This Does Answer a Common Question

Each time Trump announces a new nominee for a position in his administration, the same question arises: where does he get these people? (The ones who aren’t family members, that is. Family may be equally unfit, but we do know where he gets them.)

Really, who knew there was a vast pool of corrupt, unqualified, mean-spirited people willing and eager to work with Donald Trump?

Juanita Jean points out that Texas is one good source of appalling folks.

You guys remember Yachting Randy Neugebauer – the west Texas congressman we love around here.  Randy bought a yacht with his campaign funds which is kinda strange since he lives in the desert, was the guy who chewed out the national park service ranger on tv for doing her job during the government shutdown that he voted for, yelled “baby killer” at a Democratic congressman during a debate, and called US border detention centers the lap of lovely, and a whole mess of other stuff including how the hell did his son, Toby, become a billionaire.

“Yachting Randy” had retired from Congress, but it appears he will be joining the Trump Administration. In a match most definitely not made in heaven, he is being considered for a job as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Donald Trump is considering Randy to head up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Elizabeth Warren’s old job.  Did you hear me? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Why aren’t you hollering and stomping?

Hell, people, you could not trust that guy with a dime.  He will steal the gold out of your teeth.  Plus, he’s crazier than an internationally syndicated Donald Trump tweet.  He’s got loco camped out in his eyeballs.

So “Yachting Randy” joins the growing parade of “you’re kidding, right?” nominees….

Not long ago, I was having lunch with a friend; we were glumly assessing the various harms likely in a country governed (if you can call it that) by this collection of truly appalling choices, and we concluded that their very incompetence might be our salvation–that most of them were too inexperienced and uninformed to be effective. The Trump Administration seemed likely to resemble the Keystone Kops.

But people like “Yachting Randy” and “Oops Rick Perry” and (most terrifying of all) “Sheriff” Jeff Sessions do have government experience. Their prior performance wouldn’t exactly recommend them for positions in a competent administration, and they may not be the sharpest knives in the drawer, as the old saying goes, but they may actually be able to do a considerable amount of harm.

I keep telling myself I’m just having a nightmare…..Could someone please wake me?

25 Comments

  1. No, Sheila, You are not having a nightmare…. we are all living one. The question I have is, “Will the Republican US Congress wake up before it is too late?”

  2. I always wondered where Hitler amassed his armamentarium of henchmen. Apparently all societies have a coterie of such thugs who are willing and waiting for the chance to “serve.” Like really attracts like.

  3. Sheila: “I keep telling myself I’m just having a nightmare…..Could someone please wake me?”

    You’re not having a nightmare. This is really happening. Donald Trump is a very sick man. He’s taking ALL of us along with his SUICIDE. When I say all, I’m also including, for example, the European Union. He’s destabilising the whole planet.

    REMEMBER: At the end of W.W. II, Adolph Hitler committed suicide and left behind millions who had died by foolishly following him. Unfortunately, history has a tendency to repeat itself.

  4. Today brought the dawning of the 25th day – DAY – for Trump’s heinous attack on America; did Hitler move this fast? I believe he crept in over a period of time to ease himself into the conscience of the German people and the world at large. One difference I am aware of today is that many of us, those of us who try to keep up with all news in general, have been aware of Trump’s life fiascoes for about 30 years, enough time to know who and what he was and is before the GOP adopted his nasty, illegal personal habits and turned them loose on the the American public. The GOP has not stepped forward to end the fulfillment of Trump’s like-minded appointments or his determination to rule this country via the presidency with Congressional approval to deny our rights as they rob us blind via “taxation with THEIR representation”.

    This is the dawning of Trump’s 25th DAY; what the hell will he do to us today? Which of our allies will he demean and insult and which of our enemies will he support? The enemy countries, with continuing connections and support of his confirmed and appointed cabinet members, are firmly set in place to work with the Republican Congress to maintain their hold on this country. Trump and his supporters maintain he is merely keeping his “campaign promises”; he made no promises, he made and is carrying out his “campaign threats” against humanity and our civil and human rights.

  5. The kakistocracy marches on. Will the Republican Congress wake up? Probably not. They can’t even put together a coherent legislative agenda, let alone a coup of some kind. But if they did, what would they do? Look at the line of succession.

  6. and they may not be the sharpest knives in the drawer, as the old saying goes, but they may actually be able to do a considerable amount of harm.

    This is precisely the reason I will not vote for personal wingnut friends for any political office above the township level-such as graves recorder. They can do serious damage-most of it intended, imho, once they get county wide or higher positions.

  7. I didn’t think it was possible to find anyone more unqualified for a position than Betsy DeVos, but 45 seems to have a big basket of unqualifieds to choose from. I’m sure most of them are friends of Mike. Welcome to Koch Heaven.

