(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Why is anyone surprised that trump isn't keeping his promises? [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-01-18

This will be shortish, and really intended to generate discussion. But it’s also a bit of a chide to those who find themselves surprised that rump won’t be keeping his promises, or that it’s even notable. That at the end...

First of all, many promises are outlandish on their face.

Mass deportations? Well, I guess we’d have to agree on “mass”. I think it’s highly unlikely. It would prove far more expensive than those who want to do it realize, both in terms of actually implementing it across 50 states, but the probably even more expensive unintended consequences.

DOGE? Good luck, guys. Really, good damn luck. Much of the “waste” of government is so baked in it’s going to take 4 years just to compile it all. And a bunch of that “waste” is not waste at all. There’s undue complexity in the decision making process in government to be sure, but a lot of that is for the protection of the public, so that individuals can’t just whipsaw through the decision making process like---well, like an Elon Musk, disastrous CEO that he is. Government is not a for-profit venture. It’s wholly different.

Removing DEI from the military? Guess what? The military has been a leader in DEI since it allowed soldiers of different races to serve together, beginning integration in...1948. The military has been ahead of the nation in this in fact. This is also baked in now. And a good thing it is, too. Some twit from faux news will not be rolling that back much.

Other agencies getting new heads? Actually, there are several competent people in the mix, so we shouldn’t get so agitated. The rest will be undermined by their own baldly manifest stupidity and incompetence, once they actually get into their jobs. They’re so far out of their depth they might as well be at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. The professionals in these agencies will preserve them. Will there be damage? Of course there will be...but they have survived damage before and will again.

The Justice Dept. and the FBI could be worrisome. But I don’t think the FBI rank and file are going to be very interested in going full MAGA. It’s never been a liberal bastion, just as a reminder! But they are serious, trained people there with plenty of ongoing investigations which won’t grind to a halt---and once again the proposed head is another of the imbeciles. It shouldn’t be hard for the pros to isolate him. He won’t be able to fire them willy-nilly. Bondi will be as bad as Barr, but she’s not as smart, and the Justice Dept. still has laws to follow. And it could be argued that she will be less disastrous than Garland. She’ll do rump’s bidding where she can….and she and he will get all the negative press they’ll deserve, which tends to make rump so happy. Plus the lawsuits, so many lawsuits. And beatdowns in the federal courts.

That leaves foreign policy as the biggest worry in my mind. But with respect to Ukraine I don’t mind Rubio, really. He’s been a hawk on Ukraine. Seems an odd choice if rump is really so cozy with putin. Gabbard doesn’t seem like the brightest bulb in the box, and she’ll be watched internally by here own agency if she gets it. But I wonder if putin’s influence hasn’t lost a lot of its strength? Nothing putin has on rump (if anything actually; rump seems more like and easy mark and useful idiot) matters anymore. rump got what he wanted: a second term, more ways to enrich himself, immunity from prosecutions, no consequences to his convictions, and now a bunch of mega billionaires he can tap for money. What does rump need putin and russia for at this point? And he’s not so stupid (even though he is really, really stupid) that he hasn’t noticed that russia has kind of tanked, uh, like their tanks. Quick aside: has anyone noticed how quiet the tankies have been for a while?

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/1/18/2297631/-Why-is-anyone-surprised-that-trump-isn-t-keeping-his-promises?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/