Summary
Donald Trump’s transition team has bypassed standard FBI background checks for key cabinet nominees, relying instead on private investigators, as reported by CNN.
This breaks decades-old norms meant to vet candidates for criminal history and conflicts of interest.
Controversial appointees include Matt Gaetz (attorney general), Tulsi Gabbard (director of national intelligence), and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (health secretary), all facing scrutiny for past investigations, pro-Russian views, or personal admissions.
Critics argue Trump seeks to undermine traditional vetting, with potential security risks tied to bypassing these checks.
How much corruption can we take before he’s even installed? For real. This is way fucken nuttier than last time. It seems so malicious.
We will take whatever he gives. The US voters approved him. They want this. They chose this, and everything that comes from it.
This. There is no authority above the authoritarian. His word is law now. Whatever Our Glorious Cheeto wishes is now US doctrine.
Void help us all.
I tried. I can’t do anything.
Did you check your pockets for a time machine? I bet you left it there and could make a quick pop back to the 90s and correct the timeline.
Gore?
Yeah, there’d be plenty of that
Thats not true. There are at least 71 million people here who voted against it. Thats a lot of people.
He won the popular vote, and the electoral college. Majority rules. (Unfortunately)
Also people who didn’t vote at all, are at minimum fine with Trump and not against him.
…Assuming he actually did, and didn’t just commit all the electoral fraud he kept talking about
There is that…
Plenty of voter suppression in swing states, like unenrolling people from voter registration lists. Also the ongoing issues like 4 hour lines in urban areas, due to not enough voting facilities and machines, and short or no lines in rural areas and suburbs. Also, how it’s easier for people with certain types of jobs to go vote but hourly workers etc have a harder time getting there since voting day isn’t a holiday.
There were even more who couldn’t be bothered to get off their asses and vote at all. They stood by and allowed this to happen without caring enough to try and stop it.
I have a friend who says “I’m not political” and I’m just what? So you don’t have any opinion on whether immigrants should get fucked or gay people should have rights? His position is “I see so many families and friends torn apart by disagreements so I’m just not political”. Okay. It makes me think he’s kind of a dolt. I don’t feel like it’s possible to not have an opinion on social issues at the least.
This is why we’re supposed to have separation of powers. Any competent senate, even if the same party would insist in this before confirming. A senate full of sycophants on the other hand ….
He got more votes than he ever did in the previous elections, and won the popular vote for the first time. God damn.
Yup. There will be lots of opportunities to say “well, I hope you didn’t vote for trump if you wanted ______”
Healthcare, retirement, any kind of social service, etc etc.
Rigged!!! /s
I’m not even sure what world be the worse outcome, more fraud and cheating from Trump or that so many people genuinely voted for him.
Sadly my gut tells me that real votes are the worse situation, and also the true one.
It seems so malicious.
I guess he was being honest about all that revenge talk, eh? I mean, it is actively and onerously malicious, but just like last time, everyone’s just gonna let Trump steamroll them, because the federal government has long had hesitance to hold figures like presidents, senators, and supreme court justices to account, and this is just an extension of that.
I mean, we didn’t prosecute Bush and Cheney for war crimes. Hillary Clinton was proud of her friendship with Henry Kissinger. Kamala Harris was proud of her endorsement by Dick Cheney.
“It’s a big club and we ain’t in it,” but Trump and co. don’t feel the need to put up the facade anymore.
“It’s a big club and we ain’t in it,” but Trump and co. don’t feel the need to put up the facade anymore.
Bingo. Instead of “hiring” (paying off) politicians, they’re just doing it themselves. They’ve lost any and all care about keeping up appearances. After all, what are we going to do? Sue them?
the federal government has long had hesitance to hold figures like presidents, senators, and supreme court justices to account, and this is just an extension of that.
Because if they start holding others in similar offices to account, they might have to hold themselves as well, and that ain’t happening.
The 4 years of Trumpsanity isn’t starting in January, it’s starting right now. For fucks sake, I’m not ready yet. I need to start stockpiling popcorn and booze. Except this time I’ll probably need less popcorn and more booze because I don’t think it’s going to be as stupid funny as last time. It’s already not funny, it’s been nosediving into “could it get any worse?” and so far the answer has been “Yes!”.
