Rumored Presidential Appointments

[stormy]

I see what's going on here with Mitt Romney.  The kids are pushing this just as they did with Pence when they knew daddy had to pick someone to make him look legit. 

Romney will kiss doughy man's ass then go plant a wet one on Putin's because he's a pathetic weasel.

This also gives doughy man a way to Chris Christie Rudy.

[Menrva]

Tell me that this Steve Mnuchin isn't the same schmuck who helped finance that cinematic masterpiece, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice to the screen? I finally watched that pile of garbage, mostly out of morbid curiosity, and it confirmed that it is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Possibly the worst - it's a tie between that and Sucker Punch (unsurprisingly, both Zack Snyder films). Gods of Egypt seems like Shakespeare in comparison.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/us/politics/steven-terner-mnuchin-trump-treasury-secretary.html?_r=0

Wow, Hair Gropenfuher's choices have now scraped through the bottom of the barrel and are digging blindly through the dirt like naked mole rats.

[windsprints]

Trump Chooses Chicago Cubs Co-Owner Todd Ricketts for Deputy Commerce Post

Quote

 

President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that he had chosen Todd Ricketts, co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and the son of one of his top donors during the campaign, to serve as deputy secretary of commerce.

Mr. Ricketts, who previously worked for his billionaire family’s financial firms and has more recently managed his family’s political spending, will serve under Wilbur Ross Jr., whom Trump said he had chosen to serve as commerce secretary. Mr. Ross, a billionaire businessman, was also a top fundraiser for Mr. Trump during the campaign.

 

So he's appointing people who he claims have a lot to hide:

 

[fishcakes]

8 minutes ago, Menrva said:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/us/politics/steven-terner-mnuchin-trump-treasury-secretary.html?_r=0

Wow, Hair Gropenfuher's choices have now scraped through the bottom of the barrel and are digging blindly through the dirt like naked mole rats.

The same people who lost their shit because Hillary gave three speeches to Wall Street firms are typically, hypocritically, and unsurprisingly silent on Donald appointing as Treasury Secretary a guy who was a partner at Goldman Sachs for 17 years.

[stormy]

Let's not forget his brilliant choice of Wilbur Ross to head the Department of Commerce.   He's a doozy.

[izabella]

Hey, it's ok to put the foxes in charge of the henhouse when Trump does it!  Perfectly ok!  Until their homes are foreclosed on and Wells Fargo opens new accounts by siphoning money from their accounts, or the stock market bubble Wall St.  is busy building right now crashes.  Then, it will be everyone else's fault (I'm sure the Democrats in Congress will somehow be blamed).  And Trump and his Foxes will walk away scot free of blame and they would have CLEANED UP during the market bubble.

[AntiBeeSpray]

5 hours ago, windsprints said:

Drumpf Chooses Chicago Cubs Co-Owner Todd Ricketts for Deputy Commerce Post

So he's appointing people who he claims have a lot to hide:

 

Wow. That's downright paranoid.

[Bookish Jen]

Hopefully, she'll quit half-way through:
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/the-internet-gasps-in-horror-after-report-claims-trump-may-appoint-sarah-palin-to-run-the-va/comments/#disqus

[AntiBeeSpray]

5 minutes ago, Bookish Jen said:

Hopefully, she'll quit half-way through:
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/the-internet-gasps-in-horror-after-report-claims-trump-may-appoint-sarah-palin-to-run-the-va/comments/#disqus

What the?

Really?

Oh boy.

[mythoughtis]

I'm floored by the Sarah Palin thing. She quit- Trump hates quitters.  He is really bound by that super loyalty oath, I guess.  The VA is still trying to provide even the bare minimum of health care and other benefits to our vets.  She doesn't have the first clue how to lead an agency, she never did anything as governor. 

 

Eta- this is how he expresses his gratitude and respect for our veterans? 

Edited November 30, 2016 by mythoughtis

[Guest]

Nothing says, "I love veterans" more than putting the biggest moron, grifter this side of Trump himself in charge of overseeing their care.

I guess her planned Judge Judy-like show didn't pan out. 

We're going from Obama's "team of rivals" to Trump's "team of sycophants."  

Edited November 30, 2016 by Guest

[fastiller]

I just posted on Twitter directly asking Paul Reickhoff his thoughts on Palin possibly leading the VA and whether his group (IAVA) has a formal stance on it.  

[tenativelyyours]

19 hours ago, stormy said:

I see what's going on here with Mitt Romney.  The kids are pushing this just as they did with Pence when they knew daddy had to pick someone to make him look legit. 

Romney will kiss doughy man's ass then go plant a wet one on Putin's because he's a pathetic weasel.

This also gives doughy man a way to Chris Christie Rudy.

