I’m out of metaphors to compare to Trump’s picks for his cabinet and administration. They’ve all been bad. But this afternoon, when I saw a headline that said Trump wants Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard to be national intelligence director, I saw the English language itself surrender. There are no words.
Trump has been asking for the new Congress to go into recess as soon as it is sworn in, so that he can hire his people through recess appointments. No hearings; no embarassing questions, no votes. Right now I’m hearing some Republican senators say they are looking forward to hearings. Axios is reporting that Republicans are “stunned and disgusted” at the Gaetz appointment. Of course, that doesn’t mean they won’t fall in line and vote to confirm the appointment. He may not get his recess appointments, though. It’s possibly a good sign that John Thune will be Senate Majority Leader, and not Trump’s pick, Rick Scott. Scott had promised to give Trump everything Trump wants.
As far as Trulsi Gabbard is concerned, I second Fred Kaplan at Slate.
The Congress has two major functions. First is to pass legislation. Second, it provides service to constituents. Maybe there's a better term for it but each member of the House (especially) and the Senate (to a lesser degree) has in their budget money to hire people and rent offices so the people can take a beef directly to their congressperson to investigate and facilitate a resolution. The staff can and does poke their noses into every corner of the federal system when a citizen in the district isn't getting the service from an agency that the law provides. (My congresswoman responded to my request to ask why I was sent to a high-security prison, I know she did because I had to sign a release of information from BOP to her office.)
A letter from a congressperson causes people to review the case at hand, make immediate repairs, and reply. That will break down when the system is managed by partisans rather than career professionals. Congress is gonna be frustrated by being straight-armed and/or lied to, often by psychos from their own (GOP) party. Citizens who have major business which requires action by some agency will be stuck. It won't just be the poor schmuch at the bottom, either.
I'm not rooting for the system to fail – I want democracy and the Constitution to survive. I agree with Maha – competent people with expertise will bail out – they won't wait to be forced out. Others with some awareness how the system should work won't stick their necks out if they hope to survive (and maybe prosper) in the Trump regime.
This is gonna be a circus but the clowns won't be funny. They will be the scary ugly clowns who sometimes take center-stage in horror movies. Gaetz will try to move prosecutions forward against enemies, even without evidence of any crime. My guess is that the indictments (mostly) will be dismissed for lack of evidence as soon as the defendant can get the case in front of a judge – even if it's a Trump appointee.
IMO, Trump will fail to use the military to round up immigrants – it's a violation of the law. Trump wants to do it that way because the military is under his direct control (constitutionally) where the police have constraints. But mostly, Trump does not want to ask Congress for the massive amount of money the purge will cost. Voters will see how much money is being wasted in persecution that could be spent to make their lives easier. If/when Trump asks for money, it will be AFTER Congress has passed a by budget reconciliation. If a bill that authorizes a civil (not military) Gestapo hits the Senate, the GOP does not have a supermajority. I'm not sure if/how the parliamentarian would decide if the creation of concentration camps can be passed solely by reconcilliation.
But the thing that I think will bite Trump on his formidable butt is his fondest faliccy – that he can fund the government through huge tariffs without huge inflation. IF.. (I said if) inflation is the thing that did Harris in, it will be just as inflammatory when it happens under Trump. From what I read, Trump is staffing to proceed – full speed ahead. As with concentration camps, no one knows if it will require a supermajority in the Senate. Trump will try to do it without.
I have not seen anything specific re the new Senate leader on the subject of changing Senate rules to allow passage by a simple majority. McConnell resisted it for his entire tenure – probably because if the GOP does it, the Democrats will have no hesitation adopting the GOP rules (that McConnell screamed would be un-democratic.) Whenever Trump needs something passed that the Senate can block, Trump will demand an exception rule to be passed. It will be interesting.
As I see it shaping up, most voters won't give a rat's fuzzy behind if Gaetz uses the DOJ for political persecution. And I think they will fail. I think Trump will have Constitutional issues with doing concentration camps with the military and tariffs by executive order. However, if Trump prevails, the result will be a political disaster.
Strategicly, I hope the courts and Democrasts slow Trump down because the delay may allow the Constitution and elections to survive. If Democrats take power in 2028, protecting the professional civil service career professionals should be near the top of the list so the ranks of competent people in federal government can be replenished.
Word is that in addition to Elon and ramadamadingdong heading up the new efficiency department MTG and Lauren Blowbart will share the role of first Lady!
From what Ihave been reading the last few months there has been any number of witch hunts of Chinese–born scientists and technical people. At the same time, China needs people like this and can offer comparative salaries, and living standards. Scientists seem to be getting good funding in key STEM areas.
IF I were a Chineseq scientist in a good US university and a good publication record, I'd be seriously job hunting in China.
BTW' housing costs will likely go up. Deportations will likely ravage the construction trades.
We just have to make the best of it. It is an antecedent, and an antecedent is the word or words for which the pronoun stands. This is what you all remember from that English class you mostly slept through.
It is horror for sure. It may be much more but horror it is.
I know a bit about horror from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Sword of Damocles was cut from the original but saved for us.
Bing Videos
This is a British version with lyrics captioned. The story of Damocles goes way back and explains more of the horror.
Bing Videos
Ah yes. We just have to deal with it. And it is, in part, quite a horror at least.