Transition Team/Cabinet Thread

[wolfsblood07]

The NYT dives into the behind the scenes of the “Giuliani or Romney?” question for Secretary of State:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/24/us/politics/donald-trump-mitt-romney-rudy-giuliani-state.html

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The media, with its insatiable appetite for drama, focuses on the Salt Lake City speech and Trump's criticism to highlight the distance between Romney and Trump. But at the end of the day they forget that their differences deal very much with style and personality more so then anything else. Likewise, they ignore that both Trump and Romney have similar experiences (business) and both grabbed their party's nominations largely by taking hard line stances on immigration. Finally, aside from personality and style, the biggest difference between the two is the Trump took such approaches and jacked them up to 11 and managed to win by doing so.

Personality, style and success/jealousy mask the marked similarities that exist regarding both their backgrounds and campaign emphasis. It frankly doesn't surprise me that Trump would come to view a turnaround artist with vast experience closing tough sales (or as Trump would call it, "making the best deals") and arguably one with a vast history of morphing based on the needs of the time (another commonality), over Rudy or most of the rest of these options when it comes to taking a foreign policy (even one the SoS might disagree with) and selling it to an unconvinced ally.

Take the two of them, put them on The Apprentice and ask yourself which one would Trump go for when it comes to a project based on making tough sales pitches to skeptical customers?

The interest in Romney, which has baffled the mainstream media and Trump's loyalist brigades, makes perfect sense when viewed in this light.

I think that nails it. 
Follks like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Mike Huckabee, etc.  don't see the big picture like Trump does.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

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

Dear God...

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

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

You must be logged in to read this quote.

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.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

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

You must be logged in to read this quote.

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.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

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

You must be logged in to read this quote.

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.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

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

You must be logged in to read this quote.

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?

[Seneca]

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.

[Classic Conservative]

We almost got Secretary of Education Jerry Falwell Jr.
https://mobile.twitter.com/colincampbell/status/802706789829640192/photo/1

[Ronnie]

We almost got Secretary of Education Jerry Falwell Jr.
https://mobile.twitter.com/colincampbell/status/802706789829640192/photo/1

America dodged a bazooka, and instead got hit by a BB gun.

[Classic Conservative]

If a complete clown like Falwell got offered a position then Trump clearly dosent know what he's doing

Liberty University is a scam college like Trump University

Liberty University is a reputable university with over 115,000 students both online and residential so...

[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?

[Seneca]

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?

Perhaps Breitbart is too important of a website for the movement conservative types to ignore. Just because he is in their club does not mean that he is ideologically identical.

[DavidB.]

In all seriousness, Cheney as SoS would actually be a great idea, wow! Still hoping for Bolton though.

[Horsemask]

If a complete clown like Falwell got offered a position then Trump clearly dosent know what he's doing

Liberty University is a scam college like Trump University

Liberty University is a reputable university with over 115,000 students both online and residential so...

Uh yeah I'm no fan of Jerry Falwell, his father, or the religious right, but Liberty University is thousands of times more reputable than Trump U...even if it is run by crazy right wing religious nuts who want America to be a theocracy.

That being said, that is actually terrifying that Trump offered that to Falwell.

[Famous Mortimer]

Liberty University is an accredited college.

Trump University offered seminars on how to sell real estate.

They really aren't comparable. Besides having the word "University" in their names, they weren't even the same type of organization.

[The_Doctor]

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.

Just out of curiosity, what would make you lose faith in Trump? You're obviously reading my timeline, so you know my opinion. But I do want to know, despite your paleoconservative views, what would make you give up faith in Trump?

[Santander]

Liberty University is an accredited college.

Trump University offered seminars on how to sell real estate.

They really aren't comparable. Besides having the word "University" in their names, they weren't even the same type of organization.

It shocks me how many people completely disregard this.

(Yes, "university" is a regulated word in NY and Trump should not have used it, and I am not defending the quality or recruiting tactics of Trump University, but that's something else altogether.)

[Mr. Morden]

This is just getting weird.  Kellyane Conway went on “This Week” this morning and lashed out at Mitt Romney:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/27/us/politics/trump-adviser-steps-up-searing-attack-on-romney.html

You must be logged in to read this quote.

So is Romney still in consideration or not?  Because for a normal political operation, it would be very weird for a top advisor like Conway to go on one of the Sunday shows and publicly attack someone who the president might appoint to a top job, saying that she’s “personally” opposed to it.  If you’re a top political advisor, you normally offer the party line, not your personal opinion on what the boss should do.

But Trump doesn’t have a “normal” political operation, so I don’t know what to think.

[Mervin]

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.

[Badger]

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.

But I'll give Romnet this, at least he is patriotic and a Good Republican. He may take the job for the good of both if offered.

(Please)

[Mr. Morden]

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/802883106034229248

You must be logged in to read this quote.

https://twitter.com/dandrezner/status/802895593702096896

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Maxwell]

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.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

I'm kind of surprised that Romney is even being considered for anything given that the guy almost certainly didn't vote for Trump.

[Virginiá]

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.

[Mr. Morden]

I'm still thinking that Giuliani is the most likely Secretary of State pick, but I wouldn't rule out a dark horse pick like Rohrabacher.