There’s something to be said for picking the right person for the job.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of a day when his children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, and he was not only right to dream of such a day, he was righteous, in the best sense of the word. That should happen in hiring practices as well, wherein a person should be judged by their experience and qualifications, with the ultimate decision being made on whether or not that person can add value to the position they are being considered for.
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The outgoing Biden administration has not done this. They have instead gone for “first person of X” bragging points — including the vice president, the first “woman of color” in that role, who turned out to be a staggeringly bad politician. Donald Trump, on the other hand, appears to be bringing on board people he judges as best for the job.
Predictably, the left is going bonkers.
Donald Trump’s victory promised an electoral realignment as he made heavy gains among Latinos and peeled off some Black men. His Cabinet, however, ultimately reflects the staying power of white men in Washington.
After a flurry of selections last week, the president-elect winds up with just three people of color in secretary roles, matching his first Cabinet. His selection of former Texas state lawmaker and motivational speaker Scott Turner, who is Black, for Housing and Urban Development and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.), who is Hispanic, for Labor did not break form. Trump also had Black and Latino secretaries in those roles during his first term.
The sane reply to this is, “So what?” The only question should be, “Can this person do the job?” If the answer is “yes,” then, well, end of discussion. But Politico just doesn’t get it, and they don’t get why President-elect Trump is picking the people he is.
One former Trump transition official pointed out that Susie Wiles, his choice for chief of staff, is historic because the role has never before been held by a woman. And Scott Bessent, Trump’s selection to head Treasury, would make him the highest-ranking openly gay Cabinet official in history.
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It’s a safe bet that the President-elect didn’t choose those people for those reasons.
I doubt he cares that Susie Wiles is the first woman to serve as chief of staff. President-elect Trump chose her because he trusts her, trusts her judgment, and because she has proven to be reliable.
I doubt he cares that Scott Bessent is the highest-ranking openly gay Cabinet official in history. President-elect Trump chose him because he trusts him, trusts his judgment, and because he has proven reliable.
Those should be the only considerations. Melanin content, sleeping partners, and plumbing shouldn’t enter into the calculation.
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Because of this irrational focus on melanin content, plumbing, and so forth, tensions in the United States are growing worse. Within living memory, the predominant conversation in the U.S. was unity and erasing racial and other divisions; a popular song in 1973 was the O’Jays tune “Love Train,” which called for all the people of the world to join together in peace, love, and harmony.
That message wouldn’t play well with the left now. They’d rather focus on the differences than the similarities.
The much-ballyhooed divisions in this country, be they racial, religious, or anything else, will never end until people stop the endless categorizing and pigeon-holing of people by various characteristics. We are all Americans. As the famous Teddy Roosevelt said, there is and should not be any place for hyphenated Americans. Just Americans. That should be the standard, and until the left stops insisting on these divisions, things will continue to get worse.
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Fortunately, Donald Trump doesn’t seem to care about the racists and pigeon-holers. He is choosing the people who he thinks will get the job done. We’ll all be better off for that.