It’s not our fault really, so few of us expected President-elect Donald Trump to win. In a normal election, policy would have been center stage. It would have been endlessly debated, tirelessly turned over, and, at times, even poked with a stick. We would have seen it distilled, watched as it was left to cool, and then finally, we would have consumed it via whatever form of media dissemination we deemed appropriate. Still, the fact remains that he did win and is intent on breaking his promises one by one. He’s not going to build the wall after all and as for draining the swamp? Well, if the number of lobbyists he’s appointed to his transition team is anything to go by, it appears that if anything, the swamp is going break its own levee.
Burst Banks
As Liberal America reported last week, he packed the team with the very same lobbyists that he previously railed against. Mike Catanzaro , Martin Whitmer, J. Steven Hart, and tobacco company Altria’s Cindy Hayden, these were just some of the people hired to drain the swamp.
It was all too much for Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a woman on some people’s short list for a presidential bid in 2020. True to form, she made good on her promise to stand up to Trump’s bigotry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSshqJezuLk
Poison Pen Friends
In an open letter to the President-elect the senator wrote:
“Based on public reports, your transition team and your potential cabinet include over twenty Wall Street elites, industry insiders, and lobbyists making decisions that could have huge implications for their clients or employers. They include, among many others, a former Goldman Sachs executive who is rumored to be a Treasury Secretary pick; a paid consultant for Verizon who is making key decisions on your administration’s Federal Communication Commission; a ‘top lobbyist’ whose firm lobbied on behalf of issues related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership who is shaping your Labor Department; and a climate-change-denying, oil industry-paid think tank fellow who is leading your environmental team’s transition.”
Promises Promises
She continued:
“You made numerous promises to the American people in your election campaign, none bigger than the promise to ‘drain the swamp’ of Washington D.C. special interests rigged against the middle class. The decisions you make with your transition team will shape the next four years of this nation. They will also reflect the strength of your character and your ability to truly lead–not just follow the marching orders of the special interests and Wall Street bankers you purportedly oppose.”
The senator’s letter, which listed and then denounced all of the Wall Street insiders Trump had appointed, demanded their removal. Warren then closed with a stern warning:
“Let me be clear. Should you refuse, I will oppose you, every step of the way, for the next four years. I will champion the millions of Americans you will fail to protect. I will track your every move, and I will remind Americans, every day, of the actions you take that fail them. And I will not be the only one watching. The millions of Americans who voted for you – and the millions who didn’t – will all be watching you.”
House of Business Cards
Which apparently is all the warning Trump needs to fold like a tent in a hurricane. On Tuesday, Vice President-elect Mike Pence replaced New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as head of the transition team, reportedly fired the lot, and replaced them with Team Trump insiders.
Trump has yet to comment on the humiliating climb down.
It’s hard to know which we’ll get used to first, the climb downs?
Or the denials that that’s what just happened?
Featured Image via screenshot from YouTube video
