Fine. I give up. I thought Pete Hegseth for SecDef was about as unqualified an appointment as you could get. Obviously I was wrong:
"Provocative" indeed. But wait! That's not even the craziest pick today:
Gabbard, as far as I know, has exactly zero background in intelligence. Matt Gaetz may be under investigation for sexual misconduct and might be one of the most hated people in the House (by Republicans!) but at least he has a law degree. I suppose that counts for something. Gabbard's only qualification is that she suddenly decided a few years ago that Democrats were the antichrist:
On October 11, 2022, Gabbard announced on Twitter that she was leaving the Democratic Party, accusing its leadership of "cowardly wokeness, anti-white racism, (being) hostile to people of faith and spirituality, and dragging us closer to nuclear war". Shortly thereafter, Gabbard endorsed and campaigned for several Donald Trump-endorsed Republican candidates.
She now dabbles in Russian-backed conspiracy theories and calls her old home the "Democrat Party," just like every good Republican.
However, like Pete Hegseth and Matt Gaetz, she's good looking and does boffo box office on Fox News. Being good on TV is emerging as a key quality for Trump nominees. The folks who aren't especially photogenic, like Tom Homan and Stephen Miller, have been chosen instead for White House jobs where they can remain safely anonymous. The cabinet picks, by contrast, all have plenty of experience as pit bulls on Fox. When Trump watches TV in his second term, by God, he wants to see his people singing his praises.
"However, like . . . Matt Gaetz, she's good looking"
Disagree.
Gaezt is only good looking if you go in for men who look like a big toe tweaked out with hairgel and dental veneers. I guess that is Trump's type, though.
I was thinking the same thing. He's just creepy looking. He's an incredibly uglier version of Matt Dillon in There's something about Mary.
Gaetz looks and acts like a gangster in a B movie.
Gaetz, like Trump, seems to have some underlying defect.
+1. Adult Butthead, the abusive music video reviewer.
Look at it this way. Vladimir Putin gets a certain number of picks for sensitive positions in his padiwan's new administration. Tulsi is a dependable Russian asset. What *better* position for her than DNI. That's worth a lot to our new Kremlin overlord.
How *about* that! So we must have missed the part in Project 2025 or Agenda 47 where Putin gets to make trump's national-security and cabinet picks.
As DNI she'd have access to every shred of intel from all our sources plus I think whatever 5-eyes info comes in, plus also domestic intel on top of that. Anybody want to bet that she'll have a Putin factotum at one elbow, and somebody else's at the other one to pipeline domestic dirt on political enemies straight to the White House and Gaetz at DOJ?
It's enough to make you wonder how these birds have managed to talk with a straight face about lawfare as a *bad* thing for all these years.
My guess is that, if Gabbard actually becomes DNI, the flow of Five Eyes info is going to dry up pretty quickly. Which probably also suits Putin, though not as much.
Kevin says:
"Gabbard, as far as I know, has exactly zero background in intelligence."
I say:
Gabbard, as far as I know, has exactly zero intelligence.
Gabbard dismantled Harris in 30 seconds in the 2020 debate. Gabbard resigned from the DNC to support Bernie Sanders in 2016. She's been right a lot.
No, no she did not.
No, no she did not.
And no, no she isn't.
Counterpoint: yes she did, yes she is.
Aileen Cannon was rated not qualified by the ABA, and yet, she's done a wonderful job in service to her President on her way to a SCOTUS appointment to replace an aging Alito or Thomas.
You sound disappointed or shocked that Trump is pursuing an Oligarch-supported Kakistocracy.
Your spelled dear leader wrong.
Has to be Bessent for Treasury, then, right? Anybody think Lutnick is better looking?
Iowa had the highest number of people searching how to change their votes,
https://www.theroot.com/folks-in-red-states-google-searched-how-to-change-my-vo-1851696397
Were they drunk when they cast their ballot?
Nope. They thought he was just "Owning the Libs". "He won't do that stuff! That would be STUPD!"
Turns out, voting that way was STUPID!
When you disregard the reality that Trump couldn't give two shits about anyone but himself this is what you and everyone else gets. An asshole as POTUS.
I did once make a joke about him appointing RFK,jr's brain worm ambassador to the UN, but, as always, he's gone quite beyond my ability to parody.