 

Romney was crafted as the torchbearer for the Republican Party after the rest caved.  Getting him into the swamp and filthy, even just by making him look willing to work with and (in DJ Drumpf's mind "for) the Creature from the Orange Lagoon, works for this new parasitic administration in waiting.  He and his increasingly vapid son-in-law put to it Christie but good.  And still will, because Christie knows what he looks like in a baseball uniform and unless he can get some self-control will never be Presidential enough to live that down.  Let alone the fact that he stepped forward early on and eagerly carried Drumpf's balls just to glom off his populism to pay off his campaign debts. 

None of the establishment Republicans are thinking this through.  Either they will be held up to blame for everything that goes wrong with this Neo-Nazi Cosplay that is the new Administration or they will be marginalized and used for however long the Drumpfs can stay in power and fill their pockets. 

What is interesting is that these picks over and over again seem to almost push for these people wanting a true and honest revolution long before we get to 2020.  Almost every one has been aimed at dismantling the aspects of their cabinet position that serve the majority of the people and particularly those in greatest need.  Maybe we don't have to wait for DJ Drumpf to have a stroke from lacing his corset too tight or an infection from the surgical lacing of his hair*.   Maybe the heinous level of hideous that is this group of chosen that we will see that hilarious thing he calls his hair flying in the wind alongside his poor daughter's with its infinity pool jawline no matter how much surgery her mother made her have to correct her overbite when she went away to that sixteen year old retreat on the end of a pitchfork.  Its almost like watching Tsarist Russia in 1916.

*I know how much fun it is to talk about DJ Drumpf thinking being on the same episode of 60 Minutes means he "met Putin.  But what if that is a slip?  There was a bit when Drumpf was looking at properties in Swizterland and roughly the same time Putin did one of his disappears where state footage was clearly filmed all at once and then released over the weeks to pretend it was live.  Same time Putin then did appear with those new eyes of his.  Ones that looked like someone had to go in and pushed them back onto the front of his face after they slide to each side like some pernicious fish.  What if he and drumpf met in some clinic in the Alps aimed at restoring fragile male egos in the face of sagging buttocks and floppy moobs?  I can so see it as a Traci Ullman sketch now.   With some kind of musical number involving a shirtless pec-implanted insane strongman and a straggly hair implanted buffoon helplessly caught staring at his own reflection after surgeons keep trying to build him a jawline with character. 

[izabella]

15 minutes ago, tenativelyyours said:

What is interesting is that these picks over and over again seem to almost push for these people wanting a true and honest revolution long before we get to 2020.  Almost every one has been aimed at dismantling the aspects of their cabinet position that serve the majority of the people and particularly those in greatest need. 

This is standard operating procedure for greedy corporate types.  They buy companies (US government), put consultants in place (Cabinet and advisors), those consultants take over the parts of the business that are unprofitable or not profitable enough (VA, SS, Medicare/Medicaid, welfare/food stamps/school lunches, Education/schools, Infrastructure, etc.), they sell those divisions off to someone else (privatization) and don't give a damn what happens to those employees or the people who depend upon those businesses.  The remaining company ("small" government) then looks super profitable and Wall St. is happy and buys more stock, shareholders are happy, CEOs and consultants get big bonuses, and everyone else gets shit, only now they have to pay even more for the shit heaped upon them.

When voters hire people who say they want to run America like a business, this is exactly what they mean.  Unfortunately, those who aren't rich business people just don't realize what it actually means - the ones at the top will make all the profit while those in some, great, or greatest need suffer more than they were already suffering.  Combine it with corruption (bribes, kickbacks, wink-wink deals, etc. for themselves and cronies), and that's how you turn a great nation into a third world country where there are a few people at the top ruling a vast underclass of poverty with NOTHING in between, no middle class at all.

Edited November 30, 2016 by izabella

[AntiBeeSpray]

28 minutes ago, izabella said:

This is standard operating procedure for greedy corporate types.  They buy companies (US government), put consultants in place (Cabinet and advisors), those consultants take over the parts of the business that are unprofitable or not profitable enough (VA, SS, Medicare/Medicaid, welfare/food stamps/school lunches, Education/schools, Infrastructure, etc.), they sell those divisions off to someone else (privatization) and don't give a damn what happens to those employees or the people who depend upon those businesses.  The remaining company ("small" government) then looks super profitable and Wall St. is happy and buys more stock, shareholders are happy, CEOs and consultants get big bonuses, and everyone else gets shit, only now they have to pay even more for the shit heaped upon them.

When voters hire people who say they want to run America like a business, this is exactly what they mean.  Unfortunately, those who aren't rich business people just don't realize what it actually means - the ones at the top will make all the profit while those in some, great, or greatest need suffer more than they were already suffering.  Combine it with corruption (bribes, kickbacks, wink-wink deals, etc. for themselves and cronies), and that's how you turn a great nation into a third world country where there are a few people at the top ruling a vast underclass of poverty with NOTHING in between, no middle class at all.

