What a crew. Notable features are lack of qualifications, conflicts of interest, numerous ethical scandals, high turnover, and appointments based on loyalty over ability. Some lowlights:
Sean Duffy (Transportation): The former reality show star is hosting, in his spare time which apparently is ample, a new reality show called "The Great American Road Trip." He's encouraging all Americans to get in the car and tour the country. Classic tone-deafness, with gas at $4.50/gallon.
Kristi Noem (Homeland Security): Incompetent. Embarrassment. Luxury living, often at taxpayer expense. Gone.
Pam Bondi (AG): Incompetent. Embarrassment. Her February House Judiciary Committee testimony could have been an SNL sketch without changing a single word or gesture. Gone.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer (Labor): Allegations of booze on the job, affairs, brutal work environment. Abuse of power allegations. Gone.
RFK, Jr. (HHS): Nothing instills confidence in an HHS secretary more than one who regales his colleagues with stories of "brain worms," stopping the family car to cut off the dick of a dead raccoon to "study later," and snorting coke off toilet seats. Uses his platform for anti-vaccine disinformation. Runs an 80,000 person organization, a budget in the hundreds of billions, with no prior government or corporate executive leadership experience. Conspiracy theorist and overall headcase.
Hegseth (Defense): Wow. Where to begin. Signal-gate. Gets inspiration for prayer from "Pulp Fiction." Kicked major media out of the Pentagon press room. Barred press photographers from Pentagon briefings because photos of him (Hegseth) were "unflattering." Not doctored or otherwise distorted. Just "unflattering." Has driven out senior and highly decorated military leaders, accusing them without evidence of being "woke." Frequently picks fights with the press. Bizarre obsession with Sen. Mark Kelly, a veteran of higher rank and far greater achievement (including service as an astronaut) than Hegseth. Republican Congressman Don Bacon, retired Air Force Brigadier General, has called Hegseth "an amateur person." That's being kind.
Scott Bessent (Treasury): Ethics complaints over his failure to divest from private holdings while making policy decision that could directly increase the value of those investments.
Howard Lutnick (Commerce): Once insisted he had no contact with Epstein after 2005. Later admitted he visited Epstein Island, in 2012 (after Epstein became a convicted sex offender), with his wife, kids and nannies. What the actual fuck.
FBI Director isn't technically a cabinet official, but it's close. I'll leave J. Edgar Boozer for another day, along with acting AG Todd Blanche and other occupants of the cabinet clown car.
So you've got nothing. As usual.
I've got a joke to end the week. You won't like it, but someone else might chuckle.
A husband says to his wife, "I bet you can't tell me something that will make me both happy and sad at the same time." The wife thinks about it for a few seconds and replies, "Your dick is bigger than your brother's."
A good friend will bail you out of jail, but your best friend will be sitting next to you in the cell saying "that was f***ing awesome"
It's one thing after another with J. Edgar Boozer. The latest: he went on a "VIP snorkel" at the underwater tomb of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. The Arizona holds the remains of over 900 sailors and Marines.
"This is a war grave with the same legal status as Arlington National Cemetery. Snorkeling around Arizona is as disrespectful as playing kickball on top of the graves at Arlington." -- William McBride, Navy veteran and Professor Emeritus of History at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis.
Disclosure of the snorkeling tour, and new details about other trips he has taken, comes as Patel is already under scrutiny for blending leisure travel with official business or instructing FBI employees to make accommodations for him and his girlfriend.
Patel’s use of government jets and FBI agents for himself and his girlfriend has drawn bipartisan criticism.
So many of these top Trump officials don't give a shit about anything other than what they want to do, when they want to do it. Protocol, decorum, ethics, respect be damned. Not surprising, though. The leader sets the tone.
Snorkeling at Pearl Harbor: Kash Patel’s travels add to focus on ethical issues | The Seattle Times
He’s an absolute disgrace.It's one thing after another with J. Edgar Boozer. The latest: he went on a "VIP snorkel" at the underwater tomb of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. The Arizona holds the remains of over 900 sailors and Marines.
