I'm Betting We'll see Trump Appointees Holding Their Religion at Bay



A few decades ago, Dr. C. Evertt Koop was appointed Surgeon General by President Ronald Reagan. He was personally opposed to abortion and was pressured by many in the Reagan Administration to make regulations against it. He refused. Ultimately, he helped make abortion available to more women. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a general distrust of vaccinations. He has refrained from promoting no vaccinations contrary to the expectation of many anti vax people. He advises people to follow the advice of their doctor. It would be better if he advised and promoted vaccinations, but he is instead keeping his head down. 

Other appointees of Trump who are anti medicine and anti-science are also facing the sober reality they have been wrong all along and are holding back from preaching their religious and anti-science views. We can be grateful federal employees are apparently pointing to the unavoidable facts that public health is best protected by using religious free science. They will be hung out to dry by the religious right.

The war against trans is another one that Trump will have trouble winning. I would guess he himself has no views on this as he has no views on abortion or religion in general, his circle is crazy against trans. One can bet House and Senate members across the country are facing sad and compelling stories from trans people and their families. Just saying the Bible lists only two genders will not fly. People will ask, "What are you going to do to help me?"

In other matters, the courts are not supporting most of Trump's sensational moves. When payments to farmers was stopped I called a lifelong friend who is a retired farmer. He said he did not see how Trump could refuse to pay the 50% part of water control projects that are already completed and that the government has contracted to pay. Sure enough, a view days after that visit a judge ordered payments to be made. 

As a pundit in the New York Times wrote today, Trump's motives are simple. They are not to reduce the size of government nor put Christianity in government. His motive is to have people pleading with him while he holds something back. The continual threats at some tariffs followed by delays is a perfect example of this behavioral pattern.     

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