Ryan Zinke

Chaos In The Trump Cabinet: Corruption, Dissension, And Endless Mismanagement

Ronald 1 Comment

The Trump Cabinet is in chaos, with corruption, dissension, and insults proliferating.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign due to corrupt travel on private planes, costing the taxpayers one million dollars, with Price only agreeing to repay about $50,000.

Seven other cabinet members are accused of similar abuse: Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, and Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin.

Meanwhile, there is dissension among the top cabinet members and advisers, with Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State, calling his boss “a F—–Moron”, and talk of his rapid leaving from the Administration expected.

There is also talk of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly having major conflict with Trump, as he is unable to control the irrational behavior of the President.

There is also, supposedly, an agreement among Tillerson, Mnuchin, and Secretary of Defense James Mattis, that if any of them are removed or forced out, all three would resign enmasse.

National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster has also been bitterly attacked by former Trump aide Stephen Bannon, who has returned to the destructive Breitbart News Service, an Alt Right extremist media company.

Overall, there has never been a cabinet of a President as horrible as that of Trump, with Ulysses S. Grant and Warren G. Harding. the previous worst cabinets, far surpassed by the Trump disaster.

How much more chaos can America take of such chaos and mismanagement?

Trump Presidency Rapidly Becoming More Corrupt Administration Than Nixon, Grant, Harding!

Ronald 3 Comments

After only eight months in office, the Trump Presidency is rapidly becoming more corrupt than the Presidencies of Richard Nixon, Ulysses S. Grant, and Warren G. Harding.

Sic cabinet members, at the least, have engaged in corrupt acts–Tom Price, Health and Human Services Secretary, who has resigned, but also Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury; Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke; Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt; Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin; and Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, who is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

A dozen Trump appointees have been fired or resigned, among them the most prominent being Michael Flynn, Stephen Bannon, Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus, Sebastian Gorka, Anthony Scaramucci, and James Comey. And Trump has hinted at firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Special Counsel Robert Mueller over the investigation being conducted by Mueller over Russian collusion in the Presidential Election of 2016. Many others are on tenterhooks as to their survival in the Trump Administration, and some are expected to resign, due to the temper tantrums and tensions that exist in the White House under Donald Trump.

Many of the above list are on the way to indictment or at least engagement in corruption, and more of the cabinet members will be forced out, including others not yet publicly demonstrated to have engaged in corruption in office. Everyone is lawyering up, which is a sign of future trials and convictions coming.

All National Parks And Monuments MUST Be Preserved As Is, And In Fact, Expanded! Mining And Drilling Is Not The Energy Future!

Ronald 6 Comments

The review by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke of our national parks and national monuments, at the direction of President Donald Trump, has led to proposals to cut down some national monuments in the Western states, while not eliminating any, as was originally feared.

While it is somewhat good news that the aim now of the Trump Administration is to do less damage to our national parks and national monuments, it is totally unacceptable to cut down ANY of the national parks and monuments.

Instead, these parks and monuments need to be preserved as is, and in fact, expanded!

Mining and drilling is NOT the energy future, and we should not damage any of nature’s great blessings, or interfere with Native American ancestral grounds and artifacts.

One of the great blessings of the American continent is that we have great natural wonders, fantastic scenery, and wonderful access for all Americans and people from foreign nations to spend time in nature.

We have many Presidents to thank for this, starting with Theodore Roosevelt and the Antiquities Act of 1906 onward, and being from both political parties, and we should not allow Donald Trump, who has no regard for nature or for tradition, to commit any damage on the jewels represented by our national park and national monument system.

No industrial or corporate machinations in the name of greed and profit should ever come over nature, and hopefully, future Presidents of both parties will add to our blessed system begun more than a century ago!

Donald Trump’s Assault On The Environment A Battle Worth Fighting!

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Donald Trump has declared war on the environment, and is out to promote development, including opening up national parks and monuments to industrial development, putting economic growth above the great natural treasures protected by Presidents of both parties since Theodore Roosevelt.

Trump has also worked to undermine and eventually to destroy the Environmental Protection Agency created in the administration of Richard Nixon 47 years ago.

And Trump has withdrawn America from the Climate Accord negotiated in Paris, making our nation the pariah of the world community in that regard, and causing a loss of faith in American leadership.

His Interior Secretary threatened Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski on the issue of protection of Alaskan natural resources when she refused to vote for the demise of ObamaCare this part week, but Murkowski showed she could not be cowed by the Trump Administration.

