Dear Editor
Everybody knows that pigs can’t fly, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant seems to think that cows can climb over 18- to 30-foot walls and swim across rivers. Bessant claims that a disease that plagues some U.S. cattle is caused by immigrants somehow sneaking diseased cows across the U.S. border. This may be one of the most ludicrous ideas President Donald Trump’s political appointees have come up with, but the overall situation isn’t funny at all. The president has made no secret of his determination to tear down existing federal institutions and remake them to his liking.
The result is chaos as experienced employees are fired and replaced by yesmen, many of whom are in over their heads. Foremost in Trump’s mind appears to be complete loyalty to himself and a willingness to follow his every dictate — even when that means appointing people manifestly unqualified for their jobs.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy is a vocal vaccine skeptic. In his mission to “make America sick again,” he fired an entire board of vaccine experts and replaced them with skeptics like himself. He continually casts doubt on vaccines that have been proven safe and effective for decades and have virtually eliminated many childhood diseases.
Multi-billionaire Elon Musk gleefully decimated USAID. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Africans have reportedly died from starvation.
FBI Director Kash Patel fired scores of career agents and replaced them with loyalists. He supports Trump’s vengeance campaign against perceived enemies, raising serious doubts about whether investigations will remain free from political interference.
Another appointee is David Richardson, acting head of FEMA. Richardson was impossible to reach on a Sunday last July when a river near a Texas girls’ camp flooded. Ultimately, 138 people died while local agencies were powerless to begin lifesaving operations without his approval. The press secretary later explained that Richardson was “spending time with his loving family.”
Pete Hegseth, Trump’s secretary of defense, is an admitted alcoholic who has promised sobriety. He is one of two officials involved should Trump decide to launch a nuclear attack. Apparently impressed by Hegseth’s tenure as a weekend Fox News host, Trump put him in charge of the Pentagon, where morale is reportedly so low that many say, “he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
Trump, Hegseth and Secretary of State Rubio are pursuing aggressive actions abroad, including threats against Venezuela, Greenland and Cuba, while flouting international law. These are the kinds of yes-men the president prefers.
The Trump regime has already caused severe damage to our institutions. The only way to make America great again is to rid ourselves of this ship of fools and replace them with decent, honorable people whose loyalty is to the Constitution — not to an arrogant, vindictive and power-hungry president. That begins with the next elections.
Maryilyn Ooms, Perryville
