Thus far, there hasn’t been a single admirable or even minimally fit Trump Cabinet nominee –but even among the clowns, buffoons and conspiracy theorists who are likely to dominate the upcoming administration, four stand out: Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
I’ve used the term “resistance” a lot since the election, without suggesting concrete steps to take. But Simon Rosenberg has outlined two in a recent Hopium newsletter, and I heartily endorse them.
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Call your Senators and Representative to let them know your dissatisfaction with the rapist, fraudster, traitor and 34 times felon’s pick of Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth and Robert Kennedy; and to inform them of your expectation that they will leave it all out there on the playing field to block these profoundly dangerous nominations whether they have a vote on them or not.
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Contact the White House and ask President Biden to order the FBI to begin background checks into Trump’s nominees immediately and before Trump installs Patel to disable the process.
In case you are unfamiliar with these nominees, Robert Hubbell has offered a description of the terrifying Kash Patel, noting that Patel wants to destroy the FBI while converting it into a weapon of political vengeance.
Patel has promised to “shut down” the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. on his first day as director of the FBI and re-open the FBI Headquarters the next day as a “museum to the deep state.” He said,
“I’d shut down the FBI Hoover Building on day one and reopen the next day as a museum of the deep state. And I’d take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and send them across America to chase down criminals.”
But he has also threatened to use the FBI to harass journalists and politicians who sought to hold Trump accountable for his crimes. Patel said,
“[W]e’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections — we’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out.”
Patel’s nomination is also an assault on the US intelligence community; the FBI plays a critical role in counterterrorism and intelligence gathering. Hubbell links to a number of other resources for background on Patel.
Speaking of the intelligence community she would head, Tulsi Gabbard is widely considered to be a Russian asset. As the Independent has reported,
Even before Gabbard left the Democratic Party, ingratiated herself with Donald Trump and secured his nomination to become director of National Intelligence, she was known as a prolific peddler of Russian propaganda.
In almost every foreign conflict in which Russia had a hand, Gabbard backed Moscow and railed against the US. Her past promotion of Kremlin propaganda has provoked significant opposition on both sides of the aisle to her nomination.
The media has been full of reports about Pete Hegseth–all negative. The New Yorker has issued an updated review of the behaviors that caused him to be forced out of prior positions. Those disclosures–unethical behaviors, sexual misconduct, egregious drunkenness–added to the already widely reported and salacious details of this nominee, who at this point, is not expected to be confirmed.
It is hardly necessary to update my prior comments about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. His brain worm is insufficient to explain the conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine fixations he’s embraced. Even Trump’s former FDA commissioner has expressed significant concerns about naming him health secretary.
So here’s the assignment, as Rosenberg outlined it.
We need to inundate our Senators and Representatives with letters, emails, phone calls–any and all methods of communication decrying these nominees and demanding that they be properly vetted. Those of us fortunate enough to have Democratic Senators and/or Representatives can simply affirm our deep concerns and urge them to do whatever they can to derail what are actually attacks on the agencies involved.
Those of us unfortunate enough to be represented by Republicans have a trickier task. Here in Indiana, for example, we have two Republican Senators. Todd Young is relatively moderate (he’s a policy person and refused to endorse Trump)–letters to him should urge him to do what he probably knows is the right thing, and oppose these unfit nominees. Our other Senator (replacing Trump-complacent Braun) will be Jim Banks, who is certifiable. Banks is a lost cause; he will support anyone Donald Trump wants. Letters to him should set out the demonstrated flaws of these nominees and call on him to explain his support for any of them. Copy the news media with all of it.
Bury them with protests. I’m starting mine now.
I have probably made 30 calls to Senators and Representatives about these unAmerican nominees, and I have contacted the White House in the last 10 days. Rarely do I get anything besides a voicemail but I know the aides keep a tally. Greg Pence is only collecting a check at this point; I emphasize to Braun how these nominees will make life difficult for him as Governor. Calls and emails are what I can do.
Locking the barn door after all of the horses asses are out the door and in Trump’s line for appointments to his Court of Jesters.
Good call, JoAnn. It’s not like America hadn’t been warned. The Republican gutless cowards currently in elected office will do NOTHING to stop the personification of the demons in Trump’s diseased mind. ALL of the appointees reflect his paranoia, egoism and utter disdain for the rule of law, civilization and service. We will witness what inside the cuckoo’s nest really looks like … to our peril.
Call/write/scream at your elected officials all you want. The Senate Democrats will do their best to make the approval process a walk on the coals for the horse’s asses brigade, but it won’t be enough. We’re going to need a revolution or other dramatic event(s) to fix this mess.
I’m in the same camp with JoAnn and Vernon, that we’re trying to close the barn door after the horses have escaped—and this time, the horses may be apocalyptic. Whilst Todd Young likely would take our concerns seriously, he’s just one moderate voice among the crazy MAGAt many. Appealing to Braun would be wasted energy: like Pence, he’s nothing more than an ineffective placeholder, a good little soldier doing as he’s told, and probably Beckwith will be running the show.
