From Pulpit To Public Square

A man named Darren Beattie who has been nominated by Donald Trump to a high- ranking position in the United States State Department is on record, according to Reuters News Agency, saying that "competent white men must be in charge of the government if you want things to work." Beattie is being nominated to be Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

In that position, he would be the person most responsible for reflecting American values to the rest of the world. It must be noted that Beattie was a speech writer during Trump's first administration until he was forced to resign after attending a white nationalist conference. During the attempted coup on January 6, 2021, Beattie spent the day tweeting to and about leading African American politicians and academics, telling them they "must learn their place and bow the knee to MAGA." Recipients or targets of his tweets included U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and the Howard University scholar Ibrahim Kendi.

Illustrative of Beattie's value system is this comment: "Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities and demoralizing competent white men."

There are so many racist notions in Beattie’s remarks that one barely knows where to begin to dissect and critique the man and his message. The first and most obvious response is Beattie's claim that competence resides only with white males. Recent headlines from the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany leave me wondering about the competence of two white males in particular who are supposed to be in charge of large portions of the federal government.

I am referring to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Vice President J. D. Vance. In a meeting with defense leaders from across Europe, Hegseth announced that the United States supported giving everything Russia wanted to end the war in Ukraine even before serious negotiations had begun. Of course, he had to walk those comments back the next day. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi who is Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee was shocked by Hegseth's comments. The Ukrainians were astounded, and our European allies were flabbergasted. So much for that "competent white male."

The very next day Vance delivered a speech that sounded like he was repeating talking points from Russian propaganda. His comments were also badly received by our traditional allies in other democratic nations.

Within 24 hours, these two men had upset 75 years of international order that had prevented another major land war in Western Europe. Are these the kind of "competent white males" Beattie had in mind as they embarrassed themselves and our country on the world stage?

Hegseth and Vance are proof there is a flip side to DEI: sometimes the acronym stands not for Diversity, Ethnicity, and Inclusion, but what one cleveland.com letter writer called, "Didn't Earn It!"

I suppose Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is competent enough to run the Department of Health and Human Services, even though he seemed confused during his confirmation hearings before a US Senate committee about the difference between Medicare and Medicaid. What a danger it is to the health of our nation to have someone leading our national health agencies who questions the value of vaccines while bird flu and measles are spreading across the country!

Then there is the wholly incompetent Donald Trump, who wants to make Canada this country's 51st state, seize control of the Panama Canal, occupy Greenland, expel two million Palestinians from their homeland, and turn Gaza into the Riviera of the Middle East. No one hearing these ravings of a pathological liar can rationally believe that Donald Trump is a competent white male.

This critique of Darren Beattie also refers to "competent white male" U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a medical doctor with over 30- years of experience.  He listened to the testimony of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., voiced grave concerns about his nomination, and then voted to confirm him to that Cabinet position. Is that what competent people do: ignore facts and vote out of blind loyalty to Donald Trump or fear of being targeted by MAGA extremists?

I do not doubt that there are many competent white males in this country. However, I do not believe that competence is limited only to that slice of the American population. More importantly, I am convinced that many of the white males currently serving in the Trump administration are anything but competent.

God help us if the future governance of this country is limited to the likes of Trump, Hegseth, Vance, Marco Rubio, and gutless Senators like Bill Cassidy! Please send in as many truly competent women and minorities as possible to save this country before it is too late.