As I slowly try to recover from the deep despair brought on by the United States of America electing an openly racist misogynistic bully as President, I’ve been trying to find the bright side, or the little victories as I called them in a previous post.

Well, I assure you, this article didn’t provide me with any potential positives. In fact, it seems to confirm my darkest fears about a Donald Trump Presidency. There are many, many things I’m concerned about, from emboldened racism and xenophobia, to potential trade wars and wrecked economies, to Republicans in power of the executive and legislative branches looking to roll back progress made in civil rights for women, minorities, and the LGBTQ community. Other than the potential damage to the environment likely to come from the weakening or possibly disbanding of the EPA, what scares me most is the potential for increased armed conflict and the use of nuclear weapons.

I had been at least a little hopeful that like most good leaders, not that I’m calling Trump a good leader, surround themselves with people that aren’t just like them. By getting different points of view, one can find better solutions that might not present themselves when the staff is essentially an echo chamber. That is one of many reasons we ended up invading Iraq! But Trump’s selection of Michael Flynn for National Security Adviser is as frightening as they come. Granted, he does have experience in national security, but he sounds as temperamental, ignorant of facts, and as full of himself as his boss.

Some that worked with him said, “his thinking process is not sufficiently analytical to test some streams against others and make sense of it, or draw consistent conclusions.” Sound familiar? That is not what we want in a National Security Adviser, especially when they are advising someone as irrational and incapable of higher thought as Donald Trump.

He is Islamophobic and that will likely lead to policy that strengthens ISIS and their ability to recruit. It will also contribute to more discrimination and hostility toward Muslims in America and around the world. This is exactly the type of thing those of us so opposed to Trump feared.

Under policy driven by Flynn, we are likely to go back to such inflammatory statements as “an axis of evil.” Only in a world where Flynn drives policy, this “axis of evil” will likely expand to much more powerful nations.

The article in the link goes into far more depth as to the scariest characteristics of our new National Security Adviser.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/fivepoints/michael-flynn-trump-national-security-adviser-what-you-need-to-know