The face of mediocrity

This is the face of Sam Clovis, the man who Trump nominated to be the Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist. Now if you are like me you have to ask yourself what are this man’s qualifications to be the chief scientist of the Department of Agriculture, a man who was a former Iowa talk radio host, political science professor and oh yea one of Trump’s top campaign officials. In short zip, zero, zilch credentials to be the chief scientist.

Traditionally the position has been held by people with advanced degrees in either science or medicine. As a matter of fact the 2008 farm bill specifies that appointees to the position should be chosen “from among distinguished scientists with specialized training or significant experience in agricultural research, education, and economics”.

Responding to a questionnaire about his nomination Mr. Clovis responded with “none” next to the following qualifying questions;

1. Please list all graduate-level courses you have taken in natural science.
2. Please list all membership and leadership roles you have held within any agricultural scientific, agricultural education, or agricultural economic organizations.
3. Please describe any awards, designations, or academic recognition you have received specifically related to agricultural science.

Fortunately we don’t have to worry about Mr. Clovis’ nomination because he has withdrawn his name from consideration. Why? Россия (Russia). Mr. Clovis has been sweep up in the Robert Mueller Russian collusion investigation.

Now, for me this is both very good and bad news. Good because this fat cat had no business being nominated in the first place, but bad because I would have loved to have seen this portly man squirm during his senate confirmation. Honestly, despite what contact he did or didn’t have with the Russians his confirmation, in my mind, could have done more harm to the fragile reputation of Trump than anything else. Maybe farmer John Deplorable would have watched it on television and asked himself what the hell was “my” President thinking just like I asked myself with the nomination and installation of cabinet heads Ryan Zinke, Wilbur Ross, Tom Price, Ben Carson, Rick Perry, Betsy DeVos, Scott Pruitt, and Linda McMahon just to name a few.

You see, these aren’t the “best” people for the jobs they hold. These are simply the only people Trump could get. Sam Clovis as the Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist would have been a joke, an unqualified bad joke. Cronyism didn’t even come into play with his nomination, though it did probably move Sam up a list of candidates that didn’t exist. Why? Because there was no list of qualified applicants. Smart people, educated people, people with experience, people who know what the hell they are doing won’t, can’t, and don’t want to be associated with the train wreck that is the Donald J. Trump presidency.

No matter what he tweets, no matter what he says, no matter how many photo-ops he stages Trump has essentially accomplished just two things, he has set the environmental consciousness of this government back 50 years, and he has driven a wedge in the heart of this country. Sure he got a Supreme Court judge nominated and installed but a chimpanzee could have accomplished that and he stole that opportunity from President Obama. Face it Mr. and Mrs. Deplorable, your man, your savior, your great white hope is, to date, a failure and given his temperament and maturity a failure may be the pinnacle of his presidency.