As if America needed another reason to feel despair at what it lost - and what it gained - in the last election, Trump just gave us a nice little reminder.
In a truly staggering report, the New York Times recounted how the American government had cranked up its efforts to stop North Korea from developing its weapons program further, including missiles that had the capability of reaching the United States.
The order came directly from President Obama:
Three years ago, President Barack Obama ordered Pentagon officials to step up their cyber and electronic strikes against North Korea’s missile program in hopes of sabotaging test launches in their opening seconds.
Soon a large number of the North’s military rockets began to explode, veer off course, disintegrate in midair and plunge into the sea. Advocates of such efforts say they believe that targeted attacks have given American antimissile defenses a new edge and delayed by several years the day when North Korea will be able to threaten American cities with nuclear weapons launched atop intercontinental ballistic missiles.
This was done in absolute secrecy. Obama asked for and received no credit for this new initiative. He never bragged about it. Never tweeted about it. It was done to keep America safe from a hostile power, which Obama saw as his duty as President of the United States.
The program was so secretive, that even after Trump inherited it, the Pentagon deemed it too sensitive to talk about. The New York Times agreed to withhold many of the details so the North Korean government couldn’t discover how it worked.
After discussions with the office of the director of national intelligence last year and in recent days with Mr. Trump’s national security team, The Times agreed to withhold details of those efforts to keep North Korea from learning how to defeat them. Last fall, Mr. Kim was widely reported to have ordered an investigation into whether the United States was sabotaging North Korea’s launches, and over the past week he has executed senior security officials.
So what was Trump doing while this explosive report was being released? How was he proving he was a worthy successor to Obama, whose efforts were done to keep America safe? He was rage-tweeting about his former reality show from his Mar-a-Lago resort - his 6th vacation since becoming president in late January.
Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't voluntarily leaving the Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to great show
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
The inadvertent comparison between these two presidents is stark. And lest Americans comfort themselves by assuming the rest of the government will keep us safe while Trump plays golf and rage-tweets, CNN recently reported that Trump has refused to fill nearly 2,000 governmental vacancies - and has become bored with the process.
Nearly 2,000 appointed positions in the administration of President Donald Trump remain vacant, leaving many agencies with large staffing gaps waiting to be filled, according to data reviewed by CNN.
Meanwhile, Trump is noticeably behind the last three presidents when it comes to securing the confirmation of his Cabinet and other top appointments that require Senate approval.
He’s a buffoon running an empty government while the rest of the world watches in horror.
Featured image via Jack Gruber-Pool/Getty Images