Yep. And what you mentioned in a nutshell is trickle down economics. The top percent gets most of the money and the rest... just get crapped on (so to speak).

[SoSueMe]

Sorry, for some reason I can't delete the quote below. It was a duplicate  think.

Okay, re: Palin. I just mentioned to my husband that the worst possible thing has happened with the Trump appointments. He said Guiliani?

I said no, Palin. He is inconsolable. So am I. Please, someone tell me that this isn't true.

On 11/28/2016 at 9:43 AM, windsprints said:

 

[fastiller]

@tenativelyyours, I am going to steal this

Quote

Neo-Nazi Cosplay

from you

[windsprints]

via Brad Heath on twitter:

Quote

Gen. Petraeus, one of the people on Trump's list for Secretary of State, has to check with his probation officer before leaving western N.C

 

[Duke Silver]

This is a long'ish read for an article, so maybe save it for when you have some time to digest it.  I haven't opened comments under the article, but I assume it's best to not read through those if you've eaten within the previous hour or so.

What I Learned Binge-Watching Steve Bannon’s Documentaries

[Ceindreadh]

I wonder who he's going to appoint as his interpreter. You know, the person who has to go on after him and explain that he didn't actually mean what we just heard him saying. 

[stormy]

As well as, who will be his shovelers in chief?  Maybe he can appoint Christie, Rudy and Sarah Palin to follow him around and shovel up all the shit he leaves behind.

[tenativelyyours]

I figure Faux will continue to do it for free.  Unless Rupert dies and the Murdoch boys get complete full control, that network is still going to carry water for the powers that be as long as they are even Republican adjacent.  And even then I think the Murdoch boys are still a bit to the right of most people in the US when all is said and done.  They might not be the right angle of conservatism as their father (especially when he was married to that wingnut Wendy prior to Jerry Hall), but I don't think we can expect Faux to stumble over the line into real objective journalism in our lifetimes no matter what happens in that family.

There will be tons of false equivalence dragged out.  The Fool in chief is deliberately negligent or openly dismantles a watchdog agency only to see a disaster result as a lack of that agency?  Benghazi (neverminding it was Republicans that gutted embassy security budgeting).  And Deepwater Horizon (I still hear that Obama's actions to that were much worse than Bush's to Katrina -- despite one being known about and the other resulting again, in part, from Republican officials deregulating).  Anything in the Middle East will be blamed on Obama pulling out.  On not bombing Syria.  On drones.  On not enough drones.  When Putin takes more of the Ukraine or marches into the Baltic states at the request of a Russian minority claiming persecution for not having the same amount of power as the ethnic majority (ie a minority rule), they'll try to bring up Georgia. 

All the shit that isalready being put into place these last few days and the weeks to come?  When people are forced to call it the shit it is?  Will be told it is Obama's fault.  Heck, Ivanka's next jawline surgery goes wrong?  Obama.  And over enthusiastic child of the corn shoots one of his safari guides instead of the endangered animal he was supposed to massacre?  Obama.  That weird combover weave thing he has going on his head gets tangled in the rotors of Marine One as he disembarks at the White House? Obama.  Melanie revealed to be a spy for Russia through Serbian Neo-Nazi Extremists?  Obama.  Well in this case Michelle Obama is recent history tells us anything.

The VA has been a mess for some time so I am horrified at the idea of Palin even driving by it on her way to work let alone overseeing it.  But I do wish in a way that she was appointed to a position that had her put in front of the cameras.  Vocally she is an even worse mess than he is.  And him having to listen to her as well as have her out there as some official mouthpiece for him would be quite amusing in a dark way.  I loved seeing them together because he always was torn between having his ego visibly inflate with her grandiose word salads, his open confusion because while she was making no sense whatsoever he wasn't bright enough to fully parse it as nonsense and his outright disdain and discomfort in the moment he finally caught on (about ten minutes after the rest of us) that she seemed to have emptied the minibar in her hotel room as prep for her speech.  Plus she is always so pleased with herself just like he is simply by being the focus of a crowd no matter how inane or idiotic they come off.  Two egos like that clashing would be kind of fun.  But the VA is not a paint ball arena for two assholes with twitchy trigger fingers when it comes to hurt feels from being called out for their very obvious flaws. 

[Moose135]

1 hour ago, tenativelyyours said:

The VA has been a mess for some time so I am horrified at the idea of Palin even driving by it on her way to work let alone overseeing it.

Haven't we veterans sacrificed enough for this country? This is how we are thanked?

[izabella]

3 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

Haven't we veterans sacrificed enough for this country? This is how we are thanked?

Yes, that is how Trump is thanking them for their votes.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/11/10/how-swing-state-veterans-played-a-key-role-in-donald-trump-winning-the-white-house/?utm_term=.44c3df403197

[stormy]

Yay! A democratic senator standing up to doughy regarding Mad Dog Mattis for secretary of defense.  Senator Kisten Gillibrand says she won't vote for legislation to bypass a federal law that states secretaries of defense must not have been on active duty in the previous seven years.  The only time congress granted a similar exception was in 1950 for General George Marshall.  Mattis retired in 2013.