I'd pay to see that. That would make a great parody out of a situation that almost parodies itself.
Well they did get the next best thing. Elise Stefanik.
Supposedly the brain worm ate itself to death in there. Still, it might be the better choice.
And now its ghost is trapped in there and can't escape and has to get Kennedy's brain to say Beetlejuice three times out loud and he's trying to suppress it with all these wild distractions but its wearing him out, because it's a ghost worm, and, --oh, wait, that was Farscape.
A brain riddled with conspiracy theories is lethal! Poor thing never had a chance!
Question, if the Republicans only get 220 seats in the House, but because Trump has selected 3 of them to the cabinet, when does the Speakership vote happen?
Probably before nominations are decided, because Congress is seated before the President takes power - which means before he submits nominations to the Senate.
Yes, but the minority can circulate a discharge petition after the appointments take place. They MUST resign from the House to take a job in the Administration; a person can't serve in the Executive and Legislative branches simultaneously, except for the Vice-President.
A petition takes a while, and they don't have much time before the Specials occur. But it would be super-nice for Hakeem to hold the gavel for a few weeks and ram some embarassment legislation through to the Senate.
There's no doubt, the vote has to happen at the very start of the session-- the first real official act is to vote in a speaker who takes over the gavel from the clerk. Only after they've done that and adopted the rules can they do any real business.
Spitballing from this point. Gaetz reportedly has already resigned because of the ethics report, but I guess he could take up his seat in January long enough to elect Johnson. But if the Rs only have 220 seats, then all three of them would have to stay on as long as they can so they can vote on that famous fast agenda.
But then their seats will be vacant. At that point (whenever it happens) the interesting move would be the privileged motion to vacate the chair. If the current rule doesn't get changed, iirc any one member can do it and it's privileged so it takes precedence (though maybe the mover has to be in the majority? I don't recall). If all Ds could be there, Johnson would lose the vote.
That would be real hardball, which I think would help Ds with their own public. OTOH, it may also be what the MAGA chaos agents wanted to set up, ie yet another shitshow in the HR. The public at large generally hates that, but as cld's link says, there already seems to be some buyer's remorse out there.
So it would be a tough call. For myself, I'd like to see Ds throw sand in the gears when they can, show some parliamentary moxie. But that might not be the right decision in the long run.
This doesn't work if the Republicans end up with 220 seats. That would mean that the Democrats have 215. If three Republican members resign to take up posts in the administration, that still leaves the GOP with a 218-215 advantage. It would mean that they can lose at most one Republican vote, but if they can keep the troops in line, they can still pass things. Jeffries won't become Speaker.
The choice of Matt Gaetz for AG isn't provocative, it's bat shit crazy.
+1
Even the Republicans are now searching the best places for American expats.
They aren't going to have to deport anyone, even folks here legally will be looking for the exits.
Especially for him to resign the day before his ethics review was published? (and months before he had to)
This whole thing makes me want to vomit. I told myself I wasn’t going to pay attention to this stuff but it’s like a slow motion car crash…
Yup. Like a final destination movie. Except excruciatingly slower. January 20th seems like years away.
If you mean Jan. 20, 2029, right.
No, that Jan. 20 is centuries away.
Unfortunately no. it seems time is slowing down to me. Probably because I'm dreading that day and would prefer it never arrives.
But I think this is exactly what trump wants. To put a stick in the eye of all his nay-sayers…so we are just making him happy with all our outrage.
I need to calm down
Trump is being a troll.
Putin must be laughing out loud.
It will be interesting to see how this Theater of the Absurd works out.
Channeling Andy Kaufman?
Interesting is one way of putting it...
I think we are living in a SNL skit. And this is only rehearsal.
I actually don't think being telegenic has anything to do with it. He told you his goals a month or so ago. The only lesson he took away from his first term was don't hire anyone with expertise, who might point out problems with what you want. Hire only people who will do what they're told, and gladly.
Gaetz may have a law degree, but he was suspended by the Florida bar for unpaid fees. Less than $300 of unpaid fees. He can't have been doing very well as a lawyer. That's chump change.
