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Just happened to be checking the want ads in the Wall Street Journal under Employment, and saw the following.
Wanted: Republicans who will do and say anything I ask them to do. No experience needed. No expertise needed. Must supply x-rays indicating lack of backbone and MRI indicating lack of scruples. Send resume addressed to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, or apply online at www.sycophant.com.
Eight years ago, I must admit that I got a good chuckle out of reading that Ben Carson had been appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) . A neurosurgeon who made his reputation separating conjoined twins, Carson had declared for the Presidency, dropped out pretty quickly, and enthusiastically endorsed you-know-who. Remembering to repay the loyalty of one of his few black supporters and anxious to have a token person of color in his cabinet, you-know-who nominated a man who knew nothing about Housing nor Urban nor Development. Under Carson’s brilliant leadership, the HUD budget was cut by 6.2 billion dollars, Obama-era policies were abandoned, reversed or disregarded, and The Economist described Carson’s impact on HUD as “directionless,” “inconspicuous,” and “inscrutable.”
You can’t make this stuff up, folks. It would be funny if the Ben Carson appointment were an aberration, but this is for real—and, of course, it’s happening again, in spades. God knows, Robert Kennedy Jr hasn’t been officially appointed, but we get the sense that this antivaxxer with a worm in his brain is set to be let loose on Health and Human Services (HHS) or some super-agency that makes health care policy. And under Kennedy, we can be virtually certain that decisions will be made on the firm basis of whim, intuition, and research that is, to say the least, questionable. To get a sense of his intentions, Kennedy has indicated that he would be in favor of encouraging the drinking of raw milk, that he thinks highly of stem cell treatments that are sketchy and unproven, and that that he feels positively about the drug hydoxychloroquine, you know, the one that Trump endorsed for COVID in the face of consistent evidence of its uselessness. And, by the way, Kennedy has indicated that his approach to dealing with expert research scientists who disagreed with him would be simple and straightforward—fire them.
But the craziness goes on. In a move that I still can’t make sense of, apparently Trump wants to appoint Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. Never a big fan of Trump, and called a lightweight and named “little Marco” by His Highness, Marco doesn’t even appear to be a worthy winner of a Trump loyalty award. My guess is that Trump would like a token Hispanic in his Cabinet and knows that he can largely disregard Rubio and follow his own whims while listening to his yes-men (and yes, most will be men) without Rubio having the nerve to do a thing about it—other than resign or be fired (Vegas odds are very good for this to happen within 8 months).
Kristi Noem, known more for the cruel treatment of her pet than for political or administrative acumen, is apparently to be in charge of Homeland Security. If nothing else, she will keep the good citizens of Ohio canine-safe, as she is sure to take care of any dogs that escape the dinner plates of those crazed Haitian migrants. Finally, Pete Hegseth, the host of Fox and Friends, is to be nominated for Secretary of Defense. Donald clearly figures that this guy has got to be qualified. After all, he was in the Army. Tommy Tuberville, conservative senator from Alabama and a staunch Trump supporter, who knows a thing or two about qualifications, having become a Senator based on his fame as a college football coach, was so impressed with Hegseth and his credentials that his immediate response to the nomination was a wildly enthusiastic, “Really, I’d have to think about it.”
Ah, but you ask whether any of these incompetent, inexperienced, and irrelevant loyalists will get approved by the Senate? To discern the answer, we can ask which party has a sizable majority in the Senate (answer: It’s not the Democrats), and how many Senate Republicans want to mess right now with the Big Kahuna (answer: anyone who even considers it will wake up with a horse’s head in their bed.)
Perhaps most troubling, however, is that Trump has actually argued that his nominees need not even be approved by the Senate. One hopes that this could never happen, but all bets are off concerning the ability or nerve of any person or body to dare step out of line. If the legislative branch caves in on this one, mark the date, historians, as the moment that this country left the sometimes bumpy path of democracy and detoured onto the dangerous and rocky road of dictatorship.
This election was a historic disaster. I thought Harris was a strong candidate, but, as has been said many times, she was up against an ignorant, stupid, cruel criminal–and he won. So it goes. And a totally dysfunctional House of Representatives, which passed no significant legislation and had no particular agenda, was nonetheless accorded a national victory, something hard to understand. These are matters of grave concern and commentary that the Democrats should have done this or that better, are be sure, relevant but they don’t capture the country’s broad turn to foolishness.I wish I had some better insight: social… Read more »