"This is a war grave with the same legal status as Arlington National Cemetery. Snorkeling around Arizona is as disrespectful as playing kickball on top of the graves at Arlington." -- William McBride, Navy veteran and Professor Emeritus of History at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis.
Disclosure of the snorkeling tour, and new details about other trips he has taken, comes as Patel is already under scrutiny for blending leisure travel with official business or instructing FBI employees to make accommodations for him and his girlfriend.
Patel’s use of government jets and FBI agents for himself and his girlfriend has drawn bipartisan criticism.
So many of these top Trump officials don't give a shit about anything other than what they want to do, when they want to do it. Protocol, decorum, ethics, respect be damned. Not surprising, though. The leader sets the tone.
Snorkeling at Pearl Harbor: Kash Patel’s travels add to focus on ethical issues | The Seattle Times
Trump Devotion Syndrome is curable but first you have to accept the issue.
It must be very draining to have to defend someone as immoral and corrupt as Trump and his gang of bootlickers
There's actually no defense. I identified eight former and current cabinet secretaries in the Trump administration, plus J. Edgar Boozer, and briefly explained why each belongs in a clown car. There was no attempt to defend ANY of them.
This cabinet is a joke (I'd carve out Rubio as an exception), but it's all great in MAGA's eyes because Trump appointed them.
Trump Devotion Syndrome is curable but first you have to accept the issue.
It must be very draining to have to defend someone as immoral and corrupt as Trump and his gang of bootlickers
There's actually no defense. I identified eight former and current cabinet secretaries in the Trump administration, plus J. Edgar Boozer, and briefly explained why each belongs in a clown car. There was no attempt to defend ANY of them.
This cabinet is a joke (I'd carve out Rubio as an exception), but it's all great in MAGA's eyes because Trump appointed them.
Most know there is no defense for it. That leaves resorting to yabbuts, I don't want to hear it, accusations of TDS, claiming the policies more than make up for it, and the Dems did it first (even if there is no evidence).
Even if Dems did it first, they are acknowledging it is fine as long as it is their side winning. when the tables flip, Dems can actually say "well, pubs/trump already did it" and be correct. How many bad precedents do they want to set in the name of their side "winning"? At what point does it get to "this is bad for the country"? It looks like vilifying the other side and feeding well curated propaganda is very effective at giving corrupt politicians free reign to do literally anything without any push-back.
And I would bet the majority of the spineless Republicans in Congress despise trump just as much as Dems, if not more. But they are too scared to do anything that would risk them getting primaried from their cushy job by trump
Trump Devotion Syndrome is curable but first you have to accept the issue.
It must be very draining to have to defend someone as immoral and corrupt as Trump and his gang of bootlickers
There's actually no defense. I identified eight former and current cabinet secretaries in the Trump administration, plus J. Edgar Boozer, and briefly explained why each belongs in a clown car. There was no attempt to defend ANY of them.
This cabinet is a joke (I'd carve out Rubio as an exception), but it's all great in MAGA's eyes because Trump appointed them.
Most know there is no defense for it. That leaves resorting to yabbuts, I don't want to hear it, accusations of TDS, claiming the policies more than make up for it, and the Dems did it first (even if there is no evidence).
Even if Dems did it first, they are acknowledging it is fine as long as it is their side winning. when the tables flip, Dems can actually say "well, pubs/trump already did it" and be correct. How many bad precedents do they want to set in the name of their side "winning"? At what point does it get to "this is bad for the country"? It looks like villifying the other side and feeding well curated propaganda is very effective at giving corrupt politicians free reign to do literally anything without any pushback.
And I would bet the majority of the spineless Republicans in Congress despise trump just as much, if not more, as Democrats. But they are too scared to do anything that would risk them getting primaried from their cush job by trump
Yes, and Mike "No Balls" Johnson leads the way.