Of course it probably won't matter what she or other dems in the senate do since they're the minority but it's refreshing that she's not going to just kiss this fat ass.  Unlike Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and now Senator Heidi Heitkamp.

[galaxygirl76]

He should have made Palin the press secretary,  I would watch each and every one of the press conferences.  

[stormy]

On Friday,  Chris Hayes interviewed a woman who lost her house and two rental properties (her only source of income) when munchkin bought the bank holding the mortgages and screwed her and 40,000 people.

She was angry, close to tears, telling her story and how it made her feel.  She's kept up with some of the people that were foreclosed on too.

She's a doughy cry baby man voter.  She says she's disappointed doughy wants munchkin to be the treasury secretary.  But she has faith in doughy.  He'll do great things. 

Nothing will make these people give up their support for a con man and they're ok with lies and bullshit being acceptable.

Edited December 4, 2016 by stormy

[Blergh]

OK, I already touched upon this earlier in the Movies Forum. However; this last election caused me to lose all respect for Clint Eastwood to the point I will never patronize anything he's connected to again unless he makes a profound and sincere apology.

 . If it was a case of him merely saying he supported Mr. Trump without further elaborating why, I could have accepted it. However; for him to go on a profane rant against anyone who OBJECTED to Mr. Trump's dissing others and expecting everyone to just roll over caused me to lose all respect. It would have been one thing had Mr. Eastwood acknowledged the dissing but just said that, whilst he himself disagreed with Mr. Trump's dissing, he believed Mr. Trump's platform was good enough to   vote  for (and, whilst I would NOT have agreed with that, I could have respected that  position). But for him to essentially egg Mr. Trump on and refuse to even consider that NO ONE has the right to bulldoze others on a one-way street without risking consequences or even objections, well that DID IT for me!

[Padma]

On ‎12‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 11:05 AM, stormy said:

Yay! A democratic senator standing up to doughy regarding Mad Dog Mattis for secretary of defense.  Senator Kisten Gillibrand says she won't vote for legislation to bypass a federal law that states secretaries of defense must not have been on active duty in the previous seven years.  The only time congress granted a similar exception was in 1950 for General George Marshall.  Mattis retired in 2013.

Of course it probably won't matter what she or other dems in the senate do since they're the minority but it's refreshing that she's not going to just kiss this fat ass.  Unlike Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and now Senator Heidi Heitkamp.

I applaud Gillibrand for her statement and of course she's right.  And yet... and yet....

Maybe Tubby really IS a mad genius after all. Because as unacceptable as Mad Dog (aka "Warrior Monk", not that Trump would throw THAT as red meat to his crowd) Mattis is in some ways, sadly, it seems like Trump's best appointment to date.

For one thing, Mattis is actually well read, avoids television and isn't--per reports--a war monger. Despite his often wacko quotes, he seems--in practice--to have been a leader that many Democrats approved of.

Most of all, he may be one of the few people other than Ivanka and Kushner whom Tubby will actually listen to. (And, unlike them, he's knowledgeable about the world).  And, with four stars, he actually outranks that lunatic general Michael Flynn. 

I liked that when Tubby asked Mattis his thoughts on waterboarding, Tubby assumed Mattis would be all for it, like Flynn is.  He was surprised when Mattis said he was against it, telling Trump, "I always got better results with a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers."  Trump actually listened to that--AND chose Mattis in spite of it.

Weird to think of a 4 star general named "Mad Dog" as a responsible, sane, and restrained likely influence on our next leader, but... so it seems.  If Mattis doesn't get it, the chances are very very good that Tubby's next pick will be SO much worse.

[AntiBeeSpray]

59 minutes ago, Blergh said:

OK, I already touched upon this earlier in the Movies Forum. However; this last election caused me to lose all respect for Clint Eastwood to the point I will never patronize anything he's connected to again unless he makes a profound and sincere apology.

 . If it was a case of him merely saying he supported Mr. Drumpf without further elaborating why, I could have accepted it. However; for him to go on a profane rant against anyone who OBJECTED to Mr. Drumpf's dissing others and expecting everyone to just roll over caused me to lose all respect. It would have been one thing had Mr. Eastwood acknowledged the dissing but just said that, whilst he himself disagreed with Mr. Drumpf's dissing, he believed Mr. Drumpf's platform was good enough to   vote  for (and, whilst I would NOT have agreed with that, I could have respected that  position). But for him to essentially egg Mr. Drumpf on and refuse to even consider that NO ONE has the right to bulldoze others on a one-way street without risking consequences or even objections, well that DID IT for me!

