# 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:** 16
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/301 "2016-12-05T17:34:21Z")
So what? Obama is half urban. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/302 "2016-12-05T17:57:02Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Apparently, he grew up in an “urban” area. And Trump has been pushing his fantasy that\* all\* African-Americans live in Inner City Hellholes. Thereby ignoring the very many blacks who have good working class jobs, or are firmly middle class. (Suburbs may have grown with White Flight–but we’ve got some very diverse suburbs around Houston.) And the rich blacks–not just showbiz folks & drug lords. And ignoring that many “inner cities” have been gentrified out of existence. Which, as a real estate guy, he ought to understand. The answer: Carson was converted to a Trumpista early on. The Donald awards loyalty. ---
**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, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/303 "2016-12-05T18:00:09Z")
I started a thread specifically to discuss the allegations of Jeff Sessions’ racism here: [Is Jeff Sessions a racist?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=812960) ---
**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, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/304 "2016-12-05T18:01:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What specifically qualifies Carson for this job? He’ll work for Donald Trump? That seems to be the main qualifier, IMO. ---
**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, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/305 "2016-12-05T18:17:01Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Apparently, he grew up in an “urban” area. I grew up with a bartender. I guess that makes me an expert on drunks. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/306 "2016-12-05T18:24:34Z")
What is so infuriating about the Carson pick- besides the fact that Carson has already said that he’d be a fish out of water running a federal bureaucracy- is that Trump is a REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER. If there’s ANY pick that he should have some good insight into, it should be in Housing and Urban Development. Instead, he gives a $50 billion budget to somebody with no clue about developing property. This just reinforces, yet again, that Trump has made NO significant contacts or allies in his years in business. All he has in his inner circle are his kids, who are biologically predisposed to kiss his ass. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/307 "2016-12-05T18:35:02Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I disagree. I do not support DeVos because she is a known enemy of public education. I do not support Mattis because of the principle of civilian control of the military. I do not support Sessions because he is a flaming racist. I do not support Mnuchin because he is a hedge fund pirate whose bank foreclosed on a 90 year old woman over a 27 cent underpayment. Whats hilarious is those deluded fools that opposed Hillary on the basis she made some freaken speeches\*\* to Goldman Sachs, etc :eek: and here Trump is actively putting in a _Minion_ of those Big banks, hedge funds, etc. :dubious: [http://www.dailywire.com/news/11210/7-things-know-about-trumps-treasury-secretary-pick-aaron-bandler](http://www.dailywire.com/news/11210/7-things-know-about-trumps-treasury-secretary-pick-aaron-bandler) ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/308 "2016-12-05T18:41:59Z")
People with the real brains actually run the department. Dr. Ben Carson is only there to appear on Sunday morning TV shows and try and make people feel better about Donald Trump’s policies. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/309 "2016-12-05T18:51:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Whats hilarious is those deluded fools that opposed Hillary on the basis she made some freaken speeches\*\* to Goldman Sachs, etc :eek: and here Trump is actively putting in a _Minion_ of those Big banks, hedge funds, etc. :dubious: Maybe the Trump voters figured that Hillary was not beholden \*enough \*to the big money interests on Wall Street? So they wanted someone who would suck up to the big Wall Street players even more? It makes as much sense as anything else in Trump-land. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/310 "2016-12-05T21:50:35Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Hey, he’s black, you know. (public) housing, urban development. The blacks all live in ghettoes. This makes sense through the Trump filter. Urban housing is full of blacks, and Carson is black, so he’ll know what to do about it. It doesn’t need to be more complicated than that. And Trump won’t have to worry any more about blacks trying to get in to his rental properties. The only unknown is whether Carson will be merely incompetent like almost all the others, or the actual antithesis of what the department is supposed to stand for, like the future Sec of Education who is opposed to education, or the future head of EPA who makes his money denying climate change. It would be a perfect fit if it turned out that Carson was fundamentally opposed to housing or the development of anything urban. ---
