Transition Team/Cabinet Thread

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Will there be any women or black people on the cabinet?

Uh... Palin and Carson should be near the top of the list because of their qualifications, not because of their demographics.

"Qualifications" meaning willingness to kiss up to President-elect Pussygrabber.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Tbh, I doubt Bolton or Giuliani could get confirmed.

Do President-elect Pussygrabber and his team know that his nominees need to be confirmed? (And if they know, do they care?)

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

They have no idea what they are doing, do they?

Beyond settling petty scores and rewarding toadying, no, they don't. This should surprise absolutely no one with a functioning brain.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

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Huckabee loves the kiddy fiddler Duggar and once admitted that he desperately wants to gawk at teenage girls undressing. A perfect match for Trump's values, sure, but are  you sure you want that inflicted on society?

What?

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/02/politics/mike-huckabee-transgender-caitlyn-jenner/

Huck is a perv and a creep.

Come on...he didn't say at all what you are making it sound like he said.  Read past the headline.

he basically said that he would have jumped at the chance to creep on teenage girls if he thought he could get away with it. That's not natural, and is a sign he is a degenerate creep. Combined with the fact that he thinks Duggar is a nice guy, FF; it paints a very suspicious portrait of the supposedly "moral" Huckabee.

He said that he would have wanted to shower with the girls when he was in high school.  He is clearly not talking about himself now.  Plus, he was making a joke, something liberals must not get.
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Was his endorsement of slavery a joke too?

http://www.salon.com/2015/10/15/mike_huckabee_just_endorsed_biblical_slavery_over_the_modern_prison_system/

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

http://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2016/11/christie-im-serving-the-rest-of-my-term-107552

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Will that be "getting hauled around the nation like a pet chihuahua" service, or "taking out petty grievances on the public" service?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

German news site SPIEGEL ONLINE called the nomination of Nikki Haley with regards to the whole Trump administration "A Glimmer of Hope".

Refusal to stare doom in the face is making people delusional.

Everyone needs to stop pretending that President-elect Pussygrabber, who has publicly announced his intent to ignore the Constitution, isn't an aspiring autocrat.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Ironic Trump picked Betsy Voss to run the Education department considering she's for Common Core

On top of that, she runs charter schools that rely on vouchers, is heir to the Amway fortune, and her brother owns Blackwater

Jesus Christ

Forgot to mention she's a Creationist....think about it...a creationist is going to run the Education Department

Source on the creationist claim? Don't see it mentioned on any of the articles about this pick.

Either way, I'm opposed to a pro-common core rick santorum supporter as education secretary: http://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2016/3/1/school-choice-but-much-more-making-sense-of-devos-family-phi.html

Her  husband supported the "teach the controversy" 10 years ago, that's all I could find about it

She's a member of the hush-hush Council for National Policy. It's basically the wingnut, fake-Christian right's answer to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway are also members. (According to the leaked list the Southern Poverty Law Center released from 2014.)

Be very, very afraid my fellow Americans. We've got a stupid, volatile madman in the White House and his major influences are the nuttiest of right-wingnuts and a handful of the scummier members of the billionaire class that he's buddies with.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-advisers-divided-secretary-state-pick/story?id=43742340

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Giuliani is likely in trouble because, in addition to all his personal failings, the right-wingnuts who appear to dominate the upcoming Puggygrabber administration really dislike his stance on abortion.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

any thoughts why conway is in team anti-romney?


https://twitter.com/KellyannePolls/status/801787470337740801?lang=de
https://twitter.com/politico/status/801842865429159936?lang=de

Because she's on team faux-religious whackjob, and Romney isn't? She, like Bannon, is doubtless trying to stuff the whole cabinet with members of their pretended-Christian cult.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Christie in contention for Energy and Homeland Security:

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/11/breaking_christie_in_strong_contention_for_both_se.html

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Christie would make a great Secretary of Homeland Security. He's already demonstrated how great he is at securing bridges.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-advisers-divided-secretary-state-pick/story?id=43742340

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Giuliani is likely in trouble because, in addition to all his personal failings, the right-wingnuts who appear to dominate the upcoming Puggygrabber administration really dislike his stance on abortion.

I don't think that follows. The furthest out of these people don't give a sh**t about abortion except as a means of demographic manipulation (id est eugenics), and the relatively more reasonable ones don't give a sh**t about it at all.

There have been way too many conservative Christian fellow-travelers and useful idiots involved in all this for comfort but they aren't by and large the drivers of the Trump phenomenon.

Those "Christian fellow-travelers and useful idiots" are going to have at least half the cabinet and Trump's puppet strings.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-advisers-divided-secretary-state-pick/story?id=43742340

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Giuliani is likely in trouble because, in addition to all his personal failings, the right-wingnuts who appear to dominate the upcoming Puggygrabber administration really dislike his stance on abortion.

I don't think that follows. The furthest out of these people don't give a sh**t about abortion except as a means of demographic manipulation (id est eugenics), and the relatively more reasonable ones don't give a sh**t about it at all.

