96 replies to this topic

[redlion]

Hey guys, instead of making a new thread every time Donald Trump does something ridiculous, or conversely if he manages to do something good, I figured it would keep things neater if I just had one thread.

Here's a list of Trump's cabinet appointments. Nominations rather. Most have to be confirmed by the Senate.
Gen. "Mad Dog" Mattis for Secretary of Defense
Gen. John Kelly for Homeland Security
Gen. Michael Flynn for National Security Advisor
Scott Pruitt (an oil and gas lawyer/lobbyist) for Environmental Protection Agency
Ben Carson for Housing
Betsy DeVos (family owner of Amway, a MLM scheme) for Secretary of Education
Andrew Pudzer (CEO of a fast food chain) for Secretary of Labor
Wilbur Ross (investment banker, Rothschild Investments, vulture capitalist) for Secretary of Commerce
Tom Price for Secretary of Health (he wants to privatize medicare/medicaid)
Steven Mnuchin (investment banker, Goldman Sachs) for Secretary of the Treasury
Elaine Chao (Mitch McConnell's wife) for Secretary of Transportation
Nikki Haley as Ambassador to the UN

More to come. Notably Sec. State is still open, and veterans affairs. He put Sarah Palin forward for veterans, but the vets got kinda angry at that. Seems they're no fools.

What do you guys think of his picks? See any outsiders in there? I left out the most hilarious one, because it gives me a chance for giftastic gifs:

Guess who's got a cabinet level spot? This bitch:


Not the young one. That's her daughter.

[jaredyne]

McMahon would make a better president than Trump

or at least like, not a worse one? Look at that death stare, c'mon

[Adam]

It'll be interesting to see how appointing x amount of retired Generals to official positions will turn out. It always boggled my mind, even before being in the military, how civilians held the SecDEF position, and not someone with actual combat experience.

[Coops]

His EPA, Treasury and Education appointments make me laugh, but also, my soul died a little when I found out. Didn't he appoint Steven Bannon to something as well? Maybe it was just talk.

[KaibaSama]

EPA: Get the gas masks, we'll all be breathing pollution soon.

Education: Better get the bc..wait..no..get the abstinence and hope your kids don't get pregnant, because sex ed is going bad. All evolution science will be gone and science books will be replaced with bibles, and kids will be learning and having religious services in school. If you're not Christian, too fucking bad, you're going to hell if you don't believe in Jesus!  You want to send your kids to public school? Public schools teach kids bad moral values and the kids go to hell! Pay thousands of dollars for private school or go to a for profit that won't' teach you anything! 

Labor: You want more money to feed your family? Too bad, dirt has nutrients for worms and stuff, and they survive on it! Eat that! 

 

You can easily see how I feel about this horrid cabinet picks by Trump. This is an exaggeration and a joke, not me saying what will actually happen. 

[KaibaSama]

I liked my Trump Appreciation thread, but I guess this works too

If you and @redlion are fine with it, I'm happy to merge the two threads if you both feel that would work.

[DonValentino]

Keep this one. Ortin's is out of date. 

[redlion]

It'll be interesting to see how appointing x amount of retired Generals to official positions will turn out. It always boggled my mind, even before being in the military, how civilians held the SecDEF position, and not someone with actual combat experience.

Well, there's the joint chiefs of staff. So they're generals. And of course the President can call up any general he wants for an opinion at any time he wants. Secretary of defense is the civilian oversight for the pentagon, which is staffed entirely with military personnel (and some contractors). There have been generals that have held the position before, but one has to have been out of uniform for 7 years before entering civilian office, or obtain a waiver from Congress.

That rule is there because Congress wanted to limit how quickly a general could enter political life and subsequently make decisions about conflicts that they had just been commanding.
 
There's also a broader point to be made about who we want making our national policy. We are more than a nation of armies.
 

His EPA, Treasury and Education appointments make me laugh, but also, my soul died a little when I found out. Didn't he appoint Steven Bannon to something as well? Maybe it was just talk.

