Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

For discussion of religion and politics

Moderators: LawBeefaroni, $iljanus

Post Reply
User avatar
Scraper
Posts: 2711
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 4:59 pm

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Scraper »

Holman wrote:I read that Oprah was active in getting the 1990 tape of the nominee's wife out into circulation this week.

Drumpf tweet comparing Oprah to Nazi Germany and IC leakers in 3,2,1...
There are some people in the media who are just too powerful for Trump to go after. So far Oprah and Howard Stern seem to be two of them. It's smart on his behalf because he doesn't want to make enemies of either of them because if they wanted too they could tear into him on a daily basis and people would listen.
FTE
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41243
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by El Guapo »

Scraper wrote:
Holman wrote:I read that Oprah was active in getting the 1990 tape of the nominee's wife out into circulation this week.

Drumpf tweet comparing Oprah to Nazi Germany and IC leakers in 3,2,1...
There are some people in the media who are just too powerful for Trump to go after. So far Oprah and Howard Stern seem to be two of them. It's smart on his behalf because he doesn't want to make enemies of either of them because if they wanted too they could tear into him on a daily basis and people would listen.
Apparently Pruzder's ex-wife recanted her domestic abuse allegations later. You wonder whether doing so was part of her divorce settlement or something, but I doubt that there would be much evidence of that even if that's the case.
Black Lives Matter.
User avatar
RunningMn9
Posts: 24461
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:55 pm
Location: The Sword Coast
Contact:

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by RunningMn9 »

El Guapo wrote:Apparently Pruzder's ex-wife recanted her domestic abuse allegations later. You wonder whether doing so was part of her divorce settlement or something, but I doubt that there would be much evidence of that even if that's the case.
It was a condition of the child custody agreement (I think that's what I read yesterday).
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
Jeff V
Posts: 36414
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 7:17 pm
Location: Nowhere you want to be.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Jeff V »

RunningMn9 wrote:
El Guapo wrote:Apparently Pruzder's ex-wife recanted her domestic abuse allegations later. You wonder whether doing so was part of her divorce settlement or something, but I doubt that there would be much evidence of that even if that's the case.
It was a condition of the child custody agreement (I think that's what I read yesterday).
Which she apparently incanted again albeit incognito later still.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Captain Caveman
Posts: 11687
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:57 am

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Captain Caveman »

Pruitt confirmed at the EPA. I can't wait to start lighting my tap water on fire.
User avatar
Andrew Wonser
Posts: 289
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:29 pm

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Andrew Wonser »

Want a clean environment now and for the future.

Fuck you say the Republicans
Ah, so he has retractable metal claws that punch through his flesh, just like a real wolverine.
Right, just like a real wolverine.
Ah, and his metal retractable claws can easily cut through hardened steel, just like a real wolverine.
Just like a real one, exactly.
User avatar
Kurth
Posts: 5882
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:19 am
Location: Portland

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Kurth »

Even more than DeVos, this one really bothers me. He is in position to do so much harm.
Just 'cause you feel it, doesn't mean it's there -- Radiohead
Do you believe me? Do you trust me? Do you like me? 😳
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82085
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Isgrimnur »

Keep an eye on developments around Pruitt:
An Oklahoma County district judge on Thursday ordered President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the EPA to turn over thousands of communications to a watchdog group.
...
The order is the latest turn in a lawsuit against Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt brought by the Center for Media and Democracy earlier this month. The group charges that Pruitt violated the Oklahoma Open Records Act for declining to make public official documents it has requested since 2015.

Judge Aletia Haynes Timmons instructed Pruitt's office to hand over the emails to the group by Tuesday. The Oklahoma attorney general has 10 days to comply with the group's other records requests, Timmons ruled.

The center has sought correspondences between Pruitt's office and Koch Industries, other mining and drilling companies, and the Republican Attorneys General Association, which Pruitt chaired. As of Thursday's hearing, the office had produced 411 of the 3,000 emails that have been requested, according to the group.