It annoys me a lot when people I know say “Trump is funny”. Not really… he’s a whiny, conceited asshole. He might be somewhat amusing if he wasn’t the President. As it is, this isn’t funny at all.
Trump himself wasn’t funny, but he would come across as funny because he would say the stupidest things or act in an unprofessional way. For example when he said the experts should look into if showing light inside a human body would kill COVID or maybe injecting disinfectant might work, that was stupid funny. There were others like the “who knew healthcare is so complicated” statement
It’s funny in a way but still horrifying since someone that narcissistic and ignorant is in charge of the government.
He called Putin for a reason
This breaks decades-old norms meant to vet candidates for criminal history and conflicts of interest.
Come the fuck on. The FBI background checks are a “norm” too? Do we have actual laws for anything?
The actual laws also don’t seem to matter, in all fairness.
Up till now, we didn’t really need them because everyone agreed it was the smart thing to do.
We’re done with smart.
That’s the hope. If we’re gonna have a fascist state, at least let it be a bumbling incompetent fascist state.
“Up till now, we didn’t really need them because everyone agreed it was the smart thing to do”
That doesn’t sound very smart to begin with.
America: relies on tradition because laws are for the poor
And the party of tradition won’t care
The FBI were supposed to check Hunter Biden’s laptop.
A crook and convicted felon fills his cabinet with folk who probably can’t pass an FBI security screening? Color me shocked.
The robber barons are back, baby
Gabbard is the biggest threat here, in my view.
You couldn’t dream of putting a spy in a better position than the DNI whose position is literally to oversee all intelligence agency silos.
Russia will know literally everything.
Trump is just putting a person between him and Putin this time around, Russia knew everything the first admin also. He hid meeting notes and visitor logs and nobody did shit, then the assholes voted him back in to finish selling us off because somehow that means “America First”.
It’s amazing how Republicans manage to brand all their shit as the complete opposite of what it really is.
She is literally in a cult.
People need to know that and they don’t.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_of_Identity_Foundation
Not to defend those nutjobs but ‘religion’ (aka cults that reached critical mass) are far more dangerous, whether Catholicism or mainstream US Protestantism.
Not at all true. These are cultists who would happily march queer people into gas chambers and don’t make a secret about it.
This is a Nazi cult. This is super fucking dangerous.
Dude there are certainly more Americans that would happily march queer people into gas chambers and don’t make a secret about it while being Christian.
There already are “conversion” camps run by Christians for queer children. They are horrendous.
Were hatred against queer people not normalized by Christianity her cult would be unable to use her to persecute them.
Also, some Christian denominations are not troubled by someone being a Nazi.
Okay? And plenty of Christians are not like that at all. And I say that as a life-long atheist.
This is like saying the KKK isn’t extra dangerous because lots of non-Klan members are just as racist.
You’re really missing the point here.
Also, you don’t have to tell me about conversion therapy camps. We’re getting my daughter out of this country specifically because Trump selects people in dangerous bigoted cults to be in his cabinet.
But sure, she’s not dangerous at all. Not compared to 10 out of 10 Christians, all of whom hate queer people, including the Christians who are themselves queer.
I am not missing the point, you are, by miles.
That cult is less dangerous than Christianity. You don’t fear them, you fear an extremely anti-queer government. That government will take power due to Christianity’s influence. Those cultist might be invited along for the ride.
But sure, she’s not dangerous at all. Not compared to 10 out of 10 Christians, all of whom hate queer people, including the Christians who are themselves queer.
Not, all Christians hate queer people. It’s irrelevant if they do not seriously try to stop the ones that do from promoting hate. Which most Christian denominations officially do, for most of them any queerness is a sin. Which explains why even non hateful Christians will not seriously challenge the more extreme ones.
As for queer people who identify as Christians, that’s not an argument in your favor, for Christianity being less dangerous. Christianity has probably driven more queer people to suicide for not being “good” Christians than this cult could even dream of hurting. It gets people to run conversion camps and parents to send their own children there. It probably also keeps good people who would otherwise help queer people from helping.
So yeah Christianity is far more dangerous than some nobodies.
Some nobodies? Her genocidal cult is now going to be officially part of the U.S. government. Why does this not bother you just because there are lots of bigoted Christians as well?
Christians have been in charge of the United States since its inception. The current president is a devout Catholic. Queer people have been getting more and more rights despite that.
