President Donald Trump is upending the status quo in less than two weeks in office. The change that Trump and his senior strategist, Steve Bannon, promised during the campaign has managed to sow chaos while doing nothing to "Make America Great Again." In fact, the opposite has happened.
With his travel ban to seven predominately Muslim countries, Trump has torn apart families for no other reason than an unfounded fear that those countries are havens for terrorists. Never mind that according to Politifact, since 9/11 no fatal attacks have been carried out by anyone from those countries listed – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen (there have been a few non-deadly attacks by individuals from two of those countries, Iran and Somalia, the site reported). According to New America, a think tank that has compiled information on terrorist activities in the U.S. since 9/11, the majority of attackers have come from within our borders. Suspiciously, Trump did not include majority-Muslim countries where terrorists have actually come from but where he has business interests. No conflict there – not.
Trump fired acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates Monday night after she ordered Justice Department attorneys not to defend Trump's travel ban, in what's being called the "Monday Night Massacre," a nod to the Nixon power grab during the Watergate era. Trump said in a statement that Yates "betrayed" him. We think Yates was standing up for the Constitution. As a holdover from the Obama administration, Yates would have been replaced anyway once the Senate confirms Trump's pick, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, but she did what she thought was right up until the end.
Bannon has also secured a seat on the principals committee of the National Security Council while the status of two generals was downgraded. That's scary, considering Bannon's white nationalist and anti-immigrant beliefs. Now Trump's chief political operative is sitting in on national security briefings – as one of the key White House decision makers.
Bannon, in an interview last week, also railed against the media, saying it should "keep its mouth shut."
"I want you to quote this," Bannon said in an interview with the New York Times "The media here is the opposition party. They don't understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States."
We have a message for Bannon: we do understand who is president and we will not shut up. We will continue calling attention to the hypocritical, backward policies Trump proposes, and continue covering people who are stridently protesting their disagreements with the administration.
Now is no time for complacency. Tuesday morning, the LGBT community dodged a bullet when the White House issued a statement saying Trump would leave intact President Barack Obama's 2014 executive order that prohibits discrimination by federal contractors against LGBT employees. That, of course, is good news, but it doesn't mean LGBTs can breathe easier. In fact, the Human Rights Campaign held a news conference Tuesday to warn that anti-LGBT action could soon come from the White House.
Most likely, according to HRC and other organizations, Trump could issue an executive order extending a broad license to discriminate against LGBT people under the guise of "religious liberty." Such a "license to discriminate" order would have chilling effects on the community. After all, the White House's statement Tuesday did not say that the administration would not take other actions to limit legal protections for LGBT people. The license to discriminate order, should it be issued, would be a boon to Trump supporters, who constantly rail against equality and seem to think that businesses have a right to flout anti-discrimination laws. They do not. According to the Williams Institute, an LGBT-focused think tank at UCLA School of Law, studies have shown that LGBTs continue to experience discrimination in the workplace, either in hiring, pay, or promotions because of their sexual orientation. This affects our health, quality of life, and earning potential.
The Williams Institute also pointed out more and more companies, including the top 50 government contractors and top 50 Fortune 500 firms, have "specifically linked internal LGBT non-discrimination policies to improving their bottom line." As a businessman, Trump should appreciate that fact, not seek to undermine it with a bigoted executive order.
Trump's penchant for governing via Twitter is showing the limits of 140-character decrees. The executive orders he has signed so far are sloppy and not well thought out. He's apparently not consulting his own Cabinet secretaries or congressional leaders. What he has done is surround himself with unqualified people who depend on Fox News or Breitbart News (where Bannon used to be an executive), two right-wing sites whose accuracy is often suspect. That doesn't bode well for our democracy.