prompting fears that his administration will feel more like a military junta than a traditional government with civilians in charge.
We, Robots
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Futurist science fiction author Lui Cixin predicts that artificial intelligence will put 90% or more of Americans out of work. Will politicians plan ahead for the coming end of work as we know it? Ha!
Not That Strong
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Many Americans, especially those who enthusiastically supported Hillary Clinton, are still shocked and devastated that Donald Trump defeated her in the electoral college and that he is about to become president within six weeks. What’s easy to forget is that this was an election between two extremely unpopular candidates. No matter who won, the result would’ve been bad.
Does a Presidential Tweet Fall in the Woods?
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Even after winning the presidential election, Donald Trump continues to use Twitter to send out bizarre and threatening messages about anything that crosses his mind. He even threatened to take away citizenship from people who burn the American flag, even though the Supreme Court has ruled that this is speech protected by the First Amendment. Now many journalists are saying that these tweets shouldn’t necessarily be covered as serious news, even if they are spoken by a future President of the United States.
The Party of Yes Sir, May I Please Have Another
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Republican congressmen and senators repeatedly blocked President Obama at every turn. But now that it’s the Democrats’ turn to be the party of opposition, they are pledging to cooperate. Which seems especially crazy considering how crazy the president elect is.
