[PassedOut]

I wonder who will be up next for Attorney General. Rudy?

[shyams]

barmar, on 2024-November-21, 17:03, said:

I agree that Rubio will probably be easiest to confirm. Not because of any particular policy issues, but simply because he's a "mainstream Republican". He's a career politician, he's been a Senator for 14 years, and has been a non-joke Presidential candidate. He's arguably one of the most qualified of all these crazy nominations.

The only way anyone could sail through the process more smoothly would be if Trump nominates Lindsay Graham or Mitch McConnell.

I presume this is some form of parody or satire.
* Lindsay Graham is the biggest war hawk in the Senate.
* Mitch McConnell once said that funding Ukraine was a bigger priority for the Senate than funding needs for disasters that had occurred (I think it was weeks after a hurricane or some such disaster had affected thousands of Americans).

[shyams]

• Let's see what happens with RFK Jr.
  Trump literally endorsed RFK's policy of "Make America Healthy". He said so in at least a couple of speeches; that he'll allow RFK loose on the food industry. So as per hrothgar's reasoning, RFK's nomination should be approved by Senate.
  However, my view is that Senate will create numerous obstacles in the confirmation because "Big Food" is another group of mega-donors for Congress (esp. Senate)
  
  
• The DOGE initiative is another that has Trump's explicit endorsement.
  Now, I dislike the idea that a Pvt. Sector person like Musk will be given power without oversight or accountability, but that's another matter.
  Your Senate will (I believe) have to confirm Vivek. I won't be surprised if his Senate confirmation runs into procedural obstacles.
  
  
• The Deptt of Govt. Efficiency will need formal Govt. resources. Let's see how soon your House of Representatives (esp. Speaker Johnson) move to arrange for them. I predict it will go too slowly for its own good.
  DOGE is a Govt. Deptt., it cannot be run in a freestyle, unregulated manner like what Vivek or Elon imagine it to be. So it will need a formal budget approval.
  Note that until the Senate confirms the Head of DOGE and/or formally recognises DOGE as a Govt. department, other Federal Departments will not be legally obliged to heed to any demands made by this team of people.
  
  
• Hegseth may well fail in his nomination for SecDef because he does not appear to be a M-I-C "champion". That view alone is disqualifying.
  Trump said something like "the enemy is within" and expressed a desire to update the Military. Hegseth is on record saying he will fire many of the 3-Star and 4-Star generals.
  This alignment of policy will be ignored; not even 1 out of the 44(!) 4-Star generals will be allowed to be fired without a huge resistance put up by Congress.

If it matters, I believe Lloyd Austin (the current SecDef) was the fastest/first confirmation by Senate for the Biden administration. Because he's so "mainstream"

I'd be happy if all of my predictions turn out wrong. Alas, I fear that the establishment's interests will prevail and you all (the average American people) will be worse off for it.

[pilowsky]

DOGE is an advisory body - the Senate isn't involved.

[hrothgar]

shyams, on 2024-November-21, 23:57, said:

[list=1]

So as per hrothgar's reasoning, RFK's nomination should be approved by Senate.

here is what I actually wrote

"RFK Jr is an interesting corner case since this is one of the (few) examples I can think of where questions of policy might prove significant"

RFK's belief's about policy are so detached from reality that the Senate might decide to reject him on these grounds.

Or, alternatively, the fact that he has zero experience with either

1. Administering large bureaucracies
2. Health care policies

His health care grifts are a relatively recent development

His major accomplishments during his early life involved heroin trafficking and use...

[barmar]

shyams, on 2024-November-21, 23:20, said:

I presume this is some form of parody or satire.
* Lindsay Graham is the biggest war hawk in the Senate.
* Mitch McConnell once said that funding Ukraine was a bigger priority for the Senate than funding needs for disasters that had occurred (I think it was weeks after a hurricane or some such disaster had affected thousands of Americans).

I don't see what either of these have to do with how easily they would get confirmed by the Senate for practically any cabinet position. They're both beloved members of that body already.

Of course, if they're not willing to kiss Trump's ass he wouldn't nominate them in the first place. Trump and McConnell have never gotten along well, but except when they were running against each other in the primaries, Graham has been a Trump booster.

[mycroft]

...and fat lot of good that's done him.

Having said that, I also am surprised he hasn't been lined up for some toady reward.

I guess the biggest failing of current R-members is that there are a lot more than just Cancún Cruz for whom Al Franken's quote could apply.

[shyams]

Kamala Harris Campaigning With Liz Cheney Flopped with Key Voter Group

Link: https://www.newsweek...-voters-1990516

Newsweek article of 22 Nov 2024 said:

Vice President Kamala Harris campaigning with former Representative Liz Cheney cost her enthusiasm among a key voter group in the presidential race, according to a newly released poll.
...

A new survey from left-leaning pollster Data for Progress suggested Harris' decision to appear with Cheney didn't play well among independent voters in two key swing states she narrowly lost.

The poll found that more independent voters in Michigan and Pennsylvania said they were "less enthusiastic" to vote for Harris after she campaigned alongside Cheney...