Damn. Got a link? I knew that Clint Eastwood has been a bit off his rocker lately... but this, I won't bother watching anything by him again either. Good riddance. 

This is going out to him:

And the original clip could fit Trump too.

[stormy]

Clint Eastwood is bat shit crazy.  Remember at the 2012 republican convention he talked to an empty chair which was suppose to be President Obama so he could rant and rave and publicly tell the POTUS to fuck himself.

That was the end for me.  I won't even go see a movie he directed.

[AntiBeeSpray]

25 minutes ago, stormy said:

Clint Eastwood is bat shit crazy.  Remember at the 2012 republican convention he talked to an empty chair which was suppose to be President Obama so he could rant and rave and publicly tell the POTUS to fuck himself.

That was the end for me.  I won't even go see a movie he directed.

Oh I remember that. Yea that was me nearing the end of it. Now it's one toke over the line.

[Duke Silver]

[AntiBeeSpray]

Heard about that one over on Tumblr!

Along with this one.

Source(s): plaidadder, via tumblr (they didn't make this); therealklt did, so credit goes out to them for doing so

[Cupid Stunt]

May you live in interesting times is reputed to be a Chinese curse.

Re: Hair Gropenführer Administration Appointments

Nothing I’ve seen so far is reassuring. During the campaign I often heard Hair Furor's supporters claim that his inexperience in government and his lack of depth on the issues didn’t really matter, because he would surround himself with the best people. So far, there’s no indication that’s happening.

Reince Priebus as chief of staff is, I suppose, the least worrying of the announcements. He is a standard Republican who might have gotten a lesser position in a Romney administration.

But Steve Bannon in the newly-invented position of chief strategist is deeply troubling. He turned Breitbart into the go-to news source for white nationalists and disaffected R's. You can argue about whether he himself is a white nationalist, misogynist or an anti-Semite — some people who know him personally say no — but he panders and produces boiler-plate to those who are, so I’m not sure that what he believes matters; Bannon generates profits from it. Someone like Bannon would have been beyond the pale in any previous Republican administration.

General Michael Flynn as national security adviser … here’s  a tidbit from The Economist :

Quote

n a book published earlier this year, General Flynn writes: “We’re in a world war against a messianic mass movement of evil people, most of them inspired by totalitarian ideology: Radical Islam. But we are not permitted to write those two words, which is potentially fatal to our culture.” In another passage, he declares that there is “no escape from this war” and asks: “Do you want to be ruled by men who eagerly drink the blood of their dying enemies…there’s no doubt that they [Islamic State] are dead set on taking us over and drinking our blood.”

This is what worries me: If top American officials go around talking about a world war with Islam, they can make that prediction come true. I’ve felt that the crucial battlefield in the war on terror lies inside the minds of 12-year-old Muslims. Do they see a future for themselves in the current world order, or not? If they live in the United States, do they see Muslim-American as a viable identity, or not? Trump’s election tilts that decision in a bad direction; Flynn as his top security adviser tilts it further.

So does the selection of Mike Pompeo to head the CIA. Pompeo is an advocate of torture and of expanding the prison at Guantanamo. In Congress, he was one of the most partisan members of the Benghazi Committee -- $6.8 millions dollars spent and nothing to show for it.

Jeff Sessions as Attorney General means that the federal government is getting out of the business of defending civil rights. (Actually that’s not true, his Civil Rights Division is likely to be quite busy: Sessions takes seriously the myth that Christians are persecuted, so he’ll defend their right to discriminate against Not-Christian's, gays or women who want birth control. Also expect to see more reverse-discrimination cases against affirmative action programs.) I expect deep-Confederacy states like Mississippi or Alabama to pass laws blatantly suppressing the black vote, and Sessions’ Justice Department to do nothing to defend voting rights nationally -- That’s why it’s suddenly much more important to support private groups like Planned Parenthood, the ACLU or NAACP.

Jeff Sessions is also an opponent of privacy rights. Cato Institute’s Julian Sanchez says:

Quote

When it comes to surveillance powers, he’s more catholic than the Pope. He wants to grant more authorities with fewer limitations than even the law enforcement or intelligence communities are asking for.

But beyond the problems with any particular choice, the pattern is disturbing: Hair Gropenführer values loyalty over expertise. Bannon was his campaign CEO. Priebus brought the RNC to heel after Trump’s nomination. Sessions was the first senator to endorse Trump. Flynn was a campaign adviser.

Hair Gropenführer-critic Eliot Cohen initially urged his fellow conservatives to put aside their differences and go work for the new administration, but then changed his mind after hearing reports from inside the transition process.

Quote

Cohen, who last week had urged career officials to serve in Trump’s administration, said in an interview that a longtime friend and senior transition team official had asked him to submit names of possible national security appointees. After he suggested several people, Cohen said, his friend emailed him back in terms he described as “very weird, very disturbing.”

