The F*ck#ng Cabinet Appointments (US)

24

Comments

  • stetson wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    =

    And he does have a point about all the crap that goes into American food. He once used the illustration of the difference of McDonald french fries in the United Kingdom and America. In the UK, he said, there are three ingredients: the potato, the oil, and a dash of salt. In America, according to him, there is the potato plus about 17 different chemicals.

    And the solution to that is better regulation. Which will not come from conspiracy theorists or smash-the-staters.

    David Ike started out as an environmentalist too.

    Some of us on this side of the pond do not know who you are talking about. Also, is the spelling right?

    David Icke. The Lizard People guy. Basically re-marketing the Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion as a New Age UFO cult.

    Thanks.

    No problem. Always happy to name-drop weirdo political factoids.

    I assume Icke is still active, but he doesn't seem to have a very high profile anymore. He seemed to really hit his stride post-9/11, coasting on the anti-Bush/Blair thing among liberals and leftists.

    I wonder how much farther he woulda gotten had he simply alleged that governments are perpetrating UFO cover-ups, rather than stating that the global ruling class are all actually descended from extraterrestrial lizards. The latter claim became a permanent punch-line in political humour.
  • stetson wrote: »
    I wonder how much farther he woulda gotten had he simply alleged that governments are perpetrating UFO cover-ups, rather than stating that the global ruling class are all actually descended from extraterrestrial lizards.

    You're familiar with the John Carpenter cult classic film They Live . . . ? I subtitle it "A Study of the Republican Party."
  • stetson wrote: »
    I wonder how much farther he woulda gotten had he simply alleged that governments are perpetrating UFO cover-ups, rather than stating that the global ruling class are all actually descended from extraterrestrial lizards.

    You're familiar with the John Carpenter cult classic film They Live . . . ? I subtitle it "A Study of the Republican Party."

    Yep, saw it with some friends back in the day. One of the aliens even has the gipperish haircut at one point.

    Though Icke doesn't confine the reptilian elite to one party or ideology. And I'm just now wondering if his inclusion of the Windsors among his cast of villains(*) might have alienated him from otherwise sympathetic paranoiacs in the UK.

    (*) I think one of his books includes testimony from someone who claimed to have witnessed the Queen Mum morph into a lizard at some public gathering.
  • EigonEigon Shipmate
    I seem to remember the Queen Mum enjoying fly fishing as a pastime. I'm now having visions of her morphing into a Gollum-like creature to catch the fish with her teeth!
    (Sorry - I do actually like the Queen Mum).
  • ArethosemyfeetArethosemyfeet Shipmate, Heaven Host
    Eigon wrote: »
    I seem to remember the Queen Mum enjoying fly fishing as a pastime. I'm now having visions of her morphing into a Gollum-like creature to catch the fish with her teeth!
    (Sorry - I do actually like the Queen Mum).

    I'm inclined to think that if I'm going to get starry eyed over long dead gin-soaked racists it will be for my dad's mum.
  • Alan Cresswell Alan Cresswell Admin, 8th Day Host
    The royal family are monstrous parasites engaged in state sanctioned theft from the people of this country.

    But being anachronistic fiends doesn't mean they're lizards in disguise. Humans are more than capable of being monsters, there's no need for the king to be a lizard in a Charlie-suit.
  • James O'Brien had a rant on LBC a week or so ago about the King and Prince of Wales and the massive annual incomes they enjoy that are generated from Medieval-era lease payments.
  • I was going to post something about Hegseth, but the article seems more appropriate for the Trump thread.
  • There are nine Republican Senators who could derail the confirmation of Trump's proposed cabinet. Here is a list . They could refuse to let the Senate go into recess or they could join the Democrats to deny confirmation.

    I think Gaetz won't make it.

    I hope Hegseth will be denied.

    And I think Tulsi Gabbard should be arrested as a Russian agent.
  • The_Riv wrote: »
    James O'Brien had a rant on LBC a week or so ago about the King and Prince of Wales and the massive annual incomes they enjoy that are generated from Medieval-era lease payments.

    I really do get the impression that British republicans are screaming at a brick wall. I once saw a Canadian documentary about the tax breaks and other goodies bestowed upon the royal family, going back generations, and yeah, it was pretty outrageous.

