Standing Up to the President-Elect

By PoetCSW -
English: Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 in...
English: Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Republicans in the House and Senate, especially the leadership of the GOP, must at least symbolically reject the president-elects choices for his inner circle of advisors. Though some of these posts do not require Senate confirmation, the Senate should and must demand that Donald Trump remove some members of his transition team and his "kitchen cabinet" of conspiracy nuts.

I never imagined as a libertarian that my worst nightmare might be a Republican president. The following individuals should be nowhere near the White House: Stephen K. Bannon and Frank Gaffney. This should not be open to debate. The Senate should refuse to confirm any cabinet secretary until these two men are shown the door.

Yes, I understand that Bannon and Roger Ailes advised and helped control Trump during the campaign. I don't care. These are not the sorts of people with whom the GOP should be associated.

Standing up to Donald Trump will not be easy for the Republicans. Their voters elected Trump. But at some point, the GOP has to consider the long-term implications of embracing radical fringe zealots. You cannot claim to be a party of merit and individualism and then allow the president to surround himself with men of demonstrable prejudice.

By indicating they will not accept anyone the president wants with a rubber stamp voter, the Republicans would earn some respect. They also need to vocally reject some of the ideals and theories of the fringe that claims to be "alt right" when it is actually "alt lunatic."

I could not vote for Hillary. I certainly could not vote for Donald Trump.

The Republican Party must not acquiesce. Stand up for what the party was founded to be.

Too bad I expect this blog post to be like the writings of so many conservative and libertarian thought leaders… ignored.

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