Bannon is Counselor to the president. That's like a mentor position, or more traditionally, a communications and strategic messaging position. So in some ways Bannon makes sense. He's definitely far right, but at least he's run a communications organization before this appointment. More sense than most of the rest of them, anyway.

[Coops]

Well, there's the joint chiefs of staff. So they're generals. And of course the President can call up any general he wants for an opinion at any time he wants. Secretary of defense is the civilian oversight for the pentagon, which is staffed entirely with military personnel (and some contractors). There have been generals that have held the position before, but one has to have been out of uniform for 7 years before entering civilian office, or obtain a waiver from Congress.

That rule is there because Congress wanted to limit how quickly a general could enter political life and subsequently make decisions about conflicts that they had just been commanding.
 
There's also a broader point to be made about who we want making our national policy. We are more than a nation of armies.
 
Bannon is Counselor to the president. That's like a mentor position, or more traditionally, a communications and strategic messaging position. So in some ways Bannon makes sense. He's definitely far right, but at least he's run a communications organization before this appointment. More sense than most of the rest of them, anyway.

Yeah, I mean, that's a good perspective to have. But the guy is also crazy racist too.

Tangentially related, we just found out today that Baldman's dad voted for Trump. Baldman angrily stomped around for a good two hours and then laid down in bed, feeling pretty defeated. I don't blame him. Both Baldman and I are very liberal people and socialists. Mostly, we just give a shit about human rights and stuff, and like we just want people to be able live, eat and you know have some sort of decent life...regardless of whether they are LGBTQA+, black, disabled, or whatever. I mean I'm disabled and definitely not straight. So, it's sort of depressing to find out that his dad basically denies the reality of being marginalized for being disabled. Like he told Baldman on the phone "no kid, you've got it wrong, Trump isn't racist! he didn't mock a disabled reporter! I've seen interviews! He has our best interests at heart."

Pfft. I don't think Baldman's dad knows anything about any of Trump's appointees.

[jinq]

Yeah, I mean, that's a good perspective to have. But the guy is also crazy racist too.

Tangentially related, we just found out today that Baldman's dad voted for Trump. Baldman angrily stomped around for a good two hours and then laid down in bed, feeling pretty defeated. I don't blame him. Both Baldman and I are very liberal people and socialists. Mostly, we just give a shit about human rights and stuff, and like we just want people to be able live, eat and you know have some sort of decent life...regardless of whether they are LGBTQA+, black, disabled, or whatever. I mean I'm disabled and definitely not straight. So, it's sort of depressing to find out that his dad basically denies the reality of being marginalized for being disabled. Like he told Baldman on the phone "no kid, you've got it wrong, Trump isn't racist! he didn't mock a disabled reporter! I've seen interviews! He has our best interests at heart."

Pfft. I don't think Baldman's dad knows anything about any of Trump's appointees.

Like taking millions of donations from Saudi Arabia, Qater, UAE or having Robert "KKK" Byrd as a mentor is supporting human rights.

 

As for jobs, look at all the jobs that are leaving the country and how obama said nothing can be done to stop it. Well, someone just save 1.1k jobs without being president yet.

Edited by jinq, 12 December 2016 - 06:12 PM.

[redlion]

Like taking millions of donations from Saudi Arabia, Qater, UAE or having Robert "KKK" Byrd as a mentor is supporting human rights.
 
As for jobs, look at all the jobs that are leaving the country and how obama said nothing can be done to stop it. Well, someone just save 1.1k jobs without being president yet.

Actually they only 'saved' 850 manufacturing jobs. At a cost to the state of Indiana of about 700,000 per year in slush fund money. The other 300 jobs they 'saved' were headquarters jobs that were being moved to North Carolina, not Mexico. 1300 manufacturing jobs are still being relocated to Mexico. So he didn't even save as many as he lost.

In addition Trump didn't have any authority to make a deal with Carrier. Mike Pence, acting as Governor of the state of Indiana, authorized those 'tax incentives.' If anyone else had been the VP, those jobs would probably have gone to Mexico, because if Pence wasn't taking a higher office, he probably couldn't justify that expense to the taxpayers of his state. ITT: Trump gets credit for Pence's previous job.