  8. We’re making the same mistake as the German Wehrmacht made during the invasion of Normandy during W.W. II. The Wehrmacht failed to counter-attack while the allied forces were on the beach. Once they let the invasion force escape the beach, the war was over. Like the pro-democracy forces in America, they were surprised and overwhelmed by the strength of the opposition.

    It was a failure of intelligence, just like what has happened in the U.S. with our pro-democracy NGO’s.

    The following is from an E-book, “D Day through German Eyes: Further Eyewitness Accounts of German Servicemen of June 6th 1944” edited by Holger Eckhertz (Holger Eckhertz, 2015) Location 2007:

    Interviewer: “It is true, many of the Static Infantry men have told me this. But I must pay tribute to their commitment and determination, whatever their level of fitness. I believe they fought very hard.”

    A serviceman who defended the Atlantic Wall: “Of course they did. I would never suggest otherwise.”

    “But we must be realistic, and see the facts for what they are. It was accepted by everyone that if there was a real invasion on that coast, and not a commando-type attack with a limited objective, then the beach forces, the coastal forces, would probably be overrun at first by a focused assault [sound familiar]. This was why a counterattack by our mobile forces was so critical to any plan to defeat an invasion.”

    “Counterattack is the surest form of defence–that was the thinking of the Wehrmacht, and it was very true.”

    “In the end, of course, our full-scale counterattack against the landings was late in being staged, and so the Allies had the chance to build up their strength [what do you think Trump/Pence is doing?] in the coastal pockets that they captured on the first day.”

    Is anyone still under the impression that this is some kind of “tea party?”

  9. For all those people who want to do something about these problems, I have a suggestion. Start with your local politicians. Trump is not an anomaly. There are many like him who desire to tear down the fundamental pillars of our democracy. It is those local politicians, who if not stopped early in their careers, gain stature and become able to do real harm on the national level.

  10. Story going around that Drumpf wants to fir NSC guy and major embarrassment Flynn, except it will make the Drumpf administration look bad. Holy tornadoes. Imagine what could be worse than proving Drumpf is incompetent- a nukular war, maybe?

  11. Ms Peggy, I swear I never met and don’t knowany of Drumpf’s scoundrels. 🙂 I pinkie swear it. 🙂

  12. I think that Trump’s appointments (other than family members) have been fed to him by libertarian nihilists (who favor destruction of government) posing as Republicans (in order to get elected) for his imprimatur and predictable tweet about what a “tremendous” job such appointees will do in rescuing America from the ravages of the media, Muslims, and those liberals who favor no borders for all those terrorists and criminals who are “pouring into the country.” Fear mongering, anybody?

    I think further that of all of the horrid appointments made that the worst were Bannon and Miller as “advisers.” Miller spent his Sunday yesterday on talk shows and, among other things, said that the president’s orders could not be questioned by the media or even the courts, playing his national security card and talking about how Trump would change the planet. This, I determined, was the ugly face of fascism en route, and perhaps an object lesson in medicine as it suggested that Trump’s narcissism and penchant for delusion contagious.

    Some pundits thought that Miller was merely testing the waters to see how far Trump could go in gaining public approval as a dictator, recognizing that his propaganda was sure to draw fire. Others suggested that he was fronting for a democracy-destroying fascist takeover, noting that Trump (predictably) tweeted that Miller had done a fine job on the Sunday talk show circuit.

    If Miller and Herr Trumpf are testing my waters, my answer is (in Flynnese) NYET!

  13. IMO Trump did not set out to appoint a bunch of right wing nut cases to his cabinet. I think they were the only people he could get to work for him. Think about it . What ethical, moral, educated person would even answer the phone if he called. Of course he has the bottom of the barrel; that is where he resides.

  14. The guiding principle of the GOP is to win at all costs. They win and we pay the costs. One of the costs is a functional democracy the compromise of which costs us freedom.

  15. Thank you, Theresa, your statement goes to that old and truthful adage, “Water seeks it’s own level.” And that entire group, including the Trump family, are definitely “the bottom of the barrel.”

  16. Yesterday I was cruising Facebook and came across a page about drilling information. It was a fascinating read about the The Greater Permian Basin (GPB) in West Texas and S.E. New Mexico. The page discussed the evolution of the basin, during the Permian (298.9 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 252.2 Mya).

    Now the high command of the Oil, Gas and Mining Companies along with the scientists such as geologists would understand the time and geologic forces necessary to produce these fossil fuels. I think we can safely safely say the Republican Party is inhabited by elected officials who have as an unofficial motto “Fossil Fuel Over All”.

    Now oddly enough we have the same Republican Party that also inhabited by young earth creationists. A member of Trump’s Cabinet Ben Carson had this to say – “I personally believe that this theory that Darwin came up with was something that was encouraged by the adversary and it has become what is scientifically, politically correct,” he noted. The “adversary” being Satan. Carson is a creationist, which means he believes the world is only 6,000 years old. He has also referred to the big bang theory as “ridiculous” and a “fairy tale” created by “high-falutin scientists.”

