Government by the Worst Men
Donald Trump’s appointees represent a coherent ideology and perspective, one that should terrify all Americans.
By Jamelle Bouie
What would it look like to live under a kakistocracy, Greek for “government by the worst men”?
You would have grifters and cronies and unqualified loyalists, but what else? What does it mean for someone to be the worst, and what does it mean for those people to have the reins of power?
After this presidential transition, we are going to find out. Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump said he would hire “the best people” to staff his administration. If “best people” means experienced politicians, dedicated experts, or even skilled businesspeople, then he’s stretching the truth. Few people with those qualifications are on board for an appointment to the Trump White House. But if “best people” means the hangers-on of the Trump campaign—the white nationalists, petty authoritarians, and conspiracy-mongers—then we’re on target. Here, so far, is whom we have on the table:
We have Stephen Bannon, the former head of Breitbart known for his open ties to white supremacists, anti-Semites, and foreign reactionaries in France and Russia. Bannon is a Svengali of sorts for the ugliest forces in American and international politics, a man who believes the Western world is in a fundamental struggle with Islam and who sees multiculturalism and liberal openness as a threat to the future of the West. As of this moment, he is chief strategist to President-elect Trump, with an office in the West Wing. The Washington Post gives a glimpse of what this might mean, in a story describing Bannon’s role in moving Trump toward anti-Muslim policies and a larger ethnocentric vision.
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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/11/donald_trump_is_bringing_america_government_by_the_worst_men.html