SWAT
You’ve seen it on TV. The SWAT team is poised outside the door, one officer wielding the “post-pounder”, the heavy steel tube with handles that can crash through any lock. There’s the legally required warning; “Police!!” — then the crash of the “pounder” busting through. But it’s the next step that I’m interested in. The “door crasher” steps back, and another officer leans in and tosses what looks like a grenade from an old black and white World War II TV show.
It’s not that kind of explosive. Instead, it’s a “flash-bang”, that explodes with a brilliant and blinding flash of light, followed by a deafening “boom”. The theory: it will disorient the suspects, and allow SWAT to get into the room and gain control before they can react. It’s a distraction, and before the suspect knows it, they are face to face with heavy weapons, handcuffs, and little choice but to surrender.
Appointees
This week, President-Elect Trump (first time I’ve typed those words in eight years, might have to take a short break), announced some cabinet appointments. A few were expected and “normal”; Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, former Congressman John Ratcliffe to head the CIA; the “father” of child separation Tom Homan as “Border Czar”. (OK, Homan isn’t normal, but, like Deputy Chief of Staff Steven Miller, foreseeable). And there was the inevitable “Fox and Friends” host. Last time it was Larry Kudlow as economic advisor. This time it’s Pete Hegseth for the Secretary of Defense.
Except for Hegseth, no one created too much “shock and awe”. They were the crash of the post-pounder at the door. Then the grenade rolled in. Trump nominated former Democratic Congressman from Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard, as Director of National Intelligence. That’s a big deal. Gabbard has connections to dictators throughout the world, and has followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “party line” in recent years. Handing her the reins to the Intelligence apparatus seems like a dubious idea, the fox guarding the chicken coop kind of thing.
Next he added North Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security. Her qualifications seem to be that she governed a state with a long international border, with Canada. And she was willing to send the North Dakota National Guard to Texas. Oh, and she told the world that she shot her dog – maybe a strong “Trump” qualification for dealing with migrants.
Flash and Bang
But then the first “Flash” exploded. Trump proffered former Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida up as the next Attorney General . Gaetz is a lawyer (William and Mary), and actually passed the Florida bar. But he has little experience practicing the law, and no training as a Prosecutor. And he’s been under investigation by both the Department of Justice that he would lead, and his own colleagues in the Congress. He allegedly engaged in hiring prostitutes, some underage, and transporting them across state lines. In fact, he resigned from Congress in order to dodge a House Ethics Committee report, due out at the end of this week.
Senator Markwayne of Oklahoma last year explained that “they all” saw the videos on Gaetz’s phone: sex parties and “Red Bull/Viagra” cocktails so Matt could go “🎵All Night Long🎵”. But the Department of Justice dropped their investigation, and now that Gaetz is no longer in Congress, the Ethics Committee doesn’t have jurisdiction.
But all is not lost for Gaetz. Thursday it was revealed that he resigned from THIS Congress – not the next one. So, in effect, Gaetz is taking a two month vacation, with the option to return as the Congressman from Pensacola in January.
Next came the “Bang”: Bobby Kennedy as Secretary of Health and Human Services. The premier anti-vaxxer in the Nation, would be in charge of the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. So what if he (like Gaetz and Hegseth) has a history of “women issues”. And then there’s the whole bear in Central Park thing, whale-head on top of the family car, and the worm eating his brain episodes. I guess those really aren’t a problem for the incoming President.
Payoffs and Tradeoffs
So what’s the point of the Gaetz/Kennedy grenade?
First of all, it’s all about payoffs. Gaetz, Gabbard and Kennedy all supported the Trump Presidential campaign. And Gabbard and Kennedy were once Democrats, pariahs in their own Party who “switched” to the other side. So Trump can even claim he’s being bipartisan.
Second, it all about “owning the Libs”. Gaetz has been a continual gadfly, supporting every issue to make “Libs” feel bad. And Kennedy, while still the scion of the family Democratic name, has been politically disowned by his own family. They say he’s got “mental issues”, and they know best. But Trump can shove him down the “Libs” throat.
Third, it forces the Republicans in the US Senate to make a choice. Are they Trump “Loyalists”? As Markwayne, of “Red Bull and Viagra”, now says: “whatever the President wants, I completely agree”. If Republican Senators stand against the President, then they take the risk of being declare “RINOS”, Republicans in Name Only, with all of the electoral implications for the future.
But most likely, Gaetz, Kennedy and Gabbard are a “Flash-Bangs”, meant to distract. It’s a kind of tradeoff, if those folks are a bridge too far, then all of the other appointees are “acceptable”. And of course, they aren’t; from former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin at the EPA, to former Senator and Christian Nationalist Mike Huckabee as Ambassador to Israel. And who knows what the “richer than rich” team of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will be doing with their unofficial-official “Department of Government Efficiency”.
Welcome to Trump, 2.0. If chaos and upheaval is your thing – the next four years is going to be a “wild time”. Have fun!
The fate of the Nation is in his hands.
