'after all we have another 3 1/2 years' says Collins. Hmmm. It's possible we'll have another 7 1/2 years.
6
I think a rotating award every 3-6 months would be appropriate. I am sure the awfulness will change hands during these cycles. It is though a race to the bottom.
At least we know who the winner of the worst POTUS is and that cannot be disputed. They used to tell me that managers hire in their own image. They want another 'them'. I would say this group is representative of the very worst about Trump with incompetence and clueless being my top two adjectives.
Maybe a good name for them as a group should be 'the wrecking crew'. That says it all to me.
A special shout out to Ben Carson who seems to be floating in a different orbit and clearly is lost in his position.
At least we know who the winner of the worst POTUS is and that cannot be disputed. They used to tell me that managers hire in their own image. They want another 'them'. I would say this group is representative of the very worst about Trump with incompetence and clueless being my top two adjectives.
Maybe a good name for them as a group should be 'the wrecking crew'. That says it all to me.
A special shout out to Ben Carson who seems to be floating in a different orbit and clearly is lost in his position.
This is the funniest column since W was president. I havent laughed this hard in months. Thanks.
14
For the life of me I can't comprehend how we got here. Our republic is in trouble.
28
I have always enjoyed Ms. Collins. This piece however did not make me laugh but feel terrified , not by her, but by the so-called cabinet. I don't know what our country would be in the next 6 months--ruinous, I suppose. That is terrifying!
24
After hearing Kushner talk for the first time I am convinced that he might be gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Many gays are married with families. But seriously, in the Middle East that is not a good thing to be.
12
Yes, every few months.
8
This was great! One of the best articles on this disastrous administration. And, yes, it should be performed on a regular basis, such as, monthly. Naturally, there is the gaggle (ok, maybe around 10 million) of Trumpistas who simply can't find anything about their Man to dislike: Business fraud? Not a problem. Sexual predator? Nope. Compulsive liar? 'Could be worse. TV news addict? Who cares? It is all about natural selection of the species. Which is why Trump has appointed the most absurdly imcompetenet millionaires and billionaires to run the most important functions of our government.
The irony of ironies of all this, Gail, is that the guy with the nickname, "Mad Dog," James Mattis, seems to be the most sane member of the entire administration!
As for public education, and as a native of California, my home state used to have a public education system that was the envy of the world. Then, Prop. 13 and the Gann Act gutted the funding for the state's public education for the sake of lowering taxes for the super-rich property owners and developers.
Betsy DeVos certainly qualifies as the most unqualified cabinet leader as head of the Dept, of Education. Were it not for the family's billions, she would not qualify as a dog walker (apologies to those dog walkers). And the family fortune is based in large part on investments in for-profit schools. The hidden agenda is not so hidden.
The foxes have raided the hen house.
The irony of ironies of all this, Gail, is that the guy with the nickname, "Mad Dog," James Mattis, seems to be the most sane member of the entire administration!
As for public education, and as a native of California, my home state used to have a public education system that was the envy of the world. Then, Prop. 13 and the Gann Act gutted the funding for the state's public education for the sake of lowering taxes for the super-rich property owners and developers.
Betsy DeVos certainly qualifies as the most unqualified cabinet leader as head of the Dept, of Education. Were it not for the family's billions, she would not qualify as a dog walker (apologies to those dog walkers). And the family fortune is based in large part on investments in for-profit schools. The hidden agenda is not so hidden.
The foxes have raided the hen house.
34
I CANNOT believe Carson did not win. I suspect Russian meddling.
19
Gail, please don't let Mrs. McConnell slide.
She is the key to totalitarian control of all three branches of government. She is the link to the Senate where legislation and court appointments are controlled.
Her job is to privatize infrastructure, i.e., control of the private sector through mass corruption and cop-option.
She looks so nice and innocent. That makes her the most dangerous, a real wolf in sheep's clothing.
She is the key to totalitarian control of all three branches of government. She is the link to the Senate where legislation and court appointments are controlled.
Her job is to privatize infrastructure, i.e., control of the private sector through mass corruption and cop-option.
She looks so nice and innocent. That makes her the most dangerous, a real wolf in sheep's clothing.
26
There's a real dichotomy of thought here, at least for me. On the one hand, and in the sense of humor that saves me these days, I'd like to offer a suggestion that a statue depicting the Confederacy of the Dunces be handed out each month to a designated and deserving Cabinet member. But on the other hand, I think the situation is tragic. I guess therein lies the story John Kennedy Toole penned when he wrote his conflicted yet beguiling tale of Ignatius J. Reilly.
16
And on a frivolous but meaningful note, if Hillary Clinton's hair had changed that much in so little time, it would have been picked up by every major and minor network.
8
The award could be a gold (fake) toilet. After all, that is where this cabinet is.
28
So many possibilities for the award name: The Grifter, The Dunciad, The Putin, The Bannon. How about we keep it simple and call it The Worsty?
27
I think I am beyond satire of Donald Trump and his entire administration. I am truly sick at heart at the unraveling of a once great nation in just a few short months.
I am watching coverage of the healthcare bill that the crooks in the Senate have concocted to deny poor people healthcare and middle class nursing home coverage by gutting Medicaid. This has always been the dream of Ryan and McConnell.
This is the sickest and most evil administration in the history of the US. Nixon was indeed a crook and a charlatan- but when you look at his record and what he in fact accomplished, he looks like a decent president compared to this evil moron and the evil people in the GOP. Nixon was not good but relative to Trump, Ryan and McConnell- he was a saint. I despised Nixon but now he seems quaint in his evil machinations.
I say Trump is evil in his corrupt policies. lies,actions, tweets, speeches, cabinet choices and profiting from being president while destroying the planet and lying each and every time he opens his mouth.
This is aside from being a traitor and the whole Russia thing. Even if the Russia issue ( which of course is huge) - even if the Russian thing didn't exist- DT would still have the most corrupt, disgusting, evil, and amoral administration in history. I daresay he is comparable to the Nazi regime- fake news, calling the press the enemy of the people, the intelligence community Nazis, etc.
DT Voters- you're the biggest losers in all this mess. Congrats to you.
I am watching coverage of the healthcare bill that the crooks in the Senate have concocted to deny poor people healthcare and middle class nursing home coverage by gutting Medicaid. This has always been the dream of Ryan and McConnell.
This is the sickest and most evil administration in the history of the US. Nixon was indeed a crook and a charlatan- but when you look at his record and what he in fact accomplished, he looks like a decent president compared to this evil moron and the evil people in the GOP. Nixon was not good but relative to Trump, Ryan and McConnell- he was a saint. I despised Nixon but now he seems quaint in his evil machinations.
I say Trump is evil in his corrupt policies. lies,actions, tweets, speeches, cabinet choices and profiting from being president while destroying the planet and lying each and every time he opens his mouth.
This is aside from being a traitor and the whole Russia thing. Even if the Russia issue ( which of course is huge) - even if the Russian thing didn't exist- DT would still have the most corrupt, disgusting, evil, and amoral administration in history. I daresay he is comparable to the Nazi regime- fake news, calling the press the enemy of the people, the intelligence community Nazis, etc.
DT Voters- you're the biggest losers in all this mess. Congrats to you.
76
I'm sorry but I just can't laugh at this.
58
don't think twice, it's all right
10
I agree with many readers that Ms. Collins' column is laughable; I had tears rolling down my cheeks. But sadly, this is the government we are stuck with in these very perilous times. It's as though the worst possible people
we chosen for some very important offices. And as a retired teacher I find it tragic a woman with such disdain for public education is in charge of so many young people.
To quote, "Sad".
we chosen for some very important offices. And as a retired teacher I find it tragic a woman with such disdain for public education is in charge of so many young people.
To quote, "Sad".
