The Daly Weekly (1/10)
John answers your questions on Trump's cabinet nominees, George Soros, Joe Biden, and more!
Hi everyone.
Welcome to this week’s Daly Weekly, where I answer whatever questions you throw at me.
Let’s get right to it…
Will Pres. Trump and his cabinet get into "hot water" early on in his term, or towards the end? Some are rogue characters when I've researched them, and such lack of qualifications is startling to me. That can only lead to more chaos, no? — Sharon H.
Hi Sharon. The cabinet nominees I really hope (but have no faith) will get shot down in the Senate are Gabbard, Kennedy, Patel, and Hegseth. There are certainly others that I think are bad fits (and still others that I think are pretty good fits), but those four, in my view, are the worst (now that Gaetz is gone). Trump chose these people (and others) for personal reasons: loyalty to him, endless flattery of him, political favors, etc. It’s not as though they wowed him (or anyone else) with relevant experience or impressive qualifications for the job… which I think is a big problem, because these are serious positions with serious responsibilities.
I read a good piece by conservative law professor Jack Goldsmith the other day who argued that the recent terrorist attack in New Orleans highlighted the importance of our national security. Yet, as he pointed out, Trump’s selections for national security positions haven’t demonstrated much of an interest in… well, national security; they’ve instead talked about gutting our agencies, limiting their capabilities, and putting personnel through MAGA litmus tests. Likewise, recent developments in Syria have reminded us of Gabbard’s anti-U.S. apologia and propaganda-parroting for Bashar al-Assad (along with Vladmir Putin).
So yeah, I think such people being confirmed would be very bad for the country. Republican Senators have it within their power to shut these nominees down (like they thankfully did behind the scenes with Matt Gaetz), but due to the GOP’s hopeless servility to Donald Trump, I’m guessing they will, despite their reservations, confirm the remaining individuals.
Why do you treat MAGA like a party rather than a movement? WHo I like and dislike have never been judged by that measure. And Why would any Republican refrain from nominating a conservative [for the SCOTUS]. You guys live in dream world. — Doug T.
I don’t really view MAGA as a party or a movement, Doug. Those things have a clear direction and are typically shaped by guiding principles. I see MAGA as more of an attitude, held together by grievance, and ultimately directed by the whims of a single individual who demands absolute loyalty, and works to defame and purge from office Republican leaders he believes aren’t giving it to him.
As for your other question, Trump has changed positions on issue and after issue, and has taken a sledgehammer to lots of conservative principles over the years. So, I’m not sure why you’d be surprised if he refrained from nominating the types of Federalist Society justices he nominated last time (who were good) — an idea I by no means pulled out of thin air. He and his team were suggesting just a little over a year ago that they were instead interested in nominating justices more likely to give Trump things he wanted — activist types, rather than originalists and textualists.
Like I said last week, if he sticks to the types of judges he nominated last time, I’m all for it.
John: I was just forwarded an article by Lionel Shriver, a classic liberal and Spectator columnist. She wrote, "Most wokesters don't care about social justice. They care about appearing to care about social justice." Economists talk about incentives, but I think there's more to this than just monetary value. People are also motivated by a sense of belonging and virtue, to be a part of something grand and on the side of the angels. Does this explain much of the rise of leftist ideology in the 21st Century? — Steve R.
I think there’s a lot of truth to that, Steve.
Remember those “COEXIST” bumper-stickers? I used to see them on the cars of some of the least tolerant liberal-scolds I knew. Similarly, comedian Dennis Miller used to make a joke about 20 years ago about how he saved money by putting a “hybrid” sticker on the back of his car, because that’s why people in the environmental movement bought (higher priced) hybrid cars — to virtue signal to others that they were “saving the planet”, rather than making hard, meaningful sacrifices in their lives for the environment. I mean, it’s hard to get past people like Al Gore, John Kerry, and Leonardo DiCaprio lecturing about this topic when they produce an exponentially higher carbon footprint than the average person.
So much of this stuff comes down to a “Do as I say, not as I do” position, which is by no means exclusive to The Left (especially these days). But I do think a lot of what’s considered social justice falls into this category.
Greetings Sir John. Why do you think Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to GEORGE F—-ING SOROS!? What is your opinion of this? —“George SORRYASS” regard from The Emperor
Why do I think he did it? I would imagine for the same reason Donald Trump likely gave that same award to Miriam Adelson. She and her husband donated over a hundred million dollars to Trump’s presidential campaign and other Republican causes, and we know Soros has donated a crap-load of money to Democratic campaigns and liberal causes. I’m sure both Trump and Biden would argue they did it for other reasons, and they could probably even make a decent case for that (Adelson and Soros have some good, philanthropic work on their scorecards), but if not for them being political megadonors, my guess is that neither would have gotten that award.
I certainly don’t like that Soros was given the award (I think he’s a bad guy who has used his fortune for some very bad things). Sadly, a lot of bad actors are rewarded in today’s politics.
At a press conference this week, President-elect Trump suggested he might take Greenland and the Panama Canal by military force, said he’s going to change the name of the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America”, and claimed Hezbollah was in on the January 6 insurrection. Does noticing how demented stuff like this is mean that people like you and me have TDS? — Ben G.
That’s what I’ve been told, Ben. And even if we just think it’s, at minimum, embarrassing for America, that means we’re also “liberal cucks,” or something of that nature. I think a lot of the voters who chose Trump this time around, because they hoped he’d bring down grocery prices, are going to be reminded pretty quickly of just how exhausting they found him the last time he was president (especially as prices remain high).
What did you think about Joe Biden lashings out at reporters this week with “I might be the oldest president, but I know more world leaders than any one of you have ever met in your whole goddamn life!" — Alex D.
I joked on Twitter, Alex, that it was like me talking to my kids about all the rock bands I've seen live. Seriously though, it was a dumb, angry comment by a guy I think should have resigned from the presidency probably two years ago. Also, what he said was a very weird brag. Literally any U.S. president is going to know more world leaders than any reporter. In case I haven’t made this clear, I’m not going to miss Biden.
Thanks everyone! You can send me questions for next week by leaving a comment in the comment section.