# 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:** 42
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/821 "2017-01-10T17:47:24Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > BTW, just in case anyone was interested, you can listen to the Sessions hearing here (live right now): [https://www.c-span.org/video/?420932-1/attorney-general-nominee-jeff-sessions-testifies-confirmation-hearing&live](https://www.c-span.org/video/?420932-1/attorney-general-nominee-jeff-sessions-testifies-confirmation-hearing&live) > > ETA: it’s pretty boring, but every now and then a protester starts shouting some gibberish to liven things up. And Sessions saying that the cries of “Lock her up” at rallies were humorous at times. And he _laughed._ ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/822 "2017-01-10T17:50:05Z")
> [@](#): > > …starts shouting some gibberish to liven things up. “Gibberish”? Do you know what they said? Or is your judgement predicated on their view that the nomination of Mr Sessions is important enough that public protest is necessary? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/823 "2017-01-10T17:51:36Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > “Gibberish”? Do you know what they said? Or is your judgement predicated on their view that the nomination of Mr Sessions is important enough that public protest is necessary? By “gibberish” I meant unintelligible speech. I couldn’t make out most of what they were shouting. The one word I _think_ I heard was “racist” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/824 "2017-01-10T18:39:00Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Your opposition doesn’t agree that it’s a “tiny difference.” It’s a huge difference. Your instance to the contrary is unavailing. Really? Let’s test that theory. I propose the following test: if Garland takes a seat on the Supreme Court, I’ll agree that it was a huge difference – enough to affect the real world. If Trump’s nominee takes the seat, then you agree it was too small a difference to actually affect the real world outcome. Or did you want to argue that perhaps I would win the debate in the real world but you would win in a world of your theoretical constructs? ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/825 "2017-01-10T20:11:02Z")
Speaking of Sessions confirmation hearings 🙂 > **[Booker partnered with Sessions last year on civil rights](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/booker-partnered-with-sessions-last-year-on-civil-rights)** > > Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., will testify against the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., based on what Booker perceives as Sessions' hostility toward civil rights, a rare break with the Senate tradition of deference toward fellow members. "…less than a year ago, Booker was sharing “one of my life’s greatest moments” with Sessions, speaking at a ceremony awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the “foot soldiers” who had participated in the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. Booker coauthored the legislation granting the award with Sessions. “This is truly one of my life’s greatest moments,” Booker said at the February 2016 ceremony. “I am humbled to be able to participate here and pay tribute to some of the extraordinary Americans whose footsteps paved the way for me and my generation. I feel blessed and honored to have partnered with Senator Sessions in being the Senate sponsors of this important award. This award is one of the highest civilian honors our nation can bestow, and it is clearly fitting to give this tribute to the courageous foot soldiers.” ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/826 "2017-01-10T20:20:22Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > Speaking of Sessions confirmation hearings 🙂 > > [http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/booker-partnered-with-sessions-last-year-on-civil-rights/article/2611389](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/booker-partnered-with-sessions-last-year-on-civil-rights/article/2611389) > > "…less than a year ago, Booker was sharing “one of my life’s greatest moments” with Sessions, speaking at a ceremony awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the “foot soldiers” who had participated in the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. > > Booker coauthored the legislation granting the award with Sessions. > > “This is truly one of my life’s greatest moments,” Booker said at the February 2016 ceremony. “I am humbled to be able to participate here and pay tribute to some of the extraordinary Americans whose footsteps paved the way for me and my generation. I feel blessed and honored to have partnered with Senator Sessions in being the Senate sponsors of this important award. This award is one of the highest civilian honors our nation can bestow, and it is clearly fitting to give this tribute to the courageous foot soldiers.” Are you saying that cooperating with someone and then later criticizing them for something else is hypocritical? If not, what are you saying? ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/827 "2017-01-10T20:27:19Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Are you saying that cooperating with someone and then later criticizing them for something else is hypocritical? If not, what are you saying? I am saying that co-sponsoring a civil rights award with someone and then opposing that someone on the basis of his “hostility toward civil rights” is hypocritical, yes. If he, one year ago, considered Sessions to be hostile to civil rights, Booker could have easily found another sponsor, couldn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/828 "2017-01-10T20:38:28Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > I am saying that co-sponsoring a civil rights award with someone and then opposing that someone on the basis of his “hostility toward civil rights” is hypocritical, yes. If he, one year ago, considered Sessions to be hostile to civil rights, Booker could have easily found another sponsor, couldn’t he? I don’t think Booker said his opposition was based on “hostility toward civil rights”. At least, I couldn’t find such a quote. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/829 "2017-01-10T20:57:33Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I don’t think Booker said his opposition was based on “hostility toward civil rights”. At least, I couldn’t find such a quote. That phrasing was in the article I cited. If you’d like another source, [“In a statement, Booker accused Sessions of having a “concerning” record on civil rights and criminal justice reform and called his decision “a call to conscience.””](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/jeff-sessions-lay-priorities-defend-civil-rights-record-confirmation-hearing/) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/830 "2017-01-10T21:26:58Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > I am saying that co-sponsoring a civil rights award with someone and then opposing that someone on the basis of his “hostility toward civil rights” is hypocritical, yes. Really? I can be glad that somebody is sufficiently willing to pay lip service to civil rights to support a civil rights award, without necessarily believing that their genuine commitment to civil rights is adequate to justify _putting them at the helm of the judicial defense of civil rights_. Similarly, while I approve of ExxonMobil’s long-overdue 2014 acknowledgement of the risks of climate change, that doesn’t mean that I think ExxonMobil should be trusted with overseeing federal involvement in climate science. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/831 "2017-01-10T21:36:59Z")
The committee hearing for retired General John Kelly for Secretary of Homeland Security is happening right now at [Watch Live: Senate Homeland Security Committee Holds Hearing For Trump Nominee John Kelly | Video | RealClearPolitics](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/01/10/watch_live_senate_homeland_security_committee_holds_hearing_for_trump_nominee_john_kelly.html) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/832 "2017-01-10T21:45:12Z")
[Trump Taps Vaccine Skeptic to Chair 'Committee on Vaccine Safety](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/01/trump-taps-vaccine-skeptic-to-chair-committee-on-vaccine-safety/512708/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) _The move is merely the latest in Trump’s dance with the anti-vax community._ :smack: > [@](#): > > On Tuesday, Donald Trump met with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer and activist, who also happens to be an outspoken vaccine conspiracy theorist. After the meeting, Kennedy told reporters it went “very well,” and said that Trump “asked me to chair a commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity.” He also said that Trump called him to ask for the meeting. > > Trump’s transition team did not respond to a question asking for confirmation that the president-elect indeed offered Kennedy that position. But the prospect of a Kennedy-led vaccine commission is deeply troubling for proponents of evidence-based medicine. For over a decade now, Kennedy has been publicly saying not only that thimerosal, a preservative used in some vaccines, is dangerous and associated with autism, but that the government has been covering this up. He wrote an article about this claim for Rolling Stone in 2005, and published a book about it in 2014. Scientists have found no evidence that thimerosal in vaccines causes any harm, and furthermore, it hasn’t been used in vaccines for children since 2001, with the exception of the flu vaccine. > > Kennedy said Trump is “very pro-vaccine, as am I,” but that Trump “has some doubts about the current vaccine policies.” For years, Trump has promoted the false link between vaccines and autism, and whether he himself is an anti-vaxer or not, he certainly has courted anti-vaxers at every turn on his road to the White House. This meeting with Kennedy suggests he will continue to do so. > > Even before he entered politics, Trump said he believed vaccines cause autism. … ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/833 "2017-01-10T22:46:49Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > That phrasing was in the article I cited. If you’d like another source, [“In a statement, Booker accused Sessions of having a “concerning” record on civil rights and criminal justice reform and called his decision “a call to conscience.””](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/jeff-sessions-lay-priorities-defend-civil-rights-record-confirmation-hearing/) Those weren’t Booker’s words (at least containing the phrase “civil rights”). His actual statement was much longer, but didn’t say “hostility towards civil rights”. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/834 "2017-01-11T00:26:20Z")
The _Washington Examiner_? Is that the publication that has such a unblemished reputation for non-partisan candor? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/835 "2017-01-11T00:27:36Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > The _Washington Examiner_? Is that the publication that has such a unblemished reputation for non-partisan candor? Which publication does? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/836 "2017-01-11T04:12:10Z")
