Rep. Matt Gaetz picked by Trump for AG; Resigns from Congress

[rdrr]

It's bewildering. It's like more than half the voting population were surreptitiously fed stupid pills and are OK with what's going on.

Bewildered, flummoxed, perplexed... All just don't exactly describe my response to my fellow countrymen's decision. @ArgoDuck although you are lucky enough not to be forced to participate in our new normal, I wouldn't assume the viral stupidness will not spread to your neck of the woods.

 

[Nycturne]

Seriously, reading your posts from another country, it’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry, pick a or a emoticon or what

Can’t imagine what it’s like for you all who have to live it…

I am reminded of Stranger in a Strange Land to be honest, specifically the bit about how laughter is how we bear pain:

Of course it wasn’t funny – it was tragic. That’s why I had to laugh. I looked at a cageful of monkeys and suddenly I saw all the mean and cruel and utterly unexplainable things I’ve seen and heard and read about in the time I’ve been with my own people, and suddenly it hurt so much I found myself laughing.

 

[MEJHarrison]

It's bewildering. It's like more than half the voting population were surreptitiously fed stupid pills and are OK with what's going on.

Up until the past few elections, I didn't vote at all. I didn't care enough about politics to feel I was informed enough to cast a vote. I also didn't complain about the state of the country since I elected to sit things out.

Too many people are uninformed voters, yet they still feel that their opinions are important enough to count. We need to do away with the idea that everyone's opinions matter. They don't. Informed opinions matter. Ignorance isn't an opinion, it's just ignorance. And if people choose to be ignorant (like I used to), they need to have the decency to just stay home on Election Day. It's not that hard. I had that figured out at 18.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

It's bewildering. It's like more than half the voting population were surreptitiously fed stupid pills and are OK with what's going on.

I'm sure a lot of the voters who just reflexively voted based on their wallet went right back to not paying attention and are just waiting for that sweet, sweet Trump windfall to enter their wallet.

 

[Citysnaps]

I'm sure a lot of the voters who just reflexively voted based on their wallet went right back to not paying attention and are just waiting for that sweet, sweet Trump windfall to enter their wallet.

For me that's still bewildering.

Anyone following trump, going back to his first term as president, hopefully knows he lies as effortlessly as people breathe. Working class voters expecting a fattened wallet are going to be sorely disappointed.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

For me that's still bewildering.

Anyone following trump, going back to his first term as president, hopefully knows he lies as effortlessly as people breathe. Working class voters expecting a fattened wallet are going to be sorely disappointed.

Unfortunately there’s also a lot of young voters who have no sense of history and think Trump is normal, as if his kind of menace has always been around and things didn’t collapse.

 

[ArgoDuck]

Bewildered, flummoxed, perplexed... All just don't exactly describe my response to my fellow countrymen's decision. @ArgoDuck although you are lucky enough not to be forced to participate in our new normal, I wouldn't assume the viral stupidness will not spread to your neck of the woods.

It already has, starting some 3 years ago

Last year its spread produced a change of government, from our previous left-leaning and reasonably enlightened group to a right-leaning, ‘centrist’ party that - unfortunately - only gained power by forming a coalition with a small, ideologically driven right-wing cabal on one hand, and an equally small, highly populist party on the other.

I was ok with this at first. From a social psychologist’s perspective I partly view democracy as a form of self-correcting ‘game’ that satisfies (most of) its population by allowing its main voting blocs to take turns at the wheel. A lurch leftward is corrected by a lurch rightward and so on and on we go. None end up completely satisfied, but neither do any end up completely dis-satisfied, and therein lies democracy’s strength and - ultimately - stability.

(However, when there’s a large non-voting bloc, which happens here as it does in your country, that’s cause for concern. Democracy can’t work optimally IMO).

However, it turns out the populist party was filled with lobbyists, many of whom achieved positions of power as part of the coalition deal. For example, ground-breaking legislation to limit tobacco use and supported by all parties in the previous government was promptly reversed by an ‘associate’ minister on account of the ‘damage’ it would cause to tobacco companies profits: the huge costs to our mostly taxpayer-funded health system and population health be damned!

That’s just one of many bewildering decisions.

This is nothing like as bad as what it seems lies in your near future…but it’s more than troubling and - I think - underscores the questions we already face for democracies world-wide.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Mike Johnson is carrying this guy’s water. The house ethics committee is supposed to stand separate from the speaker’s office. Johnson is urging them not to release the report. Which means it’s no good for Gaetz.

Exclusive: Woman told House Ethics panel she witnessed Gaetz having sex with minor, lawyer says

An attorney tells ABC News that one of his clients told the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed then-Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz having sex with a minor.

abcnews.go.com

 

[Citysnaps]

Mike Johnson is carrying this guy’s water. The house ethics committee is supposed to stand separate from the speaker’s office. Johnson is urging them not to release the report. Which means it’s no good for Gaetz.

Exclusive: Woman told House Ethics panel she witnessed Gaetz having sex with minor, lawyer says

An attorney tells ABC News that one of his clients told the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed then-Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz having sex with a minor.

abcnews.go.com

So much for serving the American public interest.

 

[fooferdoggie]

So much for serving the American public interest.

or serving god. wait I forgot diddling kids is gods work.

