# 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:** 24
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/461 "2016-12-10T17:55:33Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > Are you against overtime and sick leave? I’m probably radically-more economic-freedom-oriented than you or many people would be comfortable with. While I wouldn’t call myself “against” overtime or sick leave, I do think that it generally falls into the category of questions that ought to be worked out between an employer and employee (or, in a nod to unions, employees), or perhaps by the individual states (in a nod to federalism). I’m not overly-eager to have one-size-fits-all national standards set on these things (or many other things) by some bureaucrats in Washington. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/462 "2016-12-10T18:04:47Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Besides **HD** not looking at cites, he does forget that the cabinet choice demonstrates that Trump’s promises were worthless. > > [PolitiFact | Donald Trump gets a Full Flop for stance on minimum wage](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/28/donald-trump/donald-trump-gets-full-flop-stance-minimum-wage/) I’m not at all certain that Trump knows what “federal” means in this context, and “raise the federal minimum wage” wasn’t what I thought of as one of his major campaign themes. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/463 "2016-12-10T18:09:40Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > …one of his major campaign themes. YMMV. One of the top fifty. One hundred if you count taking both sides. ---
**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 10, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/464 "2016-12-10T18:14:11Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’m not at all certain that Trump knows what “federal” means in this context, and “raise the federal minimum wage” wasn’t what I thought of as one of his major campaign themes. YMMV. Truly “he means what he says” [sarcasm] ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/465 "2016-12-10T18:22:14Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Truly “he means what he says” [sarcasm] I never made that claim. I’ve always felt that Trump was a fairly poor public speaker, without a lot of knowledge to back him up, and said quite a few inconsistent things. Still, through all of that, I got a vague sense from his campaign about a few things, like that he’d focus more on securing our borders than Obama did or Hillary would have, and that he wanted to see taxes cut, and that he wanted to see the right of the people to keep and bear arms protected (which in and of itself was a fairly new evolution for him). So far I haven’t seen much from his transition team or nominees that has me very concerned (even though I probably would have picked different people in some cases), and certainly not anywhere near enough to wish that Hillary had won instead. ---
**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 10, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/466 "2016-12-10T18:25:10Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I never made that claim. I’ve always felt that Trump was a fairly poor public speaker, without a lot of knowledge to back him up, and said quite a few inconsistent things. Still, through all of that, I got a vague sense from his campaign about a few things, like that he’d focus more on securing our borders than Obama did or Hillary would have, and that he wanted to see taxes cut, and that he wanted to see the right of the people to keep and bear arms protected (which in and of itself was a fairly new evolution for him). So far I haven’t seen much from his transition team or nominees that has me very concerned (even though I probably would have picked different people in some cases), and certainly not anywhere near enough to wish that Hillary had won instead. Of course not, we already noticed that you avoided looking at inconvenient cites. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/467 "2016-12-10T18:31:16Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Of course not, we already noticed that you avoided looking at inconvenient cites. You’ve missed the point entirely. ---
**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 10, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/468 "2016-12-10T18:35:15Z")
“So far I haven’t seen much from his transition team or nominees that has me very concerned” No, I think I got it, what I pointed out then was what others noted, you can be unconcerned only by dismissing or ignoring the cites others make with no good reasons really, it is not really a demonstration of open mindless. And before you reply you should know that I do not expect you to understand. I did make my last note there for other readers, not just you. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/469 "2016-12-10T18:42:58Z")
Yup, this is an area we’re probably better off just agreeing to disagree. I don’t see how any middle ground can be reached with people who think 90+% of Republican Senators would not be “within normal parameters” for the job. ---
**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 10, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/470 "2016-12-10T18:51:18Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Yup, this is an area we’re probably better off just agreeing to disagree. I don’t see how any middle ground can be reached with people who think 90+% of Republican Senators would not be “within normal parameters” for the job. Well, as I pointed many times before it is just a happenstance of history\* that currently almost all Republicans congress critters **demonstrate** that they are not within normal parameters. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lPgZfhnCAdI/maxresdefault.jpg "The Daily Show - Burn Noticed") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPgZfhnCAdI&t=167) > [@](#): > > The historic People’s Climate March takes place in New York City while a House of Representatives committee struggles with the basic principles of global warming. \*If one could magically make the president to be Teddy Roosevelt one could expect to see most republicans to be progressive regarding the environment, unfortunately nowadays most Republicans gained power by favoring very ignorant but very profitable positions. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/471 "2016-12-10T19:00:42Z")
If your definition of “normal parameters” for a government appointment excludes half of Congress, you think it’s the half of Congress that’s wrong, not your definition of “normal parameters”? I guess you’d just better prepare yourself for a lot of disappointment over the next 4/8 years. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/472 "2016-12-10T19:06:24Z")