    But that was maybe 35 or 40 years ago, so obviously it's all been public knowledge for a long time, but I don't get the impression the issue ever even cracks the Top 10 in the British public's concerns.
  • Gramps49 wrote: »
    And I think Tulsi Gabbard should be arrested as a Russian agent.

    I'm open to being convinced either way about whether or not TG is a Russian asset. Do you have any evidence she's commited illegal acts?
  • ArethosemyfeetArethosemyfeet Shipmate, Heaven Host
    stetson wrote: »
    The_Riv wrote: »
    James O'Brien had a rant on LBC a week or so ago about the King and Prince of Wales and the massive annual incomes they enjoy that are generated from Medieval-era lease payments.

    I really do get the impression that British republicans are screaming at a brick wall. I once saw a Canadian documentary about the tax breaks and other goodies bestowed upon the royal family, going back generations, and yeah, it was pretty outrageous.

    But that was maybe 35 or 40 years ago, so obviously it's all been public knowledge for a long time, but I don't get the impression the issue ever even cracks the Top 10 in the British public's concerns.

    I think that's partly because, compared with (say) the alleged embezzling done by the last tory government the royal's riches seem like very small potatoes. And because they're on family, a lot of money from a population of 60M+ is a couple of quid each. It's grotesque but it's symbolic rather than substantial. Add in what Terry Pratchett (GNU pterry) called the human "tendency to bend at the knees" and you have nowhere near enough popular support to do anything about it.
  • DafydDafyd Hell Host
    I am not an expert, but I suspect also the effort of disentangling the monarchy from the UK state and from UK law might cost more than the monarchy does for several years.

    Disentangling UK law from EU law was a mess, and I believe is still a mess, despite Johnson getting Brexit done.
  • The royal family are monstrous parasites engaged in state sanctioned theft from the people of this country.

    I think this is one of the few things I’ll disagree with you about. But I’m odd in my views of such matters in this era, especially here in the US. (And I certainly don’t want the US to create a new monarchy, especially with the likes of Trump! Yikes.)
  • Alan Cresswell Alan Cresswell Admin, 8th Day Host
    Dafyd wrote: »
    I am not an expert, but I suspect also the effort of disentangling the monarchy from the UK state and from UK law might cost more than the monarchy does for several years.

    Disentangling UK law from EU law was a mess, and I believe is still a mess, despite Johnson getting Brexit done.
    I'd be happy just to make a start. Start by removing the ability of the monarch to amend or veto legislation being put to Parliament, and ensure laws are applied fairly to all without the royal family being exempt from some laws. And, make them pay the same taxes on their income as anyone else (which is part of that thing about some laws not applying to them).
  • DoublethinkDoublethink Admin, 8th Day Host
    Imagine what it would do for the social care budget, if the revenues of royal lands were just divided between councils.
  • Maybe we should give all of the Royal Family cabinet posts. That would get us back on thread.
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host
    Discussion about the British (and Commonwealth) royal family doesn’t belong on a thread about the next US President’s cabinet.

    BroJames, Purgatory Host
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    Yes, let's do have an orderly thread in Hell about how the richest and most powerful country in the world is about to become an absolute shitshow.

    The problem is not just how awful the cabinet picks are, not just that there will be measles outbreaks and that the military is likely to be used on the American public and a host of other horrors. The problem is that the Senate is likely to either confirm Trump's picks or allow them to take their seats in recess appointments, ceding the Senate's power to a presidency that is already too strong even when a completely amoral clown isn't at the helm. There will be no federal-level checks on Trump, or on his buddy Musk, or on anyone else he chooses to elevate.
  • Oh that some Repugnican congresspeople would switch parties.
  • And now Dr. Oz in charge of Medicaid and Medicare. Just... make it stop...
  • stetson wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    And I think Tulsi Gabbard should be arrested as a Russian agent.

    I'm open to being convinced either way about whether or not TG is a Russian asset. Do you have any evidence she's commited illegal acts?
    H\

    Sorry I have not been able to respond until now. Been very busy today. I refer you to this Time Magazine article. Basically, she has been parroting Russian propaganda as to why they invaded Ukraine, The Russians claimed Ukraine had a number of bioweapon labs.

    An agent does not have to provide classified information to a country. They can also be the tool from which a country tries to influence another country.

