Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

 

While that was a comical expression often voiced by Gomer Pyle, it is now on the lips of many red-capped MAGA folks. They are asking how they could have been deceived by the man who tells no lies. By most accounts, the number one pre-election issue in MAGA World was immigration. Now a billionaire born in South Africa and a first-generation billionaire son of Indian parentage will be “advising” Donald J. Trump on how he should revise the tax structure, which programs to cut to reduce spending, and even immigration solutions.

Jim Neighbors as USMC Pvt. Gomer Pyle

Musk is the richest man on earth and Ramaswamy is a newly minted billionaire who made his money as a Wall Street speculator famous for “pump-and-dump” schemes. Neither has taken office but they will be heading the newest government oxymoron, DOGE which stands for Department Of Government Efficiency. They will be doing this out of the kindness of their little black hearts, trust them. Laura Looney’s (sp?) head just exploded in Matt Gaetz’ lap.

MAGA hardliners are against all immigration as they equate the influx of “not-us” humans from “those other places” as not worthy of American jobs. Why should foreigners get all those good slaughterhouse slots or the privilege of working in the great outdoors to pick our nuts, fruits, and vegetables? If anyone is to pick our nuts, shouldn’t it be our president? He is exceptionally qualified and selects only the finest and richest nuts available.

It would appear that the “immigration problem” is more nuanced than they let on. If immigrants are pretty, they may qualify to be trophy wives for some wealthy men who can afford good prenups. Trump is working on his third wife and is possibly thinking toward a future fourth. One wife was American born, one was from Czechoslovakia, and the current one was born in Slovenia.

To further complicate this simple immigration problem is the ever-popular (among the wealthy) Department of Labor H-1B program. Trump has used it to hire cheap labor for his businesses although he is willing to cut corners when hiring landscaping and trades workers for his properties. Those positions are harder to justify under DOL rules. It is much easier to hire undocumented workers for peanuts if you bother to pay them at all.

Musk and Ramaswamy both think America has a shortage of excellent engineering talent. This is particularly true when you want that talent to work cheaply so the bosses might be able to keep more of that cash. I’m sure that both of these patriotic Americans would pass on those salary efficiencies by lowering the costs on any government contracts they might have. Musk’s Tesla electric car company got 724 of the coveted H-1B visas that are extendable for three-year periods, can be renewed, or the holders can apply for green cards.

Taking the H-1B incentive even further, Ramaswamy believes that, not only will they work cheaper, they would be replacing Americans who lack culture. His quote, “Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long. That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG.” He claims that we have revered adequacy over excellence, placing a greater value on the football jock and prom queen over the math Olympiad champ.

Such comments brought on projectile vomiting, head spinning, and bed levitation from the likes of Laura (is it Looney or Loomer, I can never get that straight). She is a firm believer in Great Replacement theory. As any straight-shooting white nationalist knows, white European and French-descended Americans are being replaced by non-white people. Laura went so far as to spread false rumors about Haitian immigrants eating the pets of their Ohio neighbors, and now she gets no love from Trump. On December 28, 2024, Trump announced that he was changing his stance and is now fully behind the H-1B immigration visas.

Hell, Ramaswamy and Musk were not supporters in either of Trump’s primary runs and now they have seats at the big boy table. Musk was formerly a Democrat and Ramaswami claims he is not a party Republican but only using the GOP to advance his personal agenda. Social justice and environmental issues will be likely targets for spending cuts as WOKE is a four-letter word. While the MAGA faithful hate all immigrants equally, these two believe that some immigrants are more equal than others.

The Trump about-face on limited aspects of the immigration issue should be no surprise. His wife is a prime example of how money and privilege are exceptions to the party's hardline on immigration. In 1996, Melania Knauss worked in New York as a model and was paid for ten modeling jobs with a tourist visa but without a green card that would permit her to perform paid work in the US.

In 2000 she was dating Donald Trump and applied for an “Einstein Visa” called the EB-1. This visa is reserved for exceptional or extraordinary individuals from other countries. Examples cited would include Pulitzer, Oscar, and Olympic medal winners. It could also include respected academic researchers and multinational executives. Melania Knauss got her Einstein Visa in 2001. The paperwork is secret so we will never know what “extraordinary ability” she claimed. We can only guess.

So, now the MAGA faithful feel that they have been deceived just to get their votes. They are surprised, surprised, surprised to find that billionaire Trump would rather listen to fellow billionaires than to the “folks who brought him to the dance.” He no longer needs them. He can’t run for office again. He could try to not vacate but I don’t want to be the one that gets that in his head. Yeah, like he reads my posts. I guess I’m safe.

Actually, I agree with Musk and Ramaswami on the expansion of H-1B programs. I also think our entire immigration system is broken and in need of a serious overhaul. We should expand other programs like the H-2A for temporary and seasonal workers. We need immigrants, but not just in the hi-tech field. Honest and hard-working people from all walks of life should be allowed to apply through proper channels, get a prompt processing of applications, and, if accepted, a reasonable path to citizenship. My only problem with Trump's change of position is the hypocrisy of his pre-election campaign stance. Was I surprised? Nope.