Trump continues the bizarre circumstances and expectations of his presidential campaign and the subsequent election with cabinet nominees that amount to Trump’s chumps. Not one of them seems particularly qualified for their designated positions, but that comes as no surprise to the autocratic promise of his administration.
Yesterday, for example, Linda McMahon, a retired professional wrestling executive, was nominated to lead the Department of Education and television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz has been tapped to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator.
These two selections are in line with his plan to not only overhaul the Department of Education and the nation’s medical centers, but to prepare them for total eradication. Some of his other choices pose similar threats of dismantling or utter elimination. Each day brings another moment of consternation, another element of putting our democracy at greater risk.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has been chosen as the next Secretary of State. The most important item on his agenda is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, which will bring no relief to the destruction of Gaza.
Pete Hegseth, host of Fox & Friends, has been selected to be the Secretary of Defense. How in the world does a television host be chosen to oversee the Pentagon? This is perhaps perfectly logical in the Trump world.
Trump’s choice for Attorney General, U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz, is accused of sex trafficking and sexual misconduct and has repeatedly asserted that the Justice Department and the FBI are corrupt. These words align with Trump’s and in more than one way, they are birds of a feather. His boss’s criminal charges are sure to be given close review and put on hold — and even possibly erased.
Robert Kennedy, Jr., who bowed out of the presidential race and threw his allegiance to Trump, is the potential Secretary of Health and Human Services. Trump, upon choosing Kennedy, famous for his anti-vaccine stances, said Kennedy would be given full reign of the department, and as the presumed “czar” would not need Senate approval. This choice contaminates more than our drinking water.
To cite the other nominees would be redundant. Trump has chosen men and women on the same page and who will comply with his every command, and this is predictably the confirmation that they will receive from the Senate.
Leading Democrats and a few Republican stalwarts have voiced their opposition but it’s to be seen how resolute they will be in warding off Trump’s transition to absolute power.
Meanwhile, the international picture becomes more problematic with the hospitalization of Benjamin Netanyahu and President Biden giving Ukraine the right to fire long range missiles into Russia. Dangerous and unprecedented harbingers loom.