31
I am tired of laughing about this. I am not sure laughing about this is productive. When you think that a fluke government (and that is what this administration is) could unravel decades of progress across the board, I think laughter is not the answer.
People are going to die because of this administration. America's role in the world is going to decline in the world because of this administration (Bush 2.0 in that regard...).
We used laughter to get through the Bush years. I do not think this persistent sadistic trend in our politics is funny any more. Sorry.
People are going to die because of this administration. America's role in the world is going to decline in the world because of this administration (Bush 2.0 in that regard...).
We used laughter to get through the Bush years. I do not think this persistent sadistic trend in our politics is funny any more. Sorry.
15
Gail Collins' ability to evoke a smile or even a laugh about such a profoundly disturbing and anguishing turn for our beloved nation, a turn that has dismayed the entire world -- with the exception of polluters, for-profit schools and prisons, banksters, lunatics, terrorists, Putin and those with a profound lack of common sense -- is so welcome.
Keeping a sense of humor will keep us more agile and able to resist. And, someday, to prevail and restore.
Thanks Gail!
Keeping a sense of humor will keep us more agile and able to resist. And, someday, to prevail and restore.
Thanks Gail!
22
Another point for DeVos is her brother, Eric Prince. He started and runs the corrupt militia Blackwater. If the theocrats ever wanted to actually militarily install the Gilead of Handmaiden's Tale, perhaps they would have the means through Mr. Prince's crowning accomplishment.
Everything about DeVos and everyone around her disgusts and frightens me to the core.
Everything about DeVos and everyone around her disgusts and frightens me to the core.
37
This is why I love the Times. We need this, and in my book this is basically therapy.
The GOP just won 4 out of 4 special House elections, their Senate is on track to give Trump his first major legislative victory, with tax reform likely the second before the year is even out, and we're being faced with an onslaught of terror and violent attacks that seriously undermine some of our core positions, like a fidelity to tolerant border policies.
Basically, things are horrid! With no end in sight! So exercises like this are a wonderful relief mechanism. While physically attacking the people we disagree with may be equally cathartic, it tends to damage our brand and is counterproductive. So more of this please! The Resistance has room in it for mirth, for sure! But strident street warfare and being shrill also have their place too.
Think about it. Namaste.
The GOP just won 4 out of 4 special House elections, their Senate is on track to give Trump his first major legislative victory, with tax reform likely the second before the year is even out, and we're being faced with an onslaught of terror and violent attacks that seriously undermine some of our core positions, like a fidelity to tolerant border policies.
Basically, things are horrid! With no end in sight! So exercises like this are a wonderful relief mechanism. While physically attacking the people we disagree with may be equally cathartic, it tends to damage our brand and is counterproductive. So more of this please! The Resistance has room in it for mirth, for sure! But strident street warfare and being shrill also have their place too.
Think about it. Namaste.
16
With the revelation of the Republican Senate's health care bill, I can only cry at the thought of needless death, misery and destruction rained down upon our country and our world by the people currently holding the reins of power in every branch of this nation's Federal Government.
No, don't do the contest every few months, it's really bad mojo. We're asking for trouble, as in karma level, when we sportingly denigrate our national leaders with these kind of contests.
3
OMG. This is one of the best-evers. I needed it so much after the
health care news this morning. Readers really do have a terrific sense of humor. Thank you.
health care news this morning. Readers really do have a terrific sense of humor. Thank you.
15
Monthly! Let's do this monthly and then at the end of this administration (which hopefully comes soon) there could be overall awards...perhaps even some special mentions? Maybe "Participation" medals so no one's feelings get hurt?
This entire Bizarro world cabinet could not be worse if each selection were made by someone who wanted each and every agency to fail - Oh, wait...
Senator Bill Proxmire's Golden Fleece Award deserves to be resurrected for this cabinet, reflecting not only that taxpayers are getting fleeced (which was Proxmire's point), but also the fabulous wealth of the Trump cabinet. Of course, Ms. DeVos is very likely to misunderstand an award by this name, and assume it is a compliment.
12
Such a great column! Comic relief is exactly what I need.
5
Betsy DeVos....hmm. Well, Arne Duncan did America's children no favor with his "Race to the Top" thing....school shouldn't be about a race that involves endless testing. But the question isn't "as compared to the Obama cabinet" so I guess I'll have to settle for Tom Price. Please ask again, if only for a little comic relief.
3
Oh please keep this up. Maybe even once every 2 months as Trump speeds to destroy the very country from which he profits. I like the one guy's wrecking ball award.
5
DeVos isn't very bright because she was raised and educated to simply be a fixture on the arm of a man. It worked. Now she's a fixture on Trump's arm in the White House as a member of his cabinet.
9
The award could be an empty frame, or a framed mirror with the word "worst" engraved across the front.
7
What form should the award take? How about a barrel of rotten apples.
9
So then what you are saying is that in Trump's eyes Betsy would be the best. Bottom line in all seriousness if we are all here in 2020 (earth that is) Trump will have had a gr8 Presidency... Hashtag grabembythe
2
Really enjoyed the column, had a good laugh thru my tears, then you had to go and mention the remaining 3.5 years. Really?
10
When giving the commencement address at Bennington College many years ago the noted author Kurt Vonnegut told the graduates that "Things are going to get unimaginably worse and they are never ever going to get better again."
In addition to being a fine author, Mr. Vonnegut was also obviously prescient!
In addition to being a fine author, Mr. Vonnegut was also obviously prescient!
16
The most disturbing aspect of this effort is the way so many are following the receding tide - right before the tsunami rolls in. As a candidate, Trump declared war on the current system of government. His actions and choices appear to be in line with many of his campaign pledges. The uncomfortable truth is that, mocking him, his staff selections and his tweets does nothing to elevate the debate or change the course of government.
9
Touche ...well said!
3
Congratulations on an Herculean enterprise. One wonders whether the exercise should be repeated on a monthly basis, but I hesitate to condemn Ms. Collins to such a Sisyphean task. One word of regret, if I may: it seems to me that Secretary Perry really deserved the prize, for having put the bar at a truly stratospheric height in his CNBC interview, where he denies any link between CO2 and climate change and boasts about his healthy skepticism on the subject. Despite the fear he expressed, I definitely would not call him a Neanderthal though. I have too much respect for our ancestors, who were much smarter than that...
6
DeVos may be a poor cabinet head but she would be gone by now if Trump was not a poor President. Any successful person in charge of such a big and complex organization where challenges big and small must be addressed continually and often without any warning must have good help. Trump has let five months go by without assembling the staff that he needs and it's not the fault of the Congress because he's not named his nominees. A good chief executive does not run things day to day but delegates that to highly competent subordinates and focuses on what to expect far into the future and it thus able to make decisions that address both current and future needs. This provides his team with a clear understanding of his goals and objectives. It's pretty clear that Trump is not providing this kind of leadership in his administration. There is a good chance that Congress may take back most of the authority which the Constitution gives the Congress and actually assume some responsibilities which the Presidents of the twentieth century exercised.
6
I vote for worst cabinet member of the month. Or if not (although I fear it will still be a hard choice, especially if it can get expanded beyond the cabinet to include other important positions) monthly, absolutely quarterly. I'm sure there will no lack of candidates from which to choose. Still laughing through my tears - thank you Gail!
4
It is a lot easier to break things than to build things. That is why these folks are in Trump's cabinet, to destroy the departments they have been placed in control of. These institutions belong to the people, not to the president. And the vast majority of the people do not want them destroyed. I guess the one service Trump has done is to highlight the need for stronger Congressional and Judicial oversight of the presidency immortalized in the Constitution.
13
Great column! I think that you should run the contest each month, because it would seem to me that as we get closer to "the truth" of Trump's involvement in the "Russian thing", cabinet members with a shred of pride and decency will abandon ship... I could be wrong, though, and have been - more often than not lately.
