LOL at the fact that Zeldin, Stefanek and Rubio are now characterized as safe solid Republicans. It wasn't that way until the other nominees were made.

I think we have to look at the nominees in total. They are disruptors.

Trump circa 2016 was supposedly about Drain The Swamp. From Trump's perspective that was negated by bad cabinet appointments - establishment Republicans that were not on board.

It seems pretty obvious to me that Trump's nominations - in total - are telling us he isn't making that mistake again. Virtually all of the nominees are practically guaranteed to seriously shake up their departments. Gaetz may be a joke but do we really think the guy who was the object of a probable politically motivated DOJ investigation isn't going to clean house? Mission accomplished.

DiabloWags said:

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Spot on again.

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The Pete Buttigieg Transportation Secretary nomination was a troll move by the left. I know he had some knowledge of South Bend, Indiana traffic but still.

DiabloWags said:

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Spot on again.

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Lanhee Chen exposes MSNBC for its hypocrisy regarding Trump’s appointment of RFK to lead HHS.

“Let's not forget — we had a nominee for HHS secretary in THIS administration who had never dealt with health care before being nominated.”

“So he had experience suing healthcare… pic.twitter.com/57SUzjXMHE

— End Tribalism in Politics (@EndTribalism) November 17, 2024

Where was Peggy in 2019-2020 regarding Biden's appointees?

DiabloWags said:

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The first wave of nominees to the Trump administration announced this week included normal RepublicansSusie Wiles as chief of staff, Elise Stefanik as ambassador to the United Nations, Lee Zeldin at the Environmental Protection Agency, Marco Rubio as secretary of state. All are grown-up players who have political histories that preceded Donald Trump and became fully MAGA.

But the second waveit is impossible to tell if Mr. Trump is announcing appointments or trolling his enemies. Pete Hegseth as defense secretary? This is unserious and deeply alarming. He is a decorated military veteran with Ivy League degrees, but he has no serious governmental or managerial experience, no history of international accomplishment. The Pentagon is a mammoth bureaucracy overseeing almost three million employees, including those in the military services. The defense secretary is a world leader: If North Korea launched a nuclear missile, he would be in the room with the president, advising and counseling. In the past 10 years Mr. Hegseth has made his living as a breakfast TV host and culture warrior. This isn't the right fit. At this point in his life Mr. Hegseth, 44, lacks the stature and depth required of the role.


As for Matt Gaetz being nominated as attorney general well, this is just straight-out trolling, right? The four-term Florida congressman has won a reputation as disruptive, divisive, aggressive, lacking in groundedness and wisdom, and dogged by ethics allegations. He seems to see politics as an offshoot of showbiz and has entertained his followers with successive attempts to take down GOP leaders in the House, on behalf ofwell, it's never quite clear. This we need in America's top law-enforcement official?

The choice obviously isn't meant to reassure anyone outside the MAGA baseor even those within it who are intelligent. It is an insolent appointment, guaranteed to cause trouble and meant to cause friction.

We are back to the Island of Misfit Toys. What a mistake. Mr. Trump often confuses his own antic malice for daring, his own unseriousness for boldness. How amazing that in the rosy glow of election, he will spend so much political capital and goodwill on confirmation fights he may well, and certainly deserves to, lose.

- - - Peggy Noonan for the WSJ, Nov. 16, 2024

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I typically agree with Peggy and always enjoy reading her articles. But she's got a real blind spot on this one.

She only likes appointments that meet with her beltway/institutionalist (and, most importantly elitist) sensibilities. It is no coincidence she approves of Trump's insider appointments (Rubio/Wiles/Steafanik/Zeldin). She likes the swamp. She epitomizes the swamp and wants it perpetuated.

Trump doesn't give a poop what she thinks and and probably takes great comfort that she (and her type) disapproves. In fact Trump wants to completely reorient the DOJ and DOD and wants outsiders to do that. The last thing he wants is institutionalists in those roles.

The fact that Peggy thinks outsiders can't be good nominees reveals more about her (and DC) then Trump. It shows she doesn't understand the election or why Trump won.

And just to be clear, I do think Gaetz is a bad nomination for other reasons - posted about that in a different thread. But if Gaetz is not confirmed (which I think is likely), his replacement will be a similar type who is going to raise hell at the DOJ.