“It was accusations that ‘you guys are trying to insinuate yourselves into the administration…all of YOU LOST.’…it became clear to me that they view jobs as lollipops, things you give out to good boys and girls,” said Cohen, who would not identify his friend.

Compare this to the team-of-rivals Obama assembled. His chief Democratic rival became secretary of state, he kept on a Republican defense secretary, and he also nominated Republicans to head the departments of transportation and commerce.

Trump critics like Ted Cruz and Mitt Romney have been called to Trump Tower and had their names floated for posts, but I’ll believe that when I see it. I think their attendance signifies nothing more than their submission. They won’t be appointed to anything without some serious public groveling first ... so much groveling, maybe an opening of a vein or two.

The argument among Trump’s inner circle about whether to make him Secretary of State seems to be coming down to exactly how much groveling need be involved.

Quote

Trump staffers have been floating word for days that Trump will require Romney to publicly apologize if he wants to be Secretary of State – almost literally a ritual humiliation to enter the Trump inner circle.

If Mitt submits to this, indulging his religiously anointed Divine Mandate, he will have only himself to blame for all future humiliations mopping up after Hair Gropenführer .

[Padma]

I'm no real war enthusiast so these stories about Gen. Mattis didn't hit me like they might some others. Nevertheless, in the context of the military, you can see he has a lot of character and seems a man of principle.

http://www.businessinsider.com/general-mattis-stories-2016-12?r=UK&IR=T

What I like most about him, is he is probably ten times smarter than Tubby (conservative estimate) and--more than that--may be the only person in the White House I have confidence would stand up to him.  Probably, with Tubby's own lack of military service (bone spurs, y'all! Although he can't remember which foot.), Mattis will intimidate him and be one of the few people he listens to (including, fortunately, on waterboarding).

Normally I wouldn't want a general heading the Pentagon, but with Tubby in charge, it will be a moderating influence.  Plus, he should be a counterbalance to Flynn.  And, if past is prologue, people who will stand up to Trump will otherwise be in short supply.  To my surprise, I hope he's approved.

[Cupid Stunt]

And there's more!

 

Re: Hair Gropenführer Administration Appointments

This batch of appointments are discouraging in a new way. Last week’s appointments were all from the Hair Gropenführer campaign’s inner circle, suggesting that he was looking for loyalty rather than competence. They were also all white men. These appointments — Nikki Haley as United Nations ambassador, Ben Carson at HUD (apparently; there’s been no formal announcement yet), and Betsy DeVos as Education secretary — included women and non-whites, but also suggested that knowledge and experience were not necessary values.

Not to dis Nikki Haley; she’s the up-and-coming Republican governor of South Carolina who (like Reince Preibus) might have shown up somewhere in a Bush or Romney administration. But not at the UN; her complete lack of experience in foreign policy or diplomacy would have mattered to Jeb or Mittens. I wouldn’t have wanted Ben Carson as, say, Surgeon General, but at least it would have made some sense, given that he’s a doctor. But when Fox News’ Neil Cavuto asked about his qualifications to lead the Housing and Urban Development Department, Carson could come up with nothing better than “I grew up in the inner city.” Yeah ...

To me, this part of the nominating process looks more like casting a TV show than staffing an administration: Let’s put the black guy in charge of HUD and send the Indian woman to the UN. According to the New York Times,  Mitt Romney may benefit from the same factor:

Quote

Transition officials say the meeting with Mr. Romney, a moderate Republican who was the party’s nominee for president in 2012, may not have been simply for show. They say that Mr. Trump believes that Mr. Romney, with his patrician bearing, looks the part of a top diplomat right out of “central casting” — the same phrase Mr. Trump used to describe Mike Pence before choosing him as his running mate.

Betsy DeVos (the sister of Blackwater founder and major Trump donor Erik Prince) similarly has no experience in the educational system, either as a teacher or an administrator. Her degree is in business administration. She and her husband founded Windquest Group, which describes itself as “a Michigan-based, privately held enterprise and investment management firm”. She has chaired the Michigan Republican Party and is a major supporter of the RNC.

But at least DeVos has shown an interest in education: She has been the leader of the political movement in Michigan to shift public funding of education away from public schools and towards vouchers that could be used in private schools. To imagine a comparable pick from the left, picture President Bernie Sanders naming the head of a disarmament group (who had never been in the military in any capacity, but clearly had studied military issues) as Defense Secretary. Randi Weingarten (President of the American Federation of Teachers) called her "the most ideological, anti-public education nominee" since the position became a cabinet position."

DeVos is a fan of vouchers even for religious schools, which challenges the separation of church and state. Many Christians like religious-school vouchers, because they picture only Christian schools getting the money. The way to shut this down is to start Muslim schools, pagan schools, and so on. The fundamentalists are fine with tax dollars paying to promote Jesus, but paying to promote Allah or Buddha or Gaia is an abomination.

