New Orleans   No matter what any of us would want to believe or have taught our children about bullying, we’re going to have to think again or say it louder for those who aren’t getting the message. We’ve always said it was just a mask for cowardice and insecurity, and a slap back or a shout out would send a bully cowering. Maybe that’s still right, but we need to work harder to teach that lesson outside of the schoolyard, because President-elect Trump seems to be proving over and over again that being a bully still scares people, including mighty corporations, trade associations, and a lot of other big dogs as well.

Big automakers are at least pretending to lay back and re-position some of their plans for fear of a Twitter barrage. Certainly, they are claiming, “Hey, we were going to do this anyway,” and absolutely Trump is claiming credit for more than he’s doing, but there seems to be no way to deny that they are looking for cover from the chief Twitter-finger.

They aren’t the only ones. Reportedly H&R Block’s ads this tax season are in reaction to Trump having taken them on during the campaign by claiming he was going to make the tax code so simple he’d put them out of business. Boeing, Vanity Fair, Lockheed Martin have all been under a tweet-attack, and other brands are worried about what might come their way.

Hey, maybe they deserved it, we might say, but how does that explain the chicken clucking from the health care industry even as 30 million Americans are on the verge of losing health care coverage with the coming assault on the Affordable Care Act. Where are the industry voices from hospitals, doctors, and even big pharma that would loud and strong during the passage of the act?

Robert Pear of the New York Times quotes California-based, but nationally operating, Kaiser, a leader for Obamacare:

Kaiser Permanente, the managed care company that serves more than 10 million people, declined to comment specifically on Republican plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Instead, it offered a statement of general principles saying that people should have access to health care and that “we must continue to accommodate those who have pre-existing conditions.”

More tellingly, Pear writes:

Some companies, anxious about changes in health policy, said they were afraid to speak out because they feared that Mr. Trump would attack them on Twitter, as he has badgered Boeing, Ford, General Motors, Lockheed Martin and Toyota.

See what I mean, bullying is working. Rather than seeing the healthcare industry stand up for their patients, most of them are trying to roll under the radar hoping to save themselves and somehow make it through the killing field that may disgorge millions without protection. Even the bully can’t seem to control what he has set in motion. He’s now tweeting that a replacement for Obamacare needs to be ready when it is repealed, while most Republicans in Congress are saying, “What, what did you tweet? I can’t hear you?” and propelling people into a disaster.