Timmons found "there was an abject failure to provide prompt and reasonable access to documents requested" by the group.
...
Democratic members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Worksboycotted a vote to move forward Pruitt's confirmation and have since sought to stall a vote in the full chamber. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has pointed to at least 52 outstanding Open Records Act requests directed to the Oklahoma attorney general's office as one reason for Democratic opposition.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
Ralph-Wiggum
Posts: 17449
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:51 am

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Ralph-Wiggum »

Pruitt might be the cabinet pick that most concerns me. He is completely against almost everything the EPA stands for and I have no faith that he will 1) let scientific research continue on certain topics (climate change, pollution effects on health, etc) and 2) he won't try to roll back clean air and water environmental standards.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Rip
Posts: 26891
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:34 pm
Location: Cajun Country!
Contact:

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Rip »

EatingPruittsAss

:twisted:
User avatar
NickAragua
Posts: 6100
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:20 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by NickAragua »

Rip wrote:EatingPruittsAss

:twisted:
Hope you live on a hill, 'cause when those ice caps melt, you guys are gonna be the first to go.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70100
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by LordMortis »

NickAragua wrote:
Rip wrote:EatingPruittsAss

:twisted:
Hope you live on a hill, 'cause when those ice caps melt, you guys are gonna be the first to go.
He's in the second place in the US to Sink, he'll be gone sometime shortly after the low coasts in Florida like Miami but before NYC, Norfolk, and Sacramento.
User avatar
Rip
Posts: 26891
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:34 pm
Location: Cajun Country!
Contact:

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Rip »

I would end up with an ocean view.

I have almost 10 feet on NYC.

Worst case I can always return home to Indiana where my elevation was over 800ft above sea level.
User avatar
Moliere
Posts: 12295
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2006 10:57 am
Location: Walking through a desert land

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Moliere »

Rip wrote:Worst case I can always return home to Indiana where my elevation was over 800ft above sea level.
And the whole time you would be saying "Benghazi!! But what about Benghazi!! Her emails. Private server! What about her emails?"
"The world is suffering more today from the good people who want to mind other men's business than it is from the bad people who are willing to let everybody look after their own individual affairs." - Clarence Darrow
Jeff V
Posts: 36414
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 7:17 pm
Location: Nowhere you want to be.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Jeff V »

Rip wrote:I would end up with an ocean view.

I have almost 10 feet on NYC.

Worst case I can always return home to Indiana where my elevation was over 800ft above sea level.
But the water would come from a bloated Lake Michigan, which is already 577' above sea level.

I partially own a house that is on a hill of what used to be the shore line of Lake Chicago, a much larger great lake formed after the last glaciation. When we were kids, we used to dig up all sorts of fossilized marine life in the back yard. That house is roughly 623' above sea level. I had a dream once that it had become beachfront property and I was casting a fishing line from the front stairs.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Holman
Posts: 28906
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:00 pm
Location: Between the Schuylkill and the Wissahickon

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Holman »

Moliere wrote:
Rip wrote:Worst case I can always return home to Indiana where my elevation was over 800ft above sea level.
And the whole time you would be saying "Benghazi!! But what about Benghazi!! Her emails. Private server! What about her emails?"
While eating the flesh of your neighbors.
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
User avatar
Rip
Posts: 26891
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:34 pm
Location: Cajun Country!
Contact:

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Rip »

Jeff V wrote:
Rip wrote:I would end up with an ocean view.

I have almost 10 feet on NYC.

Worst case I can always return home to Indiana where my elevation was over 800ft above sea level.
But the water would come from a bloated Lake Michigan, which is already 577' above sea level.

I partially own a house that is on a hill of what used to be the shore line of Lake Chicago, a much larger great lake formed after the last glaciation. When we were kids, we used to dig up all sorts of fossilized marine life in the back yard. That house is roughly 623' above sea level. I had a dream once that it had become beachfront property and I was casting a fishing line from the front stairs.
Dream or premonition?!?
Jeff V
Posts: 36414
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 7:17 pm
Location: Nowhere you want to be.

