Bad News & Good News

A Clown Car of Grifters and Hacks in D.C. A Breath of Fresh Air in S.B.

This story first appeared at SB Newsmakers.

There still are two weeks left before Donald Trump’s inauguration, but his second administration already can be clearly defined with a single word:

Kakistocracy.

“Government by the worst people,” is Merriam-Webster’s terse definition of the sesquipedalian label, a precise and apt descriptor for the clown car set of Cabinet and White House appointments Trump has been rolling out for weeks.

The nominations, each more asinine than the last, evoke the words of the American poet James Russell Lowell, writing when President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 connived to end federal support for Reconstruction, ushering in the Jim Crow era: “Is ours a ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people,’ or a Kakistocracy, rather for the benefit of knaves at the cost of fools?” Lowell said in a letter.

A few Trump nominees, if uninspired, seem at least to bring a set of professional credentials to their posts: Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, Gov. Doug Burgum as Secretary of Interior, veteran government staffer Susie Wiles as Chief of Staff, for example.

But the majority are grossly unqualified, apparently selected in many cases, to work in opposition to the missions of their agencies, rather than delivering vital services to taxpayers. What else to call Trump’s collection of acolytes, butt kissers, campaign hacks, henchmen, lackeys, minions, pin heads, political thugs, campaign hacks, conspiracy theorists and crackpots (looking at you RFK Jr!) but a “kakistocracy”?

To its credit, The Economist magazine stole a march on the legacy press last November, when it labeled “kakistocracy” its “Word of 2024.”

“Much remains to be seen about Mr. Trump’s new (administration) Last time round he seemed to fire more officials than most presidents have trips on Air Force One. (Many then became outspoken critics.) This time, though, he has chosen his people for their loyalty above all. And many of his supporters are delighted, seeing in his appointments a wrecking crew to pull down a deep state they loathe.

Kakistocracy has the crisp, hard sounds of glass breaking. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on whether you think the glass had it coming. But kakistocracy’s snappy encapsulation of the fears of half of America and much of the world makes it our word of the year.”

The three worst people in the world. Amid the long list of awful Trump nominations, most attention perhaps has focused on Pete Hegseth, the pie-eyed, womanizing Fox News gasbag selected by the authoritarian, erstwhile reality TV star to be U.S. Secretary of Defense.

Hegseth has not the faintest qualification for the post. As a practical matter, however, he doubtless would be eaten alive by the professional military corps at the Pentagon, and thus is less likely to cause serious harm than the trio of political goons Trump selected for sensitive intelligence and law enforcement positions.

These three could cause serious damage to the rule of law and the norms and traditions of professional and independent law enforcement practices — not to mention the national security of the U.S.

In order of how dangerous they would be:

Kash Patel. Nominated to head the FBI, Patel is a former, low-level Justice Department attorney and Trump toady, whose sole qualification to lead federal law enforcement is slavish devotion to the great man, and who would make J. Edgar Hoover look like Cicero. At a time when Trump has vowed to use the Justice Department to enact “retribution” on his political enemies, Patel not only is salivating to do the job, but actually published an enemies list of those he plans to go after, for having dared to oppose Trump politically, and investigating and litigating his crimes. You could look it up.

Tulsi Gabbard. An unserious former Democratic House member, who’s lurched from supporting Bernie Sanders to Trump, Gabbard is proposed as the Director of National Intelligence, in charge of preparing the president’s daily intelligence brief, among other duties, a thoroughly unsuitable spot for someone who some intelligence professionals suspect of being a Russian asset. Described by Russian state TV commentators as “our girlfriend,” Gabbard has openly peddled Putin propaganda and talking points about the war in Ukraine, including a false claim about U.S. bioweapons labs, and was a major fan of deposed, Russian-backed Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad.

Pam Bondi. The former attorney general of Florida looks good as a nominee for U.S. Attorney General only in comparison to Matt Gaetz, a Trump superfan and nepo baby pederast who was forced to withdraw as the first pick because of an embarrassing House report detailing his interactions with underage girls. Bondi, however, is at least as big a political hack as Gaetz, if minus the personal sleaze: both in official and partisan capacities she was a major player in spreading Trump’s lies about the 2020 election and whitewashing the Jan. 6 violence. Forget all traditions of an independent DOJ with Bondi, who will simply do whatever Trump orders.

In a class by himself, of course, is Elon Musk, the world’s richest person who has been named to head an unofficial, phony “government efficiency” effort, but appears to believe he was elected co-president.

His unprecedented behavior, enabled so far by Trump, presents an argument that the key word for the Trump Administration perhaps should be “oligarchy.” His reckless antics in nearly triggering a government shutdown, however, make him well suited for the kakistocracy as well.

Alexander Hamilton, writing in the Federalist Paper No. 76, sang the virtues of a strong government chief executive appointing members of his own government with Advice and Consent of the Senate:

“It is not easy to conceive a plan better calculated than this, to produce a judicious choice of men for filling the offices of the Union; and it will not need proof, that on this point must essentially depend the character of its administration.

Mr. Hamilton, meet Mr. Trump.

A major shakeup at county. Amid the storm clouds of doom gathering in Washington as 2025 begins, there is at least a spritz of good news in Santa Barbara politics: Roy Lee is scheduled to take the oath of office today as the new First District representative on the Board of Supervisors.

The event will mark, not only a personal triumph for Roy but also a welcome public transformation between two very different, opposing styles of local politics: Out is the pay-to-play, patronage, self-seeking, know-it-all M.O. of professional politician Das Williams; in is the community-based, constituent-focused, servant’s hearts approach of Lee, a small business owner with an inspiring immigrant story who’s paid his dues as a member of the Carpinteria City Council.

“I’m excited and very grateful to the voters,” Roy told us in a pre-inaugural chat last week. “Our first 100 days, we’re going to focus on outreach. We’re here to listen, and here to serve.”

Mazel tov Roy Lee.