And So It Begins.

So it begins.

President-elect Donald Trump is moving quickly to staff his Administration and “loyalty” is key his allies say.

But, John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, says “fealty” and “subservience,” not loyalty, is what Trump seeks.

Some might say his early picks include an All-Star team of unqualified losers.

Among them:

Ethically challenged former Rep. Matt Gaetz

The House Ethics Committee was about to vote on releasing a highly critical report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz when Trump nominated him yesterday to serve as Attorney General.

Gaetz immediately resigned from Congress, ending any House jurisdiction over him, although the report still could become public. Senators charged with considering the nomination – both Democrats and Republicans – are demanding access to it.

The allegations that the bipartisan Ethics Committee decided merited investigation included that Gaetz “may have engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.”

Gaetz lacks the legal qualifications to serve as Attorney General and is mired in ethical controversy. Trump appears to be seeking a puppet to direct and execute his retribution agenda.

Unqualified Fox News host Pete Hegseth

The main qualification of Trump’s proposed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth – who would have responsibility for managing a $840+ billion budget and our nation’s military – appears to be his role as a weekend host on Fox News. While Hegseth served in the military, he has no apparent qualifications to serve as Defense Secretary.

Hegseth has said that the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff should be fired for being “too woke” and that “any general, any admiral, whatever,” involved in “woke s—” has “got to go.” Hegseth also opposes women in combat, a role they have been playing since 2016.

This brings to mind, Trump’s reported comments in a private conversation that “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.” (Trump’s spokesperson denied he said it.)

Trump’s attitudes about the military reflect the approach of a dictator. Trump apparently wants a military that will serve him rather than our country, and Hegseth appears ready to assist him.

Governor Kristi Noem, the puppy shooter

Trump’s nominee to head Homeland Security, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, may be best known for shooting and killing her family dog “Cricket.” Noem also falsely claimed in her book that she met with Kim Jong Un – when questioned about it, the claim was removed from the book – and has been banned by all nine of South Dakota’s Native American tribes from their lands.

She appears to have no experience in the various responsibilities of the Department. But Trump needs a loyalist to carry out his massive deportation plan and, as a loyalist, Noem fills the bill.

Robert Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaxx, conspiracy theorist

Trump has said that he will allow Robert Kennedy Jr. to “go wild on health.”

According to news reports this afternoon, Trump is expected to nominate Kennedy to head the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees public health and the CDC, FDA, and NIH.

Kennedy has spent years spreading health mis- and disinformation, particularly about vaccines, Wired reported, and has said he would gut the FDA and NIH. According to Vox, “If Kennedy were to completely get his way and deter vaccination, vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and polio could make a comeback.”

Kennedy dismisses and discredits science, is anti-vaccine, spreads conspiracies, and is not a health expert. He is unqualified to “go wild” with our public health and would pose a serious danger to the health of Americans if he gets a top government job.

Trump’s “Mini Me”: Elon Musk, the anti-immigrant immigrant and disinformation spreader

Elon Musk is a different story – he’s not an “unqualified loser.”

But he’s way out of his league when he claims he will cut $2 trillion from the federal budget as the Trump-appointed head of the new, private Department of Government Efficiency.

Like Trump, Musk believes his business background makes him an expert in government, which he is not. Musk has said that his proposed massive cuts will cause “temporary hardship” for ordinary Americans – not what Trump promised his supporters and not what Members of Congress like to provide to their constituents.

Musk spent an obscene amount of money – nearly $200 million – to get Trump elected and has been attached to Trump’s side ever since.

Musk’s companies receive billions in government contracts. And from the moment he begins his self-defined task of making recommendations to destroy the government and end programs for the middle class and poor, Musk will become the greatest walking conflict of interest in American history.

Not surprisingly, Musk’s recommendations, if implemented, could end up enriching his companies by billions. Not a bad return on the $200 million Musk invested in Trump’s campaign.

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There are four hard years ahead as we fight to protect our democracy, our Constitution, and important programs and policies that protect our nation and its citizens.
 
It’s time for all hands on deck.

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