UPDATE:
Trump Drops Plans to Nominate John Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence
Trump’s Tweet:
Our great Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe is being treated very unfairly by the LameStream Media. Rather than going through months of slander and libel, I explained to John how miserable it would be for him and his family to deal with these people…. ….John has therefore decided to stay in Congress where he has done such an outstanding job representing the people of Texas, and our Country. I will be announcing my nomination for DNI shortly.
Original Post:
What is happening to our democracy is so alarming, sinister and foreboding that I can hardly find words to express such concerns.
Fortunately, a good friend, decorated Vietnam War veteran, U.S. Air Force pilot for the Nixon White House and someone who has interfaced in the past with departing Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, has not only done so, but has put it in rhyme form.
Over the weekend, Trump announced he will be replacing Coats, who stayed true to the mission of the intelligence community to, among other, “speak truth to power,” with Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), one of the most aggressive questioners of Robert S. Mueller III during last week’s hearings and one who promised to investigate the investigators and who hopes that “William Barr will deliver justice to any Obama officials who committed crimes.”
Here are my friend’s words:
Trump’s recent personnel actions could really harm us
Now Coats, after Tillerson, Sessions, Mattis, Kelly, McMasters, Nielsen are out of their key posts
Not popular to all, but seen as “speakers to power” for most
Intelligence, Foreign Policy, Attorney General, Defense, Security Affairs, Chief of Staff and Immigration
In come Trump’s teacher’s pets: winning his approval by echoing his rants: just sycophants
The above is just part of the chaos of this administration: the most ever seen in this nation
But these particular appointments signal a truly scary scenario: with no adults in the room: it spells doom
“Go ahead, Mister President”: do what you want: we’re just here to cheer you along: we’ll sing your song
Go ahead, increase the debt and dictators abet: cancel international agreements: we’ll play along
The Senate also goes along: who needs to worry about Russian meddling? It’s not true: we believe in you
We’ll keep up with your hateful tweets, after all, we need to protect our Senate seats
And all those investigations into corruption you face: we’ll put our feet in the aisle: so, you will smile
We’ll just rubber stamp your incoherent and impulsive actions: we agree: no need for any rationale to see
Now before this point, I’ll admit his lies, insults and constant bragging did put my nose out of joint
His racist appeals to his base: tax cuts for the rich, reneging on agreements: international appeasement
No new infrastructure or healthcare: cut Obamacare and welfare: just impulsive tweets there
But now, with his new “yes” men in place: this unstable buffoon: has the room: to lead us to doom
History has taught us lessons about the concentration of power by individuals unstable
They preach with simplistic rants to a susceptible base: for other races: it’s an evil label
Conspiracy theories, outright lies, then deny, deny, deny: for me it’s Trump you describe
The danger of Trump rises every day: we all need to pull together: to get him out of the way!
