Supporters and detractors alike assumed that a Donald Trump presidency was certain to offer plenty of surprises and questionable moves that would have Constitutional scholars poring over the revered document with a jeweler’s loop.
With his inauguration still more than a month away, however, Trump is flouting the rules and conventions of his office in ways that even the most chagrined alarmists wouldn’t have thought possible just a few weeks back.
Trump’s transition has been the subject of daily headlines, both for reasons thoroughly unexpected (a surprise visit from Kanye West), and widely feared (a cabinet packed with Wall St. insiders and fossil fuel profiteers).
Yesterday, Trump chose Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state.
The move came as something of a surprise, as Tillerson has no government experience, and enjoys such close ties to Russia that Vladimir Putin awarded him the country’s Order of Friendship medal in 2013.
Tuesday, in an equally surprising move, Trump announced former Dancing With the Stars contestant and Governor of Texas Rick Perry as his choice for energy secretary.
The choice of Perry may not initially seem like such a shock.
After all the 66-year-old served three terms as governor, ran for the GOP presidential nomination twice, and he wears smart-guy glasses now!
But it was during one of those presidential bids that Perry was taught the same valuable lesson that Will learned when he tried to impersonate Carlton in that episode of Fresh Prince:
Specs don’t make the egghead.
During a nationally televised debate, Perry announced his intention to eliminate three government departments if he were to be elected.
Unfortunately, he came up short, and was only able to remember two.
He later revealed that the crucial third department that slipped his mind was – you guessed it – the Energy Department.
The very agency Perry will likely soon be in charge of.
“As the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry created created a business climate that produced millions of new jobs and lower energy prices in his state, and he will bring that same approach to our entire country as Secretary of Energy,” Trump said in a statement.
“My administration is going to make sure we take advantage of our huge natural resource deposits to make America energy independent and create vast new wealth for our nation, and Rick Perry is going to do an amazing job as the leader of that process.”
Trump went on to say that he chose Tillerson as secretary of state, because he’s also from Texas, which research has shown, is a state.
Okay, we’re kidding about that last part, but really…
… Would you put it past him at this point?
