As I wait for my crumpet to toast this morning to accompany my coffee, I am reminded of Cheeto's indifference to ethics. Yesterday I posted comments about his cancellation of multicultural training in the the government which reminded me that there is a precedent for his lack of vision and management competence.
Since 2000, the government has provided ethics training for the incoming presidential team during the transition of the government. Both the Bush and Obama staffs were participants to the training. After all, government regulations and requirements can be confusing to professionals not conversant in the nuances of the requirements and regulations. When Cheeto became president he said ethics training was not necessary and he would use the transition team leaders, initially Chris Christie and later Mike Pence, to handle the training. To me that feels like listening to an Irishman lecture about temperance from a bar stool.
So what did we reap from this brilliant dismissal of necessary ethics training? A polluted swamp of unethical behavior, unprecedented in history, as well as a continuing blatant disregard of government regulations like the Hatch Act and product endorsement restrictions. Multiple cabinet officials (over half) were accused of accepting gratuities, partaking in illegal personal travel, ties to business groups they regulate, conflict of interest, etc. I guess when the boss models bad behavior it is contagious. Of all the recent presidents, the one with the most checkered history of serious ethics issues is our incumbent, and he continues to hire a staff equally deficient in ethics genes, and in many cases, deficient in the necessary knowledge to manage the position to which they are being appointed.
So, you would think that Cheeto would learn that cancelling programs like cultural sensitivity training and ethics awareness might have some impact on the effectiveness in the execution of his constitutional responsibilities. Not. A 'president' with a history of racial insensitivity and outright prejudice and ethics issues as long as Shaq's arm is not going to embrace anything that resembles a program to confront these issues. He will likely continue to surround himself with like thinking appointees. This is why a majority of voters in this country think this administration is a disaster in progress.
On that note, I am going to slather my crumpet with things that a health conscious senior citizen should avoid.