Rule #39

Get In Line

Like it or not, the Nation elected Donald Trump as the President of the United States.  And, unlike Trump and his MAGA-followers in 2020, the Democrats got “in-line” and did their duty as American citizens.  They, we; accepted the election results.

That we (Americans) elected a man who supports fascist (that word!!) goals, programs, and ideas hasn’t changed.  Many of my friends believe we should just oppose everything that Trump tries to do, and I don’t blame them.  Working with a fascist, someone who puts a dagger to the throat of American democracy, is repugnant.  But…and this is what many “other” Democrats believe… perhaps we should oppose when we can, cooperate when possible to further our national goals, and prepare to win in 2026 and 2028, to save our country.  

Barack Obama talked to Trump at the Carter funeral.  That  wasn’t treason.  Kamala Harris and Joe Biden pointedly ignored Trump. That wasn’t wrong either.  Two opposite things can be true at the same time.

Norms

The American tradition, the “norm”, is that a newly elected President gets to choose his own staff.  That includes those staff members “consented” to by the United States Senate.   Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was a stern advocate of this “norm”.  He voted for Democratic appointed judges, cabinet secretaries, and agency heads, until he didn’t.  After the Kavanaugh hearings and the 2020 election, he opposed most of Biden’s appointments. 

But some Democrats are willing to give Trump his appointees.  In fact, they feel that they can give Trump the “rope to hang himself”, and are all-in for that.  

One of the valuable lessons we learned in the first Trump Administration, was not to get distracted by the “Shiny Balls” (an essay from 2017, no raunchy reference intended).  The first one was Matt Gaetz, who’s ill-fated appointment to Attorney General was doomed from the start (Flash/Bang).  Now that the side-show ended, we are “down” to the “real” Trump appointees.  Let’s take a look, divided into three categories:  the “normal”, the kind of “cray-cray”, and the “completely whack”.

Normal

• Marco Rubio – Secretary of State
• Scott Bessent – Secretary of Treasury
• Doug Burgham – Secretary of Interior
• Brooke Rollins – Secretary of Agriculture
• Howard Lutnick – Secretary of Commerce
• Lori Chavez-DeRemer – Secretary of Labor
• Scott Turner – Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
• Sean Duffy – Secretary of Transportation
  • Doug Collins – Secretary of Veterans Affairs
• • Susie Wiles – WH Chief of Staff
• • John Ratcliffe – CIA Director
• • Michael Waltz – National Security Advisor
  • Elise Stefanik – Ambassador to the United Nations

Cray-Cray

• Pam Bondi – Attorney General (2020 election denier)
  • Chris Wright –  Secretary of Energy (climate crisis denier)
• • Linda McMahon – Secretary of Education (Public Education Defunder)
• • Kristi Noem – Secretary of Homeland Security (Governor of South Dakota and confessed puppy killer)
• • Tom Homan – Border “Czar” (driving force behind the first Trump Administration’s child separation plan)        
• •  Russ Vought – Director of the Office of Management and Budget (a co-author of Project 2025)
• • Lee Zelden – Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency (opposed to environmental regulation)
  • Kelly Loeffler – Administrator Small Business Administration (no experience in small business – made her fortune in corporate investment firm)

Completely Whack

• Pete Hegseth – Secretary of Defense (potential sex offender and a man with drinking problem)
  • Robert Kennedy Jr – Secretary of Health and Human Services (leading anti-vaxxer)
• • Kash Patel – FBI Director (put a 60 person “political enemies list” for prosecution in his book)
  • Tulsi Gabbard – Director of National Intelligence (friend of deposed Syrian dictator Assad and Vladimir Putin admirer)

Shiny Balls

Clearly the “completely whack” list is a total distraction.  Who’s worse:  a drunk womanizer who has never run a large organization in his life (the DoD has 2.8 million employees), or a former Congressman who likes dictators?  Or how about Bobby, the leading anti-vaxxer in the Nation, a heroin addict with a worm in his brain?  Or good ‘ol Kash; who made his “bones” as Congressman Devin Nunes’ “hitman” in the early Trump years?

All four are uniquely unqualified.  But it will take three Republican Senators (along with all of the Democrats) to deny confirmation.  It’s simple politics:  maybe all three could vote against one, or even two.   The political ramification of voting (correctly) against all four is probably fatal.  Millions of dollars (thanks Elon) will be poured into a primary against the “offending” Senator.

 But the real point is, even if all four on the “Completely Whack” list were denied; it virtually guarantees the entire “Cray-Cray” list gets through intact.  And Trump couldn’t ask for anything better:  an election denier as Attorney General, a climate change denier at Energy, an anti-environmentalist at EPA, and a “administrative state” opponent at OMB.  Oh, and closer to my heart, a public education “de-funder” at Education.

Even the “normal” gang isn’t so great, but they’re the kind of appointments expected of a Trump administration.  They are likely to be, at least, competent in their area.  

Gibbs’ Rules 

NCIS has been a stalwart CBS television show for the past twenty-two years.  The lead character in the show (for the first twenty) was Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who had a very special list of rules, both for investigations and for life.  Rule #39:  there is no such thing as a coincidence.  It isn’t coincidental that two former Democrats (Kennedy and Gabbard, both cult-like figures), and a Fox TV host (Hegseth) are on the “Whack” list.  Win, lose or draw; they are the Shiny Balls, the baubles  placed intentionally to keep our eyes off of the rest of the appointments.  

There is minimal “momentum” for Republicans to oppose any Trump appointee.  And the “whack” list will absorb almost all of that energy.  It’s easy to think the Trump people are stupid, or crazy, to put these names up.  In the end though, they’ll win however it goes:  lose one or lose all four.  The rest of the program will roll on. Regardless how you feel about the MAGA leaders: don’t underestimate them.