 

I need a drink mulling over Hair Gropenführer's Rogue's Gallery and Secretarial Pool.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Cupid Stunt

[AntiBeeSpray]

Me too! And I don't even drink.

[Keepitmoving]

19 hours ago, Duke Silver said:

LOL, this is so perfect.

Ugh, Donald and his minions are truly a bunch of Ramsay Boltons aren't they...shudder. 

Except for the ones playing "Reek."

The only solace is to think about Ramsay's ending.

Release the hounds! They must be starving.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Keepitmoving

[Cupid Stunt]

5 hours ago, Padma said:

I'm no real war enthusiast so these stories about Gen. Mattis didn't hit me like they might some others. Nevertheless, in the context of the military, you can see he has a lot of character and seems a man of principle.

http://www.businessinsider.com/general-mattis-stories-2016-12?r=UK&IR=T

What I like most about him, is he is probably ten times smarter than Tubby (conservative estimate) and--more than that--may be the only person in the White House I have confidence would stand up to him.  Probably, with Tubby's own lack of military service (bone spurs, y'all! Although he can't remember which foot.), Mattis will intimidate him and be one of the few people he listens to (including, fortunately, on waterboarding).

Normally I wouldn't want a general heading the Pentagon, but with Tubby in charge, it will be a moderating influence.  Plus, he should be a counterbalance to Flynn.  And, if past is prologue, people who will stand up to Trump will otherwise be in short supply.  To my surprise, I hope he's approved.

There's the small matter of the National Security Act of 1947 ... which established the current national defense structure. The key stipulation requires that the secretary of defense be a civilian well removed from military service. The law is clear:

Quote

"That a person who has within ten years been on active duty as a commissioned officer in a Regular component of the armed services shall not be eligible for appointment as Secretary of Defense."

The National Security Act of 1947

 

Mattis is not a moderate.  Mattis is a Marine. The Marines aren’t just another branch of the U.S. military service. They are a tribe with guns and planes and missiles and manpower. They have their own dogma and mythos, with permanent, terminal grudges against all past and present enemies. They view themselves as separate from the other services; Marines are the elite. They’re the closest thing our country has to a blood-and-guts-kill-everyone-and-don't-give-a-motherfuck cult.

Think and/or Google the Persian Gulf reflagging operations of the late 1980s, 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis, and the 1983 Beirut barracks truck bombing that killed 220 Marines (241 Americans total were killed by an Iranian-trained truck bomber), and the continued Middle East military actions to this day -- Just to refresh your memory. Marines do not forget. Ever.

Mattis is the living testament of the Marine Corps’ longstanding grievance against Iran, one that goes back to the late 1970s. When he was still in uniform in 2012, Mattis said that the three greatest threats facing the U.S. were “Iran, Iran, Iran.” Mattis’ anti-Iran antagonism is so intense that it led President Barack Obama to replace him as Centcom commander. Mattis’ Iran animus also concerned many of the Pentagon’s senior officers, a situation that could lead to disagreement within the Pentagon over the next four years -- but also, senior Pentagon officials fear, to broader, more protracted wars.

For all Mattis combat commands and strategizing, the eager reading of dead Romans, he's blinkered by post-modern resentments and biases linking Iran to the rise of ISIS -- reminiscent of George W. Bush’s claim that because Al Qaeda wasn’t attacking Saddam Hussein, the two must be linked.  Mattis’ ISIS-is-Iran musings and pronouncements have always been short on facts or convincing evidence for the Pentagon and the State Department. The U.S. has many disagreements with Iran, but what to do about ISIS isn’t one of them. The U.S. wants them defeated, and so do the Iranians.

Mattis linking ISIS and Iran is alarming for other reasons. It puts the Tehran government back into American political and military cross hairs, rekindling Bush’s “axis of evil,” where nations and governments were seen as forming a common anti-American front, despite their broad historic, tribal, or religious differences.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Cupid Stunt

[Padma]

You may be right about Mattis, Cupid Stunt. (A retired marine, but only three years out. And it IS a mindset and a lifestyle.)

However, I still think he might be a moderating influence in Trump's cabinet, and on Tubby himself. More intellectual and more thoughtful from what I've read than any other people I've heard Tubby seriously considering for his Cabinet (And re: Romney--imo that was all about humiliation and pay back.)

As for the law, well Congress passed another law to waive it once in 1950 for General George Marshall (and they said, "Let's never do this again" in principle, although that appointment did not turn out badly.)  I don't really disagree with your cautions and concerns/opposition to him, I just find myself surprisingly open to Mattis because Tubby is a rich powerful bully who already doesn't listen to anyone but Bannon and Ivanka and Jerod (and even then, who knows?). 

