For those keeping score Tulsi Gabbard has take some suspiciously pro-Russian positions and is clearly favored by them and Matt Gaetz was chosen because he will carry out any investigation/prosecution that Trump wants--there will be zero push back from Gaetz.

freeman3 wrote:For those keeping score Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian asset so Russian will have access to our intelligence operations (for one thing the DNI prepares the daily intelligence briefing for the president) and Matt Gaetz was chosen because he will carry out any investigation/prosecution that Trump wants--there will be zero push back from Gaetz.

I don't know that either of those would make it through Senate confirmation.

Trump has already stated he wants to get this done through recess appointments and I believe he has gotten candidates for Senate majority leader to agree to this. Now I'm not sure whether he can pull that plan off or not but he has tweeted his demand for that. If he can do that, no Senate approval needed.

The Hillary Clinton claim against Tulsi Gabbard is a false claim. What evidence is there other that Mrs. Clinton's mouth? Just because Gabbard says something that the Russians say does not make her an "asset". Hell, Clinton has said that Putin is in charge of Russia, and the Russians agree! Agreement does not make someone an asset.

As for Gaetz, this IS a bad pick. I am glad that Gaetz resigned. He does not play well with others and has ethics issues. I would pull the nomination immediately and input another just to leave Gaetz out of the House.

For the first Supreme Court pick I would pick Ted Cruz.

Well, what I said about Gabbard was too strong (and I edited my original post) but we're in an era where Russia has interfered quite a bit in our politics (and I have no hesitation at all in claiming that Trump is controlled by Putin) and there have been Repub pols that have taken oddly pro Russian positions as has Gabbard. And Russia likes her a lot which doesn't mean she is acting at the direction of Russia. And she has taken a very, very odd arc in a short few years from left-wing Dem to Trump supporter.
How exactly does that happen?And why is she being appointed to head intelligence agency when she has zero experience in the intelligence field? Anyway, we would be crazy to be giving her access to all of our intelligence operations. Here a couple of articles on the subject:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/nation ... rcna180073

https://www.salon.com/2019/11/16/so-is- ... -for-sure/

As for Gaetz, we'll see (if there are confirmation hearings) if Repubs have any backbone...

Just saw Tulsi Gabbard tweeted concern about the remilitarization of Japan last Deember 7...coincidentally hours afterJapan gave Ukraine loans/aid of 4.5 billion. A lot of coincidences with her...

I mean who even talks about a remilitarized Japan and she apparently got mad at Japan for helping Ukraine. At the very least she's nutty.

I knew we could come to some agreement! There is hope for World Peace!

We do agree that Gaetz is not the best choice.

I was hopeful for Ken Paxton. He is the AG from Texas.

I'd take Gaetz over Paxson....

Gaetz? Hell, yes he should!

I think this is a play. A throw down, just to show President-Elect is willing to "moderate" in the one area of "Lawfare". Maybe I am wrong. Gaetz is a dumb move. Maybe it is for trolling purposes. We shall see. I don't see him getting confirmed.

Not quite sure the meaning of your Gaetz/Paxson comment. I suppose Paxson is a more serious choice but I also feel Gaetz's lack of seriousness would probably mitigate the harm he can do.

But assuming he goes through confirmation hearings this is a key early test of whether Repubs will act as a check on Trump's power. If they roll over on this...what won't they roll over on? Part of the nomination is that Trump believes Gaetz will be more personally loyal to him than say Paxson but part of it is a test. Will see if Repubs pass or fail the test.

I hope that is NOT the motivation that the President-Elect is operating under. A test of your supposed allies can bring less of an alliance when it is truly needed.

We shall see, indeed.

Vivek Ramaswamy: "If your SSN ends in an odd, you're out. If it ends in an even you're in. That's 50% cut right there. Of those who remain, if your SSN starts with an even, you're in and if it starts with an odd you're out. That's 75% reduction.Vivek Ramaswamy."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.busine ... 2024-11-13

This is his idea for cutting government spending. Just randomly cutting the federal workforce. He and Elon will be in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency. Vivek thinks if you cut the federal workforce like this it won't make a difference.

"I guarantee you, do that on Day 1 and step two on Day 2. On Day 3, not a thing would have changed for the ordinary American, other than that their government being a lot smaller, spending a lot less money to operate it. And most people who run a company know this, it is 25 per cent of the people who do 80-90 per cent of the work. These government agencies are no different."

First of all that's an overstatement, one of those myths people throw around. Second of all pretty obvious that you don't find those kinds of key employees randomly...

He also wants to cut programs with expiring authorizations like veterans healthcare. He and Elon will eventually get around to Medicare and Social Security because that's where they can make big cuts.

These sociopathic billionaires who think they are geniuses are gonna play with people's lives and they don't care if people will suffer. It's just a game to them.

RFK, Jr nominated to ruin our health, Gaetz to wreck our legal system, Gabbard to mess with our national intelligence secrets, Elon & Vivek chosen to wreck our social welfare system...this doesn't seem, uh, very patriotic...

And that is from Freeman's perspective.

I like the cost cutting. We are in debt deeply. And deeply we must cut.

RFK, Jr. has said that he is planning on calling all of the division heads in the department and tell them to give drug development and infectious disease a "little break"--8 years!--so as to focus on chronic disease. I think at the very least this is an indication that drug development in the US would be at least curtailed by RFK, Jr as well as vaccines while the focus would be on diet, supplements, holistic treatments to help with regard to things like heart disease, diabetes. We would have a alternative health nut running NIH...

RFK, Jr nominated to ruin our health, Gaetz to wreck our legal system, Gabbard to mess with our national intelligence secrets, Elon & Vivek chosen to wreck our social welfare system.

I fear that Gaetz, Gabbard, and Kennedy will do much harm, but I do believe there is a tremendous amount of waste in government employment. Fun fact, in many cases the first 2 numbers of your social security number indicate the state you were born in, so Vivek is not as smart as he thinks he is. NY is 05, CT is 04, MA is 02.