**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, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/311 "2016-12-05T21:55:29Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > What is so infuriating about the Carson pick- besides the fact that Carson has already said that he’d be a fish out of water running a federal bureaucracy- is that Trump is a REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER. If there’s ANY pick that he should have some good insight into, it should be in Housing and Urban Development. I don’t think that making golf courses and luxury hotels has much in common with Section 8 housing. I’m not overly-enamored with the Ben Carson pick, but I don’t know why anyone would have expected Trump to make a great HUD nomination just because of his real estate background. That would be like expected Clinton to be a good Presidential candidate just because she was married to Bill. ---
**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, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/312 "2016-12-05T21:57:26Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > … the future Sec of Education who is opposed to education … I don’t think it’s accurate to characterize her as being “opposed to education”. We wouldn’t say that parents who put their kids in private school or charter schools are “opposed to [their child’s] education”. They’re just pursuing it through other means aside from the standard public school route. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/313 "2016-12-05T22:18:11Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I don’t think it’s accurate to characterize her as being “opposed to education”. We wouldn’t say that parents who put their kids in private school or charter schools are “opposed to [their child’s] education”. They’re just pursuing it through other means aside from the standard public school route. Many people would think that the Department of Education’s purpose is to ensure equal access to quality education. Trump’s pick to head this Department is someone who thinks that the mission of education should be to advance God’s Kingdom. Someone who thinks that religion should trump education every time. Good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/314 "2016-12-05T22:34:48Z")
What’s her take on _Sesame Street_? She one of those crazy-ass harpies who think Big Bird is Trotsky? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/315 "2016-12-05T22:37:25Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > What’s her take on _Sesame Street_? She one of those crazy-ass harpies who think Big Bird is Trotsky? Oscar the grouch is the Anti-Christ, and Bert n Ernie promote the gay lifestyle. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/316 "2016-12-05T23:03:25Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I don’t think it’s accurate to characterize her as being “opposed to education”. We wouldn’t say that parents who put their kids in private school or charter schools are “opposed to [their child’s] education”. They’re just pursuing it through other means aside from the standard public school route. Parents who put their kids in private school are not setting policy, they are _ **reacting to it** _, and most typically reacting to a badly underfunded public school system. Trump is not only proposing to make this situation dramatically worse, he’s appointed an ideological extremist who’s long been hell-bent on undermining the public school system. His proposal for $20 billion in school vouchers would involve cutting the rest of the education budget on an unprecedented scale, including the biggest federal support system for public schools and $14 billion in school grants to support disadvantaged children. It would be a disaster for the fundamental social principle of equal access to education. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Many people would think that the Department of Education’s purpose is to ensure equal access to quality education. > > Trump’s pick to head this Department is someone who thinks that the mission of education should be to advance God’s Kingdom. Someone who thinks that religion should trump education every time. > > Good luck with that. Yep. We all know what will happen when funding for public schools is cut even further, and it’s not the traditional Republican base that will be affected – the wealthy and the religious nutters. It will be the working class and the working poor and, ultimately, society as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/317 "2016-12-05T23:11:04Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > It would be a disaster for the fundamental social principle of equal access to education. > > . That’s the thing… the people in power now (completely, fully in power) have no interest - none whatsoever - in maintaining equal access to education. They have no intention of maintaining equal access to ANYTHING. Education, medical care, you name it. They’re tired of equal access. They don’t like it. They are better than us, due to the wealth that they either inherited or married into. Equal access makes them… equal. And they hate that concept. ---
**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, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/318 "2016-12-05T23:16:37Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > … maintaining equal access to education… Is that what you think Obama and Arne Duncan have been doing? “_maintaining_ equal access to education”? You think any fair reading of our current education outcomes would suggest that today, before Trump takes over, we have something roughly approximating “equal access to education”? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/319 "2016-12-05T23:27:33Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > You think any fair reading of our current education outcomes would suggest that today, before Trump takes over, we have something roughly approximating “equal access to education”? Educational outcomes vary dramatically with the parents. What it is reasonable to have is have roughly equal educational spending per student in poor rural areas, central cities and rich suburbs. The situation today is much better than several decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/320 "2016-12-06T00:10:00Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Is that what you think Obama and Arne Duncan have been doing? “_maintaining_ equal access to education”? You think any fair reading of our current education outcomes would suggest that today, before Trump takes over, we have something roughly approximating “equal access to education”? So you seem to be arguing that since it has not been accomplished yet, we should simply throw away the ideal and admit that it can never be done - simply trash the ideal. We should STRIVE for equal access to education. Why are you opposed to this? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=17)