There have been way too many conservative Christian fellow-travelers and useful idiots involved in all this for comfort but they aren't by and large the drivers of the Trump phenomenon.

Those "Christian fellow-travelers and useful idiots" are going to have at least half the cabinet and Trump's puppet strings.

That...really wasn't the dynamic we saw play out over the course of the election. Or practically any other time fascist or para-fascist elements have taken power.

It's more than possible that Trump will have an ex post facto 'Christian' ideological basis for his rule constructed--that's exactly what Franco did, after all--but, as with Franco, that won't make Trump suddenly the 'puppet' of the people he deputizes to legitimate him.

The fake-Christian right ran Pussygroper and his campaign to near-perfection. The only flaw was the candidate himself, and the need to occasionally remove his muzzle.

The President-elect has repeatedly demonstrated that he is incurious, ignorant, and readily manipulated by those around him, or anyone in a position to push his buttons. He's a puppet whether he wants to be or not.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-advisers-divided-secretary-state-pick/story?id=43742340

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Giuliani is likely in trouble because, in addition to all his personal failings, the right-wingnuts who appear to dominate the upcoming Puggygrabber administration really dislike his stance on abortion.

I don't think that follows. The furthest out of these people don't give a sh**t about abortion except as a means of demographic manipulation (id est eugenics), and the relatively more reasonable ones don't give a sh**t about it at all.

There have been way too many conservative Christian fellow-travelers and useful idiots involved in all this for comfort but they aren't by and large the drivers of the Trump phenomenon.

Those "Christian fellow-travelers and useful idiots" are going to have at least half the cabinet and Trump's puppet strings.

That...really wasn't the dynamic we saw play out over the course of the election. Or practically any other time fascist or para-fascist elements have taken power.

It's more than possible that Trump will have an ex post facto 'Christian' ideological basis for his rule constructed--that's exactly what Franco did, after all--but, as with Franco, that won't make Trump suddenly the 'puppet' of the people he deputizes to legitimate him.

The fake-Christian right ran Pussygroper and his campaign to near-perfection. The only flaw was the candidate himself, and the need to occasionally remove his muzzle.

The President-elect has repeatedly demonstrated that he is incurious, ignorant, and readily manipulated by those around him, or anyone in a position to push his buttons. He's a puppet whether he wants to be or not.

You and I are watching very different sequences of events unfolding. I hope you're right, because a W-style religious right run amok is a significantly less alarming prospect than fascism.

Who do you think ran his campaign? Because to me it looked like that latter (and successful) portion of the campaign was a Bannon-Conway show.

And so far, they and Pence are dominating the cabinet appointments - with two bona-fide wingnuts (Carson and DeVos) and fellow travellers Sessions and Pence himself. Ask yourself this question when looking at "Trump's" Cabinet: given the choice, would these people side with Pence or with Trump?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Who do you think ran his campaign? Because to me it looked like that latter (and successful) portion of the campaign was a Bannon-Conway show.

And so far, they and Pence are dominating the cabinet appointments - with two bona-fide wingnuts (Carson and DeVos) and fellow travellers Sessions and Pence himself. Ask yourself this question when looking at "Trump's" Cabinet: given the choice, would these people side with Pence or with Trump?

Bannon is absolutely not a member of the religious right. Bannon has played a key role in popularizing the contemporary fascist movement through Breitbart. He is a white supremacist first. Nathan is absolutely right to be concerned about fascism.

Then why is he a member of the religious right's Council for National Policy along with Betsy DeVos, Ben Carson, and Kellyanne Conway?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

How would Trump and Republicans justify Petraeus after spending the entire election season going after Clinton for mishandling classified information when in fact Petraeus was actually charged and convicted for mishandling classified materials while smuggling them to Broadwell - arguably worse actions than what they were accusing Clinton of.

This would be the ultimate form of hypocrisy! Especially if he was nominated/confirmed for Secretary of State. I mean how can one top this. It's ridiculous.

God damn it. Please stop. Trump ran as the candidate of ignorance and appeals to emotion.  Expecting his supporters to use their brains for anything more than keeping their skulls from imploding is a waste.

THESE PEOPLE DON'T USE LOGIC. THEY DON'T HAVE CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS. And they're certainly not going to change who they support based off of hypocrisy or detailed argument.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Morden, there is a civil war brewing between the Trump-loyalist camp and the GOP-loyal camp.  you have Kellyanne and Rudy and Gingrich in Camp 1 and Pence and Paul Ryan and Romney in Camp 2.  Kushner and Ivanka and Eric and Donald Jr are wild-cards. This is a power struggle, for The Donald's mind.

I never thought I would say this, but I hope he picks Giuliani.  

1 - The discord it would create b/w Trump and the GOP, including Pence
2 - Keep Rudy as far away from domestic law enforcement as possible.  At least at State, he would have to spend his time wrecking other countries.