[Winstonm]

Ken says I shouldn't say people who voted for Trump are stupid so I'll say they are misguided. I've read about many who voted for Trump who only believe he will do those things they support that he said he will do and will not do those things he said he will do that they don't support.

That along with the strong resistance to the word liberal that makes using the correct term of liberal democracy sound like a Commie takeover leads me to believe the problem is one of understanding - and in my experience it is the fault of the explainer not the explainee when things go sour.

Why don't we say Liberation Democracy, that which gave us our freedom, instead of the allowing the right-wing fascists' target practice by continuing to use liberal democracy?

[hrothgar]

shyams, on 2024-November-21, 23:57, said:

• Hegseth may well fail in his nomination for SecDef because he does not appear to be a M-I-C "champion". That view alone is disqualifying.
  Trump said something like "the enemy is within" and expressed a desire to update the Military. Hegseth is on record saying he will fire many of the 3-Star and 4-Star generals.
  This alignment of policy will be ignored; not even 1 out of the 44(!) 4-Star generals will be allowed to be fired without a huge resistance put up by Congress.

This article describes why Hegseth is now likely to be rejected

https://www.newyorke...-secret-history

As I mentioned before, the issues have to do with personality and qualifications and not policy.

[kenberg]

Winstonm, on 2024-December-01, 11:18, said:

Ken says I shouldn't say people who voted for Trump are stupid so I'll say they are misguided. I've read about many who voted for Trump who only believe he will do those things they support that he said he will do and will not do those things he said he will do that they don't support.

That along with the strong resistance to the word liberal that makes using the correct term of liberal democracy sound like a Commie takeover leads me to believe the problem is one of understanding - and in my experience it is the fault of the explainer not the explainee when things go sour.

Why don't we say Liberation Democracy, that which gave us our freedom, instead of the allowing the right-wing fascists' target practice by continuing to use liberal democracy?

This thread has been up for 8+ years so a guy might inadvertently repeat himself. In what follows I am pretty sure I am repeating a story I once told.

Long ago I was at a party and there was a guy I thought it best to stay away from. Later I learned he was involved with convincing people to join some organization and give them some money. My reaction? I could not understand how anyone could ever for a moment trust that guy with anything. That's the way I have felt about Trump from the beginning. Some people, I am prepared to argue, are bad and I suppy evidence. I think one can indeed give reasons for not trusting Trump, but for me, from the start, it has gone beyond any need for reasons. Trump likes to talk about his instincts and his gut reactions. My gut reaction to Trump is to stay away. There is much more to life and to successful choosing from options than just your gut, or my gut, or Trump's gut. But gut reactions should not be totaly ignored.

It has become fairly common for Trump supporters to acknoledge that Trump is a bad person, but then they argue that he has good policies. I believe this is very dangerous. Well, the election is over and we will see how it goes from here. I expect that the US will become isolated. I cannot imagine leaders from other coutries trusting him at all. We always must read the fine print? Sure, but with DT I doubt the fine print, the large prnint, what was said yesterday, I doubt any of it matters to him at all. Maybe the distrust comes from evidence, maybe from the gut, probably from both, but I do not expect much trust.

I think that we are in for a tough time. All of us.

[sharon j]

Yes Ken, I agree. I'm having a difficult tme dealing with the Trump win and what it means to this country. Can I ask you and others, how are you dealing with it? I've tried to avoid any political news, opinion pieces etc. but honestly it has not helped. Thanks in advance if you reply.

[kenberg]

sharon j, on 2024-December-03, 09:24, said:

Yes Ken, I agree. I'm having a difficult tme dealing with the Trump win and what it means to this country. Can I ask you and others, how are you dealing with it? I've tried to avoid any political news, opinion pieces etc. but honestly it has not helped. Thanks in advance if you reply.

Much like you, I am frustrated and really do not have any good ideas about what to do. There is no real comparison in our history. I vaguely recall the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954 (I was in high school then) after which the Republicans, most all of them I think, finally concluded that McCarthy was trash. I had pretty much come to that conclusion on my own, but I was 15 and not much into politics. At 15 I liked working on cars and going swimmiing. Oh yeah, also an interest in girls. Politics was a side issue. Maybe Republicans will once again rethink who they want to have speaking for them but I am not optimistic.

This is hardly an encouraging response, but I am at a loss. We shall see. I wish I could say something better.

[hrothgar]

Looks like Hegseth is out and that attention will now turn to Tulsi Gabbard

[Winstonm]

Assad crumbling in Syria once again lowers the status of Vladimir Putin. Do his defeats make him more of less dangerous? Does Trump care?

PS: Our news media is hopelessly broken.

[pilowsky]

America's next Ambassador to Greece.

[PassedOut]

pilowsky, on 2024-December-12, 23:32, said:

America's next Ambassador to Greece.

But it clears the path for Donald Junior's new girlfriend. MAGA voters understand!

[pilowsky]

Here's Bill Clinton in conversation with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart discussing everything.

[thepossum]

 pilowsky, on 2024-December-16, 15:51, said:

Here's Bill Clinton in conversation with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart discussing everything.

Thx for the link

What went wrong?

[pilowsky]

thepossum, on 2024-December-16, 20:31, said:

What went wrong?

Where to start?