A list of potential Trump cabinet picks
Link here.
As is usual, the bankrupt press didn’t do this work before the election, when it might have helped voters make their decisions. I tried to dig out some of this beforehand, and was somewhat successful, but I wish I could have seen lists like this prior to election day.
The list is interesting in that it includes an incredible range of political positions. For example, the three names touted for Secretary of State, John Bolton, Senator Bob Corker, and Newt Gingrich, cover the full political range. Bolton would be a solid conservative hawk, as would Gingrich. Corker however was instrumental in making Obama’s bad Iran nuclear deal possible, and would end up more or less continuing Obama’s foreign policy at State. All three, however, have previously been mentioned as possible choices, so as of this moment we still do not know where Trump will be going in this area.
I see the same political range in other positions as well. Even though the list leans heavily to the right, until Trump announces some appointments, we will not really know the direction his administration will take.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Link here.
As is usual, the bankrupt press didn’t do this work before the election, when it might have helped voters make their decisions. I tried to dig out some of this beforehand, and was somewhat successful, but I wish I could have seen lists like this prior to election day.
The list is interesting in that it includes an incredible range of political positions. For example, the three names touted for Secretary of State, John Bolton, Senator Bob Corker, and Newt Gingrich, cover the full political range. Bolton would be a solid conservative hawk, as would Gingrich. Corker however was instrumental in making Obama’s bad Iran nuclear deal possible, and would end up more or less continuing Obama’s foreign policy at State. All three, however, have previously been mentioned as possible choices, so as of this moment we still do not know where Trump will be going in this area.
I see the same political range in other positions as well. Even though the list leans heavily to the right, until Trump announces some appointments, we will not really know the direction his administration will take.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
NEWT would be my choice to run Nasa
He should ask Elon Musk if he wants to run NASA.
Do you think that the outsider anti-establishment candidate will pick from a list of old establishment career bureaucrats? Hasn’t he said in many rallies that he wants to use successful businessmen instead? The old “entitled” guys may see themselves sidestepped. Or rather used only as a show to please the majority of the Congress while new real leaders take care of the true management. We’ll see, but I think that this stubborn guy wants to do it his way.
Elon has much better things to do than run a government program, and a solid chance of accomplishing them by staying where he is.
Newt to run NASA? Really? (Never happen, would be a waste of a valuable resource)
Newt for State Department? Now thats more like it. Newt as U.N. ambassador? Less likely. Newt as Trumps main political counsel / strategist in dealing with the Congress and the Senate? Now that is a more appropriate application.
Maybe he will ask the Zman if he is interested in running NASA?
It appears Trump’s circle in the administration will put the brakes on serious reformations – hope I’m wrong.
I remember the push back and disdain the left had for Bolton as Bush’s UN representative. I respect him immensely.
Musk running NASA is a nice sentiment, but I agree with Matt in AZ that it is not realistic.
I would prefer Norm Augustine to Musk for running NASA (there are plenty of others who would do well for NASA, too). Musk is far more valuable where he is, and Augustine has a great deal of experience in the field. Augustine comes from “OldSpace,” and I suspect that he would run NASA similarly. I do not think that Musk could possibly change the NASA culture sufficiently to get it operating like a NewSpace company, so his value at NASA may be severely limited, since NASA depends upon Congress for funding, not on sales and innovation.
Musk is one of the few who are successfully showing the world how business can succeed in space independent of government control. This is a very valuable thing for us.
One value that Trump has over others (i.e. Obama and Clinton) is that he understands that, yes, we did build our own businesses. It was not our teachers, although they showed us some of the necessary skills, or the people who built the roads and bridges, although the roads and bridges helped us to do business. The bankers and other investors also did not build our businesses. And they all sure as hell didn’t come up with the idea for the business in the first place.
Thus, Trump will have the respect that NewSpace needs from government that it is the people — who are these companies — who build and operate these businesses, not the government. Trump may even realize that government can get in the way of business (although some of his proposals suggest otherwise).
It’s great that Newt Gingrich has a degree in European history, because Europe will be a dangerous mess in the coming years with the EU collapsing, fascists taking over France in the spring and waging civil war against the islamists and with Russia restoring the borders of the Soviet Union. And there’s opportunity in Germany for an anti-Merkel next autumn, although no such candidate is visible today. One does need a degree in history in order to understand this complicated continent. However, Newt isn’t a diplomat, he speaks his mind. But maybe that style will be the new norm now.
Political appointments are sometimes a bit haphazard. Churchill making his comeback in 1951 appointed an MP as minister of foreign affairs (I think a position under the secretary of state) who was very surprised and told Churchill:
– “This must be a misunderstanding. During all my years in parliament I have never spoken on foreign issues, nor have I even listened to any such speeches. I do not speak any foreign language. I’ve only been abroad during war service. I actually do not like foreigners.”