And I think that the award should be a bust of Trump, carved in the Garry Trudeau likeness of him, but in full color. A small plaque should be affixed to the trophy, with the winner's name, the date, and the word, "WORST" engraved in fake gold.
And I think that the award should be a bust of Trump, carved in the Garry Trudeau likeness of him, but in full color. A small plaque should be affixed to the trophy, with the winner's name, the date, and the word, "WORST" engraved in fake gold.
12
The president and his Ikea cabinet have sent me running to a shrink; I can't figure out if I am nuts or America. One sure thing is the importance of laughter in times of sadness, depression and insanity. Thanks Gail for the momentary, beautifully written chuckles!
13
What we see when we look at Trump's cabinet is a wide spread of competence and appreciation for the entities which they are the CAO's because the person who appointed them had no grasp of what he was doing. DeVos, Pruitt, and Sessions are all appointees whose competence over their departments never was understood but their political attitudes were in conformance with right wing constituencies or unusual loyalty to Trump. As unqualified as Rick Perry was to head the DOE he had enough character to admit where his knowledge had been wrong and said so. Pruitt does not have that kind of character, he's just a hack who thinks that his lungs can handle any amount of carcinogens in the air because he's protected by the all mighty, his grasp of science is feeble. DeVos lives in a dream. She simply refuses to handle the facts rationally when they contradict her preferences. Sessions understands the law and what the Attorney General's responsibilities happen to be, he just let's his political preferences dominate his choices and makes no effort to keep them from causing big problems within the DOJ.
4
I like your suggestion to vote every few months, giving each of them a chance to rotate to the top of the list, since choosing just one winner is too difficult. I envision the Worstee Award to be a giant trophy consisting of kitchen cabinets (gold, of course!), each with the name of one of the contestants encrusted on the front panel in diamonds. The winner would be revealed by one of the Romanoffs (Ivanka, Jared, Don, Jr. or Eric) who would broadcast it live, keeping us in suspense, walking back and forth in front of the cabinets, until finally he or she touches a secret button and the winner of the Worst Cabinet member would light up, balloons and confetti would fall from above, and Trump himself would suddenly appear alerting the world that the awards show has the highest ratings of any show, movie or video clip ever in the history of the world, from the present time to infinity. And beyond....
9
Thank you, Gail. Your columns cheer me in these despair-making times. Could we have contest for most appalling person in the government? I'd vote for Mitch McConnell, even over Donald Trump.
7
I'm for a periodic review. Monthly is okay. Because in all likelihood nobody will be looking over their shoulders. And like Rick Perry, there's bound to be lots of news from this group, individually and as a whole. And we do need a lot of humor to put up with these and something to look forward to.
The reason we have so many from which to choose, is that each cabinet member is diametrically opposed to the department he/she heads. Having never seen this before, I question the wisdom of destruction of all that keeps us healthy and safe. People, these appointments weren't stupid, they were venal.
7
Probably could do it every week, or alternate it with what crazy bill did the Republicans ram through that totally destroys our federal acquisition system and plucks the pockets of the taxpayers. Like the House Appropriations Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill last week that took the vaunted $4 billion VA plus-up and gave it to a single, sole-source non-competed contract with Cernas Corp. for electronic medical records. Cernas has on its board, Pence's Indiana governor predecessor Mitch Daniels (and GW OMB head for a brief stint). I'd say the alligators are thriving in the swamp while the press keeps getting sidetracked by the reality show.
8
Pruitt deals with children, too, as in destroying their future.
5
Yes, Sessions does resemble a gremlin and a bad hobbit......but I think he most resembles a Cabbage Patch Kid.....only there's nothing remotely lovable about him.
4
Gail, you're too kind. One award is insufficient. Betsy vs. Price? Ruining the next generation vs the current one? I say, NO! Award them both the Awfuls Award. They deserve it.
3
Just a heads up to Gail Collins's fans. Real political humor isn't directed to one party. Real humor, Swiftian humor, is about human folly. We all need to see the risible aspects of all political views. Cheers!
2
Well, since at the moment, Dems haven't much of a political role to play, how about just for now, widening the Swiftian gyre to include all those pusillanimous Republican legislators who are suppressing their libertarian or teapartier or centrist principles, instead doing soft-shoe routines to justify their support of Trump?
3
I think that you should do it for the Democrats as well. I'm sure they have their skunks also. Maybe it will prevent one from running and we will be left with only good candidates to choose from.
You got this one right--in a very tight race. The cabinet full of pirates is not about draining the swamp, it is about looting the republic and she is the best of the pirates -- Charter $chools ahoy!
5
Throw ALL these bums out. NOW
2
She shows everyday that she definitely deserves the title of 'worst in a cabinet conprised of worst'.
4
"God is a comedian playing to an audience that's afraid to laugh." - Voltaire
3
Mitt Romney's dog could be in the cabinet and wouldn't be the worst one there.
5
Please repeat this survey say 2x/year. It's a race to the bottom and those chosen need more than gravity to get them there.
2
Oh, Gail, please do keep this going. Every quarter or six months, or just whenever any one of these fools does something newly particularly egregious.
My award for best view comment from this column: "I've seen better cabinets at IKEA."
Laughed. Out. Loud. Thank you, kind sir or madam. You, along with Ms. Collins, saved my day.
Or at least let me forget, momentarily, the horror that is healthcare 'reform' marching through the Senate right now.
(Oh, and in the 'Possible / Advance' Worst, non-cabinet member category -- but still way too close to the federal helm for comfort, I nominate our very own Sheriff David Clarke. His DHS slot hasn't come through yet, which is a VERY good thing. Let us all hope like heck it stays that way. I'd gladly ship him out, but the idea of him at DHS is ... words fail.)
My award for best view comment from this column: "I've seen better cabinets at IKEA."
Laughed. Out. Loud. Thank you, kind sir or madam. You, along with Ms. Collins, saved my day.
Or at least let me forget, momentarily, the horror that is healthcare 'reform' marching through the Senate right now.
(Oh, and in the 'Possible / Advance' Worst, non-cabinet member category -- but still way too close to the federal helm for comfort, I nominate our very own Sheriff David Clarke. His DHS slot hasn't come through yet, which is a VERY good thing. Let us all hope like heck it stays that way. I'd gladly ship him out, but the idea of him at DHS is ... words fail.)
1
Gail Collins: "After all, we’ve got another three and a half years.".
Maybe.
Maybe.
What's that round thing up in front of America? ... oh, yes, slowly but surely America is going down the toilet.
Never elect politicians who are immune or insulated from their own decisions.
Never elect politicians who are immune or insulated from their own decisions.
2
It should be like the employee of the month. Every month we name the worst cabinet member and they get their face on the front page of the NYT every day for a month. They also get a parking place. In North Dakota.
2
"Do you think we should do this every few months? And what should the award look like? Anything’s possible. After all, we’ve got another three and a half years."
Yes! That way we could elect them one by one to what is clearly the worst Cabinet ever assembled including Mattis, Kelly and that crook from Wall Street who will remain anonymous.
Yes! That way we could elect them one by one to what is clearly the worst Cabinet ever assembled including Mattis, Kelly and that crook from Wall Street who will remain anonymous.
The award should be a gong, in recognition of the old TV show. There, if you got "gonged," you were out. If only that were the case with all these losers, and everything Trump.
1
Technically Pruitt is not a "Cabinet Member." The Administrator of the EPA gets "cabinet rank" along with the Chief of Staff, Director of CIA, and others. But membership is reserved for Department heads. Maybe there should be a second poll for the worst of those on the second tier. Reince Preibus? Mick Mulvaney? Linda MacMahon? Lots of worthy competitors for Pruitt in that group too.
