Trump cabinet picks - off to a good start
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SamSpade
Well-Known Member
Yeah, running that is a job in management and financing - not a medical person.
Trump IS doing something I understand, but not sure about. He is appointing people who won't turn around and stab him in the back in MINUTES, like he did last time. His critics are saying he is placing loyalty above competency, but I won't dismiss that - you CANNOT have an effective cabinet if it's full of vipers looking to cut you off. The optics look bad.
This is like when he put Carson in charge of HHS. An extremely brilliant and talented surgeon - but not an executive.
SamSpade
Well-Known Member
And you're probably right - I have "served" under I don't know HOW many Secretaries of Commerce, and I can say that their presence regarding my job and agency was nominal at best.
Sure, because they're like a CEO with managers below them and however many layers between them and you and whoever is below you in the hierarchy. They set an agenda, then send the next tier out to get their managers in line, and so on. Their job is to identify a problem, pinpoint it to the correct department, then roll the sht downhill until the problem is solved.
Wanting to solve the problem is more than half the battle. Most of these positions are filled by career politicians and assorted swamp rats who just want to get paid and bask in a title without doing any actual work. Look at Pete Buttigeig. Hell, look at Kamala Harris.
Now in all fairness, poor Pete was busy with breast-feeding these past few years.
SamSpade
Well-Known Member
Many years ago, I was invited to a "ride along" with our division head. Ours is almost entirely programming - very few data modeling, not a lot of statistics and so on. Computer geeks. PRETTY sure he had never programmed in his life. He did however understand the finances and how to get our licensing, how to keep us all supplied with the equipment we need, and had continuous feed from our system people as to what kind of changes we needed to our servers.
Not that he understood them.
What surprised me aboubt the "ride along" was how much of it was - meetings. Meetings with top brass where they all talked about TONS of stuff I had no idea was going on - but at a high enough level that absolutely zero of it was technical. My ONE task at one of the meetings was to pitch my ideas for an intranet. Ok, it WAS a long time ago, but truth is, almost all companies rely on intranet applications for virtually everything. Back then - we did NOT.
He had to cut it short - because the rest of his day was walking around visitors from other countries looking at how we do stuff.
LITERALLY - I swear I could have rattled off a dozen technical problems we were experiencing - and he had no idea they were happening. I remember being a tad flabbergasted that this man was only about four to five levels of management above me - but it was enough that he really didn't know what any of our staff DID.
This is the problem with bureaucracies, whether government or corporate: the HBIC is way too far removed from the boots on the ground. Soulless Inc had a good 10 levels between me (low man) and the CEO, and that's just a medium size organization. It was enormous and you could spend all day going up the various chains to get to the top.
The cabinet members have their work cut out for them, which is probably why so many of them have always been like, eh, **** it, and go play golf. But these entities can be managed and untangled by someone who has the will to do it and isn't afraid to stomp some toes.
A company I worked at years ago had some financial discrepancies going on and for some reason I was tasked to figure it out.
And because I didn't know any better I agreed to take it on. After my head stopped spinning and I was able to get organized, it ended with my direct boss getting fired for stealing. That was awkward.So imagine what's going on in the federal government and the effort it would take to even begin unraveling everything, let alone having freaking powerful connected crooks trying to thwart your efforts. But it can be done. Which is why Trump is choosing the people he's choosing for these positions. Who better to dig into the horrifyingly corrupt DoJ than Matt Gaetz? Who better to ride roughshod over the corrupt Pentagon than Pete Hegseth?
SamSpade
Well-Known Member
I do kind of get the impression that some cabinet members tend to run on autopilot. They’re only there four years - or LESS. And usually they don’t shake the tree much nor are they expected to.This is the problem with bureaucracies, whether government or corporate: the HBIC is way too far removed from the boots on the ground. Soulless Inc had a good 10 levels between me (low man) and the CEO, and that's just a medium size organization. It was enormous and you could spend all day going up the various chains to get to the top.
The cabinet members have their work cut out for them, which is probably why so many of them have always been like, eh, **** it, and go play golf. But these entities can be managed and untangled by someone who has the will to do it and isn't afraid to stomp some toes.
A company I worked at years ago had some financial discrepancies going on and for some reason I was tasked to figure it out.