Meanwhile, despair and hand-wringing won’t accomplish anything, so I’m keeping my options open, will act in hopefully productive ways, and keep my spirits up by reading this blog and Heather Cox Richardson’s daily post (today’s offer some sound ideas).
“Contact the White House and ask President Biden to order the FBI to begin background checks into Trump’s nominees immediately and before Trump installs Patel to disable the process.” Really?? Seems to me clearly a violation of protocol, history and, perhaps, law. And the optics of a president weaponizing the FBI after being accused of such? And the set up for more of that as being “ok” for “The Duck”? I’ll be sure to never have “whatever Rosenberg is drinking”.
Those of us who have suffered the terrible misfortune of falsely being represented by Jim Banks at both the state and US level know what a piece of &%*t he is. His loyalties lie first with accumulating more personal power in DC and then with tRump. As a new Representative in DC a few years ago he hired Tucker Carlson’s very young son as a staffer in order to gain favorability and a lot of air time on Fox Spews.
The Super PAC Club for Growth is completely responsible for getting Banks elected as our newest Senator. They have owned him since he was first elected as a state representative. When Club for Growth heard a year or so ago that powerful republicans in IN wanted Mitch Daniels to replace Mike Braun as our Senator they stepped in and ran anti-Daniels tv ads all over the state before Daniels even had a chance to declare himself as a candidate. It worked. Daniels quickly decided he didn’t want his family to have to deal with all of the vicious negative ads that Club for Growth would sponsor.
I believe angry constituent phone calls to Banks’ DC and regional state offices would be more impactful than letters. When staffers have to frequently listen to angry callers it becomes very stressful for them. They will definitely relay those messages to Banks and some may even choose to quit because of the stress.
We citizens didn’t actually elect Banks – Club for Growth did by making sure he had no GOP competitors. Daniels caused a lot of damage to IN as governor, but he is not a faux Christian Nationalist and would not have followed the orders of any Super PACs like Club for Growth. He would have easily beaten Banks in the election.
While I have read the many ways these, and the other nominees are unfit—why is there little said/written about their wealth? So many billionaires— what other conflicts of interest, just from that. Will they become the oligarchs—or are they already?
Well, the DP has no problem endorsing and funding the mass slaughter of women and children, closing down union protests and protests on college campuses. Obama stopped the OWS movement once they told him they weren’t part of the DP. Don’t forget #GenocideJoe’s consistent lies, and he even kept in several of Trump’s appointments.
Based on my encounters with the Indiana branch of the FBI, they, along with the Supreme Court, are frauds. The last location the FBI should have for their central office is Washington. Get them out of Washington, D.C., and have them focus on crime because they sure haven’t prevented many, which is not unlike our local police departments. It seems like every time I read a newspaper, there is a new case of police brutality, racism, etc.
I happen to appreciate Tulsi’s honesty since leaving the DP. She saw what Hillary did live and in person, which was probably enough to make anyone a populist, which she is now. As for “Russian propagandist,” that is a term used against anyone who holds the US accountable for its crimes here and abroad. Here’s a clue: Russia and China have pretty much nailed the US for what it has become. We should listen to them more and listen less to the entertainment news that lies to us daily.
If RFK wants to take on Big Pharma, I say let him follow through. The DP has done nothing to reel in the corruption and profits of the greedy bastards.
Pete Hegseth is completely unqualified to lead the Pentagon. There is no question about it. DeSantis is the backup choice because Trump has lost interest in Hegseth because he lied about his past to Trump’s team. A middle-aged man doesn’t use his mom as a character reference to defend him. That means he has no professional acquaintances interested in supporting him. Even his former Fox co-workers complained that Pete drank too much. End of story on Pete!
As a populist from the so-called left, I am looking forward to seeing what Trump and his minions blow up if anything. Washington is very resistant to change. It’s like a massive cancer cell that has completely infiltrated a body. Now that Trump has hired populists instead of insiders let’s see what happens. For me, I’ll be watching the reactions of the oligarchs. Musk has been lying his ass off so far, and his hands will be tied when dealing with the biggest department in Washington since he has major defense contracts.
You might want to make a huge bag of popcorn for this one. 😉
Only the Senate is involved in this fiasco. We need 4 Republicans to stand up for the Constitution and the rule of law and reject the clown car proposed by the incoming President. There’s no way that will happen. We might convince Murkowski, but I can’t think of another.
It’s interesting that these incompetents are the among the few who were not selected because of their wealth. Kennedy may have enough money to generally escape scrutiny until he decided to run for President, but he’s not in the same class as the rest of this billionaire cabinet.
It’s an anti-populist cabinet, but I can see the MAGATS loving the fact that all of these really “successful” people will be fighting for Orange Jesus and, of course, for them. The only question is will they understand what has happened when they are hung out to dry, left with diminished Social Security and no Medicare?
