Trump Nominees – Be Happy Kamala’s Not Picking A Cabinet
My “hot take” on the whole nominee thing can be summed up as: Don’t Worry, Be Happy (that Kamala is not the one picking a cabinet).
Last night we had an hour-long podcast discussion of Trump’s nominees to date, you can listen to the whole thing here.
There has been a fair amount of criticism coalsecing around Pete Hegseth, Rulsi Gabbard, RFK, Jr., and Matt Gaetz, particularly Gaetz who may be the most vulnerable to Republican defections and willingness to defy Trump. You can hear more of my take on Gaetz in the clip from Chicago’s Morning Answer and at the 40-minute mark of the full podcast.
My “hot take” on the whole nominee thing can be summed up as:
Don’t Worry, Be Happy (that Kamala is not the one picking a cabinet).
Here is that 1-minute excerpt that comes near the end:
For all those people — and I’ve said this to a couple of people who were a little bit down on some of his choices — just think what the choices would have been if Kamala had won….
So you’re not thrilled with somebody? Fine. Okay, you don’t think they were the greatest pick? Fine.
Just think what this would have looked like had she been doing the picking.
You would have had the most insanely radical, anti-American nominees to these positions whose job would have been to destroy society.
And so, whatever issues we have with the Trump nominees, think about what the alternative would have been.
People should have a smile on their face and should maybe cut some of these nominees a little bit of slack when you take that into account.
If our discussion resonated with you, we would greatly appreciate it if you could visit Apple Podcasts to leave us a rating and a review. Your feedback helps us improve and reach a wider audience.
SUBSCRIBE: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | IHEART RADIO
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
“And so, whatever issues we have with the Trump nominees, think about what the alternative would have been.”
No! No! Please don’t make me do that. I value my sanity. I never ever want to think of what the alternative would be.
Wouldn’t remembering what you just dodged help with that? Remembering a triumphant moment includes remembering why it is a triumph.
Well, she got to pick one, and it was Tim Walz. Kind of says it all…
The best part of picking Walz is that the residents of Minn got to see their candidate outside of “the bubble” and don’t see him having a rosey future there. He was allowed to open his mouth and remove all doubt. The internet is forever.
It’s human nature to have 80% of what you want and protest that you deserve the other 20%, rather than think about how that 80% could have been taken from you. The people complaining about some of the Trump picks today will come around.
Really. Let it happen. If nothing else, some of these hearings will expose the wrongs that have occurred. This education is necessary to get the public on board. It’s not like what has occurred is a hoax, unlike what was done to Trump and others. Let the hearings commence, despite the irritating white noise, while Democrats further hurt themselves with their nonsense.
I wasn’t so hot on the Gaetz pick. But than I heard Jesse Kelly list Matt Gaetz’s bad points – a bomb-thrower, abrasive, no filter, unconcerned with what others think of him, and so on. And then he made the case that he is exactly the type of person needed when you want someone to go somewhere and break things. He will break what needs to be broken, and will not give a damn what anyone thinks of it or of him.
Agreed. He’s who and what we need: A “Trump” in the Department of Justice to shake things up.
Let the Dimocrats scream. In multi part harmony if they wish. ‘Twill be a song to enjoy.
.
Don’t lose sight of the plot here.
DoJ was the epicenter of the “Resistance” to PDT during his first term, and was the tip of the Biden admin’s lawfare spear against him. PDT is putting Gaetz in as AG to do one thing: clean the place out. Doing that is on the critical path of just about everything else he wants to get done in the early days of his administration. Think of him as covering fire: as long as he’s shooting, rebel DoJ employees will have to keep their heads down, rather than engage in their “resistance” activities.
As a recess appointment, Gaetz will be able to immediately start ridding DoJ and the FBI of all the “Resistance” types, either by firing them or, where the law doesn’t permit that, reassigning them to deal with drug and deportation cases in West Virginia, North Dakota, western Missouri, New Mexico, or other garden spots where the oh-so-hip DC bureaucrats would rather quit than move to.
He’ll have two unimpeded years to run his chainsaw through the agency and conduct his inquisition as to who was doing what (and bring prosecutions against those who have destroyed agency records or were involved with other illegal actions during the last administration).
If it looks like the Senate won’t confirm him, he’ll just move to the White House Counsel’s office, and PDT will then appoint a more mainstream AG.
