NOVEMBER 17, 2016
Photo: Politico
Over the past week, you may have heard the name Steve Bannon bandied about a lot. As one of the main guiding hands during the last months of the winning Donald Trump campaign, Bannon had become a trusted adviser to the Trump team — he has been referred to by many campaign workers as “The General” — and last week he was named Trump’s chief White House strategist, an appointment which made many progressives’ heads explode. Just who is this guy?
Fans of Bannon, such as Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, defend the appointment, saying that “He was a Naval officer!” or “He has a Harvard business degree!” But the truth is that he may also be an anti-Semite.
Prior to signing on with the Trump team, Bannon headed up Breitbart News, a conservative website known for anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant views that has become the go-to news outlet for many, including white nationalists and neo-Nazis. Don’t believe me? Check out some of the recent headlines on their website:
Bill Kristol, one of the most conservative neo-hawks out there, apparently isn’t conservative enough for Breitbart:
“BILL KRISTOL: REPUBLICAN SPOILER, RENEGADE JEW”
Lovely. Then there’s this:
“TRANNIES WHINE ABOUT HILARIOUS BRUCE JENNER BILLBOARD”
Believe me, it was not hilarious. Here’s another…
“THERE’S NO HIRING BIAS AGAINST WOMEN IN TECH, THEY JUST SUCK AT INTERVIEWS”
Remember, this is supposed to be a news site. And on we go…
“GABBY GIFFORDS: THE GUN CONTROL MOVEMENT’S HUMAN SHIELD”
Ick. Words just fail me. Years ago, I worked in the newspaper business, and I know that headlines are not written by an article’s author and rarely by the editor-in-chief, so I can’t blame Bannon for that. But headlines do reflect the political point-of-view of the publication, and if Bannon signed off on these headlines, how do you feel about someone with that frame of mind just steps away from the Oval Office? (I haven’t even gotten to Breitbart’s feeling that birth control makes women unattractive and crazy, that if women are harassed on-line, they should just log off, and that “the Confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage.”)
If you’re a white racist, maybe.
But it’s not just in politics where Bannon’s foulness thrives. There’s his private life too.
Now you need to take this with a grain of salt because it involves a divorce trial, but Bannon’s ex-wife, under sworn testimony in their divorce proceedings, claimed that Bannon nixed a highly-regarded private school for his daughters because…
“He said he doesn’t like Jews and that he doesn’t like they raise their kids to be ‘whiney brats’ and that he didn’t want the girls going to school with Jews.”
Remember, he’ll be just a few steps away from the Oval Office.
From all reports, it appears that the Trump transition team has been hastily assembled because they didn’t think that they would win. (Join the crowd, fellas.) Plus those involved are said to be having a rocky time of it, particularly in the area of assembling a Cabinet. For the post of Secretary of State, for example, it appears that it’s down to two candidates, perhaps the two least diplomatic human beings on the face of the earth — former NYC Mayor Rudy (“9/11”) Giuliani and ex-U.N. Ambassador and bomb master John Bolton, whom I suspect would bomb Philadelphia if he had the chance.
Unfortunately, members of the President’s personal staff are not subject to Senate approval, so it looks like we’re stuck with Bannon for now. But if those candidates who are willing to serve in a Trump administration are as flawed (to put it mildly) as Bannon, we’re in for a very problematic four years.
