By Laurie Baron
SAN DIEGO−President Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson today and appointed Mike Pompeo to replace him. The transition should be easy since not much of the State Department remains after a year of Trump and Tillerson.
*
Trump announced that he will meet with Kim Jong Un. Diplomatic and security pundits are concerned that Trump will be unprepared, but Trump allayed those fears by phoning Dennis Rodman for advice.
*
The Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee abruptly ended its investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 elections and concluded that there was no evidence that Russia tried to help Trump win. The final report will echo Vladimir Putin’s claim that the whole operation was mounted by Russian Jews trying to help Hillary Clinton.
*
Despite British Prime Minister Theresa May’s charge that the Russian government poisoned a former Russian spy and his daughter in England, Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to blame Russia. Pressed on the issue, she surmised that the assassination attempt was carried out by the same four-hundred pound culprit who hacked the DNC’s and John Podesta’s emails.
*
Betsy Devos supports Donald Trump’s plan to arm teachers. The Department of Education has released a television commercial of teachers holding semi-automatic rifles and singing:
School days, school days
They have become such cruel days.
‘Reading and ‘riting and shoot to kill.
Collateral damage in training drills.
We’ve got to focus on marksmanship Gripping a trigger with fingertips.
The ABC’s must give way, To the lessons of the NRA.
*
Baron is professor emeritus of history at San Diego State University. He may be contacted via lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com. San Diego Jewish World points out to new readers that this column is satire, and nothing herein should be taken literally