Trump picks: Deck chairs on the Titanic

Re: “Trump’s delightful bonfire of the agencies,” (TNT, 12/16).

I was struck by columnist Charles Krauthammer’s bonfire metaphor in relation to Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments. I was thinking a better metaphor might be re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Krauthammer says it doesn’t matter if the president-elect’s nominee for the EPA, Scott Pruitt, believes “the moon is made of green cheese.” What’s important is that he roll back the EPA’s authority to what he says are constitutional limits.

I leave it to others more knowledgeable than I to interpret constitutional law. I’m just trying to imagine explaining to my great grandchildren that we did not seek leadership in 2016 to arrest the accelerating disruption of earth’s ecological balance while we had the chance.

Rather I will console them that our great achievement was making sure that government agencies didn’t exceed their authority in doing so.

I don’t think future generations will be as gleeful as Krauthammer. Rearranging deck chairs is a distraction, but arranging them so that no one sees the ship is sinking is suicide.

This story was originally published December 26, 2016 at 6:20 PM with the headline "Trump picks: Deck chairs on the Titanic."