Among the many boasts we’ve become accustomed to hearing from Donald Trump is his repeated insistence that he hires “the best people.” I thought about that boast in the wake the Vice-Presidential choices made by Trump and Harris: JD Vance is one of the most disliked VP candidates of all times, while the selection of Tim Walz has been greeted with widespread enthusiasm.
When it comes to fitness for office, Vance has almost no experience in elective office, while Walz has served in Congress and as Governor of Minnesota. (Even Sarah Palin–to whom he is often compared–had more governing experience than Vance.)
Trump’s choice of an unsuitable running mate is not an aberration. As a recent article in The New Republic put it, the selection confirms that Trump picks the very worst people. The article reminded readers of the many “incompetent and corrupt” members of his administration:
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who resigned after squandering hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on private travel; Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, who resigned “after being embroiled in one ethics controversy after the next,” as CNN put it; Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who “resigned under the weight of more than a dozen federal investigations into his actions,” according to The Washington Post (Zinke is back in Congress, of course, where he is speculating that the recent attempt on Trump’s life was part of a government “plot”); Mike Flynn, the national security adviser who lied to the FBI in the Russia probe and went to jail (Trump pardoned him); swamp thing and Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort, who went up the river for tax and bank fraud (Trump pardoned him too); alt-right guru Steve Bannon and trade troll Peter Navarro, who were convicted of contempt of Congress; would-be Batman villain Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress (Trump commuted his sentence before, ultimately, pardoning him too).
The list went on. And on. And Trump seems incapable of learning from his mistakes. (Of course, he is also incapable of admitting that he makes mistakes..)
Having run the administration with the highest turnover rate in history presumably gave Trump plenty of experience to avoid making the same mistakes, but it’s not like later-term personnel were much better than their predecessors in his own estimation. John Bolton, Trump’s third national security adviser, was a “dope” who “Never had a clue, was ostracized & happily dumped.” Mark Esper, Trump’s last confirmed defense secretary, was “weak and totally ineffective”; Attorney General Bill Barr, who parted ways with Trump only after belying his claims of widespread 2020 voter fraud and later said that Trump “shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office,” was “Weak, Slow Moving, Lethargic, Gutless, and Lazy” (though once Barr endorsed him this year anyway, the magnanimous ex-president retracted the “Lethargic” label).
There is no love lost between Trump and those who entered and left through the revolving door that was his chaotic administration. CNN has identified twenty-four members of that administration who are warning voters against a repeat. Even Mike Pence–sycophant extraordinaire–has refused to endorse him.
His first secretary of defense, James Mattis: “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us.”
His second secretary of defense, Mark Esper: “I think he’s unfit for office. … He puts himself before country. His actions are all about him and not about the country. And then, of course, I believe he has integrity and character issues as well.”
His chairman of the joint chiefs, retired Gen. Mark Milley …. “We don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator. We take an oath to the Constitution and we take an oath to the idea that is America – and we’re willing to die to protect it.”
His first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson: “(Trump’s) understanding of global events, his understanding of global history, his understanding of US history was really limited. It’s really hard to have a conversation with someone who doesn’t even understand the concept for why we’re talking about this.”
His presidential transition vice-chairman, Chris Christie: “Someone who I would argue now is just out for himself.”
His second national security adviser, HR McMaster: “We saw the absence of leadership, really anti-leadership, and what that can do to our country.”
His third national security adviser, John Bolton: “I believe (foreign leaders) think he is a laughing fool.”
There are others quoted, but this sample is representative.
So much for the hope that this buffoon would be restrained by “adults in the room.
The adults have all run for the hills.
He doesn’t have to worry about who to put in position, because the Heritage Foundation has already picked the cretins who will populate his second term. We’ll have a full boat load of those zombies who have drunk the Kool Aid.
VOTE BLUE!
I applaud this contribution to your column this morning, Sheila. The bully in the playground needs to be called out. There should be no surprise who the bully selects to stand by him, to have his back on the campaign trail while he hides from other nefarious, evil people.
