Is Not Being Guilty of Rape Qualification Enough for a Cabinet Job?
...these people are dangerous and would carry out Trump's vendettas
Gaetz Shown the Door
Well, Trump phoned Matt Gaetz today to tell him “the votes aren’t there” for him to be Attorney General. Not because he has barely any legal experience, has never prosecuted or defended a case, but essentially because he’s a druggie and a sexual predator…and they have the receipts.
That means there were at least four Republican senators (they hold the majority, with 53, and the tie-breaker in the VP) who would not be able to stomach Gaetz. I’d feel better if I thought this opposition came because of his lack of qualifications AND his hardly-hidden zeal to administer the retribution Trump seeks rather than because the tawdry nature of his personal life has been exposed…
But he’s gone nonetheless. And that’s a good thing.
Now, Don’t Lower the Bar Just Because Trump Dumped Gaetz
Did any of you have the sneaky suspicion that the Gaetz nomination was so outrageous, so beyond the pale that it really must have been a misdirection tactic?
That is, throwing him up as a sacrificial lamb, so that after he was rejected we would all exhale and fail to oppose the EQUALLY OUTRAGEOUS and sacrilegious nominations of Hegseth, Gabbard, RFK, Jr., and the inevitable others to follow?
One of my many fears is that Gaetz is the political equivalent of a flash-bang grenade that is just thrown into the room, and everybody’s blinded, and their ears are ringing, and they’re like, Oh my God, Matt Gaetz. What kind of crazy nonsense was this? And when everybody kind of gets off the floor and collects themselves, Trump says, Okay, fine, I’ll give you Gaetz. And then he gets everybody else. — Tom Nichols, professor emeritus of national-security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, in The Atlantic.
Indeed on the heels of Gaetz’s withdrawal news reports detailed Republican senators speaking well of Hegseth’s chances, because the sexual assault he was accused of — and paid off the purported victim to keep quiet about — did not result in charges.
So let me get this straight, Senator MAGA. You believe he can be Secretary of Defense — simply because he was not charged with rape…despite his lack of any managerial experience or any role in defense policy — becaue he slept in a Holiday Inn Express last might before anchoring a Fox “news” segment in which he decried DEI in the military!
Let’s Be Clear: These Nominees Are Here Because…
He’s going for the trifecta of putting nakedly loyalist, unqualified people into these jobs as a way of saying to everyone in those departments, I’m in control. I run these. You’re going to do what I say. And forget the Constitution. Forget the law. Forget everything except loyalty to Donald Trump…[Think] about a nuclear crisis where the president really needs the secretary of defense—needs this sober and mature and decent man to give him advice—and he turns, and what he gets is Pete Hegseth.— Tom Nichols
What Can You Do?
Call your Senators, ESPECIALLY if they are Republicans. Tell them not to cede their constitutional duty to vet nominees for character and appropriate experience. Your safety, your health, and your well-being depend on it. Tell them you will be watching how they vote.
Here’s a directory https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm . Put his or her number in your contacts, and it is quite simple to make those calls, repeatedly if you wish day-after-day. You can be sure that the staff records what is said; public sentiment matters.
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Finally, an important read from The Bulwark’s Jonathan V. Last
“Be Not Afraid”
Real talk: Have you been afraid?
I have been. Afraid for the country. Afraid for democracy. Afraid for vulnerable populations. Afraid for the children of immigrants. Afraid for the kids who will get polio. Afraid for members of the military who will refuse unlawful orders.
I’ve been afraid for what is coming for Liz Cheney and Mark Milley. And also for people I know personally who aren’t as famous. I’ve been afraid for the future of The Bulwark. I’ve been afraid for myself and my family.
I’m just being real with you. These are the ghosts that visit me in the small hours.
Read the whole thing here.