"You know, they will say, look, who knows, maybe more accusations will come out against Pete Hegseth. Maybe we end up losing four senators and he goes down. But even if that happens, they see this as a cautionary tale for Republicans. They are putting Republicans on notice that they're not going to tolerate dissent. They're not going to tolerate opposition to Donald Trump during his return to Washington. And by making such a fight of this, by publicly forcing these senators to bend the knee, they are creating a template for what we're likely to see next year. As Trump tries to pass legislation, as he inevitably does controversial things that will make some senators squeamish, the Trump team is sending out the message. Now, there will be a very steep cost if you go against Donald Trump."
The episode concentrates on the effort to win support from Senator Joni Ernst. You can listen to that. I won't summarize. I am blogging this because I want to say that when I heard the part quoted above, I thought: Sounds like
"Master of the Senate."
Makes me want to reread Robert A. Caro's great book about LBJ. (Commission earned.)
I hope Trump gets his Robert A. Caro some day.
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53 comments:
"squeamish"
"spineless". FIFY.
I called Sen. Ernst's office to register my desire to see Hegseth approved. I have never called any senator but those in my own state.
(evil Goofy meme) "And I'll f**kin' do it again!"
" swarm "
I once heard it said that there were more books written about Abraham Lincoln than there were days since he died. In a century, the same will be true about Trump.
Trump should get his cabinet. The same senators that want to block Trumps picks are the same ones that confirmed many of Bidens bad picks. They should get primaried hard if they do not vote to confirm.
After 4 years of lies and mob-like corruption from the corrupt Democrat party - most people do not care that Hegseth's personal life isn't perfect.
We want effective leadership and pit-bulls.
also - people are sick to death of the double standard. Democrats are lying liars who lie and act above the law... but anyone with an R behind their name must be perfect in every direction. *see my middle finger* - oh corrupt democrats/ above the law corruption mob bastards.
I hope Robert A. Caro gets his Robert A. Caro one day
I've not read Caro even once; if Prof rereads the books, that'll mean that on average the Prof and I have read them.
Swarm, feral, dark money. Do liberals ever use their brains to think? Or are they always on autopilot?
I read the Caro book. What I remember is how "Landslide Lyndon" in his first run for the Senate nearly defeated his challenger. He did this by manufacturing several hundred thousand votes to put him over the top. He won with massive voter fraud according to Caro......But, of course, that was a long time ago. Today's Democrats are a completely different breed and such things are no longer possible.
It needs to be said, very clearly to Senate and House Republicans: If you are against Donald Trump, we do not want you in our political party. You will be primaried out and your political career will be over.
Don't just get out. Get the fuck out.
Bad Orange Man is going to squeeze a few heads. Long overdue.
An important distinction: the pressure on the Vichy Senators is coming from the voters, not from the DC power players.
It may turn out that XTwitter and the Scott Presslers really have fundamentally changed how politics is played in Washington.
"And and when I talk to people close to President-elect Trump and people who work for him....."Jonathon Swan
LOL
Swan "talks to" approximately ZERO people close to President Trump.
But only zero.
He does however have unlimited access to Maggie Haberman who also likes to pretend she has access to and gets info from people close to Trump for her made up stories.
The good news is that we have BILLIONS OF DOLLARS at our disposal to eliminate these backstabbers the second they show themselves.
Can't wait to spend some of Elon's money.
Pipe-hitting ni ... well ... you all saw Pulp Fiction.
Lyndon gave up politics once he found out what happens when you fuck around. Getting Jack Kennedy's brains splattered all over you tends to sharpen the focus.
Just checked my bookmark. Got to page 397 o that book and quit. Caro is a tedious writer. But was rewarded bc the bookmark is an exceedingly cute photo of my wife and my youngest daughter (now 20) at about 2 years old. From back when I took real photos with my Pentax and developed the film, some of which apparently became bookmarks. Try that with a digital pic.
"Pete Hegseth Was Toast. The MAGA Swarm Came to His Rescue."
That's one way to describe it, I guess. Personally, I prefer "Voters Contacted Their Elected Representatives to Make Their Wishes Known."
You know, the way it works in a democracy.
Time to yell. It’s not just Ernst! A whole bunch of ostensibly Republican senators argue that “a President should get their choice of cabinet members,” but only when it’s a Democrat who is the President. The Republican senators who voted to confirm total nincompoops like Pete Buttigieg and Lloyd Austin are now trying to tell the leader of their own party that he cannot have his team because “reasons” (petty egos).
That's an odd comment, given the facts of the day. Johnson was 2 cars back behind the presidential limo. John Connally was riding with JFK, at Johnson's insistence.
Dix(D) the fed sez wot?
The big problem we have is these same R senators voted for the crazy idiots Biden nominated. Including Ernst and Graham! And she wants to balk at Hegseth over anonymous rumors? Cmon man!
Some form of pouncing, seems to me
Mayorkas!
Is there any awareness at the Times of how Democrats have been voting in lockstep for the last decade or two? The Establishment Media and the Washington press corps are supposed to be our "institutional memory," but they are more forgetful than the usual internet poster.
So, all the Democrat Senators for the last 4 years have been "bending the knee" to Joe Biden? And no "dissent has been tolerated"? Okay. Funny, it was never put that way in the MSM.