1
DeVos describes the charter school she founded as "inspiring" It uses taxpayer education dollars then adds millions of dollars donated by billionaires including her husband. Comparing that charter to public schools is absurd. In New York City public schools autistic children are being integrated successfully into regular classrooms. That is truly inspiring. How many autistic children are in the DeVos' billionaire funded school?
below is the link to article about the two schools
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/06/12/us/ap-us-school-bus-death.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/us/politics/betsy-devos-west-michigan...
below is the link to article about the two schools
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/06/12/us/ap-us-school-bus-death.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/us/politics/betsy-devos-west-michigan...
5
"...But a lot of folks still seem to be in a state of trauma over that big meeting President Trump called last week, in which the cabinet members tried to one-up each other in the fulsomeness of their praise for their commander in chief. (“That cabinet meeting looked like one of those cheap TV ads you see where people praise a tomato slicer. …”)"
A better analogy - Mel Brooks' "I didn't get a harumph outta that guy..."
If you're not familiar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN99jshaQbY
A better analogy - Mel Brooks' "I didn't get a harumph outta that guy..."
If you're not familiar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN99jshaQbY
Not to detract from a rip roaring good old fashioned tar and feathering frenzy, but can't The Times get a fact or two right once in a while?
No one was kicked off the Board of Scientific Counselors. The members are appointed for three years terms. They do not have lifetime sinecures.
Is that so hard to comprehend?
No one was kicked off the Board of Scientific Counselors. The members are appointed for three years terms. They do not have lifetime sinecures.
Is that so hard to comprehend?
1
Since the "poll's" closed & the voting's over, the decision is final; until next month when this poll can be taken again.
One thing about all or most of trump's cabinet; every choice reflects Steve Bannon's influence on the president.
The stated goal is to end the "administrative state" whatever that means...
This is about the devolution on the American Government & its role as protecting the American People from overreaching businesses (& businessmen) & politicians who favor State's Rights to a Federal Government.
This ideology in the past made the United States weak & subject to pressure from more powerful governments. It also allowed businesses to grab control over all aspects of the lives of their workers & families.
Enlightened politicians, labor leaders, reporters, editorial boards & lawyers lead the fight against these Robber Barron's; eventually breaking up monopolies, establishing humane labor laws & universal public education.
Along the way, progressive positions & policies have become the standard & law of the land.
Now these throwbacks want to take all of us back to an era where we all lived in caves & lived in fear of everything, because everything was the unknown.
Shall we all but our blinders on? Or shall we each take a united stand for progress & against mind numbing control by modern day Neanderthals?
One thing about all or most of trump's cabinet; every choice reflects Steve Bannon's influence on the president.
The stated goal is to end the "administrative state" whatever that means...
This is about the devolution on the American Government & its role as protecting the American People from overreaching businesses (& businessmen) & politicians who favor State's Rights to a Federal Government.
This ideology in the past made the United States weak & subject to pressure from more powerful governments. It also allowed businesses to grab control over all aspects of the lives of their workers & families.
Enlightened politicians, labor leaders, reporters, editorial boards & lawyers lead the fight against these Robber Barron's; eventually breaking up monopolies, establishing humane labor laws & universal public education.
Along the way, progressive positions & policies have become the standard & law of the land.
Now these throwbacks want to take all of us back to an era where we all lived in caves & lived in fear of everything, because everything was the unknown.
Shall we all but our blinders on? Or shall we each take a united stand for progress & against mind numbing control by modern day Neanderthals?
6
Lester, please don't degrade Neanderthals by comparing them to Trump and His cabinet. Neanderthals were much more intelligent.
3
Considering the damage these people can do, this is like joking about Ebola. Team Trump represents the very worst in our society. Every country has characters like these, only the worst off ones have them running the government.
12
DeVos just wants to do for education what her brother, Erik Prince, did for the military. Hand large amounts of money provided by taxpayers over to private companies who will then send untrained, unsupervised, unaccountable "soldiers" into the field. Prince lives mostly out of the country now, while his company, Blackwater, is no longer with us, and his associates are still ducking charges of fraud and corruption. Really, who wouldn't want to put Blackwater in charge of their kids' educations?
21
I remember Grover Norquist and I am sure that Grover would understand the Bauhaus School of design that said form follows function. Trump's cabinet is probably the best cabinet ever assembled.
If I were to assemble a group of people to demonstrate how dangerous government of the people by the people could be I would be hard pressed to think of a better team than team Trump even with the unbelievable competition from team Ryan, and team McConnell.
If I were to assemble a group of people to demonstrate how dangerous government of the people by the people could be I would be hard pressed to think of a better team than team Trump even with the unbelievable competition from team Ryan, and team McConnell.
12
Scott Pruitt is in a position to do the most damage in a short amount of time, so he would get my vote, but Betsy is a close second.
5
The prize should be an Etch-a-Sketch. Fill in the blank space as best as you can. Easily removed. No pressure to be articulate or correct.
4
I don't know what's more depressing, the result of the Democratic Party leadership's utter fecklessness in preventing this sort of cabal or their unwillingness to learn from their failures. . . . . to craft fresh, voter-focused, not politician-focused, winning strategies and winning competitors at every political level.
5
Or it could be because Betsy DeVos is a woman. Whether it's Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton on the left or Betsy DeVos on the right, the vitriol and mean-spirited comments go way beyond policy or political disagreements.
4
Nah. She's terrible, dude. And she is selling out your kids to fill her bloated bank accounts. She deserves this honor.
4
@Luke Waunakee WI
Thanks for "mansplaining" what's wrong with women in politics, whether they be millionaire right wing backers of a Christian version of Sharia law, or progressive women on the left whose very presence irritates guys like you.
I'd say that we've had enough shouted and tweeted " . . . vitriol and mean-spirited comments [that] go way beyond policy or political disagreements" from #45 to keep future historians of The Decline and Fall of the American Empire busy well into the 23rd century.
Thanks for "mansplaining" what's wrong with women in politics, whether they be millionaire right wing backers of a Christian version of Sharia law, or progressive women on the left whose very presence irritates guys like you.
I'd say that we've had enough shouted and tweeted " . . . vitriol and mean-spirited comments [that] go way beyond policy or political disagreements" from #45 to keep future historians of The Decline and Fall of the American Empire busy well into the 23rd century.
3
In this position, Sec'y of Ed, you may be right. There's something particularly despicable about a mother/ grandmother who places free-market ideology ahead of every little American kid's access to free quality K12 ed. Not to mention the prissy Calvinism that tells her she's doing it for 'God's kingdom'.
1
I think we should actually send the winners an award certificate. Let them know what we think. Who knows maybe it may make a difference. Or am I being to optimistic?
3
Now that we have a winner, here's a proposal for the trophy: http://www.craveonline.com/assets/uploads/2014/01/EA_Goldenpoo-642x362.jpg
5
All of this is a big fat win for Trump.
He wants to show America -- that is, his America -- how much contempt he has for government, expertise, management ability, anything really that gets you a job that doesn't take Lava soap.
Democrat hate them! Yay for me, I win! What a petulant child.
He wants to show America -- that is, his America -- how much contempt he has for government, expertise, management ability, anything really that gets you a job that doesn't take Lava soap.
Democrat hate them! Yay for me, I win! What a petulant child.
6
And Trump is thinking, "If only I had those hands, I could spread my sheet all over this land."
4
Gail, we must do this again to preserve our sanity. Next week is not too soon. My vote for what the award should look like borrows on the Ikea theme one reader mentioned. Let's give the winner one of those "S"-shaped Ikea widgets that comes in every Ikea box to aid in assembly. Not only have I never been able to figure out how these widgets work, but I frequently end up cursing at them and hurling them across the room as the cabinet I'm trying to assemble comes crashing down around me. Those widgets are the embodiment of confusion, frustration, and eventual catastrophe that this cabinet represents. We can plate one in gold to complete the effect.
