It has long been reported that Trump whisperer and white nationalist Steve Bannon has a whiteboard in his office, on which he meticulously lists his priorities. But until yesterday, few people outside the Trump inner circle knew what was on it. Now we know, courtesy of a selfie taken in front of the whiteboard by self-proclaimed “America’s rabbi” Shmuley Boteach.
What we see behind Boteach and his (strangely) good friend Steve Bannon are dozens of bullet points—some with check marks next to them indicating success—laying out the Bannon-Trump agenda. Many are not surprising: “Build the wall and eventually make Mexico pay for it,” for example. But others are chilling confirmations of our worst fears about what these guys are up to. They’re not surrounded by self-negating air quotes. They’re not random thoughts. They are carefully written and organized—a battle plan for the devolution of American democracy, the institutionalization of xenophobia, and the dismantling of essentially everything that has expanded rights and contributed to a fairer shake for disadvantaged Americans.
I suspect that Bannon is not ashamed at all of what is on the whiteboard. But I do think that he and other Trump whisperers–who have demonstrated an unwillingness to openly discuss what they’re doing or to take responsibility–are at least slightly unhappy that the whiteboard list has been outed inadvertently.
Here’s a list of what I’ve been able to read from the board, and what others have noted as well. {My comments are in brackets.}
Topping the whiteboard list is the not-at-all secret section labeled, “Pledges on Obamacare.” The heading is followed by one bullet point:
-Repeal and replace Obamacare. {Author’s note: No check mark appears after this one, thank goodness.}
Pledges on Tax Reform:
-Create a 10% repatriation tax
-Lower the corporate tax…
-Eliminate the estate tax…
…[Additional points obscured by Bannon’s head] {Note: Dammit!}
Pledges on Immigration:
-Cancel all federal funding to sanctuary cities
-Suspend immigration from terror-prone regions {Note: This scheme is currently blocked by a federal judge}
-Implement new extreme vetting techniques
-Suspend the Syrian Refugee Program [Check]
-Create support programs for victims of illegal immigrants
-Expand and revitalize the popular 287(g) partnership
-Issue detainers for all illegal immigrants who are…for any crime, and they will be placed into immigration removal proceedings [Check]
-End “Catch and Release” [Check]
-Hire 5,000 more Border Patrol agents [Check]
-Restore the Secure Communities Program [Check]
-Triple the number of ICE agents [Check]
-Build the border wall and eventually make Mexico pay… {Note: Not happening in the current budget, probably not happening ever, but still a priority on Bannon’s whiteboard. Note the change to “eventually” make Mexico pay.}
-Sunset our visa laws so that Congress is forced to revise and revisit them.
-Finally complete the biometric entry-exit visa tra…
-Propose passage of Davis-Oliver bill {Note: This is an anti-immigrant bill that would give states more immigration-enforcement power}
-Immediate terminate Obama’s “two illegal………to pass “Katie’s Law.” {Note: This law would would impose a five-year federal prison sentence on illegal immigrants who are deported, but come back into the U.S. illegally. It was promoted by Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly.}
-…..of ISIS/National Defense
-Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
-…Iran deal
{Note: Man, oh man, do I wish Bannon was a little skinnier and had less hair, so we could see more of this text.}
There’s nothing on this list about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment benefits, voting rights, Supreme Court nominees or any other New Deal programs that Bannon-Trump and the radical Republican party are bent on destroying. It makes you wonder if there’s another whiteboard somewhere–either in the real world or in Bannon’s brain–with the rest of the nasty agenda. We can only hope that another narcississtic toady wants a selfie in front of that list, too.