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Jeff V »

I don't believe in premonitions.
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Paingod
Posts: 13132
Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:58 am

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Paingod »

A thousand crackpots in a room come up with some off-the-wall vague ideas, and one of them turns out to be close to reality later. He's clairvoyant. The other 999 aren't worth talking about.
Black Lives Matter

2021-01-20: The first good night's sleep I had in 4 years.
User avatar
Rip
Posts: 26891
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:34 pm
Location: Cajun Country!
Contact:

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Rip »

Jeff V wrote:I don't believe in premonitions.
You will.....
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82085
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Isgrimnur »

Paingod wrote:A thousand crackpots in a room come up with some off-the-wall vague ideas, and one of them turns out to be close to reality later. He's clairvoyant. The other 999 aren't worth talking about.
If I send out a flyer picking NFL games to 32k people, and promise them 100% accuracy every week, I can have 1k people convinced of my infallibility in six weeks. Then I just get them to send me their money.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
Holman
Posts: 28906
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:00 pm
Location: Between the Schuylkill and the Wissahickon

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Holman »

So General H.R. McMaster has been named as the new National Security Adviser, replacing the disgraced Flynn and taking the position Admiral Harward refused. By most accounts McMaster is well respected and lacks both Flynn's insanity and Bolton's ideological extremism.

Does anyone know whether McMaster is being allowed to replace the staff Flynn put in place? Harward's refusal was about that.
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
User avatar
Max Peck
Posts: 13682
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 8:09 pm
Location: Down the Rabbit-Hole

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Max Peck »

Holman wrote:So General H.R. McMaster has been named as the new National Security Adviser, replacing the disgraced Flynn and taking the position Admiral Harward refused. By most accounts McMaster is well respected and lacks both Flynn's insanity and Bolton's ideological extremism.

Does anyone know whether McMaster is being allowed to replace the staff Flynn put in place? Harward's refusal was about that.
Maybe?
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump “gave full authority for McMaster to hire whatever staff he sees fit.”
Technically, hiring staff isn't the same as getting rid of existing staff. Time will tell.

Apparently, Trump has something else in mind for Bolton.
Trump also told reporters Monday that John Bolton, a former United Nations ambassador who had been considered for the national security adviser position, would be asked “to work with us in a somewhat different capacity.”

“We had some really good meetings with him,” Trump said. “Knows a lot. He had a good number of ideas that I must tell you I agree very much.”
I'll put Rip down as "tentatively thrilled."
"What? What? What?" -- The 14th Doctor

It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
User avatar
Fretmute
Posts: 8513
Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2004 7:05 pm
Location: On a hillside, desolate

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Fretmute »

Holman wrote:Does anyone know whether McMaster is being allowed to replace the staff Flynn put in place? Harward's refusal was about that.
I have no idea, but I do have another question. Since he's still serving, that means he had no choice about taking the position, right?
User avatar
Holman
Posts: 28906
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:00 pm
Location: Between the Schuylkill and the Wissahickon

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Holman »

Fretmute wrote:
Holman wrote:Does anyone know whether McMaster is being allowed to replace the staff Flynn put in place? Harward's refusal was about that.
I have no idea, but I do have another question. Since he's still serving, that means he had no choice about taking the position, right?
It's not a military assignment. (Most NSA's have been civilians.) Since the role involves critiquing military officials who would otherwise be above him in the chain of command, I believe McMaster would have to leave active duty to take the job.
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
User avatar
Max Peck
Posts: 13682
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 8:09 pm
Location: Down the Rabbit-Hole

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Max Peck »

Holman wrote:
Fretmute wrote:
Holman wrote:Does anyone know whether McMaster is being allowed to replace the staff Flynn put in place? Harward's refusal was about that.
I have no idea, but I do have another question. Since he's still serving, that means he had no choice about taking the position, right?
It's not a military assignment. (Most NSA's have been civilians.) Since the role involves critiquing military officials who would otherwise be above him in the chain of command, I believe McMaster would have to leave active duty to take the job.
Your belief appears to be alt-factual.
A White House official said McMaster will not retire from the military but remain a three-star general, as Colin Powell did as Ronald Reagan’s national security adviser.
"What? What? What?" -- The 14th Doctor

It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
User avatar
Holman
Posts: 28906
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:00 pm
Location: Between the Schuylkill and the Wissahickon

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Holman »

I stand corrected. I was wrong.

(See how easy that is??)
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
User avatar
RunningMn9
Posts: 24461
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:55 pm
Location: The Sword Coast
Contact:

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by RunningMn9 »

McMaster certainly seems to be lightyears better than Flynn to me - but that only matters if Trump is listening to his Cabinet /Advisers not named Bannon or Miller.
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
User avatar
Max Peck
Posts: 13682
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 8:09 pm
Location: Down the Rabbit-Hole

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Max Peck »

Holman wrote:I stand corrected. I was wrong.