    I heard Carson’s point of view expressed by a bible thumping TV pastor a few years ago. Essentially, the Devil is very powerful and will test our beliefs in literal Genesis by planting fake science for us to believe in. It is not surprising that the Trumpkins would have this blind belief in the Trumpet no matter how outrageous he lies and spins.

    On the same hand we have the Oil, Gas and Mining wing of the Republican Party that must accept the “Old Earth” and Evolution of the planet to explain fossil fuels, but yet on the next finger on the same hand the entire cast of characters that ran for President of the Republican Party ducked and dodged questions about Evolution.

  17. Our spear is the free press. In addition to calling elected officials, maybe we should be calling the press and demanding they do their jobs.

  18. This makes sense to me when I recall that Mr. Trump said that he came to “shake things up”, that he thrives on chaos and when he uses Steve Bannon as his counselor. Steve Bannon has the strange idea that chaos will end in some sort of apocalypse, but you can check Time for the details.

    Mr. Trump, the anti-president has chosen a bunch of people who, by being against the departments they head, will certainly “shake things up”. Unfortunately, this is like the guy who wants to lose ten pounds, so he goes on a 500 calorie diet and runs a mile a day. He doesn’t lose the ten pounds as much as he gets sick or something strange happens to his body. Mr. Trump is such a poor administrator, clueless about how you go about making productive changes that benefit the common good (assuming that is even within his scope), he is likely to change America in ways he has not imagined, assuming he is able to look beyond himself to understand the consequences of anything he does. He will certainly come down as our worst president, causing untold damage to the fragile republic.

    I suspect that this will come to an end when his supporters see outcomes that actually hurt their pocketbooks and lifestyles. Unfortunately, these are probably the same people that our founders were nervous about when they established this country, where nobody looks beyond their pocketbooks and have no conception of what it means to “see beyond the years” or understand the meaning of the Republic. Even then, the damage may last beyond the ability of this country to come back from injustice and mean-spirited people in high places. So much for the dream of America.

  19. Maybe the only good thing about these absurd nominees is that it will awaken some patriotic sensibilities in enough Republicans that they’ll do the right thing. There is a news report today that several Republicans have concluded he is mentally ill. Duh! Question is: will they step up for the good of the country and stop him from doing more damage?

    Another thing that gives hope: according to leaks from White House insiders, Trumpster has discovered that being President is much harder than he imagined, and nowhere near the fun he expected. People don’t love or respect him or his Slovenian concubine, and even though he went to a lot of trouble and expense to have her dressed like Jackie Kennedy, people aren’t buying it. Ever notice than when he’s not looking at her, she’s not smiling? Many people have. Department stores are dumping his daughter’s overpriced, ugly clothes and jewelry and there’s nothing he can do about it.

    He can issue all of the edicts and pound his tiny fists all he wants, but courts will stop him and the “dishonest” media are not intimidated and will call him out. He can demean and insult all he wants, but he won’t necessarily get his way. Even his lying spokeswitch, Kellyanne, has been sidelined with lies she can’t talk her way out of, and media have needed to develop a strategy to handle her consistent deceit. He and his administration provide ample fodder for comedians, and SNL’s ratings are skyrocketing. Women are parodying Sean Spicer and that cracker Jeff Sessions.

    The best of all: he has set a record for Presidential disapproval ratings and protest marches. Maybe he’ll simply get tired of his new toy and give it up when he finds out it’s only going to get worse.

  20. Drumpf’s dinner fiasco was interrupted by news of N Korea missile test launch. One of the non-governmental guests started snapping pics and posting on his Facebook page, including the person who carries the nukular football so Drumpf can bomb Detroit before bedtime. I seriously doubt that person needed his pic or job description advertised. This administration is too stoopid/incompetent to survive long. YIKES!

  21. Natacha; as I just commented on a Facebook post regarding this entire administration, the question put to Trump by the Gold Star father, Mr. Khan, needs to be posed to this entire administration. “Have you no decency?”

    We all know the answer, without reservation the resounding answer is “NO!” I watched the wordy but empty news conference with Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada after their meeting. A brief reference by PM Trudeau that there are differences of opinion regarding immigrants between them, a briefer comment I assumed to be a carefully worded reference to the pipeline without mentioning the pipeline. No reference to Mexico or NAFTA; but glowing accolades back and forth regarding the happy trade situation between Canada and the U.S. With only closed captioning, I missed the question shouted from an attendee to Trump regarding his continuing trust of Flynn. This was reported by one of the followup newscasters on MSNBC.

    I would like to see a return of that quality political program segment, “Point/Counterpoint”…renamed “Fact/Alternative Fact” but who could possibly debate Bernie or Liz on the “Fact” side? It deserves full program time with questions from the public and moderated by a RAW referee.

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