516 Comments
User's avatar
D Witham's avatar

Watching Trump building his cabinet is kind of like watching one of those really cringey The Office episodes- where even as a viewer you are feeling embarrassed. These main characters are all so unaware of how supremely incompetent and unqualified they are for their posts and the rest of the world is laughing uproariously at how America has made a complete fool of itself. But it’s nervous laughter because the candidates are insane with too much money, delusions of intellectual grandeur and a lot of nukes. Oh yeah, and someone threw out the rule book.

Expand full comment
Susan I Weinstein's avatar

Vivisection of the United States government is a sad sight that will turn to tragedy, if these appointees pass. The big “if”, who wirlds the knife for this operation?

Expand full comment
Open Letters by Mersault's avatar

AN OPEN LETTER TO PETE HEGSETH

Re: Your Nomination for Secretary of Defense — A Blatant Spectacle of Opportunism, Recklessness, and the Sinister Nexus of White Nationalism and Sex Crimes

https://open.substack.com/pub/patricemersault/p/an-open-letter-to-pete-hegseth?r=4d7sow&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Expand full comment
Rich's avatar

Well, there’s only one that Russian state media called their friend…

https://thedismantling.substack.com/p/the-definitive-tulsi-gabbard-timeline?r=1o7qbf

Expand full comment
Joe Schmoe, Troublemaker's avatar

Seems kinda sociologically-pervy, icky and 🤮-y that Hegseth is talking about Putin but in the first person, "I"... But he seems like a fail-upward kind of monster in an allegedly good-looking shell from the opening gate to the finish line. His mind is clearly a girthful infinity of self-centeredness and self-aggrandizing.

Especially with the backdrop of a movie pimp's version of a bar behind him.

Maybe eventually he can be the new James Bond's spill-the-beans-during-torture-of-the-hero villain in a few years. 🤔 Or the next new Sith Lord. 😆

Expand full comment
Megan Macomber's avatar

For now, I think we can consider America defeated. Putin won the propaganda war, intended to divide us and reveal the fissures within the greatest multicultural democracy in the world, in the interregnum between J621 and MAGA's Lazarus rebirth afterwards--engineered in large part by Putin and his henchmen.

But that doesn't mean we can't win it back. Civil War II must be waged as the truth against destructive lies. We have to re-humanize each other--not by interviewing strangers in midwest diners but by saying hello to that neighbor we've avoided. One step, one day, one person, one conversation at a time.

Expand full comment
Atrele Kasha's avatar

Whocouldanode that these star picks would be from the guy who brought you Betsy DeVos as Sec. Education?

Expand full comment
You Should Ice That Burn's avatar

Gee, it's surely a coincidence that all of Trump's cabinet pics understanding of recent history just happen to align with the leader of our historic geopolitical adversary's. This shouldn't influence any discussions about Trump's deference and stated admiration of the unopposed Russian autocrat. Nobody should assume the GOP isn't falling in behind him to turn the USA into a mobbed up Kakistocracy/Kleptocracy, it just looks exactly like that. Nobody could have seen this coming.

Expand full comment
Zyxomma's avatar

Ta, Evan.

Expand full comment
DemoCat's avatar

You think Matt Gaetz heading the DOJ is bonkers? Wait until Trump really gets going. He eventually turned on Steve Bannon, because Bannon kept breathing on him and he turns on everyone, but he shares Bannon’s love of the absurd. Whatever is worse for the sanity of humanity, do that. Break the government. Tear it down. Then America will be great.

Just wait until Trump names Vladimir Putin advisor on foreign affairs.

Expand full comment
Fifth Dentist's avatar

I spent much of Reagan's tenure high/drunk as shit.

Now I'm too old, and my body doesn't get out of bed after an all-night bender to make it to work in the morning.

Also, I don't even know where to find cocaine these days. Maybe I'll run into Trump Junior. But he's such a dipshit I'd bet he pays primo prices for crap cut more times than one of Jack the Ripper's victims.

Expand full comment
Tommy Mo's avatar

Hegseth just exudes Rapey Bro charm. Creepy AF

Expand full comment
UnDrewsual's avatar

I'm wondering how many of our allies are going to suddenly massively decrease the amount of intelligence they share with the US (or cease sharing it altogether) because they know they can no longer trust any intelligence we'd give them in return nor can they trust that whatever they do share doesn't immediately go to any dictator who'll give Trump belly-rubs and tell him he's the goodest boy?|

I also wouldn't be surprised if Trump also ends up causing the G7 to become the G6 when the US either gets kicked out or Trump pulls us out before they do so he can play the "I didn't wanna be part of their stupid club, anyway" card.

Expand full comment
UnDrewsual's avatar

Yeah, probably.

What I'm REALLY wondering, though, is how long it'll take Trump to have Biden, Harris, and Pelosi arrested and imprisoned on whatever charges they make up.

Expand full comment
You Should Ice That Burn's avatar

They'll claim one early victim, execute them after a perfunctory legal proceeding, and that will have what they call a "chilling effect" on stuff.

Expand full comment
UnDrewsual's avatar

I don't think they'll go so far as to execute anyone or at least as much as Trump may want to, I don't think he'd be able to get that far until much later if ever. His cronies like to talk tough, but they'd have enough awareness to know that that would be a horribly bad move for them until they've managed to ensure that they'll never lose their majority control of the government.

But they'd absolutely have no problem having some of them publicly arrested as soon as possible and just kept in a cell for a long while so he can crow about "LOCKED THEM UP".

Expand full comment
You Should Ice That Burn's avatar

I remember some mook from Trump 1.0, Bannon maybe? saying that they needed to whack on prominent impeachment participant, Swalwell I think.

Expand full comment
Dogfather's avatar

Remember when Republicans were boring? I miss that.

Expand full comment
Fifth Dentist's avatar

Chaotic evil can be fun in D&D. IRL ... not so much.

Expand full comment
VwllssWndr's avatar

Hey, some of them are LAWFUL EVIL or NEUTRAL EVIL, dammit!

Expand full comment
Fifth Dentist's avatar

Old-school Reptilicans were neutral evil. One or two maybe even lawful evil.

They've gone through the looking glass now.

Expand full comment
Ambiance Chaser's avatar

Ok, hear me out on this one.

The future West Wing is being recast as a new episode of Riverdale:

Trump is Archie (natch)

Putin is Betty

Leon is Veronica

JD is Jughead

Expand full comment
You Should Ice That Burn's avatar

I never sensed the level of malevolent aspirations from the Archie gang that these mooks project.

Expand full comment
Wowdad's avatar

Jeff Tiedrich reports that when Pete Hegseth was cheating on wife #2 with a Fox producer, Trump was considering him for Secretary of Veteran Affairs. How qualified is that? Respect, bro.

Expand full comment
Gary Seven in Space's avatar

Did he take her "furniture shopping"...

Expand full comment