Churchill: – “All of that is to your advantage!”
It was suggested in UK television that Nigel Farage will be given American citizenship and be appointed ambassador to the EU! That would really provoke the European political elite. That job won’t last long, though, since the EU ceases to exist when France leaves it in just half a year. The Eu is modeled after French bureaucracy and is unthinkable without France.
For NASA, I would pick someone with a background in Operations Management and Game Theory.
We need someone who knows game theory to prioritize activities and someone with experience in operations management to keep production schedules and goals on track.
One things for sure, whoever Trump assigns to NASA will treat the Obama people much better than they treated the Bush people back in 2008.
Lori whatshername by all reports was as nasty and condescending as possible when she arrived.
The Left knows they can act anyway they want and it will be ignored or condoned. The Right is constrained by principle, good manners, and the knowledge that any actions they take that the Left disagrees with will be printed on the front page of the NYT….
On November 10, I wrote, above: “NASA depends upon Congress for funding, not on sales and innovation.”
I’ve been troubled by this statement for a couple of days, and I finally figured out why. I did not intend to imply that NASA is not innovative. It has been, is, and will be. However, they do not get much credit for their innovations.
Commenters, here, have been talking about the NERVA engine, which was developed by NASA, and others, but never used.
The Aerospike engine is another innovation from NASA (initially developed on a contract with Rocketdyne). Again, this has not yet been used on a production rocket, though it looks like it may finally be coming close: http://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/virgin-galactic-lawsuit-against-firefly-moves-forward/
Expandable space habitats are not the invention of Robert Bigelow but of NASA. NASA seriously considered using them on/for the ISS, but chose to go with more tried and true types of modules. However, Begelow was able to obtain the rights from NASA to further develop this innovation for actual use in space.
These are only three NASA innovations. Some have been used and are in common use today.
NASA is also responsible for developing other innovations. Integrated circuits on silicon chips are an example. The technology of making microscopic electronic components on a semiconducting substrate was initially researched by universities, but NASA needed a lightweight computer for space travel, so they funded further development. We now use these in our everyday lives — including when we start our cars, run our dishwashers, or read comments on blogs.
Appointing Bannon as advisor and Prebus as Chief Of Staff is brilliant. Trump creates an establishment insider and Alt Right outsider dynamic and gets to play each against the other and pick the best ideas from each and develops real world policy to accomplish real political change. Has Congress and the Senate actually met their match? (me thinks yes)
Trump is totally asymmetrical and his style and force of vision has been unseen in American politics in modern history. The left and the Leftists have been cut loose by the American electorate.
Real American styled hope is back in vogue, and I am grateful.
And this as policy is what is going to have to be dealt with in a very severe way.
http://dailycaller.com/2016/11/14/soros-prepares-for-trump-war/
Soros and his followers IMO are subversives and are anti American and need to be dealt with as such. Their treasonous agenda must be called out for what it is and steps need to be made to neutralize their efforts. I think that these anti American operatives who hide behind their “foundations” and their “good works” with women and children (who would be against women and children? Scam from A to Z) like the Clinton Foundation and the Soros Open Society Foundation need some real scrutiny as to their activities and how and what they spend their money on.
Can anyone tell me what is an Alt Right? It sounds more like Ctrl-Alt-Delete than anything else.
Breitbart, Alex Jones, etc, mostly “right” leaning internet / web based information sources.
Edward/Cotour–
-I wouldn’t put Alex Jones into the “alt-right” category, he never (ever) self-identified with that tag, nor did anyone else ever refer to him as such, until he got on the Trump bandwagon.
Alex is a Conspiracy-Guy & a bundle of cognitive-dissonance, but, on the upside, he doesn’t do UFO’s, so he’s not completely gone. (Art Bell in contrast, thought “Men In Black,” was a documentary…)
-I would agree that Breitbart has aggressively taken on the “alt-right” moniker, if you like what Milo Yiannopoulos has to say. He’s the poster-boy of the “alt-right,” & generates a lot of traffic.
(But even Breitbart is internally divided as far as “alt-right” goes, except on supporting DJT. They all knew who was signing their paychecks every week, and you don’t upset the boss.)
-Perhaps the one unifying (or rather defining) characteristic of the “alt-right,” is that they oppose traditional American Conservatism. (They hate Ted Cruz more than they hate Jeb.)
DJT rather mistakenly refers to his election-run as a “movement,” and while the “alt-right” certainly played a role, they themselves have no “movement” in any sense we would recognize.
“They,” are cobbled together (if you could even use the word) from a diverse, extremist, far-right, segment of disaffected political-types, in a stranger manner than the Libertarians (national Party) are cobbled together, and live & interact primarily on-line.
I see. I have heard about an Alt Right, but I have not yet heard about an Alt Left. I suppose that would be the “left” leaning internet / web based information sources and those who are the left’s equivalent to Milo Yiannopoulos.
