You\u2019ve seen it on TV.\u00a0\u00a0The SWAT team is poised outside the door, one officer wielding the \u201cpost-pounder\u201d, the heavy steel tube with handles that can crash through any lock.\u00a0\u00a0There\u2019s the legally required warning; \u201cPolice!!\u201d —\u00a0\u00a0then the crash of the \u201cpounder\u201d busting through.\u00a0\u00a0But it\u2019s the next step that I\u2019m interested in.\u00a0\u00a0The \u201cdoor crasher\u201d 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s not that kind of explosive. Instead, it\u2019s a \u201cflash-bang\u201d, that explodes with a brilliant and blinding flash of light, followed by a deafening \u201cboom\u201d. The theory: it will disorient the suspects, and allow SWAT to get into the room and gain control before they can react. It\u2019s a distraction, and before the suspect knows it, they are face to face with heavy weapons, handcuffs, and little choice but to surrender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This week, President-Elect Trump (first time I\u2019ve typed those words in eight years, might have to take a short break<\/em>), announced some cabinet appointments.\u00a0\u00a0A few were expected and \u201cnormal\u201d; Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, former Congressman John Ratcliffe to head the CIA; the \u201cfather\u201d of child separation Tom Homan as \u201cBorder Czar\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0(OK, Homan isn\u2019t normal, but, like Deputy Chief of Staff Steven Miller, foreseeable).\u00a0\u00a0And there was the inevitable \u201cFox and Friends\u201d host.\u00a0\u00a0Last time it was Larry Kudlow as economic advisor.\u00a0\u00a0This time it\u2019s Pete Hegseth for the Secretary of Defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Except for Hegseth, no one created too much \u201cshock and awe\u201d. 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\u2019s a big deal. Gabbard has connections to dictators throughout the world, and has followed Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s \u201cparty line\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next he added North Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security.\u00a0\u00a0Her qualifications seem to be that she governed a state with a long international border, with Canada.\u00a0\u00a0And she was willing to send the North Dakota National Guard to Texas.\u00a0\u00a0Oh, and she told the world that she shot her dog \u2013 maybe a strong \u201cTrump\u201d qualification for dealing with migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But then the first \u201cFlash\u201d exploded. Trump proffered former Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida up as the next Attorney General .\u00a0\u00a0Gaetz is a lawyer (William and Mary), and actually passed the Florida bar.\u00a0\u00a0But he has little experience practicing the law, and no training as a Prosecutor.\u00a0\u00a0And he\u2019s been under investigation by both the Department of Justice that he would lead, and his own colleagues in the Congress.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Senator Markwayne of Oklahoma last year explained that \u201cthey all\u201d saw the videos on Gaetz\u2019s phone: sex parties and \u201cRed Bull\/Viagra\u201d cocktails so Matt could go \u201c\ud83c\udfb5<\/strong>All Night Long\ud83c\udfb5<\/strong>\u201d. But the Department of Justice dropped their investigation, and now that Gaetz is no longer in Congress, the Ethics Committee doesn\u2019t have jurisdiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But all is not lost for Gaetz.\u00a0\u00a0Thursday it was revealed that he resigned from\u00a0THIS\u00a0Congress \u2013 not the next one.\u00a0So, in effect, Gaetz is taking a two month vacation, with the option to return as the Congressman from Pensacola in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next came the \u201cBang\u201d: 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 \u201cwomen issues\u201d. And then there\u2019s 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\u2019t a problem for the incoming President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what\u2019s the point of the Gaetz\/Kennedy grenade? <\/p>\n\n\n\n First of all, it\u2019s all about payoffs.\u00a0\u00a0Gaetz, Gabbard and Kennedy all supported the Trump Presidential campaign.\u00a0\u00a0And Gabbard and Kennedy were once Democrats, pariahs in their own Party who \u201cswitched\u201d to the other side.\u00a0\u00a0So Trump can even claim he\u2019s being bipartisan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, it all about \u201cowning the Libs\u201d. Gaetz has been a continual gadfly, supporting every issue to make \u201cLibs\u201d feel bad. And Kennedy, while still the scion of the family Democratic name, has been politically disowned by his own family. They say he\u2019s got \u201cmental issues\u201d, and they know best. But Trump can shove him down the \u201cLibs\u201d throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Third, it forces the Republicans in the US Senate to make a choice.\u00a0\u00a0Are they Trump \u201cLoyalists\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0As Markwayne, of \u201cRed Bull and Viagra\u201d, now says:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cwhatever the President wants, I completely agree\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If Republican Senators stand against the President, then they take the risk of being declare \u201cRINOS\u201d, Republicans in Name Only, with all of the electoral implications for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But most likely, Gaetz, Kennedy and Gabbard\u00a0\u00a0are a \u201cFlash-Bangs\u201d, meant to distract.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a kind of tradeoff, if those folks are a bridge too far, then all of the other appointees are \u201cacceptable\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0And of course, they aren\u2019t; from former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin at the EPA, to former Senator and Christian Nationalist Mike Huckabee as Ambassador to Israel.\u00a0\u00a0And who knows what the \u201cricher than rich\u201d team of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will be doing with their unofficial-official \u201cDepartment of Government Efficiency\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Welcome to\u00a0\u00a0Trump, 2.0.\u00a0\u00a0If chaos and upheaval is your thing \u2013 the next four years is going to be a \u201cwild time\u201d. Have fun!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fate of the Nation is in his hands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Flash and Bang<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Payoffs and Tradeoffs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n