2016 Nov 15th
The Trump team does not have a deep bench, there are not a
lot of distinguished statesmen (or stateswomen) competing for senior positions
in this administration. The principals in the contest for Secretary of State
are John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani. Let’s face it folks, the barrel’s bottom is
being scraped if these are the candidates.
Giuliani has absolutely no experience dealing with
international issues. His qualifications to be appointed Secretary of State lie
in his ability to fawn over Donald Trump and that he does superbly well.
Giuliani is wonderfully effective at patting Trump on the back whenever the
opportunity presents itself, that is whenever the cameras are rolling.
John Bolton is another story. Bolton is a true chicken hawk.
His solution to the Iran problem is to bomb them so they can’t develop nuclear
weapons. Generally speaking, Bolton thinks very highly of war as long as he is
not personally participating. He favored invading Iraq years before Iraq was
actually invaded and still believes that the invasion was a great idea.
In his remarks on the occasion of Yale’s Law School 25th
reunion, he said he saw no reason to go and die in a South Vietnam rice paddy
given that the war was already lost. He didn’t object to other people dying in
Vietnam, he just didn’t want to do it himself.
George Bush nominated him as our ambassador to the UN but
his appointment languished absent senate confirmation. Finally, Bush used a
recess appointment to bypass the senate confirmation process. Bolton was not
even approved by General Colin Powell, then his superior as Secretary of State.
Now Bolton is back for another try.
Most of Trump’s cabinet picks are recently available because
they have been rejected by the voters or they have run into term limits. Sheriff
Joe Arpaio of Arizona is considering a spot as head of Homeland Security, or
whatever is available, if he can just stay out of jail himself as he risks that
possibility on contempt of court charges.
Dr. Ben Carson says that he will not accept Secretary of
Health and Welfare, or Surgeon General, because he just doesn’t know enough
about the workings of these departments and he doesn’t want to embarrass the
new President. This modesty about his talents didn’t stop him from running for
President.
Sarah Palin is being considered for Secretary of the
Interior. What a delight it would be to have her back and available for interviews.
SNL must be ecstatic at the possibility.
Eliot A. Cohen, a former State Department official in the Bush
administration claimed that the Trump people deserved some help and he would
see what he could do. That changed, he said, after having spoken to Mr. Trump’s
team, he had “changed my recommendation: stay away. They’re angry, arrogant,
screaming ‘you LOST!’ This will be ugly.”
Impeachment is looking more and more likely.
No comments:
Post a Comment