Trump’s nominations — RFK Jr., Dr. Oz, Musk, McMahon, Gaetz, to name a few — are absolutely batshit. They are people who are wildly unqualified (in some cases, arguably less qualified than I am), have massive conflicts of interests in the sectors they’ll be regulating, and are often opposed to the very mission of the things they would be put in charge of. They are completely inappropriate.
That is on purpose. They are meant to be outrageous, and flagrantly so.
Because the next round of nominations will seem reasonable in comparison.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Trump and the GOP will be largely thrilled if this first round goes through. There is already any number of bootlickers and PR flacks trying to "normalize" these extreme picks and assure us they don’t actually mean what they’re saying, just as there have been for Trump himself. If these first picks are confirmed, it will be a solid win for Trump and the GOP, and a clear sign he can get away with whatever he wants to.
But if they fail, it will still be a win. The blame will not go to the nominee’s incompetence or unsuitability; it’ll be blamed on Democrats and RINOs. The extreme elements of the GOP will be appeased by the attempt… and then the GOP will trot out the next round of nominees. The ones that will have just as extreme views, but will be less visibly controversial. Like Trump’s SCOTUS nominees during his last term, the ones who said one thing during confirmation hearings about Roe v. Wade, then did something very different.
Not only will they appear less extreme in comparison to this batch, but "outrage fatigue" is real.
So I’ve not spent time outlining how alleged child sex trafficker Matt Gaetz is inappropriate for Attorney General, or snake oil peddlers RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz are for running CMS or the CDC, and so on.
Because it’s fucking self-evident.
These nominations are as inappropriate as trying to make an atheist the Pope. Those pretending otherwise are gaslighting the entire nation. That’s what narcissistic abusers do.
And then, after we’re tired and exhausted, they’re hoping the next round will seem less extreme.
But they won’t be.
Not at all.
Featured Image by Donna Williams from Pixabay
Well, I’m looking forward to Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency in action. Trim the fat, slim the bloat. An efficient government doesn’t need to be a big one.
Thank you for demonstrating my point that his nominees are frankly unqualified:
“Elon Musk’s X is worth nearly 80% less than when he bought it, Fidelity estimates”
https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/business/elon-musk-twitter-x-fidelity/index.html