The thing about donations is, you really don't get to be picky. That's why they're called donations and not transactions. I agree that sometimes donations can get people access they wouldn't otherwise get. That's the point, you give money to a charity for them to use as they wish, and in return they listen to your views for a minute or two. It doesn't mean they have to agree.

I don't know where you're digging up Byrd from or why you think that that's important now, but iirc Trump was endorsed by David Duke, and neo-nazis celebrated in Washington D.C. after Trump was elected.

[NapisaurusRex]

When my bf (a corrosive coating specialist) found out about the epa appointee 'well, my job just got a lot easier.'

[bwoke]

shit how do i delete posts.

Edited by ohml, 13 February 2017 - 10:16 AM.

[Swim]

so the Trudeau and trump meeting went well. i mean in all honestly this is good for canada and us relations

[Emily]

Comey fired (most likely for getting too clsoe to the truth), Jeff Sessions, who recused himself from Russia investigation, looking for a new FBI director because that will go well, and Sean Spicer hiding in the bushes to avoid the press. What is going onnnnnn

 

 

Also Sean Spicer:

 

[soy]

Destroying the EPA amidst a climate crisis haha!

 

*liberal tears* 

[GhostMommy]

"liberal tears", are you implying that conservatives ever cry?

[soy]

im not implying anything other than the only reason people support trump for empty slogans u CUCK 

 DRAIN THE SWAMP

 

ARREST SHILLARY

MAGA etc

[Emily]

 
If anyone needs an update of what's going on that will make you laugh a little. I love this podcast. A few of them worked under Obama, and they've had some great people on for interviews.

[wikkles]

^ I can vouch for the excellence of Pod Save America. Super entertaining and informational!

[tumblr]

lol honestly watching this entire experience has been surreal. There's been quite a few negatives over the past few months but watching the Trumpgret of voters has been a blessing.

 

I feel this is going to be a very interesting 2018 midterm and 2020 election. The man digs himself a grave on a day by day basis, I wonder how long he'll be able to keep things together(if you can count things as 'together')

[Kat]

On the bright side, all the stuff coming out these past few weeks and trumpster's anger and impotence has put me in a very good mood

[Emily]

^ I can vouch for the excellence of Pod Save America. Super entertaining and informational!

 

His Rubio rant killed in that episode killed me. "At least Paul Ryan has the decency to have dead fucking eyes."

[redlion]

So Gorsuch will be on the bench that hears the travel ban case. First look at how this guy will rule as a justice. I hope he doesn't do what he said he'd do, and look to precedent for his answer. I mean in WW2 we had internment camps; that's a precedent, but it doesn't make it right.

Since I last posted Tillerson has become SecState, ceded all responsibilities to his underlings, and hidden from the public eye. The communications staff in the west wing have gone schizo trying to walk back various Trump tweets, only to have Trump undo their work in the wee hours of the morning. Sunday night John Oliver casually mentioned that something like 43 senior appointments have yet to even get a nominee from the administration, let along a confirmation hearing.

Trump has ingratiated himself with the Saudis and the Russians, while pissing on the Israelis by leaking their intel and not knowing that Israel is in the middle east. He pissed off the NATO allies, telling them to pay more and not worry about russia. He pissed off the pope - the pope! - by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.

I mean where does it end? Where was it supposed to start? I guess most conservatives held their nose and voted for him so they'd get the SCOTUS seats when the time comes for Ginsberg and Breyer, but damn that's a cold way to think about running the country. Sacrificing any short term policy goals for the long term goal of having a conservative bench for SCOTUS?

I would hope that long term family traditions of voting for one party or another would not hold greater sway than a quick gut check personality assessment of this guy. Clearly I was wrong. Perhaps I am just pessimistic in outlook by nature, but it seemed obvious to the one or two people I discuss politics with in real life that this gremlin, this mole that comes out of his country club once in a blue moon, could not and would not be able to run the country.

What a horrible chapter in American history.

[Kat]

Comey is testifying tomorrow! *clapclap* This is gonna be good.