On July 9, 2017, Donald Trump Jr. proudly announced that hundreds of officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs have been fired since his father took office. Quite a betrayal since he’d promised to hire more veterans and fund the VA hospitals.
It saddens me that so many of my fellow veterans believe that corrupt, privatizing, back-stabbing Republicans are synonymous with patriotism. People like Ted Cruz–a man who not only never served, but wasn’t even BORN in the United States–has led a rallying cry of, “Defund, DEFUND, de-FUND!” for years. Veterans have died waiting for specialist and needed care simply because there wasn’t enough money to hire the doctors and medical staff needed to treat them.
Frustrated vets will sigh and think, “at least something is being done.”
Yes… but look at who Trump is putting in place and the economics behind his “I’m for you” rhetoric:
- Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State has been the CEO of Exxon Mobil … a company that knew about climate change but spent decades lying to the public about it for profit. “The thing I like best about Rex Tillerson is that he has vast experience at dealing successfully with all types of foreign governments,” Trump tweeted tweeted. But that’s a huge part of the problem since Tillerson’s has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2012, Putin awarded him the “Order of Friendship”—a VERY high honor in the Kremlin. In case you’ve forgotten, who Exxon is, Google, “Exxon Valdez,” and a long list of deadly explosions and leaks that have dumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil and other hazardous fluids into our oceans and waterways.
- Alexander Acosta, a former federal prosecutor, has been confirmed to be Labor Secretary. He has the right credentials but as head of Bush’s Civil Rights Division, Acosta found himself in some trouble after he failed to stop his own deputy, Bradley S. Schlozman, from engaging in politically motivated hiring of unqualified attorneys. The report concluded that while Acosta claimed ignorance of this federal law-breaking under his watch, senior staff had alerted him to problems. As Senator Elizabeth Warren described in a letter to Acosta, “you failed to stop these egregious abuses.” In other words, he’s ANOTHER wolf guarding the hen house.
- Steve Bannon is Trump’s main Advisor… a man who proudly proclaimed that he’s a “Leninist.” Not only is Bannon a “heavy drinker” with domestic violence history, he has business ties with Hollywood and Silicon Valley pedophiles… which shouldn’t shock you because “President Trump” is also accused of being a sexual predator and attracted to his daughters. Steve Bannon, former head of racist “Alt Right” Breitbart… is a mentally and spiritually dysfunctional pre-human individual who has declared war on not just black people, but on Jews, Muslims, Mexicans, the United States as we know it. In other words … as we speak… what we thought was our government, is in a state of war…. against us.
Stephen Bannon, President Trump’s chief political strategist and, after Trump, the most powerful man in Washington, once declared proudly: “I am a Leninist.” He was talking to a New York university academic who had written extensively on communism and the former Soviet Union. “What on earth do you mean?” the professor asked him. “Lenin wanted to destroy the state and that’s my goal too,” replied Bannon. “I want to bring everything crashing down and destroy all of today’s establishment.” ~ The Guardian
- Steven Mnuchin is head of the Department of the Treasury. Really. Mnuchin is a former senior executive at Goldman Sachs and a hedge fund manager… another corrupt banker. Not only does he have NO government experience,
- Kris Kobach, now Vice Chair of Donald Trump’s voter fraud commission has been SUCCESSFULLY SUED FOR TIMES for voter suppression. Kobach led restrictive voting initiatives that targeted minorities. During the Goldman Sachs foreclosures, he got rich at the tax payer expense. Trump ran against a “rigged” system, but as the ultimate betrayal, he’s not only “rigging” even worse, what he’s doing is not only criminal–it’s treasonous.
Sorry, but I don’t have the stomach to document more of the crooks who will make your health system–veteran and civilian–far worse than it’s ever been.
On top of that, TrumpCare continues to attempt elimination of Mental Health Treatment as well as Substance Abuse Treatment. With fewer black and brown youth going into crime, there’s not enough bodies to keep the privatized prisons filled by 2020.
So they’re dumping cheap heroin and oxycodone all through the WHITE Rust Belt, bucolic Vermont, Midwestern Heartland, the Deep South, North, East, and West. They’re targeting white middle managers too because that’s where the most low-level white collar crime happens. (They don’t touch high level white collar crime.)
People who believe in Trump aren’t only getting suckered … they’re killing America.
Black Traveler 