# Trump's Cabinet of Curiosities **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 10, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367 "2016-11-10T16:28:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/281 "2016-12-05T14:10:58Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’m Mormon, so … been there, done that. And it wasn’t so bad, but I certainly had plenty of opportunities to be offended if I was thin-skinned. This is a hijack, and I don’t intend to make an issue out of it – I’m just curious. Where did you go and for how long? I spent a year teaching English in China and it was a hell of a learning experience. I’m not Mormon, I did this for, uh, fun. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/282 "2016-12-05T15:13:22Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > This is a hijack, and I don’t intend to make an issue out of it – I’m just curious. Where did you go and for how long? > > I spent a year teaching English in China and it was a hell of a learning experience. I’m not Mormon, I did this for, uh, fun. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > 2 to 3 years as opposed to a lifetime, and if things got too bad your church could back you up or even bring you back…and if they refused to help you you always had the option to go home yourself. > No, you haven’t “been there” and in no way did you “do that”-you always had a way to escape, and you had back-up. His challenge said nothing of a “lifetime” or having no way to escape. Let’s review: > [@asahi](#): > > I challenge you (and everyone who thinks like you) to give up your comforts and go live in a country for 2-3 years where you are a _visible_ minority. Come back and let me know what you experience. I gave up my comforts and went to live in Chile for 2 years. I was a visible minority in Chile. I’ve already done exactly what asahi challenged me to do. That’s what I was saying “been there, done that” to, not some figment of your imagination. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/283 "2016-12-05T15:16:27Z")
Holy shit, Carson? Shouldn’t there be signs of brain activity before one gets a cabinet job? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/284 "2016-12-05T15:20:03Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > … I find your evidence that Bannon and Sessions are personally racist to be weak tea. Sorry, I’m unconvinced. We already hashed this out in a thread about Steve Bannon, but if you’d like to start a new thread to discuss Jeff Sessions’ alleged racism, I’m sure we could have an interesting discussion about it, but let’s not hijack this one. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/285 "2016-12-05T15:20:59Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Holy shit, Carson? Shouldn’t there be signs of brain activity before one gets a cabinet job? He lived in an inner city as a child, so that qualifies him. I’ve been to a doctor many times, so I can be a surgeon. That’s just how things work, duh. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/286 "2016-12-05T15:21:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Please remind me-who else is on that list? I heard Trump was disappointed when they told him John Rambo was a fictional character. > [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > The Donald has [nominated Dr Ben Carson](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/12/05/trump-to-nominate-carson-to-lead-u-s-housing-urban-policy/?utm_term=.8b6c2b976fff) to run HUD. > > So, the nominee has zero relevant experience. And he did not impress me during the debates. But he’s been loyal to Trump… Didn’t Carson just say a little while ago he was unqualified for H&HS? He’s actually an impressive neurosurgeon and, I believe, the youngest chair of a medical department at Hopkins. But he’s going to run HUD? Because is experience in that arena is, what, owning a house? [With a nod to Seth Meyers] ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/287 "2016-12-05T15:24:58Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > :dubious: Ooh, now **there** ’s some hardheaded conservative pragmatism for you. _“Hey, if we take away public-school money and offer it to private enterprise, we conceivably **might** get some bidders who want to sink it into difficult, labor-intensive, low-profit high quality education for struggling students instead of making some quick bucks on cheap and shoddy scam schools!”_ Very rigorously designed funding initiative, that is. > Well, that’s because most of the people on your side seem to have decided that racism doesn’t exist except in the case of explicit self-identification as an outright Nazi or white supremacist. > > [Calling Michelle Obama “a Ape in heels”?](http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37985967) Not racist because the official who posted the slur describes herself as “not in any way racist!”. > > [Promoting white-nationalist racism as executive chairman of an internet news site?](http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenkilloran/2016/11/14/steve-bannon-and-breitbart-news-why-everyone-but-the-alt-right-fears-trumps-top-adviser-pick/#60ce888a504f) Not racist because the chairman isn’t on record as _personally_ saying racist things! > > [Opposing civil rights legislation and calling a fellow white lawyer who litigated for voting rights a “disgrace to his race”?](http://www.salon.com/2016/11/19/two-peas-in-a-racist-pod-jeff-sessions-alarming-history-of-opposing-civil-rights_partner/) Not racist because the anti-voting-rights lawyer has black friends and even shared a hotel room with a black colleague! > > In short, according to today’s Trumpublican conservatives, as long as you don’t actually **call** yourself a racist, especially if you’ve ever done anything non-racist, then you can promote, encourage or endorse racist sentiments all you want, and it’s unfair to describe that as racist behavior. > > _“Gosh, those mean old leftists, continuing to insist that blatantly racist behavior is racist even when the person who did it explicitly **said** they’re not racist! Why can’t you just take their word for it instead of unfairly expecting their behavior to be consistent with their self-proclaimed non-racism?”_ :mad: QFT. And I don’t think this is hijack because we are indeed talking about Trump’s curious cabinet members. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/288 "2016-12-05T15:31:50Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > I heard Trump was disappointed when they told him John Rambo was a fictional character. > > Didn’t Carson just say a little while ago he was unqualified for H&HS? He’s actually an impressive neurosurgeon and, I believe, the youngest chair of a medical department at Hopkins. > > But he’s going to run HUD? Because is experience in that arena is, what, owning a house? > > [With a nod to Seth Meyers] Hey, he’s black, you know. (public) housing, urban development. The blacks all live in ghettoes. This makes sense through the Trump filter. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/289 "2016-12-05T15:36:59Z")