9
Totally agree with this post. One change, rather than plate the award in real gold (this farce of an administration is anything but real), the award should be painted with gaudy gold paint - because to these unqualified, know-nothings (for the positions to which they have been appointed) the "look at the thing" is all that matters.
8
I laughed, Gail, I really did. And then I cried.
8
Re new contest: How about the most unctuous, groveling, sycophantic member of his entourage (AKA his administration)? For evidence, we can look at clips from his last cabinet meeting.
7
Any senator who deemed Carson, Pruitt, Sessions, DeVos, and Perry qualified for their cabinet posts, has no business being a senator. Democrats should be calling attention to this fact over the next three election cycles.
14
I'm from Michigan and NO fan of any DeVos or even any Republican for that matter, but I know enough and have seen enough that the "worst" would be a woman.
Hillary, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Oprah, Michelle Obama--it's always a woman taking the brunt of any hostility, especially from most men.
Hillary, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Oprah, Michelle Obama--it's always a woman taking the brunt of any hostility, especially from most men.
11
Don't forget Carly Fiorina.
So when will the presentation to B.D. be? Where will it be, and who will be presenting it? Details, to attend to, plans to be made. Maybe the wedding planner to the rescue!
2
This cabinet is truly a nightmare for the Left, but maybe that was Trump's plan. He wants to disembowel the federal agencies, as his company has been a large whale of a victim for many years. There's no love lost between business and the Obama agencies. The goal here is to tweek the unions (viz DeVos), the environmentalists (viz Pruitt), renewable energy advocates and businesses (viz Perry), and the Left generally (viz the entire cabinret).
By this standard, how did Trump do?
By this standard, how did Trump do?
3
Truth is, most US adults went to public schools and turned out fine.
8
Oh, yes! Let's do this every few months. But, h'mmm, what should the prize look like? Maybe something like Spicey's dolly box, which definitely should contain first, second and third prizes. And then an honorary prize for Ben Carson who doesn't seem to realize that he lives on planet Earth. Maybe a miniature of Rodin's Gates of Hell, which the American people passed through on Jan. 20th.
6
Should we do this again in the next few months? Our country may be near ruins with what is going on with health care as of today. With chemotherapy and insulin to be eliminated from their medicaid program which basically affects children, the people will be out demonstrating and maybe even rioting. There will be no longer a country worth defending. Trump and his ilk are determined to destroy all except the rich and healthy. Wheel chairs will be burned?
When did Jesus Christ and Charles Darwin merge into one?
When did Jesus Christ and Charles Darwin merge into one?
6
OK so why shouldn't the less economically-advantaged have the same opportunity as the liberal coastal elites( who send their kids to private school and/or live in wealthy suburbs with excellent public schools) to place their kids in more serious academic environments offered by chartered schools with like-minded folks? 'Typical bigotry on the part of the "high-minded" left...
2
It's a nice sentiment not addressed by vouchers. That idea might [maybe] work if the entire nation pooled its school taxes & divvied them up among our 60mill or so pupils. But as things now stand, you could backpack any state's ave per-pupil expenditure, & not come close to the ave annual tuition reqd by that state's good private schools.
You outdo yourself weekly and get funnier by the minute. What a fabulous mine you have. Betsey DeVos is a good pick for the first award. She comes from a very weird family with lots of money. Her husband is loaded too enriched by a semi legal company. Her brother is Eric Price whose goal is to destroy every human being ever born. He was the one who turned his trigger happy men on the streets of Bagdad to shoot down casually strolling people on the streets going about their daily business. Her mother did something very unusual when she held a position in DC - Can't remember the details but they are specialists at destroying whatever is near. Now Betsey is working hard to destroy our great public school system which actually did make America Great but now is making the future look very dim as are fellow cabinet members. When it comes to Ben Carson not saying much I want to remind you he never said anything during the campaign or 'debates'. While reading the column I clicked on a link and found out Trump's former caddie now has a very good position at the white house as well as his former bodyguard -now why would Trump need a body guard?. I cannot believe he is still in the WH. What ever happened to the smart lawyers in and around there? Are we actually going to allow this to go on? But what happens when Perry finds out what Nuclear bombs are. Two minutes to go on the nuclear clock.
4
How much does the government spend on education only to find teachers buying their own supplies. Out their own pockets??????
3
With competition this fierce the only way to maintain fairness is have a quarterly prize with a year end gala. Additional awards could include:
Best resignation letter
Most spectacular dismissal
Favorite punching bag (only Trump gets to vote on this one)
Best resignation letter
Most spectacular dismissal
Favorite punching bag (only Trump gets to vote on this one)
4
The lighter side of national catastrophe.
6
Congratulations to Betsy DeVos, but my own ballot goes to Tom Price of HHS, who wins by a whisker over Scott Pruitt of EPA.
Price wins due to his ability to kill millions in the near term by denying them health insurance coverage, as well as by his record of unethical securities trading. Pruitt, of course, has the ability to wreck the planet, but the consequences of his actions will be reaped more slowly.
Against the standard of causing deaths, DeVos seems relatively benign. DeVos is merely trafficking in lifelong ignorance and diminished earning potential for innocent children.
Price wins due to his ability to kill millions in the near term by denying them health insurance coverage, as well as by his record of unethical securities trading. Pruitt, of course, has the ability to wreck the planet, but the consequences of his actions will be reaped more slowly.
Against the standard of causing deaths, DeVos seems relatively benign. DeVos is merely trafficking in lifelong ignorance and diminished earning potential for innocent children.
10
No, I don't want to do this every three months. I'm doing my best to block out the Trump cabinet from my mind every day, and it's not working particularly well.
11
No real surprise. Teachers read and write better than most ... and they are WAY better organized than the other self-interested parties that might have put THEIR horse into the race - or, better yet, the glue factory.
But make no mistake, Republicans everywhere other than places where public sector unions frighten politicians ARE SPEAKING FOR tens of millions of Americans who know that teachers' pay and status has risen enormously over the last 20-50 years, even as "the job they're doing," measured almost any which way, seems to be done less efficaciously.
Of course, deVos and Trump have an agenda so flawed one does not know where to start, but the goal of reforming education is proof that even THEIR clock is right twice a day. Too many tax dollars - OURS - are going to employees with life tenure who are not cutting the mustard. It's a tough job, that's for sure, but too many kids are losing out, even as the "professionals" prosper. High time for some big changes!
Of course, the public schools would benefit from increased funding, but they WOULD also benefit from (in some places, they already are) by our nation's shredding a system where most of the paid employees fight like the dickens NOT to be accountable.
Charter schools are not "the answer," but they are likely an important PART of the answer. Why do the same people who hate the role pharma. companies have at the FDA not see that for decades, ed. bureaucrats bowed down to a handful of unions?!
But make no mistake, Republicans everywhere other than places where public sector unions frighten politicians ARE SPEAKING FOR tens of millions of Americans who know that teachers' pay and status has risen enormously over the last 20-50 years, even as "the job they're doing," measured almost any which way, seems to be done less efficaciously.
Of course, deVos and Trump have an agenda so flawed one does not know where to start, but the goal of reforming education is proof that even THEIR clock is right twice a day. Too many tax dollars - OURS - are going to employees with life tenure who are not cutting the mustard. It's a tough job, that's for sure, but too many kids are losing out, even as the "professionals" prosper. High time for some big changes!
Of course, the public schools would benefit from increased funding, but they WOULD also benefit from (in some places, they already are) by our nation's shredding a system where most of the paid employees fight like the dickens NOT to be accountable.
Charter schools are not "the answer," but they are likely an important PART of the answer. Why do the same people who hate the role pharma. companies have at the FDA not see that for decades, ed. bureaucrats bowed down to a handful of unions?!
