"A gross dereliction of duty on the part of the Republican-controlled Senate and the Trump-directed FBI. That is a harsh but unavoidable assessment of the confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth to serve as Donald Trump’s defense secretary. Both institutions should be ashamed of their performance — Republican senators most of all, as, bullied by the president-elect.." - Ruth Marcus, 'At Hegseth Hearing GOP Senators Covered Themselves In Shame', Washington Post yesterday
"Since Donald Trump’s election victory, we have witnessed striking accommodations to his narrow win and mandate, what has been called “anticipatory obedience.” Are we sleepwalking into an autocracy? We hope not, and would be glad if the threat does not materialize. But as close observers of people and places where democracy has come under pressure and occasionally buckled, we see creeping autocracy as a distinct and under-discussed possibility.- "Are we sleepwalking into an autocracy?", NY Times guest column today
"Trump basically wants them (GOP Senate) to crawl through the Capitol in their underwear and eat dog food out of a can for him, like in some fraternity hazing ritual. This is a humiliation exercise, meant to either break the system or allow him to rule unfettered." - Chris Hayes on ALL In Nov. 14th after Trump Cabinet Picks are announced.
"These picks are an attempt to make the American Government dysfunctional, to do the opposite of what their agencies are designed to do under the Constitution. In that regard, their purpose is to sow chaos and break the system. Break the government." - Prof. Timothy Snyder, Yale University historian
Our Government class at Monsignor Edward Pace High (1964), repeatedly featured one theme known as "advise and consent". Broken down it means the power of the U.S. Senate to be consulted on whenever appointments are made by a president to public positions. Especially critical (cabinet) positions, such as Attorney General and Secretary of Defense - given the expansive inherent powers of these.
Ignoring or dismissing the importance of advise and consent was gobsmackingly reckless since it meant not only Senators foregoing their roles but also paving the way for degenerate or unqualified nominees to gain power. This threatened the very exercise of power and specifically the separation of powers embodied in the Constitution by the Founders. Thereby undermining the Constitution itself.
For if we are not a Constitutional Republic, what are we? Well mainly a pretender or a Potemkin government predicated on the whims of an autocrat given license to pull any strings he wishes. This indeed as a primal fear of the Founders soon after the Revolution. Even Benjamin Franklin replied to one questioner when asked what type of government we had:
"A Republic, if you can keep it."
But with the dumbfounded election of Trump - 34 times convicted felon, and who former Special Prosecutor Jack Smith - in his just released report on Jan. 6th - found should have been convicted given the evidence, we are teetering on the edge. That election then, was the first atrocity.
The second has been this criminal traitor's naming of absolute derelict, unqualified picks to lead his cabinet and federal agencies. Yeah, I've heard the old saw that when you win election you get to make the picks. But that doesn't include disabling and kneecapping the whole apparatus of government. Oh no! Sorry, your freedom doesn't extend that far - especially when you didn't even secure a majority( > 50 percent).
And never would have been an issue had voters last November executed their own responsibilities to properly inform themselves. They didn't. They stupidly fell for a whole constellation of lies and misinformation- much of it pumped 0ut out by Trump's billionaire bud Musk.
So that leaves us now facing the secondary atrocity: not only seeing a formally convicted felon (and insurrectionist traitor) ascend to the presidency - desecrating the office, e.g.
But now also the ascendance of totally unqualified and woeful nominees to critical agencies to wreck them, and the country. At least the first of these (Matt Gaetz) was stopped, but not because of any judicious or courageous decisions of the GOP Senate. No, it was the finally released House Ethics Report that did their jobs for them. Exposing Gaetz as a trafficker of young (underage) girls for sex and using drugs. Just imagine if that report had not been released and he had been nominated as the nation's Attorney General. Think about that!
But now we are faced with the potential nomination of Pete Hegseth, arguably only slightly worse after exposure of his own sexual dereliction (sexual assault) as well as open drunkeness- which GOOPers are now trying to sweep under the rug.
Sherrilyn Ifill on Nov. 14's All In described this forlorn mutt as: "a white supremacist and extremist. Brags of himself as a former veteran which is insufficient to be qualified for such a key position"
Chris Hayes seconded that, adding (about the DoD position):
"Take ideology aside. It is the most complex, powerful and lethal bureaucracy in history or human civilization on the planet. Which is an accurate description of the entity for which Hegseth has been nominated."
Indeed. So this fool and half -assed asswit will be in position to carry out any derelict, half-cocked plan Capt. Bonespurs wants - whether using the military to try to forcibly deport millions of immigrants or to try and take back the Panama Canal, e.g.
Trump's expansionist plans spark worry - The Washington Post
Or invade Greenland to take it for Amerikkan purposes. In yesterday's confirmation hearing Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth - using a series of serious questions - disposed of this extremist former kook and any reasons to confirm him. However the majority GOP Senators (53 to Dems 47) seem intent on "crawling through the Capitol in their underwear and eating dog food out of a can" to get this asswipe confirmed, in Chris Hayes' parlance.
In my own, more direct: They are ready - From AL Sen. Tommy Tuberville, to let Trump piss down their throats and laugh at how he has them all by the balls.
See Also:
At the Hegseth hearing, GOP senators covered themselves in shame
And:
Hegseth’s hearing: What did we learn?
Pete Hegseth and his fellow Republicans can't decide if the abuse allegations against him are real or "fake news."
At the very top of the Fox News host's hearing to be Donald Trump's defense secretary, both Hegseth and his GOP defenders spun out two competing narratives: The stories about him aren't true, but if the evidence makes the stories undeniable, it doesn't matter, because he's a changed man. Armed Services Committee chair Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., kicked off the have-it-both-ways strategy in his introductory remarks to Hegseth's confirmation hearing Tuesday by acknowledging that "Mr. Hegseth has admitted to falling short" while insisting "the accusations leveled at Mr. Hegseth have come from anonymous sources."
Hegseth himself picked up the ball with a conspiracy theory that he was the victim of a "coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media," adding, "Our leftwing media in America today sadly doesn't care about the truth." Throughout the hearing, he kept harping on the word "anonymous," implying that the press made up the stories.
— from Foreign Policy In Focus
Reflect for a moment, that you are the U.S. military: perhaps the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; perhaps the combatant commander of the U.S. Southern Command or the U.S. European Command; perhaps the commander of a high-priority, deployable unit in the field.
You are aware that the incoming president has expressed an intention—perhaps real, perhaps just bluster—to use the military, if necessary, to retake the Panama Canal and take control of Greenland.
You know that, by virtue of the 1977 Panama Canal Treaties, the United States relinquished control over the canal in 2000 and thereby guaranteed its permanent neutrality. You know that Panama, a founding member of the United Nations whose sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence are therefore to be respected by all other UN member states, maintains full jurisdiction and operational control over the canal.
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