Transition Team/Cabinet Thread

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Yeah, if Gabbard wants to act as a check on the neocons Trump's already filling his cabinet with, then I'm all for it.  Less US involvement around the world was supposed to be a perk of a Trump presidency, and with all the confirmed appointments so far he's signaled that this won't be the case.

I'd welcome her to the cabinet if I were Trump or a Trump adviser, though I fear she'll ultimately depart early in frustration and that it will be ugly for all involved. Still, she's very much qualified for a position in the cabinet. I'd take her over Curtis freaking LeMay Mike Flynn in a heartbeat.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

since i guess my other thread isn't so well-read....


Trump savages Rs who didn't back him, said he told Ayotte "no thank u" on a Cabinet post, Heck fell "like a lead balloon" & he wasn't sorry
https://twitter.com/juliehdavis/status/801137197235761152?lang=de

Bwahaha nice.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Romney leading contender for Foggy Bottom, Mattis for the Pentagon, Haley for Turtle Bay.

It'd be nice if people shared links that were not beyond a paywall. I can't afford to pay a monthly fee to read whatever regurgitated gossip the media gets from Twitter.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Romney leading contender for Foggy Bottom, Mattis for the Pentagon, Haley for Turtle Bay.

It'd be nice if people shared links that were not beyond a paywall. I can't afford to pay a monthly fee to read whatever regurgitated gossip the media gets from Twitter.

You don't need to pay anything.  It's the WSJ.  All you need to do is Google the headline (in this case "Mitt Romney Leads Donald Trump’s Picks for Secretary of State") and you get a version that you can read for free.

Then it'd be nice to link to that instead of that version.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Nikki Haley reportedly picked to be UN Ambassador.

https://twitter.com/postandcourier/status/801289992647614464

How in God's name is she qualified for that position?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

DeVos has been confirmed for Education. The DeVos family has an interesting relationship with my old High School. It was (and still is) a small, fairly inexpensive private Christian school that was a lot more diverse and lot less dogmatic than most South Florida schools. I guess when they built the new gym about ten years ago, the DeVos family caught wind of it somehow and actually donated the money. So the building is named for Richard DeVos. I think he somehow found out about the fundraising drive through his involvement with UCF, and he actually came and visited the school and the students at this time. The DeVos family was sorta sacred in the school's community.

Edit: Apparently there is a major split in the Reform Church in America (learned about it in High School, since forgotten it) that DeVos wants to heal before he dies. I guess that is why he was so interested in my school, since it is associated with a local Dutch Reformed Church in Lake Worth.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

thanks, morden, i should have more specifically asked for a successful bid of such a candidate (i guess accepting the ambassadorship from obama even harmed his candidacy) but i agree now that it would be possible.

Well there was former UN Ambassador George Herbert Walker Bush in 1988 if you're looking for a successful former ambassador. ^^ 

Yeah, but he was also a former Congressman, CIA Director, Ambassador to China, and Vice President

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

It is funny that the same family that donates to small private Christian schools also is involved with freaking Blackwater. Pardon the pun, but Jesus H. Christ!

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

To answer my Austrian friend's question, the word "conservative" is basically an emotion. The Reagan/Bush/Gingrich/Romney people pushed the degeneration of conservatism of an ideology, and now all of them (well, aside from Newt) are scratching their heads as to how the GOP is becoming the party of Trump.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

To answer my Austrian friend's question, the word "conservative" is basically an emotion. The Reagan/Bush/Gingrich/Romney people pushed the degeneration of conservatism of an ideology, and now all of them (well, aside from Newt) are scratching their heads as to how the GOP is becoming the party of Trump.

That is surprisingly close to how I would define conservative. Do you consider yourself a conservative?

Paleoconservative, yes. Movement conservatism, which the #NeverTrump movement holds as it's "ideology," is a hodge-podge of feel good quotes ("Morning in America!," etc) and lame concepts like "American exceptionalism" that skillfully dart around the criticisms from the more ideological corners of the GOP (such as the libertarians) to continue to perpetuate the Reagan cult of personality. Reagan is to the GOP what Kim Il Sung is to the Korean Workers Party.

Today I saw Ana Navarro on Twitter promoting an article in which she claims she'll "hide" her Muslim friends from Trump. When did the Bush era Republicans who are so anti-Trump ever care about the Muslim American community? Remember the Mosque surveillance? The Patriot Act? The color coded "terror threat levels?" The Israel-first foreign policy? The war based on a lie?