3
There are states without teachers unions in public schools and their students do no better and often worse than states with strong unions like Massachusetts. Which proves how dishonest your rhetoric is.
But I would expect no less from anyone claiming Betsy DeVos is right. Newsflash: just because you or your child benefits does not mean other children aren't paying the price.
But I would expect no less from anyone claiming Betsy DeVos is right. Newsflash: just because you or your child benefits does not mean other children aren't paying the price.
It is a noteworthy that we were not treated to such an article during the previous administration. For those who may have have forgotten, President Obama had 4 nominees withdraw over various allegations of impropriety (including Bill Richardson and Tom Daschle) and had filled less than 1/2 of the total Senate-confirmed cabinet positions by the end of his first 100 days, despite the fact the Democrats had an overwhelming majority in the Senate at that time. In addition, if Ms. Collins solicited votes on who had been the worst attorney general in the last 50 years, I would put money on Loretta Lynch making a competitive showing.
2
Comparing Obama's nominees to Trump's is laughable. None of those you cite were traitors.
9
John Mitchell broke the law and went to jail.
Perhaps we need to construct a Rubric with the following strands:
1. Below Standard
2. Developing
3. Proficient
4. Exemplary
Naturally, these strands would identify the degree of destructiveness each Cabinet member has demonstrated. We're open to your ideas. What say ye?
1. Below Standard
2. Developing
3. Proficient
4. Exemplary
Naturally, these strands would identify the degree of destructiveness each Cabinet member has demonstrated. We're open to your ideas. What say ye?
7
They all could/should be rated by this rubric with a quarterly Report Card.
1
enough already, she paid for that award
13
DeVos? I thought the voting was for the "worst", not the "most ignorant"? Well, okay I may have still voted for Pruitt. Looks like the two men split the misogynists' votes (vote for a woman? Never!) allowing DeVos to squeak through. It was a "horse race".
9
Betsy may be the most clueless, but in some ways will probably do less harm than Price and Pruitt. Price will damage our nation's health, and Pruitt our planet - I pick Pruitt because along with gutting the EPA, damaging our environment for us here at home, he is trashing our international credibility. And unlike Carson, Perry, and DeVos, he actually has experience trying to trash his area of oversight.
21
At least the tomato slicer deserves the praise.
11
It wasn't fair to end the column by reminding us that "we've got another three and a half years."
13
DeVos maybe bad but the EPA is laying off 20% of their staff and the intererior is also laying off thousands. These cuts will effect everyone including children. Children are far more endangered by bad air , water and chemicals. I think you are over estimating her impact on this country.
11
Suggestion for what the award should look like: a statue of Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall (from the Teapot Dome scandal) putting his arm around Attorney General John Mitchell (from the Watergate scandal). This is second best to James Buchanan putting his arm around Warren G. Harding, but they were presidents, so they don't really count. Maybe we can give that other statue to Trump.
5
The award should be a dunce cap!
8
As a consolation prize for the next cabinet member to get the axe, I suggest this:
A jewelry box that resembles a small cabinet with drawers and such. Inside each drawer or compartment with be little notes with suggestions of how they could have done a better job or notes with job suggestions.
A jewelry box that resembles a small cabinet with drawers and such. Inside each drawer or compartment with be little notes with suggestions of how they could have done a better job or notes with job suggestions.
2
Gail Collins' delicious sense of humor and he gentle irony have always made her a columns a pleasure to read. This column is true to from. And yes, we should do this every few months. With the group of clowns we have as Cabinet members, the circus will provide continuing examples. We can only hope for 2018 election results to provide some relief from our current Idiocracy.
3
This article made me cry, which reminded me of how Trump makes fun of men who cry as he recently did by calling Chuck Shumer "Cryin' Chuck", which just made me cry even more. Someone help us.
9
No Gail, no...please don't say another 3 1/2 years...nooooo
5
'Agreed; I don't know if I can stand 3 1/2 more years of Gail's snarky attacks from her liberal echo chamber...
2
To me the scariest part of all this is that 40% of the country are not only perfectly fine with these Cabinet members, they absolutely refuse to consider the possibility that they may be "unqualified". It's the fake media. We literally have two nations now, viewing things completely differently, receiving information from completely different sources, completely disconnected. How does this ever end?
12
Cabinets reflect the depth of a president. A good one will populate his or her cabinet with knowledgeable, learned, experienced in the field secretaries. A poor president hires his cronies.
Well, this cabinet most assuredly reflects this administration: a confederacy of morons. Is there a member of that cabinet is without an ethics issue tailing behind him/her? And few, if any, have any knowledge whatsoever about the department they are heading. What better way to insure the deconstruction of the United States as we know it. Is that a bad thing?
Sadly, this reflects We, the People's desires. Not only has a completely unqualified person been elected to the oval office, We, the People have supported that position by electing a congress incapable of upholding the very principles they have sworn to protect. See recent election in Georgia. The DNC couldn't even find a Dem who lived in the district to run. Come to think of it, our GOP in the MN2 doesn't live in the district either. So, what does that tell you?
Vox populi.
Folks, get used to this. Welcome to New America.
http://wifelyperson.blogspot.com/
Well, this cabinet most assuredly reflects this administration: a confederacy of morons. Is there a member of that cabinet is without an ethics issue tailing behind him/her? And few, if any, have any knowledge whatsoever about the department they are heading. What better way to insure the deconstruction of the United States as we know it. Is that a bad thing?
Sadly, this reflects We, the People's desires. Not only has a completely unqualified person been elected to the oval office, We, the People have supported that position by electing a congress incapable of upholding the very principles they have sworn to protect. See recent election in Georgia. The DNC couldn't even find a Dem who lived in the district to run. Come to think of it, our GOP in the MN2 doesn't live in the district either. So, what does that tell you?
Vox populi.
Folks, get used to this. Welcome to New America.
http://wifelyperson.blogspot.com/
7
This award should be given to each cabinet member on a rotating basis.
8
Maybe an award should be established for worst types of mysterious Republican voters. One nominee would surely have to be public school teachers.
2
As a son of the south it's apparent to me that the Confederacy of Dunces are in charge now. There's evidence abound that the second coming, "South will Rise Again!", is coming to fruition. Although she's not technically a cabinet honoree, I'd like to caste a vote for the daughter of 'Huck', Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Her repeated statements of "I'm not aware..." are the existential cries of a barren soul.
11
No let's not do this every few months. That implies there might be someone worse than your top 3 picks in the future. With DeVos as the baseline, that prospect is just too frightening.
On the other hand, could one of them actually improve? Nah.
On the other hand, could one of them actually improve? Nah.
2
What a sad, divisive article. I voted for Hillary and strongly oppose Trump, and believe his cabinet is disastrous. But this sort of writing does nothing to help our country heal its divisiveness. I do not appreciate mocking people's appearances or taking a swipe at Ben Carson's religion. This reduces our political dialogue to juvenile petty comments that serve no value except to stroke one's ego by denigrating others. I remind you that I detest Trump, but please, why are you encouraging people to act like him???
4
That would be against the law of nature.
No one is taking a swipe at Ben Carson's religion. Plenty of people have taken issue with Carson's hypocrisy and narcissism.
3
I love to read Ms. Collins' columns for a good chuckle but, for me at least, our national political situation has stopped being funny. We can make fun of Trump and his cabinet all we want, but the horrifying fact is that they and the republicans in congress are running this country - and we have only had a tiny sample of the damage they will do.
4
Gail--Great column...I have to assume, though, that when you referenced Ben Carson's painting showing Jesus with his arm around the Secretary, you meant that it was an artist's interpretation of what Jesus looked like, right?
4
You trickster, Rob!