Or is there no such phrase as “Alt Left?”
A few months ago, Yiannopoulos, Steven Crowder, and Christina Hoff Sommers had a really good panel discussion, complete with audience participation, at University of Massachusetts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCcp36n2cDg (1-1/2 hours)
Edward– (hey)– yeah, that U-Mass panel was pretty wild.
The “alt-left,”– we used to call them America-Hating Communist Subversives, then we called them the “New Left,” now we just call them the Democrat Party.
As I understand it– “alt-right” was originally meant in a derisive way, but Milo just embraced it & ran with it. I am far more “traditional” & Conservative than is Milo, but he does raise (some) valid points from a purely Libertarian perspective & his show is available on YouTube if you want to sample him.
But… by-and-large, there is no unifying ideology, except hatred of traditional conservatives, (never forget that factoid) and disdain for Nanny-Statism from the left. Their agenda however is not ideologically Conservative. I’m tempted to say they are neo-confederate, anarcho-libertarians, at best. But that would only touch upon a small segment of the groups latching on to the “alt-right” tag.
– I’ve become hooked on “Louder with Crowder,” and he’s now transitioning to a daily show on Conservative-Review TV, along with Levin, Steyn, and Malkin. (His weekly show & video’s will remain free.) Highly recommend sampling his show, he has about 90 episodes on YouTube.
–I would say referencing the original thread, many of Trumps potential staff picks are excellent choices. Priebus however, has to GO. He alone could block huge portions of Trumps stated Agenda, if he’s given the chance. He’s a weasel, rino, progressive, crony.
“Personnel is Policy.”
Wayne,
I would say that Alex Jones basically invented the Alt right in many respects. It may have some kind of a more sophisticated configuration today but Alex lives at its foundation. Counter establishment Conservative American revealing the conspiratorial nature of government, power and manipulation between the unseen elite hand against the common population of America / the planet.
Milo is just the newest and more refined millenial / intellectual representation of Alex’s in your face, loud type of news reporting. I would say that the Alt Right is an evolution and not a new genesis.
My understanding is that “Alt-Right” was a very little used term by very few people until it was seized upon by Hillary’s people as the new “other” to take the place of the Tea-Party.
They needed a new enemy. The old one had served it’s purpose and as a result of the lefts smears and attacks, the Tea Party had mostly disappeared. Which further illustrates the power of labeling your enemy first…
So they tried to do the same thing again and labeled Trump and his supporters as “Alt-Right”, a vaguely techy, nerdy, outside the mainstream sounding label.
Then they brilliantly stapled the white-supremicist tag onto it and TADA! They had their new Enemy-buzzword.
You have to give them credit for reading their Alinsky. They are much better at these things than the right.
Wayne: “(Art Bell in contrast, thought “Men In Black,” was a documentary…)” LOL!!! Love that!
The Left has created the symbology that contributed to their own destruction.
How disconnected is our current president?
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/obama-trump-tapped-troubling-strain-anger-fear-article-1.2873980
Obama interprets Trumps victory as some kind of irrational fear that a segment of Americans feel. He can not see that his internationalist / One World / race baiting type government agenda that he has been intensely involved in executing over the past 8 years is being rejected with extreme prejudice.
I suppose that it comforts him in some perverse and self serving mental masterbation way but we all now understand through surviving this last presidential election which involved internet forced transparency (read truth) that these types of Americans (and I use that term very loosely) must lie and deceive in order to justify what they do. Obama and his kind has never been able to be honest about his intentions, NEVER.
Obama and Hillary and their un American agendas have been soundly and forcefully rejected by the American people. Reality can be such a cold dish to swallow some times, especially when you have a fundamental problem with reality and truth.
Cotour– I have to counter differ with you on Alex Jones, but no matter. He’s not some “independent teller of truth-to-power,” he works for Genesis Communications & sells over-priced vitamins & survival food to largely (but not exclusively) “low-information” folks.
(Not trying to be an arrogant elitist, but that’s what he does, for good, neutral, or bad. And, I do appreciate he doesn’t “do UFO’s.”)
Steve– great stuff.
Worked 3rd shift briefly at a psych-unit when Art Bell was really big & he was a staff-favorite. (I have my own theories on all that, but not getting into it now, har.) He absolutely loved “Men In Black.” (I am, just joking, about his characterization of MIB, but he did love it.) One of my favorite “guests,” was the Guy Who Travelled In Time & Space.
Again, don’t want to be an elitist know-it-all on “paranormal” stuff, I just find that “actual science” is Amazing in-and-of-itself, and it’s more productive to just educate people on “science,” rather than “UFO’s,” and related topics. (I understand the appeal, but… come on! ya know!?)