And during the first 4 years of Trump, all the D Senators "Bent to the knee to chuck Schumer" and all marched in lockstep. But strangely, it was never put that way in the MSM.
Did the Secret Service really think it was good idea to have the president and vice president riding in the same car? That seems like something they'd discourage and avoid.
I live in Maryland and am represented by Democrats who are only slightly to the right of Joseph Stalin. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I might tell them to make my voice heard effectively?
Look, Trump gets to pick his own cabinet. Not Lisa Murky. Not Susan collins, and not such other obscure R Senator who wants applause from the NYT's.
Trump got elected with a majority of the vote. He gets to staff his administration. What are R Senators doing by opposing his picks except thwarting the will of the American People?
A large number of R Senators voted for Leftwing Garland and even more radical Mayorkas. And gave as their reason "Biden gets to pick his own cabinet" - but now that's its Trump. Well, that's different!
It's not about doing what Trump wants them to do. It's about doing what those of us who voted for him want. All 74,000,000 of us. Republican senators need to realize it's not Trump they need to fear it's us.
Of course my new senator is Adam Schiff so I have no say in anything.
Who are these Democrats who harped on the "rule of law" over Trump's kangaroo felonies who now deny that the law has found Perry justified?
Not tolerating dissent or opposition makes it sound so fascistic. How about: We've got fresh political power now. We intend to use it to further our agenda (the one we ran and got elected on). If you stand in the way of that, be prepared to accept political consequences, such as getting primaried if need be.
Nothing all that new under the sun.
"How dare my constituents pressure me to do something they want done? I'm a Senator, I'm supposed to have an independent (well depending on donors) charter." - I hear those gears turning in their heads.
An interesting aspect of this is that Trump has had 4 years to review the pros and cons of his first term and form a plan to deal with the cons.
- Krumhorn
I reread volumes 2,3&4 starting about 6 months ago.
I had read all 4 more or less as published but wanted to read master of the senate and vol 4 in view of the potential vance vice presidency.
Terrific books, I highly recommend.
1 because caro is a terrific writer
2 because lbj was such a massive shit on the fabric of the us
3 evil as he was, he was a fascinating character.
John Henry
Remember, tomorrow is really election day.
And last night the NRC told us that a truck carrying nuclear material left home Dec 2 and showed up battered and damaged without the radioactive stuff.
Forecast for tomorrow? Shenanigans
John Henry
Why do I keep thinking of Eric Holder?
Seems unlikely there's another Caro out there. The late Edmund Morris, who wrote masterful trilogy on TR, was defeated by Reagan. No recent POTUS has had treatment similar to still unfinished LBJ series. I had hoped David Garrow, who wrote Rising Star, about Obama, would take on his presidency, but apparently he was so disappointed (examining from Obama's left), that he just tacked on a single chapter on the presidency to an exhaustive prepresidential treatment. The NYT's 10 best books just included Max Boot's Bio of Reagan. May give that a look.
They make it sound like a President-elect applying pressure to get cabinet picks approved is something new. That’s always true. Trump may use some different methods, but the pressure is the same.
Republicans are the last impediment to Trump upsetting Washington so impediments the Republicans will be but it isn’t like Ernst or Romney or Collins or Murkowski or Thune or whoever is standing on some principle. The lot of them Republicans will rotate who the thorns are to minimize the damage…and if it wasn’t these losers there’ll be five more or however many they need to get the job done.
Is it too late to arrest him with a swat team in the middle of the night on his contempt of congress charge? Or is there a statute of limitations? Should we care? Can we reappoint Mayorkas so we can impeach him for real and then have Trump fire him?
That might explain all the NJ drone activity - sniffing for the missing radioactive materials.
do we know details on Senators' private lives??
Politics ain't beanbag.
That's been true for a long time.
Oh no! Republican voters might expect Republican senators to confirm a Republican president's appointees! How awful! How expected.
Speaking about Pete Hegseth -- I wondered at first why Trump would pick a guy with his background as Sec/Def. So I read his book. If you haven't read it, you should. It's short, personal, and it answers the "why" question. Don't dare comment about his candidacy until you have,
Pete believes that the military establishment has gone down the wrong roads in terms of what kind of people the military should be recruiting and for what kinds of jobs. His view: NOT women in the infantry. NOT DEI. NOT transexuals, who sign up, get their treatments/surgery, and at that point have completed their service obligation.
Is he right? My guess is that the folks in the DC Establishment who say he's wrong aren't confidant they can prove it, so they argue he's not a nice boy friend. Sorry, but if what he says about our military today is even close to correct, we need to change it ASAP (that's military lingo for "As Soon As Possible").
Besides, I really love imagining the ex-National Guard Major going in and telling the 4-Stars what the f* they're going to do, because the PEOPLE have spoken.
Caro's LBJ books are terrific, especially the first volume.
Godfather, ref Hegseth and his short, simple diagnosis of the military:
Yes! I look forward to him doing a Marshall-style clearout of the flag ranks.
(Note that I didn't say Khrushchev-style, as memorably portrayed by Bob Hoskins in Enemy at the Gates....)
JSM
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