    To paraphrase the article:
    A DNI nominee (should not have) any large outstanding debts or connections to foreign governments that might compromise them in coordinating the work of thousands of intelligence officials at the FBI, CIA, NSA and other agencies.

  • Gramps49 wrote: »
    stetson wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    And I think Tulsi Gabbard should be arrested as a Russian agent.

    I'm open to being convinced either way about whether or not TG is a Russian asset. Do you have any evidence she's commited illegal acts?
    H\

    Sorry I have not been able to respond until now. Been very busy today. I refer you to this Time Magazine article. Basically, she has been parroting Russian propaganda as to why they invaded Ukraine, The Russians claimed Ukraine had a number of bioweapon labs.

    An agent does not have to provide classified information to a country. They can also be the tool from which a country tries to influence another country.

    To paraphrase the article:
    A DNI nominee (should not have) any large outstanding debts or connections to foreign governments that might compromise them in coordinating the work of thousands of intelligence officials at the FBI, CIA, NSA and other agencies.

    Yes, she should probably be disqualified from the privilege of serving as DNI. But, based on what you wrote there, I'm still not seeing the criminality.

    Surely, any reasonable reading of the First Amendment would hold that people, at least in peacetime, should be free to express agreement with positions taken by foreign governments.
  • stetson wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    stetson wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    And I think Tulsi Gabbard should be arrested as a Russian agent.

    I'm open to being convinced either way about whether or not TG is a Russian asset. Do you have any evidence she's commited illegal acts?
    H\

    Sorry I have not been able to respond until now. Been very busy today. I refer you to this Time Magazine article. Basically, she has been parroting Russian propaganda as to why they invaded Ukraine, The Russians claimed Ukraine had a number of bioweapon labs.

    An agent does not have to provide classified information to a country. They can also be the tool from which a country tries to influence another country.

    To paraphrase the article:
    A DNI nominee (should not have) any large outstanding debts or connections to foreign governments that might compromise them in coordinating the work of thousands of intelligence officials at the FBI, CIA, NSA and other agencies.

    Yes, she should probably be disqualified from the privilege of serving as DNI. But, based on what you wrote there, I'm still not seeing the criminality.

    Surely, any reasonable reading of the First Amendment would hold that people, at least in peacetime, should be free to express agreement with positions taken by foreign governments.

    In the US, if you are representing the views of another country for pay you have to register as an agent of that country. Other people have raised concerns that she is an agent.

    I do not think she would be able to pass a national intelligence background check.

  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    edited November 2024
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    stetson wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    stetson wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    And I think Tulsi Gabbard should be arrested as a Russian agent.

    I'm open to being convinced either way about whether or not TG is a Russian asset. Do you have any evidence she's commited illegal acts?
    H\

    Sorry I have not been able to respond until now. Been very busy today. I refer you to this Time Magazine article. Basically, she has been parroting Russian propaganda as to why they invaded Ukraine, The Russians claimed Ukraine had a number of bioweapon labs.

    An agent does not have to provide classified information to a country. They can also be the tool from which a country tries to influence another country.

    To paraphrase the article:
    A DNI nominee (should not have) any large outstanding debts or connections to foreign governments that might compromise them in coordinating the work of thousands of intelligence officials at the FBI, CIA, NSA and other agencies.

    Yes, she should probably be disqualified from the privilege of serving as DNI. But, based on what you wrote there, I'm still not seeing the criminality.

    Surely, any reasonable reading of the First Amendment would hold that people, at least in peacetime, should be free to express agreement with positions taken by foreign governments.

    In the US, if you are representing the views of another country for pay you have to register as an agent of that country. Other people have raised concerns that she is an agent.

    I do not think she would be able to pass a national intelligence background check.

    Okay, so there's evidence she's on the Russian payroll?
  • Gramps49 wrote: »
    stetson wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    And I think Tulsi Gabbard should be arrested as a Russian agent.

    I'm open to being convinced either way about whether or not TG is a Russian asset. Do you have any evidence she's commited illegal acts?
    Sorry I have not been able to respond until now. Been very busy today. I refer you to this Time Magazine article.
    What Time Magazine article?


  • Nick Tamen wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    stetson wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    And I think Tulsi Gabbard should be arrested as a Russian agent.

