November 21, 2016

In Trumpland, Nepotism Is the New Black

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Nick Kristof tells me something I didn’t know:

The announcement that Trump has recruited Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as national security adviser is particularly alarming….Flynn had a brilliant military career….Then President Obama nominated Flynn to become director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and he began to unravel….Flynn’s former fans have been bewildered at his raging denunciation of Islam, including calling it a “cancer.” In February, Flynn also tweeted and asked others to forward a viciously bigoted video that argued that there could be no such thing as Islamophobia.

….For his chief of staff, Flynn chose his son, who is a looney on social media, calling President Obama a communist and fascist, tweeting racially insensitive comments and sharing absurd conspiracy theories.

The chief of staff for the National Security Council will be Flynn’s son? Well, why not? Donald Trump has set the tone on nepotism from the top, and it’s obvious that he not only tolerates it, but positively revels in it.

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IT'S NOT THAT WE'RE SCREWED WITHOUT TRUMP:

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This is a big one for us. So, as we ask you to consider supporting our team's journalism, we thought we'd slow down and check in about where Mother Jones is and where we're going after the chaotic last several years. This comparatively slow moment is also an urgent one for Mother Jones: You can read more in "Slow News Is Good News," and if you're able to, please support our team's hard-hitting journalism and help us reach our big $350,000 goal with a donation today.

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