The morning after national elections I received an email from my editor at The Risk Universe magazine, in which she asked if I would write a reflection on risks connected with the election results. I said yes because I thought that with a month’s passing I would have a better sense of where the president-elect would be taking us. After all, by then he would have made his cabinet appointments, which would tell us a great deal. I wish I had asked for two months to write the piece because, as you know, several key appointments like that of the Secretary of State have not yet been made, and the list of candidates for the position has gotten longer, not shorter.
From the analysis last week for the magazine, I wanted to lift one of my paragraphs and then say a bit more about it. “Come January, based upon President-elect Trump’s statements and the cabinet level nominations that he has made to date, it appears to me that Americans will be citizens of a kakistocracy, which Oxford Dictionaries defines as 'government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state.' Though I am trying to keep an
open mind, it is hard to do so when many cabinet posts are being filled by former military generals or by private sector persons with either no record of public service, or with an attitude that foreshadows dismantling a range of government programs.”
The Senate has already provided language in a bill that will be signed by President Obama that waives the requirement that a former military officer be retired for at least seven years before he is appointed to a role normally held by a civilian --Secretary of the Department of Defense -- where oversight of the military is at stake.
Another ominous sign can be read from the transition team’s request of the Department of Energy. From NPR’s Jennifer Ludden in a December 9 story: "It wants to know who at the Department of Energy attended domestic and international climate talks. It wants emails about those conferences. It also asks about money spent on loan-guarantee programs for renewable energy. ... The Trump team questionnaire also asks about the Energy Department's role in the Iran nuclear deal, which
Can You Spell
Kakistocracy?
by Annie Searle