Regarding top officials in the administration, I would bet my last dollar that Trump has promised pardons to most or all of them in exchange for loyalty pledges, so they're above the law.
The fact that this is happening in the United States of America is beyond fucked up and incredible. There are two things the people still have, though, but they'd better use them or lose them - - the First Amendment and the vote. Dems and Independents need to show up in massive numbers to Trump-proof the November elections.
NYT has a good piece today ("Actually, Democracy Dies in HR") that speaks to "loyal losers." Specifically, as autocratic leaders dismantle checks and balances in order to concentrate power in their own hands, they rely on loyal losers across various levels of the regime. At the higher levels, the losers aren't necessarily losers in the purest sense. They are generally people with accomplishments who may have climbed the ladder for a time, but various issues (reputational, for example) put a ceiling on their climb. The autocratic regime identifies them as potentially filling a need, recruits them for a post, and allows them to soar to much higher heights than they would have otherwise. The autocrat gets a high degree loyalty in return.
From the article: "Although Mr. Trump did not create the Republican Party, he has reshaped it over the last decade into an institution centered around himself. And a number of his cabinet members and political appointees, particularly in his second term, appear to fit the paradigm of loyalists whose resumes would be unlikely to land them roles in any other administration."
At lower levels, the "loser" tag is more easily discernible. Take ICE, for example. It is set to be radically expanded, with a budget that would dwarf other federal law enforcement agencies if the current funding bill passes. At the same time, it has become easier than ever to become an ICE agent. Ryan Schwank, a formed training academy instructor, testified to Congress in February that new cadets "are graduating from the academy despite widespread concerns among training staff that even in the final days of training, the cadets cannot demonstrate a solid grasp of the tactics or the law required to perform their jobs." ICE recruits must now complete only nine practical examinations to graduate from the training academy, compared with 25 exams that were listed in a training syllabus dated July 2021.
It's a great career opportunity for people who would never make it at the FBI, the state police, or the police academy. And returned loyalty is pretty much a guarantee.
Hegseth campaigned for Massie's primary opponent in Kentucky today. This is rarely ever done by a Cabinet Secretary and can't remember it ever happening except for Presidential re-election campaigns. Regardless, the Hatch Act has all sorts of requirements to follow for doing this and given this administrations disregard for legal and ethical boundaries, I'd be surprised if Hegseth DIDN'T violate the requirements in some way. Not that it matters, even the DoJ in this administration is disregarding legal and ethical boundaries.
Incidentally, I was talking to a buddy in the Pentagon and found out that that there are a few nicknames for Hegseth going around the Pentagon. They include Dumb McNamarra, Major Rooster, and just Strutter. Not a lot of respect for the guy and it's obvious why that is. I've not always personally liked the SecDefs during my career, but I never thought any of them were unqualified. Hegseth is utterly unqualified, and worse, he doesn't have a clue why he's unqualified.
Hegseth campaigned for Massie's primary opponent in Kentucky today. This is rarely ever done by a Cabinet Secretary and can't remember it ever happening except for Presidential re-election campaigns. Regardless, the Hatch Act has all sorts of requirements to follow for doing this and given this administrations disregard for legal and ethical boundaries, I'd be surprised if Hegseth DIDN'T violate the requirements in some way. Not that it matters, even the DoJ in this administration is disregarding legal and ethical boundaries.
Incidentally, I was talking to a buddy in the Pentagon and found out that that there are a few nicknames for Hegseth going around the Pentagon. They include Dumb McNamarra, Major Rooster, and just Strutter. Not a lot of respect for the guy and it's obvious why that is. I've not always personally liked the SecDefs during my career, but I never thought any of them were unqualified. Hegseth is utterly unqualified, and worse, he doesn't have a clue why he's unqualified.
Not sure if it's made it to the Pentagon, but another nickname: Kegsbreath.
The country is at war and the Secretary of Defense is on the campaign trail, at the president's behest. Disgraceful.