This is turning into a clusterfuck even beyond what I imagined, and that's saying a lot. Notice the markets jumped for a couple of days after the election (as they always do) and then flatlined. Investors are all saying "WTF did we get ourselves into?" What's the over/under on how long it takes him to crash the economy? It's not easy. It took him 3 years last time, but he's a cinch to improve on that.
Corporate tax cuts increase stock prices mechanically at the expense of the public coffers, so Trump’s chance of winning going from 50% to 100% immediately caused prices to jump. There would be no reason for them to change after this information was processed.
Tax cuts only help if the economy is strong enough to produce profits.
Mr Market hates chaos and disruption. Reactions to these appointments may be swift and severe.
There’s an interesting opportunity for any Democrat on the Senate judiciary Committee (who is willing to risk being jailed on Tumped up charges). There’s a story going around that the reason why Matt Gatez resigned effectively immediately wasn’t to do the GOP a solid but rather he resigned to prevent the imminent release of what’s apparently a very damaging report on his sex trafficking/using underage prostitutes investigation.
The play is obvious: demand the release of the report and all of the evidence the House Ethics Committee has gathered. The same with the DOJ.
In a normal confirmation by the Senate all this would be fair game. Oh yeah, I can see why Trump wants to make recess appointments the norm.
It’s only fair game if there’s a senator willing to risk his or her life and liberty. But it’s still a pretty good political move and conceivably the Justice Department could e pushed into finally charging this pervert for his crimes. It can’t hurt to make Trump and the Republican Party visibly complicit in protecting a pervert.
Somehow, Pollyanna Drum still seems surprised. He also left out the worst thing about Gabbard (and so, of course, it was likely the primary reason Unser Drumpfenführer selected her): forget about her utter lack of experience in, or qualifications for, intelligence work, like her führer, Gabbard is a de facto (and quite possibly literal) Russian intelligence asset. Do ya think Putin mwa-ha-has?
+1
It's her job to oversee the production of the daily report. Therefore she has to see it all, probably including sources and methods. Putin's jaw must be on the floor. Unless, of course, he "suggested" her......
Why are you here, to lie about the host?
They may be good on Fox but neither Gaetz nor Hegseth is good-looking. They are entirely too much in the Donald Trump, Jr. mode. I think most women would agree that they're creepy.
Although Hegseth is on his third wife, so there's that.
Tulsa will be a great director of National Intelligence for Putin. And Gaetz is well acquainted with a variety of criminality.
Um, wrong vowel. Tulsa's pretty creepy, but PLEASE, don't diss it further. It's never recoverd from Houston stealing its lunchbox.
🙂
Tulsi Gabbard - Director of National Intelligence.
Kristi Noemi - Homeland Security.
Matt Gaetz - Attorney General.
Pete Hegseth - Secretary of Defense.
"I feel like I am taking crazy pills!" - Will Ferrell, Zoolander
The tough part is that complaining is pointless. What's happening is exactly what we warned Mr. & Mrs. America about, and they voted for it anyway.
Completely agree and for the folks like myself who saw this coming as far back as 2016, I would like Drum and others to provide information for us on what we can do to protect ourselves, our families and community in the short run. I live in a blue city in a purple state and feel that as along as the governor and legislature remain blue I am relatively safe but given changes at the federal level this may be temporary.
One interesting note on Gaetz - his wife is Ginger Luckey, the sister of Oculus VR founder and founder of Anduril - defense drone company. Watch this space for DoD contracts. (which is an area more advanced tech is badly needed)
So if the Senate refuses to confirm Gaetz, does DeSantis retaliate by making Gaetz a senator?
To channel Anne Applebaum:
Although Trump values these people's loyalty, the real reason he is making these exact appointments is precisely because they are so ludicrous. Once the GOP Senate has rolled over and peed on itself, a significant portion of the electorate believe that he is obviously too powerful to be defied
It is the same technique he deployed with his serial and continuous lying. When none of his followers confronts his lies it signals to all of them that no one dares defy him. It inflates the impression of his limitless power.
+1
Agree that Matt Gaetz is creepy-looking. Also, the Dieworkwear guy on X always uses Matt Gaetz as an example of bad style. His suits are too small, making him look like Peewee Herman.
I’m proposing a name for this cabinet to go along with the old kitchen cabinet. Clown Car Cabinet? Anxiety Closet? Junk Drawer? I don't think I’ve found it yet.