In the context of Tubby's White House, I'm surprisingly not opposed to Mattis as a counterbalance (so far, hearings may make a difference). I suspect, having actually been at war, he is less of a warmonger than Tubby.  And he's the only one who Trump listened to about not torturing prisoners. That's important to me.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Padma

[bittersweet4149]

Carson got the nod for HUD Secretary. The surgeon turned down HHS because, in his words, he had no experience running a federal agency. But I guess growing up in Detroit makes him qualified to handle HUD. Yeah, okay.

Edited December 5, 2016 by bittersweet4149

[fastiller]

48 minutes ago, bittersweet4149 said:

Carson got the nod for HUD Secretary. The surgeon turned down HHS because, in his words, he had no experience running a federal agency. But I guess growing up in Detroit makes him qualified to handle HUD. Yeah, okay.

So, he turns down HHS because of lack of experience... and yet... and yet... he tried for the nomination for the Presidency.  "Yep, I can't quite cut it as a mechanic, so I guess I'll try to head up the engineering division!"  Logic, what logic?

[Nidratime]

Furthermore, Carson literally is a brain surgeon and yet he felt himself unqualified to head the Dept. of Health and Human Services in which being a doctor actually fits. However, he thinks it perfectly fine to head a Dept. about Housing and Urban Development because clearly doctors know much more about Housing than about Health.

[bittersweet4149]

4 hours ago, fastiller said:

So, he turns down HHS because of lack of experience... and yet... and yet... he tried for the nomination for the Presidency.

*snorts* Look who 'won' the election. Apparently, experience was not a prerequisite this year.

3 hours ago, Nidratime said:

Furthermore, Carson literally is a brain surgeon and yet he felt himself unqualified to head the Dept. of Health and Human Services in which being a doctor actually fits. However, he thinks it perfectly fine to head a Dept. about Housing and Urban Development because clearly doctors know much more about Housing than about Health.

I'm black, so I'mma just go ahead and say it: it's got 'urban' in the title + Tubby mentioned cleaning up the 'inner cities' = Tubby thinks he put Carson in charge of 'black stuff', and that damn fool bit. Fuck you, Ben, with your dumb ass, and here's your sign. Educated fool, indeed.

ETA: Merde! Somebody throw Dobby a sock. How Ben Carson at Housing Could Undo a Desegregation Effort

Edited December 5, 2016 by bittersweet4149

[DollEyes]

6 hours ago, fastiller said:

So, he turns down HHS because of lack of experience... and yet... and yet... he tried for the nomination for the Presidency.  "Yep, I can't quite cut it as a mechanic, so I guess I'll try to head up the engineering division!"  Logic, what logic?

To quote BTVS, "Insane Troll Logic," apparently.

On ‎11‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 4:32 PM, Giant Misfit said:

Nothing says, "I love veterans" more than putting the biggest moron, grifter this side of Trump himself in charge of overseeing their care.

I guess her planned Judge Judy-like show didn't pan out. 

We're going from Obama's "team of rivals" to Trump's "team of sycophants."  

 In Trump's case, more like "A Confederacy Of Dunces."

Edited December 5, 2016 by DollEyes

[Padma]

Does everyone love how Tubby's doling these out like its a freaking Academy Awards ceremony?  "Soon ending with the one we've all been waiting for.  The nominees for Secretary of State are...."

I think the "winner" will be another sycophant and this one will be acceptable to Putin (pro Russia, anti China. Manafort's still helping and Flynn and they're both pro Putin).

We need to get the big picture. Obama needs to release the report on how Putin interfered for Tubby and changed our country for the worse.

[Shannon L.]

I heard Huntsman's name thrown into the mix today for SoS.  He's one of the moderate republican voices that I've enjoyed listening to over the past few years and, even though I disagree with some of his stances, I don't shudder at the thought of him as SoS.  I'm stuck between not wanting to support anyone who decides to work with/for this fool* , and wanting to support the decent ones because at least then, in that one, small, section of government we'll have some sanity. 

*I won't support any Democrat who decides to work with him--especially by way of bending and voting for some foolish/dangerous amendment.

[Padma]

Loyalty to him personally is the common thread among almost all of Tubby's appointments so far. (I wonder if those who weren't loyal --Haley, eg--have been required to signi NDAs pledging loyalty now).

I wonder if anyone, especially any lawyers, know what the deal will be with Trump's NDAs.  They are incredibly strict--basically no one who works with him (even campaign volunteers) can ever, in their lifetime, say anything negative about Tubby, his company or his family, his extended families and their businesses. KAC, Bannon, Lewandowsk--all of them  have signed already.

But what about his Cabinet and WH staff? What about the civil servants he'll soon (sob) have working for/with him?  You know that he will want everyone to sign but do they have protection legally to refuse? Would people refuse or would they be too afraid to? 

I think he should not be allowed to ask for govt employees to give up their freedom of speech to work in the WH, but I'm not sure what the legal standing of it is. 

[stormy]

Padma  you took the words out of my mouth only I was thinking the Miss Universe pageant.

I can't wait for the swimsuit competition.