So imagine what's going on in the federal government and the effort it would take to even begin unraveling everything, let alone having freaking powerful connected crooks trying to thwart your efforts. But it can be done. Which is why Trump is choosing the people he's choosing for these positions. Who better to dig into the horrifyingly corrupt DoJ than Matt Gaetz? Who better to ride roughshod over the corrupt Pentagon than Pete Hegseth?
I get that Gaetz is a good choice if his primary role is to expose swamp creatures. Probably no one better. He does however have to pass scrutiny from GOP members who are ALSO on his radar.
However, as AG - that’s not really his primary job. I just don’t know if anyone else has the authority.
Oz isn't some masterful tactical move by him. He’s not going to suddenly turn around and go “oh wait this actually doesn’t make any sense how silly of me.” He thinks this is a good idea. He turned on the TV and saw this man and decided he was a good pick. There is no higher thinking than that.
I don’t know why everyone constantly acts like Trump has some incredible higher political machinations going on in his brain and actually isn’t the extremely straightforward man he acts like in every public appearance. You literally saw this man and voted for him because you liked him. You didn’t vote for a man who makes clever, subtle long term strategies and rational decisions.
Remember in the debate when he brought up the "they're eating the pets" and all that? And when fact checked LIVE he responds back with "I saw it on TV! They said it on TV!"
If it was on TV, then it's true to him.
I don’t know why everyone constantly acts like Trump has some incredible higher political machinations going on in his brain and actually isn’t the extremely straightforward man he acts like in every public appearance. You literally saw this man and voted for him because you liked him. You didn’t vote for a man who makes clever, subtle long term strategies and rational decisions.
Remember in the debate when he brought up the "they're eating the pets" and all that? And when fact checked LIVE he responds back with "I saw it on TV! They said it on TV!"
If it was on TV, then it's true to him.
You know what else we saw on TV? Trump winning a decisive victory, including the popular vote, and Republicans winning the House AND the Senate.
OccamsRazor
Well-Known Member
I certainly hope Doug Collins will do SOMETHING about the VA. That place is a complete sh!t show! It is taking some of the veterans that I help 9+ months just to get simple dependent changes done. They do get back pay for it BUT.. that doesn't solve the problem of losing that pay for the MONTHS while it sits languishing in the ether. Many other things need to be fixed with that department as well.
LtownTaxpayer
Active Member
Michelle Obama's school lunch program was ridiculous. Dumb rules that wasted food. I was teaching in those days. A school lunch had to include all the components - even if the student had no intention of eating it. The biggest waste was fruit. If the student refused the fruit, free lunch wouldn't apply. They had to pay for each piece of the meal separately. Or they could take the fruit, get free lunch, and throw the fruit in the trash. Our lunch team would put a bin next to the trash can and ask the students to put the fruit in it instead of the trash can. She would remake it into other things if it was bruised or just have the fruit available for anyone to grab if they needed a snack. There were other aspects of it that I can't remember right now. But a lot of what she tried to do was control based and did not even include an education component.You can buy organic chicken. I don't because it doesn't bother me. The only way you're going to get completely clean meat is to raise it yourself.
I don't want to ban junk food, I just want people to be encouraged to eat healthier foods. But Michelle Obama tried that and the Right went berserk that she'd dare tell them what to feed their kids, so....
Schadenfreude EVERY day!
BOP
Well-Known Member
I can't be the only one that wants to punch that women in the face.
BOP
Well-Known Member
What they usually do: play with themselves.
i'll tell you what - I bought this book by Dr Oz a number of years ago and there's a lot of great info in it
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What a concept, eating real foods that help you lose weight and reduce inflammation throughout your body. Inflammation is responsible for a myriad of issues in the human body.
I mean, I like my Fritos and chips & salsa as much as the next person, but I also know the benefits of eating wholesome, clean, unprocessed foods.
www.simonandschuster.com
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What a concept, eating real foods that help you lose weight and reduce inflammation throughout your body. Inflammation is responsible for a myriad of issues in the human body.
I mean, I like my Fritos and chips & salsa as much as the next person, but I also know the benefits of eating wholesome, clean, unprocessed foods.
Food Can Fix It
Mehmet Oz, MD, America’s #1 authority on health and well-being, explains how to harness the healing power of food in this “informative, accessible ...
www.simonandschuster.com