    I'm open to being convinced either way about whether or not TG is a Russian asset. Do you have any evidence she's commited illegal acts?
    Sorry I have not been able to respond until now. Been very busy today. I refer you to this Time Magazine article.
    What Time Magazine article?


    I assume it's the one from a few days ago called...
    'We Are Reeling': Trump's Pick Of Tulsi Gabbard Alarms Intelligence Community
  • Nick Tamen wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    stetson wrote: »
    Gramps49 wrote: »
    And I think Tulsi Gabbard should be arrested as a Russian agent.

    I'm open to being convinced either way about whether or not TG is a Russian asset. Do you have any evidence she's commited illegal acts?
    Sorry I have not been able to respond until now. Been very busy today. I refer you to this Time Magazine article.
    What Time Magazine article?


    God, I did not put the link in? Like I said, it was a long day yesterday.

    https://time.com/7176696/gabbard-russia-connection-trump-intelligence/
  • Gramps49 wrote: »
    God, I did not put the link in? Like I said, it was a long day yesterday.
    Thanks. And no worries; we all have those days,


  • Ruth wrote: »
    Yes, let's do have an orderly thread in Hell about how the richest and most powerful country in the world is about to become an absolute shitshow.

    The problem is not just how awful the cabinet picks are, not just that there will be measles outbreaks and that the military is likely to be used on the American public and a host of other horrors. The problem is that the Senate is likely to either confirm Trump's picks or allow them to take their seats in recess appointments, ceding the Senate's power to a presidency that is already too strong even when a completely amoral clown isn't at the helm. There will be no federal-level checks on Trump, or on his buddy Musk, or on anyone else he chooses to elevate.

    It's that time again.

    There is an easy solution here. The US apologizes for its gratuitous rudeness to His Late Majesty George III, of happy memory, Canada recovers its Lost Provonces and we all go back to being one big happy British North America and party like it's 1775.
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    If the UK hadn't voted for Brexit, I'd be more tempted.
  • Ruth wrote: »
    If the UK hadn't voted for Brexit, I'd be more tempted.

    Ditto. That’s part of my concern about trying to flee the poison here in the US—it’s in many other places all over the world. 🥺
  • "President-elect Donald Trump has named his transition co-chair Linda McMahon as his pick to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Education."

    Well, it could have been Marjorie Taylor Greene or something, but still. Gahhh.

    I mean whoever he chooses will be unqualified, or even anti-qualified, with a goal to subvert or destroy the agency they're put in charge of.
    McMahon, a major Republican donor and a former pro-wrestling executive, served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term. She was appointed in 2017 and resigned in 2019 to become the chair of America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC.

    She is the board chair of the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank that was formed in 2021 by McMahon, Larry Kudlow and other advisers from the first Trump administration.

    AFPI has raised millions of dollars since it was founded and has been described as a “White-House-in-waiting,” planning potential policy proposals for Trump’s second term.

    Trump’s education secretary could potentially be tasked with overseeing the department’s demise after the president-elect repeatedly called for abolishing the agency on the campaign trail.

    from

    https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/19/politics/linda-mcmahon-education-secretary-trump/index.html
    However, McMahon had written on her board application that she had a degree in education, even though her degree from East Carolina University was in French, according to local reports from that period. Her spokesman at the time called it an "honest mistake" in the Connecticut Post.

    Regardless, McMahon stepped down from her post on the Connecticut State Board of Education -- and her position as CEO of WWE -- shortly after, in 2010, to run for the U.S. Senate as a Republican.

    from

    https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/linda-mcmahons-background-trumps-pick-education-secretary/story?id=116058197
  • In normal transitions, the FBI is given authority to do background checks on the nominees to insure they will not be security risks for the government. tRump has not signed the papers necessary for that authorization and probably will not. I see a train wreck coming, if not in the confirmation process, it will be in the normal operation of the government.
  • From the Bulwark, a conservative but anti-Trump news source (I also recommend the similar Dispatch):
    How Unqualified Is Kristi Noem? Let Us Count the Ways.

    ...

