Another one bites the dust as Trump ousts VA Secretary, and replaces him with some doctor walking around the White House.

....In the interim, Hon. Robert Wilkie of DOD will serve as Acting Secretary. I am thankful for Dr. David Shulkin’s service to our country and to our GREAT VETERANS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2018

And THAT was how the world learned that Donald Trump had kicked another contestant off Survivor Island.

Courtesy of CNN: 

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he will replace his Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin with Ronny Jackson, who currently serves as physician to the President. 

Trump thanked Shulkin via Twitter for his "service to our country and to our GREAT VETERANS" and said Robert Wilkie, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, will serve as acting secretary until Jackson is confirmed. 

A White House official said the embattled Shulkin was no longer effective in his role, saying his "distractions were getting in the way of carrying out the President's agenda."

In other words Shulkin must have disagreed with Trump once or twice and that simply cannot be allowed.

The White House is claiming that the former VA Secretary was told about his firing in a note or email, before the tweet, but of course they just say shit and expect us to believe it.

For his part Shulkin wrote an op-ed for the New York Times in which is hurt feelings were more than apparent.

This is how that op-ed ended: 

I have fought to stand up for this great department and all that it embodies. In recent months, though, the environment in Washington has turned so toxic, chaotic, disrespectful and subversive that it became impossible for me to accomplish the important work that our veterans need and deserve. I can assure you that I will continue to speak out against those who seek to harm the V.A. by putting their personal agendas in front of the well-being of our veterans. 

As many of you know, I am a physician, not a politician. I came to government with an understanding that Washington can be ugly, but I assumed that I could avoid all of the ugliness by staying true to my values. I have been falsely accused of things by people who wanted me out of the way. But despite these politically-based attacks on me and my family’s character, I am proud of my record and know that I acted with the utmost integrity. Unfortunately, none of that mattered. 

As I prepare to leave government, I am struck by a recurring thought: It should not be this hard to serve your country.

Shulkin was also opposed to privatization of the VA which Trump and his supporters seem to feel is the best possible step in fucking up the agency even further.

As for Shulkin's replacement, well that is the same Dr. Dreamy that raved about Trump's health and mental acuity. The lesson for today boys and girls is that if you are truly gifted at sucking up to this president you might earn yourself a cabinet position.

The problem of course is that being Secretary of Veteran's Affairs is a very complicated job, which no amount of cupping a commander-in-chief's testicles and saying "cough" could ever prepare you to undertake.

It is black hole from which careers rarely reemerge intact.

So I imagine that the next time we hear from Dr. Dreamy here is when Trump tweets that he is stepping aside to allow THIS guy to take over the VA instead.

Because don't we know THAT is where all of this is eventually headed?