Transition Team/Cabinet Thread

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

On the other hand, if it is Rudy, then possibly John Yoo for AG?

There was this uncharacteristically self-reflective Vox article earlier this year that talked about, among other things, how liberal media/cultural tastemakers during the Bush years kind of let Yoo fall through the cracks because he couldn't be painted as a hick or a dope. I think there's something to that. And because Yoo was never really given the Daily Show treatment back then, he may once again be one of the most dangerous men in America.

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On Predictit, Giuliani being given a 60% chance of being Secretary of State.  Sessions now a plurality favorite for both Defense (narrowly ahead of Talent, 37-33) and Attorney General (narrowly ahead of Gowdy, 43-33).  Michael McCaul now the favorite for Homeland Security, as David Clarke slides.  And Jan Brewer’s now taken the lead away from Palin for Secretary of the Interior.

Doesn't Gowdy hate Washington and want to move back to Spartanburg?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I don't know why Giuliani wouldn't be confirmed.  A Republican Senate isn't going to confirm Giuliani?  Why not?

All it would take is 3 GOP defectors.

Aren't there a few Democrats who are (relatively) buddy-buddy with Giuliani from back when?

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we are screwed.

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https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/798585141148815360?lang=de

This is legitimately terrifying. Doesn't he have links to literal eugenicists or something?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

John Katko is among the rumored names for Secretary of Homeland Security:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/18/donald-trump-cabinet-nominations-what-we-know-so-far

Which seems odds, since he was #NeverTrump.  Then again, so was Romney, and he's apparently in the mix for Secretary of State.

Katko, like most incumbent upstate New York Republican Congresscritters, seems significantly less terrible than average, so okay...?

Sessions as AG and Huckabee as Ambassador to Israel are of course terrifying.

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Mattis being interviewed for SECDEF.

I don't know much about Mattis, but his Wikipedia article includes the phrase 'controversial Silicon Valley biotech company' so I oppose him for anything higher than dogcatcher until proven otherwise.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Doesn't every incoming administration say it'll move the embassy to Jerusalem?

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according to "page six" (gag) judge jeanine is considered for a white house job.

http://pagesix.com/2016/11/20/jeanine-pirro-may-be-trump-administration-contender/?_ga=1.133547726.1562420173.1464554012&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=P6Twitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow

"page six"

All of these bizarre rumors are people leaking misinformation. There is a gravy train here. I ought to get on board!

Dude, I sincerely wish you the very best if you decide to pretend Trump is considering you for Junior Assistant Hatchet Man to RNC Chairman Roger Stone or something.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I'd be interested to see how Trump could possibly present Carson as qualified for HUD. I could see HHS because he's a surgeon or even Education because he was technically a university administrator, but not this.

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would confirm everything I thought about Harold Ford Jr

He's one of the good ones? (Democrats, that is)

Not by your standards a mere few months ago he's not.

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Doesn't DeVos also run a clean energy investment concern or something?

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and her brother owns Blackwater

She's from that Prince family? Yuck.

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

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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.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

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

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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.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

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.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I assume Trump could simply pardon Petraeus, although the optics of that would be really bad.

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I'm not necessarily opposed to Mattis on principle, although I don't like some of his business connections and I have a suspicion that the only reason Trump likes him so much is that he has a cool nickname.

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Joe Scarborough ‏@JoeNBC  2h2 hours ago
The SecState process continues. Trump considered the Romney meeting "great" but is expanding options and looking at Exxon CEO RexTillerson.

1. So what we're learning from this is that Trump has essentially no idea at all what kind of SoS he wants.
2. Jesus ing Christ.

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Scott Pruitt as EPA Administrator?? What's next? Whitey Bulger as FBI Director?

Trump has the best people. Terrific people.

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Trump's top pick for Sec. of Labor apparently is Andrew Puzder.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/308865-trump-considering-fast-food-ceo-for-labor-secretary

Hardee's? Seriously?

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When Trump appoints fast food executives to the Cabinet, he's not appointing their best. He's not appointing Don Thompson. He's not appointing J. Clifford Hudson. He's appointing people that run lots of sh**tholes, and they're bringing those sh**tholes with them. They run Carl's Jr. They run Hardee's. They run Green Burrito. And some, I assume, are good people.

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WEEI radio in Boston and the NY Post are reporting that PEOTUS is considering former MLB manager Bobby Valentine as Ambassador to Japan.

This is actually not a terrible pick, much like Branstad. Valentine managed in Japan and speaks the language. Plus he apparently knows Abe

Yeah. If nothing else he'll probably be a better Ambassador to Japan than he was a Red Sox manager.

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It'll be one of these CEOs. Ugh.

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Politics1.com ‏@Politics1com  6m6 minutes ago
Trump reportedly will name US Sen Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) as Agriculture Secretary. Under ND law, a special election will be held for seat.

Damn, well that's 53-47 if true.

Collaboratrice.

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Looks like they're already backtracking:

lmao what a mess