[John Kelly, Trump’s Pick for Homeland Security, Cruises in Hearing](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/us/politics/john-kelly-dhs-confirmation.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0) My bold. > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON — Gen. John F. Kelly, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security, easily maneuvered through his confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday, drawing bipartisan support for what is likely be a smooth approval process by the full Senate. > > Still, despite the welcoming nature of the hearing, the senators pressed General Kelly, a retired Marine Corps four-star general, for his views on many of Mr. Trump’s statements about immigration and border security, and **General Kelly offered opinions differing from those expressed by the president-elect.** > > Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, asked General Kelly about Mr. Trump’s much-debated calls to build a wall along the border with Mexico, questioning whether a barrier alone would be sufficient to stop the flow of immigrants and drugs. > > “A physical barrier in and of itself will not do the job,” General Kelly said. > > General Kelly made it clear that the United States would have to deal with factors in South and Central America that fuel northward migration — especially drugs and related violence — and that the nation should look to bolster law enforcement in those countries. \*\*He also expressed a notable degree of empathy for those who seek refuge in the United States. > > “They, for the most part, don’t want to come up and leave their homes, their families,” General Kelly said. “But there isn’t an awful lot of economic opportunity for them there.” > …\*\* So… not all are rapists and criminals, eh? Someone should tell the Trumpster. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/837 "2017-01-11T04:21:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Monica Crowley, President-Elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for a top National Security Council job, plagiarized numerous passages in her Ph.D. dissertation, Politico Magazine has found. > > An examination of the dissertation and the sources it cites identified more than a dozen sections of text that have been lifted, with little to no changes, from other scholarly works without proper attribution. In some instances, Crowley footnoted her source but did not identify with quotation marks the text she was copying directly. In other instances, she copied text or heavily paraphrased with no attribution at all. > > This finding comes on the heels of CNN’s Saturday report that Crowley, the conservative author and commentator whom Trump tapped as senior director of strategic communications for the National Security Council, plagiarized more than 50 passages in her 2012 book What the (Bleep) Just Happened, copying directly from conservative columns, news articles, Wikipedia and in one case a podiatrist’s website. > > Despite the news, the Trump team continues to support the appointment. **“Any attempt to discredit Monica is nothing more than a politically motivated attack that seeks to distract from the real issues facing this country,” a transition spokesperson told CNN.** The transition team did not reply to requests for comment for this story… > > [Source](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/monica-crowley-plagiarism-phd-dissertation-columbia-214612) And the beat goes on… ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/838 "2017-01-11T05:18:43Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > In my view, the Democrats are the ones that started this escalating war over Presidential nominations all the way back with Bork. Specifically regarding the filibuster: they abused it with President Bush. Do you remember the “Gang of 14”? That was organized to avert Republicans going nuclear on the filibuster back in 2005 because Democrats’ abuse of the filibuster against judges that were qualified. Do names like Miguel Estrada, Priscilla Owen, Charles Pickering, William Pryor, etc. ring a bell? If they do, it’s probably because the Democrats organized filibusters against them, and not because they hadn’t yet had been through ethical review. Your view that it was only Republicans that have violated norms is, in my eyes, rubbish. Rejecting a hardline radical with bizarre, anti-privacy views like Bork and then _immediately_ accepting the president’s next nominee is not the same thing as refusing to staff an entire bureau with the intent of effectively nullifying that bureau’s existence. And you might notice that the democrats actually were able to work with the republicans, and that Pryor actually was confirmed! Oh, and by the way? There was a pretty mild increase from Clinton to Bush. [There was a _massive_ increase from Bush to Obama](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/11/charts-explain-why-democrats-went-nuclear-filibuster). ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/839 "2017-01-11T05:26:24Z")
Orrin Hatch says that Jeff Sessions can’t be racist, because he’s supported by the police unions. [https://thinkprogress.org/sessions-cant-be-hold-racist-views-if-police-unions-like-him-says-orrin-hatch-3a28597298ad#.bve2jllv6](https://thinkprogress.org/sessions-cant-be-hold-racist-views-if-police-unions-like-him-says-orrin-hatch-3a28597298ad#.bve2jllv6) Er, what? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/840 "2017-01-11T05:33:06Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Rejecting a hardline radical with bizarre, anti-privacy views like Bork and then _immediately_ accepting the president’s next nominee is not the same thing as refusing to staff an entire bureau with the intent of effectively nullifying that bureau’s existence. And you might notice that the democrats actually were able to work with the republicans, and that Pryor actually was confirmed! Oh, and by the way? There was a pretty mild increase from Clinton to Bush. [There was a _massive_ increase from Bush to Obama](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/11/charts-explain-why-democrats-went-nuclear-filibuster). I never said they were “the same thing”. I said it was an “escalating war” that started with Bork. It wouldn’t really be an “escalating” war if we were doing the exact same thing in 2017 that was done 30 years ago, would it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=41) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=43)