Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
The people who drove America’s institutions into the ground are upset that Donald Trump isn’t leaving the “experts” in charge.
Following his convincing victory, Trump has swiftly announced his nominees for cabinet secretaries and other key roles. His selections include Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services Secretary, Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence.
The Washington, D.C. establishment is beside itself.
“Trump signals a ‘seismic shift,’ shocking the Washington establishment,” The New York Times reported. The Atlantic repeated that refrain with this headline: “Washington is shocked.”
Apparently, an elected official keeping campaign promises is scandalous to the propaganda press. Trump talked about draining the swamp for years. These are the kinds of nominees who could actually do it.
And this is what worries the political elite the most.
“We need to strengthen the CDC and the public health infrastructure, not dismantle it as RFK has suggested,” a healthcare industry leader told Politico.
“Folks are shocked,” a current DOD official said, according to Politico. “He’s just a Fox News personality that’s never worked in the government.”
That’s not accurate. Hegseth is a veteran who served as a major in the Army National Guard. He deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, earning two Bronze Stars. He has degrees from Princeton and Harvard. He ran two nonprofits focused on veterans, too.
“‘We are reeling’: Trump’s pick of Tulsi Gabbard alarms intelligence community,” a TIME headline stated. The article said, “Gabbard, a former Democratic Congresswoman from Hawaii, has no background in intelligence.”
The common theme of these critiques is that Trump’s choices don’t have the expertise needed to run these agencies. In many cases, they hold positions that are radically outside the “expert” consensus.
Now, if America’s institutions were doing a great job, that might be concerning. But they aren’t. The public health “experts” told the public not to mask, then to mask, then to double mask. Anthony Fauci eventually admitted that the 6-foot social distancing rule “sort of just appeared.” The COVID vaccine was supposed to essentially stop virus transmission. It didn’t. Fauci eventually admitted that vaccines “don’t protect overly well” against infection.
The “experts” kept schools closed even as it was obvious COVID posed a negligible risk to children. Students still haven’t recovered from the learning loss. Many never will.
Even aside from COVID, Americans aren’t healthy. Sixty percent of Americans have a chronic disease. Forty percent have two or more. Among school-aged kids, it’s also 40%. More than 40% of Americans 20 and older are obese. Around 20% of children are obese. America is a deeply unhealthy society.
The health experts say a man can become a woman. That men don’t have innate physical advantages over women. That doctors should cut off the healthy breasts and penises of children who think they are a different gender.
The military is a woke mess. Navy ships keep having accidents. The Houthis are attacking U.S. warships in the Red Sea. The military is struggling with recruiting. Earlier this year, West Point removed “Duty, Honor, Country” from its mission statement. The school does offer a minor in “diversity and inclusion studies.”
In 2020, more than 50 intelligence “experts” signed a letter claiming the Hunter Biden laptop looked like a “Russian information operation.” It wasn’t. The intelligence community pressured social media sites to censor information it didn’t approve of. FBI officials undermined Trump’s first term by pushing the false narrative that he colluded with Russia.
Trump’s selections won’t be perfect, but at least they understand this reality.
This is why the establishment’s “Chicken Little” routine rings so hollow. The sky — or in this case, the institutions — have already fallen, destroyed by the very elites who now scaremonger about the damage outsiders will cause.
Victor Joecks is a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Email him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or follow @victorjoecks on X. To find out more about Victor Joecks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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