All that bowing and scraping by Romney and others for SOS job was wasted. ---
**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 10, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/473 "2016-12-10T19:20:30Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > If your definition of “normal parameters” for a government appointment excludes half of Congress, you think it’s the half of Congress that’s wrong, not your definition of “normal parameters”? I guess you’d just better prepare yourself for a lot of disappointment over the next 4/8 years. Uh, I think you are reaching again for the populist fallacy, it does not change the facts that most Republicans are wrong or loopy. The reality is that you do not want to face the realization that **you should also** be disappointed. On edit: And Trump shows what I did notice he needs to see as a “quality” that virtually all his cabinet should have, that they need to be climate change deniers. The new SOS is an Exxon Mobil CEO. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/474 "2016-12-10T19:21:24Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > All that bowing and scraping by Romney and others for SOS job was wasted. Well, once someone with Tillerson’s foreign policy expertise entered the race, they really had no chance. ---
**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 10, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/475 "2016-12-10T19:30:34Z")
[QUOTE=GIGObuster] “On edit: And Trump shows what I did notice he needs to see as a “quality” that virtually all his cabinet should have, that they need to be climate change deniers. The new SOS is an Exxon Mobil CEO.” [/QUOTE] One thing to add there: Yes, I did notice that he has claimed to understand the seriousness of the issue, but he is the kind of fellow were his actions betray what he is really all about: [https://thinkprogress.org/exxon-says-climate-change-is-real-but-blocks-states-climate-probe-cf599a895827#.cjgja0dln](https://thinkprogress.org/exxon-says-climate-change-is-real-but-blocks-states-climate-probe-cf599a895827#.cjgja0dln) > [@](#): > > Organizations like the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) dispute that, however. UCS claims that as recently as 2015, Tillerson said the world should improve its understanding of climate science before acting, and that he’s asserted climate models are inaccurate.\* The advocacy organization also notes Exxon is still associated with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a free-market lobbying group that has worked to kill renewable energy programs, and teach climate denial in schools. \*Yep, that is indeed denialist tripe in a slightly different package. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/476 "2016-12-10T20:16:28Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Uh, I think you are reaching again for the populist fallacy, it does not change the facts that most Republicans are wrong or loopy. The reality is that you do not want to face the realization that **you should also** be disappointed. I don’t think you’ve got the populist fallacy argument quite right. I’m not claiming that not raising the minimum wage is the correct answer because half of Congress thinks it is. I’m claiming that it’s a normal position because half of Congress holds it. To pretend it’s not “within normal parameters” you have to stretch the definition of those three words in insane ways. Anyways, onto the second sentence: why do you think I should be disappointed? I like school vouchers, and don’t care if the minimum wage doesn’t get raised, and want secure borders. What has Trump done so far that you think should disappoint me? This sounds like more liberals pretending to know what’s in conservative’s self-interest better than conservatives do. Are you a fan of “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”? ---
**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 10, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/477 "2016-12-10T20:22:10Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I don’t think you’ve got the populist fallacy argument quite right. I’m not claiming that not raising the minimum wage is the correct answer because half of Congress thinks it is. I’m claiming that it’s a normal position because half of Congress holds it. To pretend it’s not “within normal parameters” you have to stretch the definition of those three words in insane ways. I was referring to the demonstrated unscientific position of denying that humans are changing the climate. So yes, you are the one ignoring why the populist fallacy is being used by the Republicans. > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Anyways, onto the second sentence: why do you think I should be disappointed? I like school vouchers, and don’t care if the minimum wage doesn’t get raised, and want secure borders. What has Trump done so far that you think should disappoint me? This sounds like more liberals pretending to know what’s in conservative’s self-interest better than conservatives do. Are you a fan of “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”? Depending on where you live we are more likely to face hell or high water thanks to the denial position of virtually the entire cabinet and almost all Republicans in congress regarding climate science. And it is not only the degradation of the environment but of education, besides climate change denial the degradation of our education under fellows that also deny evolution points to a degradation of science education in general. For more of what the Republicans should had learned but refuse to realize the harm they are making you need to see what Neil Degrasse Tyson had to say on the matter: > **[Neil deGrasse Tyson on Science Literacy (Part Two) | Moyers & Company |...](https://billmoyers.com/episode/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-science-literacy/)** > > Bill talks with the astrophysicist about why science literacy is critical to the future of our democracy, economy and standing in the world. > [@](#): > > BILL MOYERS: The proverbial alien from outer space must be scratching his bug-eyed head over that one. In 21st century America why should our most noted astrophysicist have to defend the science classroom against the intrusion of religion? > > Two reasons: Over the past few years, the number of Americans who question the science of evolution has gone up. Look at this Gallup Poll. Forty six percent of the country embraces the notion that “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years…” > > Perhaps less surprising, a Pew Research survey found that almost two thirds of white evangelical Protestants, the bedrock of the Republican Party, reject altogether the idea that humans have evolved. So while acceptance of evolution has increased among Democrats to 67 percent, among Republicans it’s fallen to 43 percent. That’s a huge partisan divide. > > Something else is happening, too, and no one is certain exactly why. Our Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, calls it “educational stagnation.” Consider this, PISA tests, tests that measure critical thinking in science, math, and reading among high school students in different countries, show that our students aren’t doing so well. > > In math, students in 33 other countries, including Ireland, Poland, Latvia, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic, did better than American students. In science, students in 24 countries including Poland, Ireland, and the Czech Republic were ahead of ours. And in reading, our best subject, kids in 21 countries outdid the Americans. > > The hard truth, says Secretary Duncan, is that the United States is not among the top performing comparable countries in any subject tested by PISA. That’s bad news for our students and the country. > > All fodder for my last round with Neil deGrasse Tyson. He’s the director of the Hayden Planetarium at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, he’s also the narrator of a mesmerizing new show at the planetarium called Dark Universe, and this spring he’ll appear as the host of a remake of the classic PBS series “Cosmos.” You can see it on the National Geographic Channel and Fox TV. Welcome. > > NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: Thank you. > > BILL MOYERS: Let’s talk politics for a moment. > > NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: Go for it. > > BILL MOYERS: All right. According to the Pew Research Center, back in 2009, a comfortable majority of Republicans accepted human evolution as a fact. But now, a plurality rejects it. So I ask you, politics can trump science, can’t it? > > NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: Well, in a free, elected democracy, of course. You vote who you want on your school board. There is no provision in the constitution for the government to establish what’s taught in schools. That’s all relegated to the states. Hence, we speak state to state about what’s in their science textbook versus another. > > And so that’s the country we’ve all sort of bought into, if you will, or born into. I think it’s a self-correcting phenomenon. Nobody wants to die, okay? So we all care about health. But above all else, among the Republicans I know, especially Republicans, nobody wants to die poor, okay? > > So educated Republicans know the value of innovations in science and technology for the thriving of an economy and business and industry. They know this. If you put something that is not science in a science classroom, pass it off as science, then you are undermining an entire enterprise that was responsible for creating the wealth that we have come to take for granted in this country. So we’re already fading economically. If this, if that trend continues, some Republican is going to wake up and say, “Look guys, we got to split these two. We have to. Otherwise, we will doom ourselves to poverty.” And so I see it as a self-correcting, I don’t know when it’ll happen, but they know. Expect, of course, most Republicans in congress and in Trump’s cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/478 "2016-12-10T20:22:49Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > …Are you a fan of “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”? Well, I’ve read it. You? ---
**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 10, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/479 "2016-12-10T20:30:08Z")
Ran out of edit time, correction: “So educated Republicans know the value of innovations in science and technology for the thriving of an economy and business and industry. They know this. If you put something that is not science in a science classroom, pass it off as science, then you are undermining an entire enterprise that was responsible for creating the wealth that we have come to take for granted in this country. So we’re already fading economically. If this, if that trend continues, some Republican is going to wake up and say, “Look guys, we got to split these two. We have to. Otherwise, we will doom ourselves to poverty.” And so I see it as a self-correcting, I don’t know when it’ll happen, but they know.” **Except** , of course, most Republicans in congress and in Trump’s cabinet. ---
**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 10, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/480 "2016-12-10T21:23:28Z")
Donald Trump is expected to nominate ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state, two sources close to the transition process told NBC News on Saturday. > **[ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson will be named as Trump's secretary of state:...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/rex-tillerson-exxon-mobil-expected-be-named-trump-s-secretary-n694371)** > > Donald Trump is expected to nominate ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state, two sources close to the transition process told NBC News on Saturday. So fairly definite now, instead of just being the frontrunner. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=25)