I won't pretend Trump is a bastion of ideological purity. I don't know what his ideology is, if he even has one. But as far as I'm concerned, the worst aspects of Trump (the Islamaphobia mainly) are a continuation of the pre-Trump GOP, while the best aspects of Trump (the kinda sorta non-interventionist foreign policy, the anti-globalism, the disdain for the outdated post-World War II order) are a reversal.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Crazy grapevine rumours that former VP Dick Cheney may be in the running for SoS all of a sudden. Mad if true

That's quite the source, too. This might really be happening. God help us all.

Well, then. Can't question a source like that. They've got the best beat on the GOP out of anyone outside of Costa.

Fortunately, I have enough faith in the President-elect to know what the link was before I clicked it. But if it were true, that'd be enough for me to publicly apologize for voting for Trump after surrendering my voter registration card to Evergreen so it can be burned in front of me.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I truly think that Trump offering Romney Secretary of State may only be to discredit Romney.

And also there may be a third person who comes down the middle and sweeps the job from both Romney and Giuliani, perhaps Corker.

I think it is an elaborate trap as well. Trump has a sense of drama.

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.

I disliked Petraeus before it turned out he was sending classified info to his mistress, but nice try.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Sources: Tom Price for HHS

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http://politics.blog.myajc.com/2016/11/28/sources-tom-price-close-to-being-named-top-health-official-in-donald-trumps-cabinet/

Yay, the one person that could cost me my job.

I really like you as a poster and don't particularly like cabinets being stuffed with office holders, so you've given me a reason to oppose this. I'm sure Mark McClellan or Tevi Troy or something can administer the Department better.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Not big on Munchkin or whatever his name is, but has his appointment ever been in doubt? The other picks have been fantastic (well, aside from Flynn and Ross).

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Trump is clearly the Teddy Roosevelt of our lifetimes.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I do not much care for Huntsman personally, but as a realist he is one of Trump's better options for Secretary of State.

He's still my second favorite after Rohrabacher, none the less. Huntsman was competing for anti-war votes, its no surprise he went after Paul in such a way.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Carly Fiorina is probably being floated as a poison bill along with Bolton. The GOP establishment is pressuring him to pick Romney, and he probably wants someone more loyal (Corker, Rudy). By doing this, he's basically blackballing Cruz, Rubio, Sasse, and the other usual suspects into submission so he can get his choice through easier. The last thing he needs or wants is the media inventing Republican Civil War V as part of the narrative.

Anyway, Rohrabacher, Huntsman, or Corker are tolerable. Rudy is a neocon at heart but his quest for power will always trump his principles. Bolton, Fiorina, and Romney are dead-enders for me.

I would love to see Carly as SoS.  It would assuage a lot of my fears about his foreign policy.

Because of all her superb foreign policy credentials?

No, mostly because she's an unrestrained hawk.

Are you going to enlist when World War III breaks out or just continue to be a chickenhawk?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I do not much care for Huntsman personally, but as a realist he is one of Trump's better options for Secretary of State.

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... Infowars isn't too reliable.

Is it really any better or worse than CNN at this point?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Actually, not so fast on that. Media reports jumped the gun:

Pat Callaghan ‏@PatCallaghan6  4m4 minutes ago
BREAKING: I made a huge error in saying @SenatorCollins opposes Carson as HUD sec. That was @chelliepingree quote. My apologies to all.

Sen. Susan Collins
‏@SenatorCollins
Internet rumor untrue- I have great respect for Dr. Carson and look forward to talking with him.

And this same journalist is probably outraged at the Pizzagate incident too.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

David Friedman appointed Ambassador to Israel, he's pro-settlements and is to the right of Netanyahu and supports moving the Embassy to Jerusalem.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/15/politics/trump-picks-campaign-adviser-friedman-as-us-ambassador-to-israel/index.html

Good God, see this is the only area of Trump's foreign policy that actually has me uneasy. Netanyahu is the most dangerous leader on the world stage unless you count Daesh as a legitimate "state."

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Huntsman is a good pick for Japan. He knows how the Chinese operate and will be a great assurance to the Japanese as tensions continue to low-key simmer in the Pacific.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Coats is a reasonable choice. He's not necessarily part of my wing of the GOP but he doesn't strike me as particularly heinous.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Wonderful. I'm kinda meh on Bondi but it'll keep her out of Putnam's way in 2018, so that is good.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/us/politics/trump-comey-fbi-director-.html

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Anyone surprised?

Why would they be?  This position is supposed to transcend the standard political appointment process.

The FBI has a set term. Hillary couldn't have dumped him even if she won and desired too.