Is he the ideal administrator? No. But then again, neither is Texas AG Ken Paxton, who nevertheless knows how to hire people who get the job done while he sets the tone and direction of the agency. Gaetz is a specialized tool being used for a specialized, utterly essential task: tear DoJ down to the studs and take out the trash.
Exactly. Now pass the popcorn!!!
I think the biggest thing Gaetz brings to DoJ is the lived experience of being targeted.
That’s going to give him an incredible amount of resistance to any temptation to trust in the honor of the good people who work there.
I don’t get why Trump did not pick Grenell for head of DNI again and Gabbard for something else?
These insane rinos happily voted for trannys and communists to fill Biden’s appointments
F them all
I know Grenell
What the hell Trump
There are still a lot of nominees they haven’t announced. I suspect Grenell will be appointed to something significant.
Having headed DNI, could FBI be a possibility?
He picked people who had issues with the department they are running
If Tulsi is antagonistic to the intelligence community because they put her on a terrorist watchlist, then Trump felt like there was zero issue she was going to take their side on anything
After Trump 45, it’s definitely a different approach. It’s about dismantling things
Agree or disagree, I respect that someone who got burned by his own AG pick own military pick etc does it this way etc
Would Tulsi have been great as head of VA and Grenell in my mind? Yeah.
But this set of picks has been awesome so far and I think he is owed the benefit of the doubt
And I think Grenell will still end up doing important stuff.
Let us see how this goes
For now my motto is: if he’s getting flack he’s over the target.
One VERY good observation. Tulsi and the intelligence community is Exhibit A.
Lots of paper shredding going on. Bleachbit’s stock is soaring.
lol, the Muslim commie facist pig
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/11/deep-state-creep-john-brennan-has-nerve-question/
Mike Rodgers would be a nightmare, can’t believe he’s even considering him
Are we sure he did? Or is this more MSM Deep State effery?
Trump has made some bombshell picks and some very solid picks. His message is clear to the entrenched deep staters, though. Your cushy days are numbered.
I think this is the message to the bureaucrats:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb1TybA1itI
(“Get ready, little lady. Hell is coming to breakfast.”)
Indeed. And today, that number is 63.
I’m so ecstatic that the stupid, vacuous idiot lost that I haven’t heard a single pick that I’ve objected to. A few might seem a bit out of left field, but nothing really objectionable and the ones the communists whine about the most are the ones I like the best.
Her vp pick was an historic worst. She also was an historic worst vp. But he was worser. One can only imagine the misfits she would have selected.
I think a lot also depends on whether GOP senators understand what just happened in the election or whether they think they are the be all and end all of the Republican Party.
Same for Congress and this is pretty much the one thing I actually respect about Democrats in that they ALWAYS vote as a coherent block regardless of how bad a nominee is!
They know what winning at all costs requires and wish conservatives would understand this one simple point!
It’ll be the latter. The Senate GOP is stocked with either Uniparty losers (McConnell, Thune, Cornyn, etc.) or milquetoast losers (Lankford). They’re already leaking to the media that Gaetz is DOA.
President Trump 45 had the vision to make America great again.
President Trump 47 has the knowledge gained from experience to implement it.
I like all his picks just fine… and the more the left howls about them the more I like them….. except I worry the guy he may be looking at for FBI is like a 2016 pick who will stab him in the back. Over half the country came out and handed Trump a mandate…he gets to pick who will help him best achieve what he has promised and those Congress critters on both sides better take heed to the will of the people. The Dems have no problem placing all the radical loser incompetents with their only qualification being they are a Furry that Biden nominated everywhere in the Federal govt ….and if Trump nominated a hybrid of Mother Theresa and Einstein with 30 years of direct experience to a post they would still scream at the skies.
He picked Rogers for the Fibbies because :Liz Cheney turned him down.
That’s cold, GG.
If the Rogers nomination is true and it may not be, then it’s a real head scratcher. The criminal, Wray, still has 2 years left, so we won’t know anything until Trump gets in office and fires Wray.
Wray has already signaled that he’s going to retire before PDT can fire him. Too bad, I was looking forward to Trump firing him during his inaugural address.
That argument puts all future discussion of Trump administration policies and decisions to rest. Kamala would have done worse, so shut up.
RFK Jr. said he supports national health insurance and late term abortion up to birth?
Trump sold out quickly, that didn’t take long?
