“Drain the swamp”.

Yup. One of three phrases TheDonald initiated (and brainwashed others to chant) to garner the Presidency.

The other two- “Lock her up”.

And, “Mexico will pay for the wall”.

There is no need to discuss these canards separately since they are all intertwined. (And, there’s no need for debate- because, despite TheDonald’s other major canard- there is no other side.)

First, let’s mention one key fact. DC WAS a swamp when it was chosen as 1/2 the US Capitol. Thankfully, Alexandria, DC wasn’t. (You do recall that part of Washington DC was taken from Maryland and the other part of the capital  was excised from Virginia. The County of Alexandria (now known as Arlington) and the City of Alexandria were returned to Virginian administration.)

So, y’all do realize that the swamps were drained long ago. Even though many a politician makes us wonder if the water-based swamp was worse for us than the human variety.

And, since we are talking about the human variety- and Lock Her Up (sorry, the chant’s gender got it all wrong)…

Let’s consider but a few of TheDonald’s choice appointments.

As Director of the EPA (which he clearly did not understand stood for the Environmental Protection Agency), Scott Pruitt instigated the largest roll-back of environmental protection regulations ever. Including those that would stave off global warming (claiming that he alone understood the science- and that was contrary to scientific data). 

Scott also violated all standards of ethics. (At the time of his resignation, he was under 13 separate ethics investigations.) “Requesting” the WrongWing head of Chick-Fil-A to provide his wife a cushy franchise deal. Demanding his aides perform personal services for himself and his family. “Suggesting” TheDonald file Jeff Sessions and render himself as the Attorney General.

 

At the ‘end’, even Laura Ingraham, TheDonald’s sycophant and talk radio host, tweeted, “Pruitt is the swamp. Drain it.”

And, where do you think Scott is creating mischief right now? As a consultant (read as lobbyist to the EPA) for Joseph W. Craft, III. “Who he?”, you ask. None other than a coal magnate (Alliance Resource Partners), polluting the air and the ground with his businesses. So much for yet another (BS) promise by TheDonald- from stopping his team from taking such efforts after leaving the government.

Think that’s an isolated case? (Did you already buy my bridge in Arizona?) Let’s jump to Vincent DeVito, another stellar human and his ex-boss, Ryan Zinke.

Ryan, you might recall, was put in place to destroy the Department of Interior by TheDonald.  He immediately began removing regulations protecting federal lands and waters from oil and gas drilling. This pawn for the oil and gas industry was under 15 separate investigations (including self-dealing with the Interior for his personal taking over some lands)-and one that may yet reach the light of day- how his pal and hometown buddy managed to get the $ 300 million Puerto Rican contract to repair the electric grid. (You do recall that Whitefish Energy had all of two employees, right?)

Vincent DeVito, Zinke’s counselor for energy policy (sic), had been a shill for the oil and gas industry for years. His qualifications for the job? Treasurer of Ryan Zinke’s political action committee. And, now that he’s out of the swamp TheDonald is making? He’s General Counsel (and Executive Vice President) of Cox Oil Offshore (the company that avers that clean air saves NO lives). Another swamp filler.

And, then, there’s Joe Balash. The guy in charge of oil and gas drilling on federal lands- for the Department of Interior. Who immediately joined the staff of Oil Search (with whom he had dealings at least several times as Assistant Secretary of the Interior)- the firm drilling for oil on Alaska’s North Slope. Oil Search is hoping that his ex-cronies at Interior will render the National Wildlife Refuge available for drilling. (Balash is not just joining- but serving as the Senior VP for external affairs [that means lobbyist] for Alaska operations at- Oil Search. There is a lawsuit right now demanding to know how this move is legal under current federal law, 18 US Section 208.)

While I have devoted most of my blog to the environmental shenanigans where TheDonald has augmented the swamp, let’s not forget others.  Like our Vice-President.

On his trip to Ireland, Pence stayed at TheDonald’s resort. That could almost sound reasonable, until you consider that this resort in Doonbeg was 180 miles away. That TheDonald charged full price for Pence and the entire entourage. That AirForce 2 was used to fly Pence back and forth at least twice. (There also is a 60 minute drive from the ‘local’ airport- according to TheTrump’s hotel own website.) That there were adequate hotels in Dublin.

That’s about the same distance as it would be from Baltimore to New York.

That doesn’t even include the fact that TheDonald has stolen authorized funds for schools and daycare for the children of our troops keeping America safe, stolen funds for updated housing for returning troops, and fund earmarked to help Puerto Rico recover from hurricane damage to build that wall for which Mexico was to pay- over lands he will confiscate from American citizens.

Or, the fact that TheDonald is moving the Bureau of Land Management (the part of the BLM that interfaces with Congress, since 97% of its employees and operations were ALREADY outside of the DMV region) so he can eliminate the experts that help run the agency in a proper fashion.  (If these officials agree to move, they get lower paying positions in the hinterlands- just up the road from lobbyist (now head of BLM) David Bernhardt’s hometown [Grand Junction, CO]- nowhere near an airport.) Many of the Congressional staff liaisons are being assigned to Reno, NV.   You can’t make this stuff up!

And, TheDonald claims he wants to drain the swamp?

How will he do so when he and his minions are filling it up so quickly?