By your logic, queer people are in less danger now that this genocidal cultist can get all of their private information because she isn’t a Christian. Is that really what you think? Queer people will be safer under Trump? Or are you going to argue that Trump’s professed Christianity is genuine?
And your “queer Christians hate queer people” argument is also noted.
"Nikolai Patrushev, part of the Russian president’s inner circle and former Secretary of the Security Council, told the Russian newspaper Kommersant that Trump was duty-bound to act on his words.
Patrushev said: “To achieve success in the elections, Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations. And as a responsible person, he will be obliged to fulfill them.”
So yeah, sounds about right.
So… About that “deep state” I kept hearing about for the past 30 years… Think maybe now it’s probably the time, if there ever was one, to do something to preserve the world order.
Turns out the “deep state” are a bunch of rich people who don’t want to pay taxes. Oops.
The deep state was always meant to mean the FBI, FDA, EPA, and other agencies that while not always forces for good are forces of career bureaucrats that keep the United States a functioning nation.
Didn’t the deep state already green light an attempted assassination on Trump?
This all highlights how many loopholes and deficiencies there are in a system that prides itself so much on checks and balances.
Apparently the balance was supposed to be one person with good faith checking one without. Now we see what happens when every dumbass stands on the corrupt side of the balance.
No system of rules or laws can fully account for people acting in bad faith.
I think the founding fathers counted on social shame to limit bad faith actors in government. A dishonorable person used to become a social pariah and might even get killed in a duel back in the 18th century. People wouldn’t associate with them, sign a contract with them, or lend them money. But now?
You obliquely touched on a pet theory of mine. We s a society have for decades now rallied against public shaming and bullying and that kind of thing, but I wonder if we’ve gone too far with it —antisocial behaviours are left to run unchecked, whereas 100 years ago these people would have been mercilessly mocked to their face every day. Without the fear of that public mockery and ridicule, we get this.
Trying to protect neurodivergent people unfortunately shelters bad behavior as well as benign. Yes, the antisocial guy trying to start fights and hurt animals would’ve been driven out of society, but so would the harmless kid who needs things to be arranged by the last letter of its name or something. I’ve got some idiosyncrasies that make certain aspects of “fitting in” require more effort than most, and I definitely felt the difference in attitude towards how I struggled as I got older. Another hard to control factor is that malicious people can game those same attitudes that help people who simply can’t understand why they are different.
Yes, that’s the catch. Maybe we can encourage ridicule directed only at “society-level” behaviours and make it clear that individual quirks are off-limits.
I touched on one of my pet theories as well; the Constitution was written assuming dueling would be a safety valve. Holding office was originally limited to land-holding men, so the high class. They were mostly the only ones that did dueling back then. It was technically illegal, but it was a law for the common folks. At the time dueling was often done with pistols, which was paradoxically safer than swords. A duel with a sword always ended with blood. A pistol duel could end with both parties missing (often intentionally) and be considered a finished matter. Both parties would agree to a compromise that preserved the honor of each.
It sounds insane, but I suggest bringing back dueling. Just for federal elected officials though. Just the threat of a duel would make the assholes who take office just to enrich themselves run for the hills. They would never actually put their own ass on the line. You would actually have to believe in something enough to die for it to take office.
Our social circles are too big to do it reliably.
Now they publish it on TikTok and collect likes and followers.
No shit, one of his picks has white supremacist tats all over his body, one paid a minor for sex and gave them hardcore drugs, and the other is an actual Russian Agent.
Citation for “Actual Russian Agent”?
(Hillary Clinton said so doesn’t count. )
Whether she has a direct chain of command from Russia or not, she is a Russian Asset by her actions.
She has been non-interventionist and spoke positively of Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad for decades.
Gabbard promoted party division during the 2016 elections by supporting Bernie Sanders for president even after Sanders asked people to vote for Hillary Clinton. This aligns with Russian psyops on social media at the time.
When Russia Invaded Ukraine she parroted Kremlin Newspapers on the false claims that the USA operated 36 Biolabs in Ukraine.
She sued Hillary Clinton for calling her a Russian Asset for some good press but then dropped the suit shortly after announcing it to the news. Meaning she thought Hillary could have actually won such a case if it went to court.
She has been non-interventionist and spoke positively of Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad for decades.