By the way, Indiana’s AG Todd Rokita is suing the three largest oligarchies for their internal decisions regarding coal. Ten other states, mainly petrochemical states, are joining the lawsuit. I’ve read numerous pages of the 109-page complaint, and it reads like a Koch-created report. Todd is suing BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard. These three investment companies rule the Western world but have opposing oligarchs in the private world, like Koch et al.
Don’t get caught up in all the smokescreens. Pay attention to where the fires are burning.
https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/INAG/2024/12/04/file_attachments/3091401/States%20v%20BlackRock%20Complaint%20Filed.pdf
I have committed myself to making one contact a day to express my concerns to officials. Right now, I am contacting Senators regarding Trump’s nominees. I read that the following might be open to pushing back against Trump: Collins, Murkowski, John Curtis (UT), Tom Tillis (NC), and Mitch McConnell (!). It’s going be be a long haul, but as Bob Marley sais, we are the little axe well sharpened to cut down the big tree. Here’s my request re Tulsi Gabbard: “I urge you to heed the requests of nearly 100 former senior U.S. diplomats and intelligence and national security officials for Senate leaders to schedule closed-door hearings to allow for a full review of the government’s files on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s pick to be national intelligence director.”
I dropped Todd Young a note the other day. I quoted his own words from his recent newsletters piece that requiring ‘merit and rigor’ in vetting appointees to the military academies supports doing away with race as a consideration. The same should be employed by the senator when vetting cabinet appointmentees.
He’s not a Trumper. He could join 3 others and form a Joe Manchin style block to muscle MAGA to the mat. That would be bold. Too bold perhaps.
Apparently not many people follow Todd Young on FB, he has overwhelmingly endorsed every single dipshit nominee, I don’t see any assistance there.
I called every senator in 2017 multiple times and nothing. Mitch McConnell has at least 3 offices of which 2 said since I was from Indiana I wasn’t his constituate and advised I call my senator.so I don’t really see how that’s going to help.
I don’t see how doing exactly what we did last time is going to get a different result since we are in way deeper shit than then.
Robert Reich, whom I don’t consider to be an alarmist (I may be wrong), is warning that dipshit might actually bring his military against the blue states invoking different Acts that would give him the power to do so.
Again I ask, what are us Democrats in red states going to do?
I have been contacting Young daily with directives to represent the people of Indiana according to the oath he took to the Constitution Advice and Consent may be his most significant responsibility in that representation.
Re Young’s newsletter about the admission policies in service academies, those schools have always made admissions race based. White men only reeks of racism and misogyny.
I fail to see how contacting Banks would do one bit of good. He is fully bought and paid for by Koch money, just like Pence is. He answers to his masters not the electorate.
“…Missouri has a piece of pending legislation that would pay a $1000 bounty to anyone reporting an “illegal” immigrant. proposed bill would create a “Missouri Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program”, which would award $1,000 payouts to those who make eligible reports to the State Highway Patrol. Migrants would then be incarcerated “without eligibility for probation or parole”. Newsweek
Much like the Texas bounty where private citizens can sue anyone who “aids and abets” an abortion, including health care providers, relatives, abusive partners, and strangers. Anyone who successfully sues can receive at least $10,000 in damages.
The anti-bellum fugitive slave laws were a precursor to this kind of legislation. “Then they came for me. And there was no one left.”
Living here in Florididia, I have 2 senators who are going to do all they can to kiss up to, and abet, Trump’s insanity. And, my rep, is just a “tool.”
We are in for a crazed ride, buckle up!
Todd Smekens: I’ve seen several teaching jobs in the United Kingdom where you and your “vision” of reality would be a perfect fit. Openings for fantasy explorers are many. You might find yourself to be much happier there too.
Vernon, I would be happier in parts of Europe but not the UK. They think Keir Starmer is a leftist. The oligarchs in London Center run the UK…it’s old money, and they’re leading the UK in a fateful direction, much like the US.
My favorite headline from last week was about Trump threatening BRICS members with high tariffs if they find an alternative for the dollar. LOL
BRICS is seeking a neutral exchange currency that doesn’t benefit any country because they’ve watched how the US handles other countries when they don’t bow down to US dictates. Will Trump’s tariffs against China cause Walmart problems, or will they be exempt? LOL
They are already tossing wood into the dumpster…
Todd, I just finished A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan. It depicts the power of the KKK in Indiana during the 1920s. The KKK was a police force of its own. They killed and punished their enemies. Your talk about murdering oligarchs and spreading innuendo is right out of their playbook.
Which country in Europe would you be happy in?
I am hoping that the election of Senator Thune as Majority Leader indicates that there is a silent majority of Republican Senators who still support the Constitution. I base that on the fact that it took a majority of the Republican Senators to elect him; i. e. 28. I am praying that they will do their duty with regard to the aforementioned despicable four and keep them out of senior office. As noted, it will only take 4 on each nomination and it doesn’t have to be the same four. They can spread the opposition out just enough to make it clear to the radicals that they don’t have carte blanche to throw out the Constitution.
CGH. Interesting. I like your idea about spreading the opposition around within the R. Party. Wonder if any of them have thought about it.