Director of the White House medical unit, Admiral Ronny Jackson never was qualified to head the Department of Veterans Affairs with its 377,000 employees.
That was irrelevant to the President. As he demonstrated when he gave his news conference on January 16 assessing the President's health as "excellent" for a 71-year-old, who probably possesses"incredible genes" from "the way God made him," Jackson is great on television. However, this past week
new details were emerging about the allegations against Jackson. A 2012 inspector general report released on Tuesday afternoon found that he and Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, a rival in the White House Medical Unit, had behaved unprofessionally. Though the report placed more blame on Kuhlman, the working environment was described as “being caught between parents going through a bitter divorce.”
Then, on Tuesday evening, Senator Jon Tester, the top Democrat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, described claims the panel received from more than 20 military employees in several interviews. He said the misconduct allegations mostly surrounded Jackson’s behavior on overseas trips when he was attending to President Obama. Per the New York Times:
On one trip during Barack Obama’s presidency, White House staff needed to reach Dr. Jackson for medical reasons and found him passed out in his hotel room after a night of drinking, Tester aides said. The staff members took the medical supplies they were looking for without waking Dr. Jackson.
“He is the primary attendant of the president, the most powerful man in the world,” Mr. Tester said in an interview late Tuesday. “You don’t know when he is going to need you.”
On CNN, Tester said they received reports of Jackson walking down the aisle way of the airplane during long presidential trips, offering prescription drugs that promote sleep or wakefulness to anyone who wanted them. Tester said they were told some White House staffers called Jackson the “candy man” because he “handed out prescriptive drugs like they were candy.”
Soon afterward, the sycophantic Jackson withdrew as the President's nominee to be VA secretary, because Trump is almost constitutionally unable to fire anyone, and is unable to fire anyone wearing a uniform.
Jackson may be presiding over- and even cotributing to- a hostile workplace. He allegedly "wrecked" a government automobile while drunk, reportedly has been under the influence when on the job, and promiscuously gave out unnecessary medication. And Donald Trump nominated him to be Secretary of the Veterans Administration.
If allegations are accurate, the personal physician to the President of the United States of America also is a drug pusher. And this is the man who claims the President did "exceedingly well" on a cognitive exam (which Trump may have practiced beforehand).
The presumption, even assumption, among members of the pundit class unwilling to bow down to the magnifence of Donald J. Trump has been that Dr. Jackson was tapped only because he was poorly vetted.
But it is possible that the President selected Jackson despite being aware of the (unproven) charges against him- or worse, because of them.
The President yearns to privatize the Veterans Administration in a continuing effort to turn the government of the United States and the welfare of its people over to the corporate sector. If he knew that Jackson was a flawed candidate and person, the latter could be easily controlled. The door may swing both ways, with the physician aware of embarrassing details of Donald J. Trump's health which are unknown to the public.
The effort to foist this man upon the American people and its veterans has fallen apart. However, charges made about him should be resolved because he remains in an important and prestigious position. If what has been alleged about him is valid, he should not be.
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That was irrelevant to the President. As he demonstrated when he gave his news conference on January 16 assessing the President's health as "excellent" for a 71-year-old, who probably possesses"incredible genes" from "the way God made him," Jackson is great on television. However, this past week
new details were emerging about the allegations against Jackson. A 2012 inspector general report released on Tuesday afternoon found that he and Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, a rival in the White House Medical Unit, had behaved unprofessionally. Though the report placed more blame on Kuhlman, the working environment was described as “being caught between parents going through a bitter divorce.”
Then, on Tuesday evening, Senator Jon Tester, the top Democrat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, described claims the panel received from more than 20 military employees in several interviews. He said the misconduct allegations mostly surrounded Jackson’s behavior on overseas trips when he was attending to President Obama. Per the New York Times:
On one trip during Barack Obama’s presidency, White House staff needed to reach Dr. Jackson for medical reasons and found him passed out in his hotel room after a night of drinking, Tester aides said. The staff members took the medical supplies they were looking for without waking Dr. Jackson.
“He is the primary attendant of the president, the most powerful man in the world,” Mr. Tester said in an interview late Tuesday. “You don’t know when he is going to need you.”
On CNN, Tester said they received reports of Jackson walking down the aisle way of the airplane during long presidential trips, offering prescription drugs that promote sleep or wakefulness to anyone who wanted them. Tester said they were told some White House staffers called Jackson the “candy man” because he “handed out prescriptive drugs like they were candy.”
Soon afterward, the sycophantic Jackson withdrew as the President's nominee to be VA secretary, because Trump is almost constitutionally unable to fire anyone, and is unable to fire anyone wearing a uniform.
Jackson may be presiding over- and even cotributing to- a hostile workplace. He allegedly "wrecked" a government automobile while drunk, reportedly has been under the influence when on the job, and promiscuously gave out unnecessary medication. And Donald Trump nominated him to be Secretary of the Veterans Administration.
If allegations are accurate, the personal physician to the President of the United States of America also is a drug pusher. And this is the man who claims the President did "exceedingly well" on a cognitive exam (which Trump may have practiced beforehand).
The presumption, even assumption, among members of the pundit class unwilling to bow down to the magnifence of Donald J. Trump has been that Dr. Jackson was tapped only because he was poorly vetted.
But it is possible that the President selected Jackson despite being aware of the (unproven) charges against him- or worse, because of them.
The President yearns to privatize the Veterans Administration in a continuing effort to turn the government of the United States and the welfare of its people over to the corporate sector. If he knew that Jackson was a flawed candidate and person, the latter could be easily controlled. The door may swing both ways, with the physician aware of embarrassing details of Donald J. Trump's health which are unknown to the public.
The effort to foist this man upon the American people and its veterans has fallen apart. However, charges made about him should be resolved because he remains in an important and prestigious position. If what has been alleged about him is valid, he should not be.
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