Romney should be too proud a Latter-Day Saint to eat dirt in exchange for SoS like Trump wants him to.

It's not just a Trump-loyalist versus non-loyalist divide. It's also a social conservative versus big business/moneyed elite. Some Trump loyalists, even those who are pretty conservative on things like security and law-enforcement, like Giuliani, are seen by the religious wingnuts as too easygoing on abortion and gays. And there are some big-business and banking figures, like Mnuchin, who are firmly in the loyalist camp.


And I don't actually think many of the "Trump-loyalist" religious conservatives are actually loyal to Trump at all. They just see him as a useful idiot to use to push their agenda. Much of the fight is going to be over his puppet strings, like we're seeing with Romney.

And for that matter, I think many of the non-religious loyalists are fair-weather looters, out for their own advantage.

Trump himself doesn't give a damn about loyalty, just personal advantage. And Romney makes a perfect pick, *for Trump*. It lets him gratify his own ego, gives his administration credibility, gives him a great scapegoat for his inevitable first foreign policy disaster, and lets him have someone else competent do a lot of the work (which he isn't competent to do to begin with, and is having trouble getting someone competent to do).

But the loyalists want their payoffs. And the right wingnuts don't want anyone not on board with their crazy theocratic dreams on the Cabinet. (They'll have to settle for a few, I'd bet, but as few and as weak as possible.)

I don't know if it will tell us a lot about how the whole administration will go, but it will certainly tell us who is holding the reins right now. (I predict a dark horse who is acceptable to the right wingnuts, and who would back Pence in a Pence versus Trump showdown.)

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I'm not necessarily opposed to Mattis on principle, although I don't like some of his business connections and I have a suspicion that the only reason Trump likes him so much is that he has a cool nickname.

Being "fired" by Obama and a couple of gung-ho quotes are probably also reasons Pussygrabber likes him.

He is unquestionably qualified, but I'm also bothered by his business ties to the disgraced and discredited Theranos. And his aggressive attitude towards Iran is worrisome. Could President-elect Pussygrabber be looking at a Iran for the "short, victorious war" he probably wants?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Trump is clearly the Teddy Roosevelt of our lifetimes.

Became President without being elected to the position? Charged up STD Hill? Or is it about how he talks loudly about beinghaving a big d!ck? Or are you just hoping someone puts a bullet into him during a speech?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

What will happen next on this special season of The Cabinet Apprentice?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I keep telling people not to normalize Pussygraber. These are all terrible picks for the nation and the world, some of them even more grossly unqualified than President-elect Pussygrabber himself.

Buckle your seatbelts, or get on a plane out, because its only going to get worse from here.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

This story says that Rick Perry is now considered the "leading candidate" for Secretary of Energy:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-goes-his-own-way-in-vetting-top-picks-1481155652

I guess Rick Perry forgot that he wanted to abolish that department (again).

Oops.

He's picking people for their reality tv appeal.

The man who couldn't remember the Dept. of Energy appointed to head it would be good for at least an hour's worth of material, spread over multiple weeks. Probably more. Maybe he can wear a cowboy outfit and a six-shooter to work - that's another hour, easy.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Follow up, Giuliani removed himself:

Maggie Haberman ‏@maggieNYT  9m9 minutes ago
GIULIANI removed his name from consideration for sec of state, per Trump official, on Nov. 29. Story tk

John Harwood ‏@JohnJHarwood  3m3 minutes ago
Trump on Rudy's withdrawal from SecState race: "as appropriate I'll call upon him for advice. can see important place for him at later date"

Perhaps Trump will have a bus in need of wheel chocks?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Great....pro-Russia and pro-war....

Well, we won't go in war against Russia then.

Nope. Iran, or maybe Venezuela.  Also a chance of some sort of intervention in Mexico short of outright war.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Great....pro-Russia and pro-war....

Well, we won't go in war against Russia then.

Nope. Iran, or maybe Venezuela.  Also a chance of some sort of intervention in Mexico short of outright war.

Why invade Venezuela?  We don't need their oil and frankly, their oil sector is in such a mess that even if we did need more oil, even a neocon nincompoop could see that Venezuelan oil isn't the best option.

The Venezuelan government is already portrayed as  "bad guys". It's close so it's logistically easier. It can easily be spun as a much larger threat than it really is. And because President Pussygrabber is going to have a hard-on for a short victorious war. Besides Iran, or maybe Mexico, there isn't a better target in sight.

Once again I will ask why people keep deluding themselves that objective reasoning and critical thinking have ANYTHING to do with the actions of President-elect Pussgrabber and his crew of super-deplorables.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

It may also simply be a way out from a 2018 Senate race that she always knew she was profoundly, manifestly unlikely to win. If Heitkamp ever wants to run for Governor, this'll be a very useful piece of experience to hold. I don't know that Senate elections in North Dakota are even hypothetically winnable for Democrats in the near future.

That only works if Trump is a moderate success or better. More likely, she's chaining herself to the Titanic. h