Ryan Zinke, Interior Secretary, and Scott Pruitt, EPA head, are committing crimes against our national treasures, and there are many organizations and lobbyists who are working to prevent the Trump agenda, seeing the assault on the environment a battle worth fighting.

One of those organizations is the Conservation Lands Foundation, central office in Durango, Colorado, and this blogger is proud to report that his son David is working in Washington DC for this crucially important group, fighting alongside others for the preservation of our natural environment and national treasures!

Three Profiles In Courage: John McCain Of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski Of Alaska, Susan Collins Of Maine

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It is appropriate to salute three Republican Senators who stopped the destruction of ObamaCare, due to their feeling that despite the shortcomings of the program, that to just repeal it and leave millions of Americans with no health coverage was intolerable.

Senator John McCain of Arizona, a true independent and maverick, has often exasperated many political observers, and this blogger was upset earlier last week when McCain voted to promote votes on various alternatives, including repeal without replacement, but then voted to kill the idea once there was the opportunity to do so.

We now learn that former Vice President Joe Biden, a good friend, and former Senator Joe Lieberman, the Vice Presidential running mate of Al Gore in 2000, contacted McCain and convinced him that this was the right thing to do.

This kind of bipartisanship is precisely what is needed, and is missing from today’s political scence.

The courage of the two women Senators, who could not have alone stopped the Republican plan to destroy ObamaCare, must also be acknowledged, and sadly, some misogyny was utilized against them by the right wing, but Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska showed how principled and decent they were, and deserve great credit.

Both Collins and Murkowksi are tough, and they are not intimidated, with Collins having always been independent oriented, and Murkowski losing the party primary in 2010, running as a write in Independent candidate, and winning over her Republican and Democratic opponents, and then winning in 2016.

The outrage that the Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, at Donald Trump’s orders, threatened Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, the other Alaska Senator, with cuts in funding for Alaska in the Department budget did not intimidate Murkowski, as she postponed committee hearings and votes in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which she heads. She knows how to play Hardball, and Trump has met his match in her, as well as Collins.

Disappointing, however, was the third woman Senator thought united with them, Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, but caving in to pressure from Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, quite shocking since West Virginia has more people on Medicaid and in poverty than almost all states in America.

Donald Trump’s Attack On Truth, Facts, Knowledge Leads To An Alternative History And Science, Detrimental To America And Its Future!

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Donald Trump has mounted an attack on truth, facts, knowledge, and in so doing, it has led to an alternative history and science, detrimental to America and its future.

His ignorance on both history and science undermines the future of American education, as we see distortion of both areas of knowledge being advocated as reality, when it is just the opposite. The fact that Betsy DeVos is Secretary of Education only undermines true education in history and science, as well as in other areas of the curriculum.

We also see a large number of Trump supporters in the Republican Party and the conservative movement attacking the nature of, and need for, higher education.

This is all part of a plan to promote ignorance, propaganda, and disdain for educated people, and that kind of trend endangers the long term future of the nation, as other countries surpass us in the competition for educated people to deal with the future of the world economy.

The attack on how American history is taught is an alarm bell, reviving the old focus on only white male accomplishments in government and the economy. We have been enriched by teaching and analyzing about the role of minorities, women, and working people in our American history curriculum, on both the public school and college and university level.

The attack on science promotes Christian doctrine, and denies evolution, climate science, environmental protection as important, instead promoting preposterous theories on the age of the earth, and the concept that there is no need to protect the earth and its natural wonders for the long term future, only focusing on profit and capitalism for the present, and ignoring the long term implications. The fact that Ryan Zinke is our Secretary of the Interior, and Scott Pruitt is the head of the Environmental Protection Agency is tragic in so many dimensions.

The struggle to fight the Donald Trump emphasis on alternative truth, which are simply lies, must be continued, no matter how arduous the battle!

Jon Ossoff Loses Georgia Race, But All Four Special Elections Show GOP Edge Dramatically Cut From Elections In November 2016

Ronald 22 Comments

All of the four Congressional special elections, due to sitting Republican Congressmen taking positions in the Trump Administration, were won by Republicans, but in all four districts, the margin of victory was much closer than the races for those seats in November 2016.

It is disappointing that Jon Ossoff lost the race in the Georgia Congressional District, but Karen Handel’s margin of victory is one fifth what it was for Tom Price last year.

The same for Ryan Zinke’s seat in Montana; Mike Pompeo’s seat in Kansas; and also Nick Mulvaney’s seat in South Carolina.

But one must realize all four districts are strong Red districts, so the massive narrowing of the margin of victory is a major story.

