At this point we are about one month from Trump’s inauguration, and he has proposed many individuals for his Cabinet. Already the left is raising doubts about the qualifications of many of Trump’s nominees without comparing them to prior Democratic individuals that held the same office in the past. I just read an amazing op-ed by Victor Davis Hanson (VDH) in “Rip’s Newsletter,’ by Rip McIntosh. In this remarkable piece VDH does exactly what those on the left will not do … compare these present Trump nominees with prior Democrats who held the same positions.
[Warning: while this VDH article is a keeper and well worth reading, it is quite long … in fact so long that I could not read the whole thing in one sitting!]
In this narrative VDH addresses four of the more controversial Trump nominees, and their individual backgrounds in detail. Initially, one might ask, “why him?” or “why her?” Well, according to VDH it seems that President-elect Trump did use consistent reasoning in making these choices. Recall that since Donald Trump did not hold any elected government office before he was elected in 2016, it might stand to reason that some of his nominees would be from that same mold.
Quoted from VDH:
“So, if the traditional criteria for high government positions do not matter much to Trump, what does?
There are many requirements for a Trump nominee—loyalty, competence, energy, communication skills, and, in some cases, prior business success.
But one plus is clear – prior demonization by the very agency or bureau the Trump nominee will now head”
For example (still from VDH):
“Tulsi Gabbard will likely become Director of National Intelligence—perhaps because she was put on the Transportation Security Administration’s watch list for a short time.
“Pete Hegseth’s book, The War on Warriors, is a scathing attack on the Pentagon—and its DEI/woke/faddish agendas—that he is slated to direct.
“RFK, Jr. was demonized by the health establishment and the appendages of Health and Human Services as an established crank anti-vaxxer, fixated on banning high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives in food, and on a vendetta against Anthony Fauci.
So? … Trump puts him in charge of the very bureaucracy that despises him.
“Kash Patel, as mentioned, will run the FBI. That is an agency that monitored his communications when he worked for the House Intelligence Committee.
Patel’s crime?
He exposed to the public the FBI’s stealthy efforts to destroy the 2016 Trump campaign and later presidency by its role in fueling the Russian collusion hoax.
“The list could go on.
What is the logic of appointing the once-policed to be the new police?
More than anyone, these nominees know the dangers, vindictiveness, and pettiness of unelected and unaccountable bureaucratic grandees. Therefore, in theory, they will show a particular zeal in ensuring what happened to them does not occur to others like them. And they won’t mind taking on the supposedly untouchable icons of the administrative state such as “I am the science” Dr. Fauci.
“If Trump’s prime directive is to cut out wasteful and bloated bureaucracies, then prior critics and victims of these often-lawless agencies will naturally attract from within them prior dissidents and principled critics who were punished for being truthful and desiring reform.”
I love Trump’s reasoning on his nominees. Let the fun begin!
I can hardly wait.
12/17/24