Diplomatic can often be confused with positivity
Gabbard supported Bernie Sanders for president even after Sanders asked people to vote for Hillary Clinton.
When Russia Invaded Ukraine she parroted Kremlin Newspapers on the false claims that the USA operated 36 Biolabs in Ukraine.
Well, The US did fund biolabs in the Ukraine.
She sued Hillary Clinton for calling her a Russian Asset for some good press but then dropped the suit shortly after announcing it to the news. Meaning she thought Hillary could have actually won such a case if it went to court.
Meaning value was gained in publicity and saved in legal fees.
Fucking tankies, bro…
Diplomacy supporting war and death is not a good thing.
You linking to before doesnt argue the point.
She had a lot more to gain by successfully suing Hillary. The only reason to drop the case already filed would be because the allegations were true enough that the opponent could provide evidence and the supposed victim couldn’t demonstrate otherwise.
Diplomacy reduces the war and death.
Supporting Sanders over Clinton could be exactly why she started the “Russian Asset” lazy mudslinging.
The only reason to drop the case already filed would be because
Winning a case, quickly, cleanly and cheaply is impossible.
It certainty doesn’t prove guilt.
Diplomacy with fucking Assad certainly never reduced war or death. I bet 80+ years ago you would have been the type to advocate the USA allying with actual Adolf Hitler.
I’ve got an idea to win the case quickly and cleanly: not have anything to do with Russia and having the court send Clinton the bill (pun not intended).
Diplomacy with fucking Assad certainly never reduced war or death.
Gabbard said they discussed her meeting with Assad and stressed the importance of meeting “with adversaries or potential adversaries, not just our friends, if we are serious about the pursuit of peace.”
Asked if she viewed Assad as an “adversary” of the US, Gabbard demurred and said it was important to look at who posed a threat to the US and how the interests of other nations compare to those of the US.
Pressed on the point, she said, “You can describe it however you want to describe it.”
When asked later in the interview if she thought Assad was a good person, Gabbard said, “No, I don’t,” and asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin was an adversary to the US, she responded, “Yes.”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/06/politics/tulsi-gabbard-syria-assad/index.html
I bet 80+ years ago you would have been the type to advocate the USA allying with actual Adolf Hitler.
Gabbards stance against Assad is exactly equal to America’s in 1945.
I’ve got an idea to win the case quickly and cleanly: not have anything to do with Russia and having the court send Clinton the bill (pun not intended).
That is a shitty, and ironically slow and expensive, idea.
I’ve needed FBI background checks for nearly every job I’ve ever had. If I need a background check to work in an elementary school, why don’t these people need it to handle our nation’s secrets?
don’t worry, DOGE will abolish the FBI, you’ll be able to work wherever you want!
As long as it’s a christian elementary school.
What could go wrong?!
Bypassed standard FBI background checks … to vet candidates for criminal history and conflicts of interest.
Those are features, not bugs now. They know exactly who they picked.
Exactly, they don’t need the FBI to discover the things they already know about them. I would even say, those things are the reason why they were picked.
Just like Trump limited what the FBI could look at for Kavanaugh, and nobody did anything about that either. He also over-ruled intelligence telling him Flynn was a foreign agent and cleared Kushner also. And the list goes on, but it didn’t matter the first time around, and the assholes that voted him back in are cool with it.
It’s also better for Trump if only he knows those things.
It’s crazy that all these things I thought were laws my whole life turn out to just be “norms” that can be totally ignored
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to his supporters, this just looks like someone who gets things done. and they probably don’t trust the FBI
he’d just overrule anyway like he did jared and a couple dozen others before.
So, Cheeto is relying on private investigators…run by the Russian FSB. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, the Deep State is going to filled with neo-Nazis, religious nutters and Russian agents.
Always has been
Moves to cut out the FBI appear to be in line with a pre-election memo drafted by his legal advisers and fits with Trump’s enduring suspicion that the agency is part of what, without evidence, he believes to be a “deep state” machine within the federal government bent on undermining him.
Trump administration does something obviously illegal and unethical
FBI: “Hey, that’s illegal, you can’t do that.”
Trump: “Look at this deep state organization trying to prevent me from doing my job”
My only confidence and hope is that these guys are such monumental fuckups that they won’t be able to string together enough executive function to realize their dark vision.
I am high on the same copium in order to avoid a complete breakdown.