1
It is certainly a sad time for America that our President and his cabinet are a joke. The hard-core Trump supporters will never understand what they did to our country. It feels like a civil war has begun already, and the first shots were fired on Nov. 8.
10
Crying and laughing at the same time.
My spirit Thanks you Ms. Collins, yes for the funny but also for the accuracy with which you describe the characters. Now that TrumpCare has been released today by 1st Meathead O'Connell I think Tom Price now gets my numero uno vote! Hateful!
Keep up the great work.
Keep up the great work.
5
The contest needs to be held every few months, at most -- you've got to give others a chance before they're indicted or summarily fired for some perceived slight to El Presidente. Once they wind up on the front page of the NYT or WP, their shelf life is short.
We also need a contest for Worst Advisor to allow Bannon to compete with Jared and Priebus -- and another for Worst Spokesliar, so consumers of White House double-talk can evaluate the various purveyors of "what the President meant to say."
We also need a contest for Worst Advisor to allow Bannon to compete with Jared and Priebus -- and another for Worst Spokesliar, so consumers of White House double-talk can evaluate the various purveyors of "what the President meant to say."
6
Remember they want to destroy Government so these folks are weapons.
11
The Award: a gong, bang them off stage.
5
OMG, im laughing so hard im gonna have a hernia
1
It's easier to pick the winner (Mattis by a country mile) than last place.
But you have to pick Pruitt. When the earth melts, the US decision to pull out of the Paris Accords will be viewed as the point of no return and Pruitt was in charge of that. Doesn't everything else fade into insignificance - children, health, houses, budget deficits - compared to the wilful destruction of the only planet we have?
But you have to pick Pruitt. When the earth melts, the US decision to pull out of the Paris Accords will be viewed as the point of no return and Pruitt was in charge of that. Doesn't everything else fade into insignificance - children, health, houses, budget deficits - compared to the wilful destruction of the only planet we have?
11
My late vote is for Jeff Sessions. I fear he is rolling back civil and equal rights back to the 1950's. Kate McKinnon on Saturday Night Live parodied him perfectly: "There's regular crime and then there's black crime!" Oh Lordy, we're in for a world of trouble!
8
Gallows humor. Literally in the case of Pruitt and Perry. And Trump.
6
Gail,
There is so much material you should do this every month. But please, first you must publish a complete list of the members of the cabinet lest we forget a moron or two in our deliberations.
There is so much material you should do this every month. But please, first you must publish a complete list of the members of the cabinet lest we forget a moron or two in our deliberations.
3
I agree that Betsy DeVos is truly terrible, but is she really worse than all the others or is this just another case of people judging a female more harshly than they do men? I'm sorry, but as bad as she is I just don't get how she is that much worse than clowns like Tom Price or Ben Carson or Jeff Sessions or....or ... or....
6
The problem is none of these people measure their success by the criteria used to determine the worst. They don't care if they are thought to be stupid, cruel, inhuman or in any way unqualified for their positions. All they care about is having the opportunity, for however long this administration lasts, to rape and pillage, to steal as much as they can from this country and to put systems in place that will allow them to do so for a very long time by denying as many as possible the right to vote.
3
Well, you know, this all could have been avoiding if you had run a winning Presidential candidate...so...maybe next time Dems.
5
Grow up. Really. To create a platform where people can be at their ugliest is not what you are supposed to be doing here. Use your head. Enough already.
4
If we can't laugh now and then over the next three and a half years, I for one will go up in smoke from spontaneous combustion.
1
Sorry Big, but if you think this column and comments define ugly you need to get out more!
2
Big, laughter is the best remedy. Lighten up.
3
Next time let's have a Worst Senator & Worst Representative contest. So many choices, so little time!
6
Superb! We should do this more often.
I think we need a placard made of recycled paper with a picture of a broken cabinet for an award. Perhaps Banksy can design it.
I think we need a placard made of recycled paper with a picture of a broken cabinet for an award. Perhaps Banksy can design it.
1
Betsy Devoss is Trump's worst pick by far and a scam artist as well pretending to fix your brain!
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/politics/betsy-devos-neurocore-bra...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/politics/betsy-devos-neurocore-bra...
1
The award should be a sock puppet, befitting the irony of it all as well as their incredible infantilism.
2
Unfair to socks and puppets
2
You should do this every week - no better way to keep your readers happy - and to show those with brains just how irrelevant the NYT has become.
When you wake up, you'll realize that the GOP has just added another 12 seats in congress in the Midterms...
... and Gail Collins for sure finds a way to write a column that's even more detached from reality - and irrelevant.
Sad!
When you wake up, you'll realize that the GOP has just added another 12 seats in congress in the Midterms...
... and Gail Collins for sure finds a way to write a column that's even more detached from reality - and irrelevant.
Sad!
What should the award look like? Clearly and in recognition of another reader's comment about better cabinets at Ikeda, the award should be said poorly assembled cabinet, with drawers that won't fit or slide, corners that aren't square, and on the verge of toppling over to cause bodily harm to any toddler or pet in range.
1
Please pick a newest Worst Winner once a month.
But, also pick the Best Winners. The media needs to flush out the best and brightest now and get away from electing by narcissistic Entertainment Reality TV media focus standards. It's been fun electing Trump, but it's tiresome now.
Find and highlight the good guys/gals. They are out there. It's our best hope, if you, as the media, could broadcast who, where, what, why and how they get known and then elected for US.
But, also pick the Best Winners. The media needs to flush out the best and brightest now and get away from electing by narcissistic Entertainment Reality TV media focus standards. It's been fun electing Trump, but it's tiresome now.
Find and highlight the good guys/gals. They are out there. It's our best hope, if you, as the media, could broadcast who, where, what, why and how they get known and then elected for US.
1
Cabinets reflect the depth of a president. A good one will populate his or her cabinet with knowledgeable, learned, experienced in the field secretaries. A poor president hires his cronies.
Well, this cabinet most assuredly reflects this administration: a confederacy of morons. Not a single member of that cabinet is without an ethics issue tailing behind him/her. And few, if any, have any knowledge whatsoever about the department they are heading. What better way to insure the deconstruction of the United States as we know it.
Is that a bad thing?
Sadly, this reflects We, the People's desires. Not only has a completely unqualified person been elected to the oval office, We, the People have supported that position by electing a congress incapable of upholding the very principles they have sworn to protect. See recent election in Georgia. The DNC couldn't even find a Dem who lived in the district to run. Come to think of it, our GOP in the MN2 doesn't live in the district either. So, what does that tell you?
Vox populi.
Folks, get used to this. Welcome to New America.
http://wifelyperson.blogspot.com/
Well, this cabinet most assuredly reflects this administration: a confederacy of morons. Not a single member of that cabinet is without an ethics issue tailing behind him/her. And few, if any, have any knowledge whatsoever about the department they are heading. What better way to insure the deconstruction of the United States as we know it.
Is that a bad thing?
Sadly, this reflects We, the People's desires. Not only has a completely unqualified person been elected to the oval office, We, the People have supported that position by electing a congress incapable of upholding the very principles they have sworn to protect. See recent election in Georgia. The DNC couldn't even find a Dem who lived in the district to run. Come to think of it, our GOP in the MN2 doesn't live in the district either. So, what does that tell you?
Vox populi.
Folks, get used to this. Welcome to New America.
http://wifelyperson.blogspot.com/
I'd love to see this feature every month, along with some type of "pronouncement" or "policy plan" from which we choose the "most inane/unacceptable/outrageous" idea of the month---of course, the idea would be tied to the idiot who offered it.
However, the NYT censors may need to relax the rules on offensive, obscene, biased language so we can really rate the stupids.
However, the NYT censors may need to relax the rules on offensive, obscene, biased language so we can really rate the stupids.
