Analysis: A government by friends of Trump
Donald Trump keeps stunning the world.
His win in the presidential election by defeating Hillary Clinton sent a shock wave across the globe.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Anti-Trump protest is erupting across the USA. They are agitating in the streets as they think "Trump is unfit to serve. His scapegoating of so many Americans, and his impulsivity, bullying, lying, admitted history of sexual assault"
More than five millions of Americans signed petition urging electors not to vote for Trump on December 19 to formally elect him as the president.
Liberal forces across globe are still reeling from the shock of his win in the bitterly fought election on November 8.
Amidst such a situation, Trump in a week sent another big blow to the forces worried over his election by picking right-wing firebrand Stephen Bannon as chief strategist in his administration in White House.
His choice of Bannon has set the tone of his government. The choice sparked outrage not only in USA, also in many parts in the world.
Before Bannon joined Trump’s campaign as chief executive officer in last August, he spent four years as executive chairman of Breitbart News, a website he himself has described it as a "platform for the alt-right.
Democrats, civil rights groups and even some Republicans slammed US President-elect Donald Trump Monday over his choice of right-wing firebrand Stephen Bannon as a key aide, saying it would elevate the white nationalist movement into the top levels of the White House.
Democrats and advocacy groups on the left called Bannon a promoter of racism and misogyny who is backed by the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan.
More than 150 members of the House of Representatives belonging to Democratic Party on Wednesday signed a letter urging Trump to rescind his appointment of Bannon. According to them, this appointment “sends a disturbing message about what kind of president Donald Trump wants to be.”
John Weaver, a top strategist for Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich, tweeted that the "racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps from the Oval Office. Be very vigilant America."
Appointment of Bannon even surprised chairman of the American Nazi Party, Rocky J. Suhayda, who wrote a post after Trump's election night victory celebrating it as a call to action.
He could not imagine Trump could have made the appointment triggering outcry. This choice, he said, showed Trump could follow through on his campaign promises.
In an interview between Trump and Bannon that took place last year, and that The Washington Post resurfaced on Tuesday testifies the similarity of beliefs between the duo against immigrants, Muslims and women rights.
TASTE OF BANNON
According to a CNN report on Tuesday Trump's chief White House strategist Bannon hails from his Breitbart News website that traffics in incendiary headlines, many of them outwardly racist, misogynist, anti-Semitic -- and very, very pro-Trump.
One of the headlines is 'Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy'.
In a December 2015 article Breitbart News made a case against birth control and concluded, "We need the kids if we're to breed enough to keep the Muslim invaders at bay."
Under the headline "There's no hiring bias against women in tech, they just suck at interviews", a July article suggested that research revealed "women might just suck at job interviews."
'The solution to online 'harassment' is simple: Women should log off' was a headline of Bannon news website in July. In this article it was argued that women are "screwing up the internet for men by invading every space we have online and ruining it with attention-seeking and a needy, demanding, touchy-feely form of modern feminism."
But no outcry may be able to force Trump to change his mind about Bannon.
Moreover, Trump has got support for this appointment.
White nationalist leaders are praising Trump's decision to name Bannon as his chief strategist, telling CNN in interviews they view Bannon as an advocate in the White House for policies they favor.
Bannon's appointment perhaps also made cheerful far rightists politicians in UK, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Austria, Netherlands and Hungary who were first to congratulate Trump on historic upset.
He will have about 4,000 government positions to fill. His transitional team is now at work coming up with possible candidates for the top jobs. Bannon will certainly play key role in making those appointments. He will certainly choose people like himself.
As morning shows the day, many of his appointments may go to far rightists, sparking controversy, forecast political observers.
'I AM THE ONLY ONE…'
As forecast earlier that Trump if elected may emerge as an autocrat to run the White House. The forecast has been proved to be true.
As infighting grew in his transition team, Trump yesterday tweeted: "Very organized process taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!"
A CNN report yesterday also said so. "He hires people, he fires people, he sets them against one another, he says things and takes them back, with the chaos often unfolding in real time on cable TV. It happened in the campaign and there's no reason to think his presidency won't be the same."
Former Congressman Mike Rogers said on Tuesday he parted ways with Trump's transition team.
Rogers was told Monday over telephone that he was out. This was part of an effort to replace the transition team members associated with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who previously headed up the transition team's efforts until being replaced by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, said a CNN report.
Trump's son-in-law and close adviser Jared Kushner is at the center of the "infighting" inside Trump's transition team.
Kushner has been rubbing allies the wrong way in his recent efforts to purge the transition team of Christie associates, said CNN.
Kushner's father was prosecuted by then-US Attorney Christie in 2004 for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions.
So, by ousting Christie from transition team, Trumps son-in-law took the revenge.
Trump has also picked some far rightists people for important posts in his government, sparking controversy.
GOVERNMENT BY FRIENDS!
Yet, what Trump is doing to pick people for his government is following his predecessors. For over last 200 years, President-elect chose people who he liked for his government.
This began from George Washington, the first president of USA in 1789. But there is a stark difference between the period of his predecessors and the era of Trump.
George Washington chose men like himself who he felt had good qualifications and a dedication to public service. One might label it the government by the friends of George Washington. His government was also termed as a government by gentlemen.
He was a highly esteem leader. Therefore, he was elected president twice unanimously in 1789 and 1792. He and some other founding fathers opposed to political parties. They feared that political parties would cause bitter division in the society and national unity and interest would be jeopardised.
So, they did not include any provision on political parties in the Constitution ratified in 1789. They wanted that the US president will be public-spirited individual and non-partisan man.
But things took U-turn. Political parties started growing from second term of George Washington presidency. Political parties grew. Democratic and Republicans have been dominating the US politics for around last two hundred years. Every president of USA since 1852 has been either a Republican or a Democrat.
Trump has been the first one who won the presidential election despite being an outsider of the political establishment. His win could have been likened to the thoughts of the founding fathers including George Washington as they dreamt of non-partisan men as the president of the USA. But it is certain that they never expected a non-partisan president like Trump, a man so unfit to head a superpower, so unreliable, so sexually scandalous and so misogynic and racist.
Likewise, his predecessors Trump is now picking men like himself to form new government.
In the US system, each President is given the freedom to choose his own team. Not only Washington but every President, including Barack Obama, had that freedom. But the underlying principle behind such freedom is that the President will choose people of competence, reputation and those who uphold the fundamental values that the US constitution representing not only the original version of but all the subsequent amendments that was adopted. What Trump is doing is misusing that "freedom of choosing team" by appointing people who are racists, white supremacists, and bigoted.
It will be a government by friends of Donald Trump. Everyone will be watching what his friends do in the coming days, Will it be a new age of darkness in the world as predicted by many prior to Trump's election?
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