Wayne,
This is from 9 years ago https://youtu.be/GHFoUZEjuNM , and he was operating in 2000, that’s 16 years ago and he was operating long before that. Very different brand of reporting revealing things that most would not believe. Thats alt right.
Who invented the Alt Right? What we see today is the more refined version of the millenial mode of Alex Jones that has been labeled the “alt right” for divisive political purposes. There must be a boogy man, only this boogy man has bitten the Left in the ass. The alt right has demonstrated that they are much more truthful than the main street lying media (corporate / Leftist shills). This is a communications / news paradigm shift and the main street media knows not what to do about it.
Alex is the original “alt right”, and because he sells vitamins and prepper supplies to “low information” (turns out the low information people are not who we all think they are, they are actually more informed than most. Its an insulting term for your fellow Americans) folks that makes him a shill for corporate America? Really? How would you monetize your alt right web site that you have built over the past 20 years? I guess he just likes to get paid and likes to feed his family?
Cotour said:
“…There must be a boogy man, only this boogy man has bitten the Left in the ass….”
That won’t stop them, it won’t even slow them down. They know that if they keep repeating that the Alt-Right is all about white supremacy that the media will repeat the charge. It will sell papers, get good ratings, and it helps their side, a Win Win for them.
It the past is any indication, we are just at the start of the EVIL RACIST ALT-RIGHT smear campaign.
wayne wrote: “Priebus however, has to GO. He alone could block huge portions of Trumps stated Agenda, if he’s given the chance.”
This depends upon what Trump’s agenda actually is. He said so many wide-ranging, mutually-exclusive things as how he would rule* that anything that he or his administration does can be justified by something that he said during the election process. “See, I said that I would do that.”
Cotour wrote: “Obama and his kind has never been able to be honest about his intentions, NEVER.”
Correct. If he/they had been honest with any of it, even the Democrats who support him/them would have rejected it. Look how much trouble they had getting Obamacare passed, even after making it look like paradise on Earth (people were led to believe they would get free medical care from their same doctors, reduced insurance rates on the exact same plans, and even that the chronically ill would be able to afford health insurance — which most cannot, just as Congress and its well-paid aides cannot).
wayne wrote: “the Guy Who Travelled In Time & Space.”
Careful. I am one of those guys, too. However, I spend most of my time in the space withing a few meters of the Earth’s surface, and I only travel through time in one direction and at one speed. It is nice exploring the future with all of you, especially when each of you lets the rest of us know what you have learned in your own space during your own time.
Cotour wrote: “Very different brand of reporting revealing things that most would not believe. Thats alt right.”
Well, that defines pretty much every conservative, as seen by the left. I had a discussion with my mother, yesterday, and she refuses to believe that the Obamacare mandate, that the government may direct us as to how to spend our own money, makes the US a tyranny. Coercing us to enter into an unwanted contract, under threat of a prohibitively costly tax, seems to her like a reasonable function of government. Although she could not come up with any examples, she is sure that the US has done this same type of thing in the past, back when we lived in a free America.
Cotour asked: “How would you monetize your alt right web site that you have built over the past 20 years?”
I suppose you could ask for donations or have a form of subscription.
Steve Earle wrote: “It the past is any indication, we are just at the start of the EVIL RACIST ALT-RIGHT smear campaign.”
I was under the impression that anyone who is white, or does not completely agree with the left, was called an evil racist, this past week.
*Presidents are not supposed to rule the country but are supposed to run the governmental administration. We the People are supposed to rule the country in a free market sort of way, where the millions of visible hands form the invisible hand that moves markets, innovation, agriculture, human culture, manufacturing, information flow, and social policies on a local, not national, level.
Instead, Trump’s attitude is one of forcing these moves in the directions that he likes, even if that means placing huge tariffs on imported goods rather than reducing taxes and reducing regulations in order to entice manufacturing back to a business-friendly America, where individual productivity is among (or perhaps just plain is) the highest in the world.
Edward– ref DJT; what you say, is true. Personally, I don’t trust the guy.
– He has however presented a fairly Conservative agenda of late & we will know relatively quickly (after January) how serious he is about any of it. In the meantime, his personnel choices tell us a bit of information.
I remain heavily conflicted; HRC had to GO and for that I am happy. The only thing I’m positive of now, is we need to pull the Article 5 escape hatch asap. Republicans control more State legislatures & Governor’s than they have in almost 100 years– we can’t squander that opportunity.
Coast to Coast AM
July 30, 1998
Art Bell & the Time Traveler known as “Single Seven”
https://youtu.be/BS1JM0SKxc0
–He’s a “paleo-agricultural-tech,” from the future. We apparently discover time-travel in 2051.
Edward,
I am very happy to hear that your mother is still alive to witness this political insanity, mine unfortunately is not. Mine would have despised Obama, and she would have been very happy with Trumps victory.