Perhaps Trump thinks that the word “urban” in “Department of Housing and Urban Development” is just a euphemism. Like how it is used in phrases like “urban music.” ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/290 "2016-12-05T15:38:50Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I was a visible minority in Chile. [Hmmmmm.](http://www.reinform.nl/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/march.jpg) [Double hmmmm.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Chile) > [@](#): > > Chile is a multiethnic society, home to people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Studies on the ethnic structure of Chile vary significantly from one another. > > A public health book from the University of Chile states that 60% of the population is of Caucasian origin; Mestizos with an average 60% Caucasian ancestry and 40% Native American ancestry are estimated to amount a total of 35%, while Native Americans (Amerindians) comprise the remaining 5%. > > UNAM professor of Latin American studies, Francisco Lizcano, in his social research estimates that a predominant 52.7% of the Chilean population can be classified as culturally European, with an estimated 44% as Mestizo. Albeit this is an estimation based on cultural aspects. Other social studies put the total amount of Whites at over 60 percent. If you’re of white/Euro-American ethnicity and appearance, I don’t see how you’re claiming to be a “visible minority”, ethnically speaking, in majority-white Chile. You may have been obviously a **linguistic** minority if you didn’t speak Spanish very well, but that’s not the same as being a **racial** minority. > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I find your evidence that Bannon and Sessions are personally racist to be weak tea. You missed the point. The point is that **racist actions are still racist even when they’re committed by a person who doesn’t explicitly self-identify as racist or personally utter explicit racial epithets.** Thus, Bannon’s promotion of racism and white nationalism in Breitbart is a racist act, even if Bannon himself doesn’t personally make racist remarks. Sessions’ view that a white lawyer supporting black civil rights is a “disgrace to his race” is a racist position, even if Sessions himself isn’t personally repulsed by the society of black people. But as I said, this sort of logical distinction seems to be beyond the capacity of today’s Trumpublicans. In their eyes, if you can’t prove definitively that somebody unwaveringly and explicitly espouses racist beliefs, then nothing that person does or says can possibly be racist at all. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/291 "2016-12-05T15:50:36Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > [Hmmmmm.](http://www.reinform.nl/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/march.jpg) > > [Double hmmmm.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Chile) I was expecting those links to lead to a video like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pBQ6eD3dyI). ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/292 "2016-12-05T16:02:39Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > If you’re of white/Euro-American ethnicity and appearance, I don’t see how you’re claiming to be a “visible minority”, ethnically speaking, in majority-white Chile. Virtually everyone who saw me in Chile was able to instantly identify me as a foreigner, and most of those knew I was an American at a glance. That’s what I call a “visible minority”. ETA: asahi’s challenge said nothing of ethnicity. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/293 "2016-12-05T16:14:52Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Virtually everyone who saw me in Chile was able to instantly identify me as a foreigner, and most of those knew I was an American at a glance. That’s what I call a “visible minority”. > > ETA: asahi’s challenge said nothing of ethnicity. 😕 Sure it did. In the immediately preceding sentence, it was made entirely clear that the challenge was specifically about race: > [@asahi](#): > > Most of the people ‘on your side’ never did believe anyone when they ‘cried’ racist - probably because they’ve never experienced racism and wouldn’t know what it feels like to be subjected to it. I challenge you (and everyone who thinks like you) to give up your comforts and go live in a country for 2-3 years where you are a _visible_ minority. So no, if you as a white American are living in majority-white Chile, you are not a “visible minority” in the sense of _racial_ minority, which is very plainly what **asahi** was talking about. The fact that most Chileans you met could probably instantly identify you as a white foreigner or a white American, rather than as a white Chilean, does not make you a member of a racial minority group as far as majority-white Chilean society is concerned. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/294 "2016-12-05T16:25:09Z")
Kimstu, I’ve found that around here, people tend to have their own definition of “race” and “ethnicity”. Could you define those two words for me? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/295 "2016-12-05T17:17:55Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Kimstu, > > I’ve found that around here, people tend to have their own definition of “race” and “ethnicity”. Could you define those two words for me? Since you seem to think that none of Trump’s picks qualify as racists, why don’t you just give us _your_ definitions of those words? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/296 "2016-12-05T17:20:24Z")
[Ben Carson is Trump’s pick to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRUMP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-12-05-10-36-21). Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there! The next four years are shaping up to be some very interesting times! I’m now hoping that Sarah Palin is nominated for Secretary of State! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/297 "2016-12-05T17:22:32Z")
What specifically qualifies Carson for this job? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/298 "2016-12-05T17:26:02Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Virtually everyone who saw me in Chile was able to instantly identify me as a foreigner, and most of those knew I was an American at a glance. That’s what I call a “visible minority”. > > ETA: asahi’s challenge said nothing of ethnicity. Having spent a lot of years in other countries, it’s no surprise to me that they could pick you out. Even in Europe, an American is almost instantly identifiable just by the way he walks, let alone other clues like clothing, hairstyle, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/299 "2016-12-05T17:27:40Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Kimstu, > > I’ve found that around here, people tend to have their own definition of “race” and “ethnicity”. Could you define those two words for me? :dubious: Actually, you seem to be the one who’s using the terms idiosyncratically. Here, to recap, is where **asahi** introduced the term “racism” into the discussion: > [@asahi](#): > > There is a difference, for instance, in nominating cabinet members with a history of overt racism, anti-semitism, and a host of other negative qualities […] And you replied by more or less denying that the term had any meaningful significance as generally used at present: > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Most of the people on my side don’t believe the left when it cries ‘racist’ anymore. So, since the rest of us here seem to agree in accepting the standard usage of the terms “racism” and “race”, and you’re the one who finds it confusing or inaccurate, then I agree with **Czarcasm** that it’s up to you to explain your own personal, and apparently rather unusual, interpretation of these words. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/300 "2016-12-05T17:27:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What specifically qualifies Carson for this job? Apparently, he grew up in an “urban” area. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=16)