(See how easy that is??)
If you hadn't given me reason to look it up, I wouldn't have known that Powell served as Reagan's national security advisor from '87-89, so we all learned something tonight. :)

Enlarge Image
"What? What? What?" -- The 14th Doctor

It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
User avatar
Kurth
Posts: 5882
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:19 am
Location: Portland

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Kurth »

Max Peck wrote:
Holman wrote:
Fretmute wrote:
Holman wrote:Does anyone know whether McMaster is being allowed to replace the staff Flynn put in place? Harward's refusal was about that.
I have no idea, but I do have another question. Since he's still serving, that means he had no choice about taking the position, right?
It's not a military assignment. (Most NSA's have been civilians.) Since the role involves critiquing military officials who would otherwise be above him in the chain of command, I believe McMaster would have to leave active duty to take the job.
Your belief appears to be alt-factual.
A White House official said McMaster will not retire from the military but remain a three-star general, as Colin Powell did as Ronald Reagan’s national security adviser.
So, what is the answer to the original question? Did McMaster have an opportunity to turn down this position, or was he following an order from his Commander in Chief? Just curious.
Just 'cause you feel it, doesn't mean it's there -- Radiohead
Do you believe me? Do you trust me? Do you like me? 😳
User avatar
Holman
Posts: 28906
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:00 pm
Location: Between the Schuylkill and the Wissahickon

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Holman »

I can't imagine it was an order. Even in a Trump administration with Bannon as shadow NSA, an unhappy appointee would be in a powerful position to hurt the administration's brand. (Leaks brought down Flynn. Imagine if the NSA were himself the leaker.)

Trump loves loyal toadies, but someone somewhere (probably Mattis) told him McMasters would be widely respected and wouldn't cause him trouble. A solid uncontroversial pick would be Bannon's best option after Flynn and all the other nominee failures.
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
malchior
Posts: 24794
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by malchior »

Kurth wrote:So, what is the answer to the original question? Did McMaster have an opportunity to turn down this position, or was he following an order from his Commander in Chief? Just curious.
It's a reasonable question - NSC staff is often on loan from the DoD / CIA / NSA et al. It would be interesting to know if he had an opportunity to turn it down or not but who knows if we'd get the real deal anyway.
User avatar
Skinypupy
Posts: 20333
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:12 am
Location: Utah

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Skinypupy »

This press release from DeVos regarding HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) is just..insane.
Did...did she really just try to claim that the segregated Jim Crow education system was good because it gave black students "more options"? WTF is wrong with this woman?
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
User avatar
Holman
Posts: 28906
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:00 pm
Location: Between the Schuylkill and the Wissahickon

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Holman »

And slavery was full employment.
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
User avatar
Captain Caveman
Posts: 11687
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:57 am

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Captain Caveman »

It's only choice when you have another option. They didn't.

These ahistorical imbeciles are rapidly making me lose my mind.
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82085
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Isgrimnur »

Tell that to Dallas' County Commissioner.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
Paingod
Posts: 13132
Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:58 am

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Paingod »

Have we hit this one yet? Wilbur Ross and his ties to Russian money laundering via Cyprus Banking.

TL;DW: Wilbur Ross, longtime friend of Trump and our new Secretary of Commerce, is a majority shareholder in a bank in Cyprus with strong ties to Russian billionaires. Wilbur Ross, the same guy who happily works with a Russian billionaire at the same bank - and that billionaire bought a property from Trump - sight unseen - for $100m, netting Trump a clean $60m profit on his 'investment' from just two years before.

No ties to Russia. None at all.

:puke-front:
Black Lives Matter

2021-01-20: The first good night's sleep I had in 4 years.
User avatar
Zarathud
Posts: 16433
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:29 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Zarathud »

There we go -- ties to Russia on a tax return. We now have a specific line of inquiry.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
User avatar
El Guapo
Posts: 41243
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:01 pm
Location: Boston

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by El Guapo »

Zarathud wrote:There we go -- ties to Russia on a tax return. We now have a specific line of inquiry.
:?:
Black Lives Matter.
User avatar
Paingod
Posts: 13132
Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:58 am

Re: Donald Trump's Cabinet picks

Post by Paingod »

We circle back around to "Show us your taxes!"

That always plays well, right?
Black Lives Matter

2021-01-20: The first good night's sleep I had in 4 years.
Post Reply