By Raynard Jackson
BlakPAC Blogger
Donald J Trumps fires HUD employees for Dr. Ben Carson. Will he do the hiring, set the policy and hand out the contracts too.
Two weeks ago, Shermichael Singleton, the deputy chief of staff for
incoming Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary Ben Carson, was
unceremoniously fired; with the dismissal, the Trump administration also
stripped away his dignity.
It all started back on October 24, 2016. Singleton wrote a very critical editorial about Trump’s presidential candidacy.
“…The moral fiber of the Republican Party and America as a whole is
at stake. That is why I continue to speak up against Trump’s
candidacy…There is no way I can bring myself to vote for Donald Trump,”
said Singleton.
I have absolutely no regard for most Black Republicans from the
millennial generation. They are arrogant as hell, think they know
everything, and have no intellectual curiosity about anything.
Singleton is one of the few from this group that I actually have some
hope for. I think he is very sharp, but I think he lacks the proper
guidance from some of the more seasoned political operators, who could
have guided him through some of his unforced errors.
But one thing that has been bothering me about this Singleton episode
is, if Trump was as bad as he indicated in his October column’ why in
the hell would he want to work for someone like that?
By accepting a job with Trump, he undercut the whole rationale of his
editorial. In essence, he became the very thing he was accusing Trump
of. If you “can’t vote” for Trump, how can you justify working for him?
Just a thought.
After the White House gave him a job at HUD, they came across this
critical editorial. From my understanding, they then called Carson’s
chief of staff, who was tasked with firing Singleton.
He was ushered out of the building by security with no advanced
warning. This was the White House’s version of doing a perp walk. This
was totally unnecessary. I don’t want to hear any garbage about this
being standard operating procedures.
It wasn’t like he was accused of embezzlement or rape. He wrote a
damned editorial. The White House could have simply let the chief of
staff walk him out of the building after work hours and no one would
have been the wiser. If they wanted to.
Carson was notified of the firing the next day. Wait! Let me get this
straight. The incoming head of HUD (Carson was confirmed today 3/2/17) has one of his
top personal aides fired and he had absolutely no input into the
decision? Really?
Carson should have immediately withdrawn his name from consideration for the HUD post. But I digress.
My advice to Singleton: SHUT THE HELL UP! Stop doing media
interviews. You seemed to have become intoxicated with being in the
media. You need to lay low for about a year and get back on track. You
are only compounding your troubles.
Shermichael, you should be extremely concerned that not one person
has publically said anything supportive of you. Carson’s only words
about you was he was “baffled and speechless” at your firing but “he is
moving on.” That is not exactly a ringing endorsement of you. Shouldn’t
that bother you?
It is quite obvious that you have no seasoned people around you that
give a damn about you; or they would have given you the same counsel I
am offering you.
I cringed when I read this statement by you in a media interview, “I
helped him [Carson] through the confirmation process…I actually wrote
the initial draft of the opening [hearing] statement…I guess you could
say I was the brainchild behind it.”
Shermichael, I have written congressional testimony for many people
and written speeches for some of the biggest names in business, sports,
entertainment, and politics; you never, let me repeat: never ever,
publically, take credit for something like that.
You come off as self-promoting, arrogant and bringing attention to yourself, not your principal, Ben Carson.
I think you have a bright future, but you must surround yourself with
experienced people who can guide you. By your actions, it’s obvious
that you don’t have that type of support, or you are simply ignoring
their advice.
You must understand that how you, and by extension Carson, were
treated is an ominous sign that the White House has no regard for you.
You must understand that the loud silence of those who call you friends
are like the sounding brass or the tingling cymbal, full of sound and
fury signifying nothing.
Your experience should be a lesson and a wakeup call to all Black
millennials in our party. Civilization did not start when you came out
of your mother’s womb. Believe it or not, there were Black Republicans
long before millennials came along.
Shermichael, you must spend more time reflecting on this experience
and less time talking to the media. I am not convinced that you have any
idea how serious your treatment was and what it means to your future.
Just my humble thoughts.
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