    Consider, for example, the nomination of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to be secretary of homeland security. In any other administration (even Trump’s first) she would be an unserious candidate. This time around, her nomination got barely fifteen seconds of news, as it was buried in the landslide of even more absurd nominees.

    https://www.thebulwark.com/p/kristi-noem-homeland-security-unqualified?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
  • Gaetz down.
  • ArethosemyfeetArethosemyfeet Shipmate, Heaven Host
    So... which chucklefuck will get nominated next, and will their skeletons come dancing out of the closet before or after confirmation? Guliani?
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    edited November 2024
    Ruth wrote: »
    If the UK hadn't voted for Brexit, I'd be more tempted.

    Well, with the current PM being the namesake of a great socialist who sincerely wept over the fate of imprisoned suffragettes, maybe everyone will forget about the Cameron To Sunak gong show.
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    edited November 2024
    Our youngest son said that was the smartest decision Gaetz has ever made.
  • Alan Cresswell Alan Cresswell Admin, 8th Day Host
    Gaetz down.

    Rats and a sinking ship.
  • Gaetz down.

    My guess is Trump will simply appoint him to some position that doesn't require Senate approval. Maybe White House Counsel.
  • Well, I'd think that the report that was just stifled may be the reason he was nominated in the first place. Just had to wait for it to go away before stepping down. Don't know if it'd be available via a FOIA request, but hopefully it will find its way into the public view.
  • CrœsosCrœsos Shipmate
    edited November 2024
    In other news of alleged sexual predators and their enablers nominated to cabinet positions by Donald Trump we have:

    Pete Hegseth (Defense): allegedly drugged and raped a woman at a Republican women's event in 2017.

    RFK, Jr. (Health & Human Services): allegedly sexually assaulted his kids' babysitter.

    Linda McMahon (Education): allegedly enabled grooming and abuse of "ring boys" during her leadership of WWE.

    Doesn't Trump know any Republicans without a history of being credibly accused of either committing or enabling sexual abuse?
  • Crœsos wrote: »
    In other news of alleged sexual predators and their enablers nominated to cabinet positions by Donald Trump we have:

    Pete Hegseth (Defense): allegedly drugged and raped a woman at a Republican women's event in 2017.

    RFK, Jr. (Health & Human Services): allegedly sexually assaulted his kids' babysitter.

    Linda McMahon (Education): allegedly enabled grooming and abuse of "ring boys" during her leadership of WWE.

    Doesn't Trump know any Republicans without a history of being credibly accused of sexual abuse?

    Mike Pence and Mitt Romney, but they’re personae non gratae.
  • ‘You Don’t Have the Votes’: How Trump Barred the Gaetz

    DONALD TRUMP GIVETH. And he taketh away.

    Eight days after making the snap decision to nominate Matt Gaetz to be the nation’s next attorney general, Trump phoned him Thursday morning to tell him he wouldn’t get confirmed, according to a source briefed on the conversation. The president-elect explained that Republican senators were too troubled by the sex scandals and investigations surrounding Gaetz and that the constant and salacious distractions had doomed him.

    “You don’t have the votes,” Trump said, according to the source. “These senators aren’t moving.”

    Interesting. This suggests that Trump is not planning on simply shoving in these people without confirmation. I'm actually surprised.
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    Me too. I hate to get my hopes up, though.
  • Well, Gaetz is out for the good of the team, and Trump is looking to install someone who is closer to qualified.

    I'm a little suspicious of how smoothly that happened, like Gaetz was obviously the godawful choice and so now whoever comes in next will look better because, horrible as they are, they aren't Matt Gaetz. Or it was all a sham to get him out of office before the radioactive tea spilled.

    I hate this kind of speculating, but here we are.
  • Crœsos wrote: »
    In other news of alleged sexual predators and their enablers nominated to cabinet positions by Donald Trump we have:

    Pete Hegseth (Defense): allegedly drugged and raped a woman at a Republican women's event in 2017.

    RFK, Jr. (Health & Human Services): allegedly sexually assaulted his kids' babysitter.

    Linda McMahon (Education): allegedly enabled grooming and abuse of "ring boys" during her leadership of WWE.

    Doesn't Trump know any Republicans without a history of being credibly accused of either committing or enabling sexual abuse?

    Goes to show just how amoral tRump really is.
  • Pam Bondi, former AG of Florida (2011-2019), is the new AG pick, replacing Goetz.
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