I wrote and sent a letter to Senator J.D. Vance last night to acknowledge with respect his service in the Marine Corps. I wrote that my father served in the Marine Corps as a gun turret command officer on the USS Helena during the naval engagements with the Japanese Fleet at Guadalcanal. When I turned seventeen, I wrote, my father encouraged me to join the Army Reserves. Upon enlistment, my father administered The Oath which I raised my hand to commit, with my grandfather, a veteran, stood by me as witness.
I continued my letter to Senator Vance. I wrote that there is in addition to The Oath, an unwritten code never to call out in public a personal judgement on the military record of another veteran who served and was honorably discharged. You’ve got something important to say to them … do so privately to their face away from public view.
And while he endeavors to have that conversation with a political adversary, consider carefully having that same conversation with his current running mate.
His current running mate, the bully in the playground, is a three time draft deferral based on a lie arranged by his father that his running mate suffered from a bone spur. His father leveraged a tenant, a doctor with a respected practice, in one of his commercial buildings, to write a false diagnosis so that his son, the bully in the playground, would be excused from military service.
The letter was sent last night, and I will vote with conviction come November 5th.
I groan when I hear someone say “I don’t like Trump but I like his policies.” Trump’s one and only policy is self promotion. Everything else is accidental. Of course he attracts fools and parasites, fools who think he can keep on winning forever and parasites who expect to get rich off his leavings. None of them understand that parasites are utterly dependent on their hosts. I think we’re getting set to rid ourselves of some of them.
Trump IS his policies; we watched him carry out many of them as reported on the news for almost 40 years regarding his business ripoffs (gutting the government while in office) and his sexual escapades which he bragged about on Access Hollywood (where did those filed 19 sex abuse charges go?). Sadly; it is his right as an American to appeal all of his recent, and future, trial outcomes as he is protected by the Constitution of the UNITED States of American which he intends to end if back in the White House. You can’t separate the snake from its venom; can’t separate Trump from his policies or the policies from Trump…or his MAGA party members…which are actually HIS best people.
Yes, a good column today. If you know a tree by the fruit it bears, you know people by the company they keep.
Norris, your letter is spot on and well said. Thank you.
trump is a mere calling for anyone who likes a 5 year old temper tantrum. his following is made up of people spoiled on the democracy and how they got it. as for as his back room, those new wanna bes will tell him to shut up and sign here here and here. sit with musk and tell the world now why we exist. as those never to bes have their way with America,any way they want..stock ticker, USAMINE like china,they will pick and choose who gets what,,,
Norris:
ditto. if you didnt serve in any capacity,then walk away. many served in many diffrent ways, Im sure Sarge Walz made sure his men were equiped and made sure they were ready. its done in confines away from others,in moments were the men become soldiers.
I’m a professor of journalism at Indiana University-Indianapolis.
@16campaignbites
I teach a course called Fake News.
It was inspired by Donald Trump.
Don’t you wish there was a blog with the names and bios of hundreds of Trump associates –criminals, sycophants, bigots, liars, misogynists, traitors, conspiracy junkies, incompetents, and sexual deviants,
Who doesn’t?
Here it is:
https://drchrislamb.com/only-the-worst-people-introduction-cast-of-characters/
You can link to the different categories of Only the Worst People.
It’s accompanied with 1000s of links to 100s of sources so you could verify the credibility of the information?
Please share.
A democracy depends on an informed citizenry. This blog includes a lot of information on one of the presidential candidates.
This blog is like democracy – only more fun
After reading about Vance, the only thing I think he brought to the table was some billionaire silicon valley types. Overconfident Trump didn’t think he needed another Pence to balance the ticket and thought all he needed was an another infusion of cash. This comes from his flawed transactional world view.
This is wonderful! Funny, yes, but highly informative!
Ditto Peggy’s comment. Heritage already chose Vance as his VP candidate.
I hope Harris and Walz attract a huge enough number of young voters to the polls this November to create a landslide victory.
Trump’s chief of staff, General John Kelly, labeled Trump the most flawed human being he’d ever met. I’m not sure “human” applies to the orange hairball, but consider his pathology now on full display.