Per SCOTUS, abortion is no longer a Federal issue and, aside from a Constitutional Amendment which has nothing to do with HHS, I do not see a role for RFK. As for national health insurance, we are running $2T budget deficits already.
Who cares?
He’s not going to be making either of those things happen as HHS Secretary, but he is going to be able to accomplish a ton of things on which we agree with him.
Guess no one remembers this, either:
Rep. Gabbard has worked to prevent the implementation of the Trump administration’s pro-life regulatory efforts. – Susan B. Anthony Pro-life America.
Reminder: Gabbard wants YOU to a pay for all abortions.
For the life of me, I cannot understand all the Trumpies/Righties who are drooling over leftist nutballs Gabbard and Kennedy. If you know their histories it just makes no sense – why Trump picked them and why the blind cheering.
Yes, Trump has made some good picks, but these two are going to be nightmares.
Trumpies and righties? Really? The election is over. President Trump won by a landslide. Move on already!
Hot off the press! Citing his extensive background in the automotive industry, Trump has just nominated Joey Buttafuoco to be his secretary of transportation. A Butti to be replaced with a Butta.
I agree. Trump is the ultimate outsider candidate. He cannot use the deep state, so anyone he picks must, of necessity, fight against it.
So, as long as they are not likely to be coopted by it, they’ll do good. Maybe not as much as we’d like, but needs must when the devil drives.
Washington state, not so lucky. Get ready for REAL political retribution with Bob Ferguson. You aint seen nothing yet in terms of weaponized government.
The PNW is going to become extra-hell hole like when those Boeing layoffs start.
Portland is already doubling-down on stupid to maintain “balance” in their eyes.
https://x.com/LizMacDonaldFOX/status/1857224850047181248
Jared Bernstein, Chair of Council of Economic Advisors – not an economist, Bachelor’s degree in music, masters in sociology
This is why the economy is such a mess
https://x.com/FindingMoneyDoc/status/1786050601236779078
“Be Happy Kamala’s Not Picking A Cabinet”
This is the most ridiculous, and sad, thing I’ve heard Mr. Jacobson say.
I have long since said that the election was a game of chicken where both sides were trying to be as obnoxious as possible while only being second worst. That might work when there really is a “binary choice” (aside from the protest votes).
The downside of that, is that when the worst person loses, the second worst ceases to become the second worst, and becomes the new lowest.
The election is over. Harris will not be able to pick anyone. The threat of a Harris Presidency is no longer there. You can no longer hold that possibility over our heads. Now we have to deal with the reality of Trump doing stupid things and making stupid nominations.
It’s OK to criticize Trump or his picks. Doing so will not give power to Harris. It is a dishonest deflection from who has power now and what those people in power are doing.
It was Ed Koch who noted that if you agree with some politician 100% of the time, at least one of you is insane. Unfortunately, that second worst pick demands absolute submission from those around him. Sadly, far too much of the Right-leaning media have sold their souls and become naked propagandists whose judgement can not be trusted.
Too many have fallen into the “four legs good; two legs bad” nonsense. Their “hot takes” can be safely ignored. These men (and women) without chests deserve nothing.
Trump is not infallible. If he is wrong, it is our obligation to call him out on it just as it is our obligation to call out any of our political leaders or elites.
That is why there are confirmation hearings. Things will be aired out then.
Meanwhile, President-Elect Trump has been through enough dealing with the DC power structure and corruption that, if I don’t understand one (or more) of his picks, I will give him the benefit of the doubt and presume he knows more than I do about his plans and those who he is appointing to his support team.
Mayor Pete would have been “the smart one.”
No. I don’t have to be satisfied with “it’s better than what Kamala would have done.” Trump promised to drain the swamp in 2016. He didn’t do sh!t. The bureaucracy will run circles around Hesgeth and Gaetz. Austin was able to remake the military in the image of whoever was pulling Biden’s strings because he knows how the Pentagon works.
Hesgeth is going to ask a memo be sent halting pronoun classes. A month later he is going to ask about the memo. The person he tasked is going to say “oh yeah, we wrote that. We sent it to the proper committee for compliance.” Two months later compliance sent it to legal for verification.” Three months later legal sent it back to the committee for revisions. Two years later “ok, here is the memo. It is not what you 100% wanted but you got a small win regarding how often pronoun classes are held. Instead of every six months, they will now be held annually.”
If you want to fix a broken clock, you better know dang well how a clock works.