TRUMP ADMINISTRATION - Not Answering Basic Question

"Look at All the Ways Trump's Staff Is Avoiding Answering This Basic Question" by Nathalie Baptiste, Mother Jones 6/2/2017

Excerpt

They are endorsing a "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward climate denial.

Nobody at the White House seems to have asked President Donald Trump about his position on climate change.  For years, Trump has been calling global warming a hoax, sometimes alleging that it was invented by China.

So why not just confirm that this is still his opinion?  Especially when, after withdrawing the United States from the most important climate deal in history, aides might want to use the opportunity to show that the President understands the basic science.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, had several opportunities to share the President's current thinking on the issue.  At Friday's press briefing, four different reporters asked Pruitt four variations on this basic question from ABC's Mary Bruce: "Yes or no, does the President believe that climate change is real and a threat to the United States?"

And four different times, Pruitt basically gave this response: "All the discussions we had over the last several weeks was focused on one singular issue; Is Paris good or not for this country?"

But Pruitt isn't alone.  Over the last several days, many of his closest advisers have revealed they spend no time discussing global warming with the President. 

At Tuesday's press briefing, when a reporter asked if Trump believes that human activity contributes to global warming, Spicer replied, "Honestly, I haven't asked him.  I can get back to you." When he appeared at the podium again on Friday, Spicer still didn't have an answer.

On Thursday, after the Paris decision was announced, CNN asked Gary Cohn, Trump's top economic adviser, whether or not the President believes climate change is real.  "You are going to have to ask him," Cohn responded.

During a press briefing following the Paris announcement, a reporter asked about Trump's beliefs on climate change.  "I have not talked to the President about his personal views on climate change," a White House official said.

Earlier on Friday, Trump's adviser Kellyanne Conway also refused to answer if Trump thinks global warming is a hoax.  When pressed by news anchor George Stephanopolous on 'Good Morning America,' she assured him "The President believes in clean environment, clean air, clean water."

Many of his advisers may not broach climate change with Trump, but recently, K.T. McFarland, his Deputy National Security Adviser, slipped him two Time cover magazine stories about global warming to get the President riled up.

The only problem?  One of the stories turned out to be an internet hoax.

IMHO:  It is very obvious Trump does NOT understand the basic science.  And, worst, he does not care.  He wallows in his ignorance.  This is purely political gamesmanship, 'keeping his campaign promise.'

POLITICS - Could It Be? What IS Scary

The article "Perfect Knowledge, Perfect Ignorance" Patricia J. Williams of The Nation came up with a very scary idea.

At a symposium I attended the other day, some of the speakers were pondering the nature of citizenship in the wake of the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. What does public office mean to an Administration whose response has been such a casual one to the single worst natural catastrophe in the nation's history? It occurred to me, as the seminar participants sifted through racial and political history for precedent, that the Bush Administration has been quite straightforward about its lack of commitment to civic responsibility: Bush always promised he would run the country like a corporation, and so he has (even if the corporation that springs to mind is Enron). In business ethics good corporate leaders are beholden first and foremost to their investors and trustees, not to the public at large.

If one sees this particular set of politicians less as representatives of popular decision-making and more as trustees of a free-market enterprise, then everything else about this Administration makes a lot more sense. Outsourcing the military to the oil industry is logical. Axing Social Security and Upward Bound as unprofitable frills makes sense. The Lower Ninth Ward will make an attractive golf course, so why "incentivize" the return of low-rent residents? Lobbyists pay to play. Money speaks in the most literal way.

Humm.... Now that is scary, very scary, having people like this in charge of our nation.