His psychopathy is compelled to hire lesser beings than himself. In his madness, he doesn’t realize how flawed and sick he is, but the “best” people he can find to work for him MUST be “loyal” above all else. Therefore, his “people” will be even more corrupt, less moral and dumber than he is. It’s how it works in Trump world. NOTE: The Republican party has, in virtual totality, embraced this institutionalized incompetence. This makes it easier for rational people to vote for anyone BUT a Republican at any level.
Norris, I commend you!
Vernon, I have to take issue with your comment that tfg picks people who are less moral than he is…one can not be less moral than someone with a total absence of morals; dumber is iffy, as well, as this is Mr. “…worst student I ever taught,” who can not be bothered to learn anything beyond something like a 3rd grade level.
But, yes, loyalty is the factor
What tfg does do is pick the best sycophants he can find.
How far do you think the Vance apple fell from his dysfunctional tree?
For those who read or saw Hillbilly Elegy, would you like to have been in the family who raised him? None of us can escape our upbringing.
Nancy, I don’t think Heritage picked JD Vance for Trump. Vance is Peter Thiel’s protege, and he’s going all-in on Trump, which is mind-boggling. Peter is a kind of wild gay man who is married with children. You’d think he would stay far away from Trump.
Heritage has been vetting potential employees through the Project 2025 website. Knowing what we know, does anybody see Trump having employees picked for his administration? Trump says he rejects P2025, but it’s probably just the part where they are selecting future staff members for his presidency.
Speaking of incompetence, did CNN identify Betsy DeVos as the worst pick ever for Trump’s administration? She was so bad that teachers were literally blocking her from entering their schools.
I agree with Vernon: when your ego is inflated like Trump’s, you are also highly sensitive, which is why Trump is obsessing over Harris/Walz crowd sizes. He even claims AI artificially created them. The MAGA cult members have been repeating those lies, and so has Elon Musk. When you have an inflated ego, you’ll only pick sycophants who tell you what you want to hear. JD Vance fits that requirement perfectly, and so did Pence.
I didn’t watch the Live interview between Elon and Trump, but I read that Trump was very unhappy with it since it didn’t come across very well. I know what I’ll be doing at some point today! LOL
p.s. Chris, I am now a Twitter follower.
I agree with virtually everything others have said! My question is both rhetorical and serious. My (Black) partner – tells me that significant numbers of BIPOC are saying that they will vote for DT – because – “he runs the economy better” and related – failures of Biden (and Harris) to control the Borders of the US – and similar. The Election based upon what we see as Reality – should be a total – 90% of the Electoral Votes going for Harris. Some of this is Racism. Some of it is Sexism. Some is this and some is that! I would question both how the Media and How our Politicians speak – a HUGE number of people – either Despise/Fear – the Dems and/or “love” DT! It obviously relates – to “Populism” – playing on Fears and the growing Economic Inequality – and how the Democratic Party Messaging doesn’t reach a lot of People – as well as blanket statements – like: “You are doing better now than 4 years ago” – which isn’t true for a lot of People – who don’t own stocks/bonds, for example. Our talking to ourselves – doesn’t change the realities – of the key states and more. What am I missing?
right wing news:
tonight,we will talk with president jd vance about trump passing the torch to him…
then imwoke up…
thanks!
And so…we call names…they call names…lots of venting…where will it end…more importantly, will it make any difference at all in the future?
Norris, something I carried with me in my studies about leadership is that a great manager “praises in public and criticism is done in private.” When a manager criticized me in front of my colleagues, I asked him to step outside the office. I told him this “praise in public, criticize in private” he claimed the IT Director slammed people openly in meetings. I asked how effective that was and he defended it by saying it worked! Some people need it!
I said, I don’t and the IT Director was a mean guy with a blinking tick that you can’t ignore. My manager at the time was originally from East Germany so I gave him a pass that time and left that position soon after. I was also the only female IT person in that section of the department.
Thanks for the reminder.
Please note that ALL of the crimes that Donald Trump has been convicted of occurred BEFORE he was even a President Elect, and therefore can in no way be interpreted as falling in the category of Official Presidential Actions for which the Supreme Court has “Granted” him immunity. Personally, I hope that Judge Marchan sentences him to either Sing Sing or Attica, but I doubt that it will happen.