 

[GermanSuplex]

I’ve yet to hear a single republican say “No way. Not a chance.”

Which tells you all you need to know. Gaetz isn’t being chosen because he’s a middle-aged frat boy who gives no shits, that’s precisely why he was chosen. I don’t know how any rational adult thinks this is ok, but whatever. They won fair and square.

Imagine if Biden nominated Michael Avenatti for AG - and keep in mind Avenatti is probably far more qualified than Gaetz. Or nominated Deepak Chopra for HHS. It only sounds absurd because it is and would never happen on the democrat side. Matt Gaetz as AG, even if he doesn’t get the job, we’ve seen it all. That it even has to be discussed is a damning indictment of whatever this new Trump party is. It’s certainly not a party of conservative values.

 

[Eric]

Meanwhile, in the upside down.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Suggests Releasing All Ethics Reports, Not Just Gaetz's: "If We're Going to Dance, Let's All Dance In The Sunlight'

The report on Gaetz has been dominating the conversation given his contentious nomination for attorney general

www.latintimes.com

Politics

Marjorie Taylor Greene Suggests Releasing All Ethics Reports, Not Just Gaetz's: "If We're Going to Dance, Let's All Dance In The Sunlight'​

The report on Gaetz has been dominating the conversation given his contentious nomination for attorney general​

 

[Herdfan]

I personally don't think Gaetz gets seated as AG. May be wrong, but just don't think he will make it through.

 

[GermanSuplex]

I personally don't think Gaetz gets seated as AG. May be wrong, but just don't think he will make it through.

I’m assuming you’re ok with it if he does. And I certainly don’t expect any criticism the emperor’s way if he isn’t. If he isn’t seated, then what? Was it a good pick, or a Hail Mary to see if he could get the worst pick possible through on the first round?

In this upcoming administration, experience and qualifications mean nothing. Seriously, RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz? Pete Hegseth in charge of the Pentagon? Trump first and Hegseth second.

I expect Trump to be given a second chance at cementing his legacy as worst president ever.

Anyways, the house ethics committee may want to release the report - someone hacked lawyer correspondence.

"Unknown and unauthorized third party" has gained access to Matt Gaetz depositions, source says

The leaked materials include the sworn deposition of the minor with whom former Rep. Matt Gaetz allegedly had sex.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Eric]

I personally don't think Gaetz gets seated as AG. May be wrong, but just don't think he will make it through.

It's curious that he resigned though, I know he did it to kill the report/investigation but what a risky move because if he doesn't get the nomination he's done for. I have a theory that Trump pushed him into it telling him he would have his back but even he can't guarantee it. Who knows.

 

[GermanSuplex]

It’s a troll nomination, and it’s sad I don’t put it past republicans to push him through. The MAGA cult is against Thune, and Carpetbagger senator Josh Hawley’s tweets are being spammed with MAGA folks calling him a RINO for supporting Thune.

Even if Gaetz doesn’t get seated, it’s a ploy so Trump can push through equally unqualified ass-kissers to positions they have no business being near.

 

[Herdfan]

Pete Hegseth in charge of the Pentagon?

While I wouldn't expect you to know this from the MSM, but Hegseth is an Army Major, served over 20 years active and reserve duty, 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and has 2 Bronze Stars. Plus a Bachelor's from Princeton and a Master's from Harvard.

So while not as qualified as the current SoD, he is more than the just the weekend reporter on Fox that the MSM wants you to think.

 

[Herdfan]

It's curious that he resigned though, I know he did it to kill the report/investigation but what a risky move because if he doesn't get the nomination he's done for. I have a theory that Trump pushed him into it telling him he would have his back but even he can't guarantee it. Who knows.

If he doesn't make it through, he can always be appointed to Rubio's seat and he will then be a colleague of those who voted him down.

 

[GermanSuplex]

While I wouldn't expect you to know this from the MSM, but Hegseth is an Army Major, served over 20 years active and reserve duty, 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and has 2 Bronze Stars. Plus a Bachelor's from Princeton and a Master's from Harvard.

So while not as qualified as the current SoD, he is more than the just the weekend reporter on Fox that the MSM wants you to think.

I knew that. I appreciate his service, and nothing more. He’s not qualified. While I can’t give you a laundry list of things that would qualify or disqualify him, you can easily compare his resume to others.

Also, paid off an accuser of sexual assault. No, it’s not the end of the world since he wasn’t tried and convicted, but it’s a pattern in Trump world.

Also, you totally ignored Gaetz and went right for the easiest of the bunch to defend. Which tells me all I need to know.

 

[Citysnaps]

While I wouldn't expect you to know this from the MSM, but Hegseth is an Army Major, served over 20 years active and reserve duty, 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and has 2 Bronze Stars. Plus a Bachelor's from Princeton and a Master's from Harvard.

So while not as qualified as the current SoD, he is more than the just the weekend reporter on Fox that the MSM wants you to think.

At a minimum, I would expect any US Secretary of Defense to be a past General or Admiral with many years of *command leadership*, for example, being a CENTCOM Commander, or a Chief of Staff of the Air Force or Army, or a Chief of Naval Operations, etc.