The reality is that 23 Congressional districts with Republican wins in 2016 were also Congressional districts won by Hillary Clinton, and none of these four special elections were among those 23 districts.

So it comes down to the reality that IF Democrats can win those Clinton districts, with all of the discontent and turmoil over Donald Trump and the Republican agenda, they would be on the way to a likely gain of the House of Representatives majority in 2018, whereby 24 seats need to be gained.

But to do so, the Democrats must be much more aggressive in their campaigning, and must vigorously work to recruit the best possible candidates, so that they can revive their fortunes before the Presidential Election of 2020.

This is NOT the time to be downcast over the Ossoff defeat, but to applaud how he cut down the Republican party edge in the district by about 19 points, and mobilized thousands of people to become engaged in politics, who had never done so before.

Confidence and optimism are the key words to be emphasized and pursued!

Trump Drops To 35 Percent In Gallup Poll, With 59 Percent Negative Toward His Presidency

Ronald 5 Comments

Donald Trump is falling fast in the polls, hitting an all time low for a new President after 70 days, of only 35 percent in the latest Gallup poll.

Trump is striking out at the House Freedom Caucus, threatening primary challengers to the extreme right wing group, not realizing that in their gerrymandered districts, they are likely to beat any primary opponents in 2018.

Trump talks about cooperating with Democrats, but why would they, since he wishes to destroy Obama Care, and has forced an extreme right wing judge, Neil Gorsuch, on them, with the potential for this man who seems to be to the right of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, to be on the Court for the next 30 or more years, as he is only 49.

59 percent in the latest Gallup poll have a negative attitude toward Trump, and his second Muslim Ban has again been held up in the courts.

His Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, has admitted that building a Mexico Wall will be a major challenge due to topography, including the Rio Grande River in Texas.

And the Russian connection is being ratcheted up by the Senate Intelligence Committee headed by Republican Richard Burr and Democrat Mark Warner.

Finally, there are reports that former National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn, is ready to testify in exchange for immunity from prosecution so it now seems likely that Donald Trump will NOT finish his term, and that Mike Pence will become President during this term.

The Republicans And Trump’s Crime Against The Environment, Which Could Be Considered “God’s Work”!

Ronald 37 Comments

Donald Trump is about to commit a crime against nature, against the environment, what could be considered “God’s Work”.

In his speech before Congress tonight, Trump is calling for massive reductions in the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency, and in so doing setting back five decades and more of promotion of the environment by Republicans going back to Theodore Roosevelt and Richard Nixon.

One of the best things Nixon did in office was to sign into law the creation of the EPA in 1970, and the declaration of the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.

But once Scott Pruitt, former Oklahoma Attorney General, was named to be EPA head, the die was cast, and the Republican Party of 2017 is ready to gut the environment in the name of economic growth and industrial development.

Together with Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, we are about to see a mass attack not only on the concept of climate change and global warming, but also an assault on the National Parks and other public lands built up over more than a century under Republicans and Democrats.

This is not something easily reversed in four to eight years, and it will have a deleterious effect long term, and much of the damage that will be occurring cannot be reversed.

This is a massive tragedy, and there is a sense of frustration at the narrow mindedness and tunnel vision of Donald Trump and the Republicans.

And let us not forget that Donald Trump only won 46 percent of the vote, and that 54 percent of the nation did not wish this attack on “God’s Work”.

Cabinet Of “Deplorables” Marches Forward Toward Confirmation

Ronald 7 Comments

The effects of election results are demonstrated once again as the Cabinet of “Deplorables” marches forward toward confirmation.

The last 24 hours have been particularly gloomy as Betsy DeVos was confirmed as Secretary of Education, and Jeff Sessions was confirmed as Attorney General.

Having a person who has never in any way been involved in public education and believes in charter schools and Christianized education is outrageous and demoralizing. America’s children will suffer as she takes over with the intention of ignoring the issues of disabled students, racial and ethnic minorities, and the protection of women and girls, and the problem of guns in schools.

Jeff Sessions reminds us too much of George Wallace, and the old saying applies–Once a bigot, always a bigot–ant to believe that he will dispense equal justice, and enforce civil rights and civil liberties, and protect women’s rights and immigrants rights, is to believe the tooth fairy.

We will soon see Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services, with an intention to destroy Medicare, Medicaid, and ObamaCare as we know it; and Scott Pruit head the Environmental Protection Agency which he has sued 14 times and would like to destroy the agency if he could; and Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior, but not dedicated to preservation of the National Parks and protection of native American rights.

And other horrors in the cabinet are also in line for a vote, one that the Democrats and Progressives are unable to stop, a very depressing time.