1
They are all detestable, but was she chosen because she is one of the rare females in this government? Granted, she is not very bright, and so the easy butt of jokes, but she might also do less harm than somebody armed with intelligence. On the other hand, Pruitt or Sessions are seriously twisted toward creating a lot more irreparable damage.
2
Continue it as often as you can. We need the updates from all of these clowns lest the President drown out the news with his own freakout session. It does depress us, because we are forced to acknowledge that just under half of America has hands over ears and their eyes screwed shut. My parents instilled in me belief that the silent majority had enough common sense to vote toward survival regarding a president of the proper temperament and respect for the office. Nope. Then, their party would step in and not allow someone so unqualified and dangerous. Nope. But don't worry, the electoral college affords the opportunity to keep someone someone so spiritually shallow and ugly from ascending. Nope. And now we are here, with Sessions and white nationalism, DeVos and class-oriented education-destruction, Pruitt and the Environmental Rejection Agency rebranding, Mulvaney suggesting surgically cutting vital budgets with a wood-chipper, and the list goes on and on. The policies that Obama put forth, even if disagreed with, had a maxi downside of some wealth redistribution, decriminalizing some crimes lopsidedly prosecuted against minorities, and price tags. Trump cabinet picks have almost unlimited downside. A complete education wipeout as she implements what has proven to be a disastrous system for providing a decent and fair education to all. Sessions who has saber-rattled against all of hot-button issues of injustice, and Pruitt who could literally seal the planet's doom.
5
Since charter schools require no oversight, the teachers don't have to teach anything. Maybe not even show up. This is called the dumbing down of America. Thus China will become the richest and smartest nation on the globe.
4
"After all, we have another three and a half years." Ms. Collins, you are ever the optimist. With the combination of Trump, Perry, And Kim Jong Un, I'm not so sure we have that long.
5
I still can't believe Perry didn't get more support for the Worst award. I don't mean to take anything away from Devos' incompetence; she definitely deserved to be at least nominated. But, as the article points out, Perry wasn't even AWARE of his primary responsibilities during his confirmation! And that's not even the first time he's displayed this kind of mind-numbing unfitness. Perry is the same man who couldn't even remember the name of the department in 2011 and even then the only reason he was trying to recall the name of the department was to include it in his absurd list of things he would abolish if given the chance (he wanted to get rid of Education and Commerce too, BTW ). Let's also not forget that Perry, is in a position recently occupied by a Nobel Prize winning physicist--talk about a downgrade! Far from winning scientific awards, Perry demonstrates a deficiency in even basic scientific knowledge. So now the head of the DOE is a man who: (A) does not really know what the DOE does; (B) can barely be bothered to remember the DOE even exists; (C) has no particular knowledge or expertise about the scientific assertions he disparages; and (D) has expressed his desire to abolish the apartment he now runs.
I just don't see how Devos can compete with that, but... maybe next year, Perry.
I just don't see how Devos can compete with that, but... maybe next year, Perry.
6
So is she the worst because she's a woman or because she has devoted her life and money to helping poor disadvantaged children?
3
It may be she is one of the worst because her Senate hearing showed she had little knowledge of the workings of the system she was to oversee.
5
She did not prepare for questions at all. At all. Didn't even prepare for the subsequent day of questions. At all.
Attention Democratic party leadership: if much of the country is so dumbed down that they'll only vote because of a knee jerk, childish, emotional response to slogans and chants and dog whistles.....then play the game correctly.
If it takes running Oprah, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, or some other popular celebrity to win the White House for Democrats and sanity.....then do it!
Play the media attention game just like its high school and follow Trump's goal of WINNING before all other goals.
Cynical? No, not when 60 million ignorant, selfish, deluded citizens are so clueless they'll vote in treasonous grifters who salivate over raiding the government.
If it takes running Oprah, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, or some other popular celebrity to win the White House for Democrats and sanity.....then do it!
Play the media attention game just like its high school and follow Trump's goal of WINNING before all other goals.
Cynical? No, not when 60 million ignorant, selfish, deluded citizens are so clueless they'll vote in treasonous grifters who salivate over raiding the government.
5
While I admit to laughing at many of the comments about DeVos et al, I also believe that acting as if these officials are best treated as sick jokes is at best snarky and at worst a dangerous diversion. DeVos' ignorance doesn't illustrate her incompetence. Given her goal of replacing public schooling with publicly subsidized private schools that can accept--or refuse--students as they see fit, knowledge of education issues is irrelevant to her. Remember that this is the official who refused to say whetther these "Charter" schools could refuse to admit students of color, for instance. Remember that this is the very strategy (vouchers) that the State of Virginia used successfully for 5 years to permit white children in Prince Edward County to attend "segregation academies" after the county closed its public school system. During that time, Black children in the county had no school to attend.
DeVos is actively furthering the same agenda of de-legitimizing the role of government, especially at the Federal level, in improving the "general welfare" of the citizenry. This is an agenda with a long, brutal history, extending back ito at least the end of Reconstruction in the 19th C. In "Democracy in Chains,"Duke University historian Nancy MacLean voluminously documents the resurrection of this theory of political economy, beginning as a direct reaction to Brown v Board in 1954 and continuing today with the American Legislative Exchange Council. DeVos is not a joke; she is a danger.
DeVos is actively furthering the same agenda of de-legitimizing the role of government, especially at the Federal level, in improving the "general welfare" of the citizenry. This is an agenda with a long, brutal history, extending back ito at least the end of Reconstruction in the 19th C. In "Democracy in Chains,"Duke University historian Nancy MacLean voluminously documents the resurrection of this theory of political economy, beginning as a direct reaction to Brown v Board in 1954 and continuing today with the American Legislative Exchange Council. DeVos is not a joke; she is a danger.
6
"And what should the award look like?"
Easy. A "for sale" sign.
Easy. A "for sale" sign.
7
Trump would have had a better cabinet if he randomly picked people off the street to serve in it.
7
The GOP plan is simply to ensure that people who need social or health services die...after the 2018 election, when their plans will go into effect. Public education is a "need" so it must end. You should feel lucky if you survive the next 4 years...too bad if your children will be so uneducated that, if they are still alive, they will only be able to sign up for slave labor. How can we be so stupid as to allow so many millions if people have their lives destroyed?
Wow. How low the Times has fallen. And playing directly into the theme that the media, and the NY Times in particular, has gotten just plain silly in its virulent and childish disdain for all things Trump. Really? A reader's poll for the worst cabinet member? How about a poll of the most petty and childish column? The Trump derangement syndrome echo chamber is booming at the NY Times...
4
The award should be a large cardboard box with nothing in it.
It's meaning? It reflects in many ways the reincarnation of the nativist views of the Know Nothing Party of the 1850's.
It's meaning? It reflects in many ways the reincarnation of the nativist views of the Know Nothing Party of the 1850's.
3
Please do this every day! It's a welcome comedic fantasy that is a nice break from reading the depressing news about how Trump's goons are ruining the country. Because nobody could possibly believe that any of this is true. Seriously.
8
Read at first with humor but ended with sadness and utter horror. God help us.
7
A couple of psychologists identified the tendency for uneducated, incompetent and/or close-minded people to hold illusory, biased beliefs about their own superiority over others. Seeing our lovely, though messy, democracy morph into an oligarchy of incompetent billionaires - who think they know everything so listen to no one else - is very sad.
4
President Trump's absurd cabinet meeting, at which he successfully debased his own lackeys, Mattis excepted, had more to do with the 25th amendment section 4 than anything else. He was making it very rough for a cabinet to toss him out as incompetent in view of cabinet members' embarrassingly ridiculous praise, now on the record.
4
I typically love Collins' humor, and I look forward to her columns. You are as witty as ever in this piece, Ms. Collins. But I find that I just can't laugh anymore. wWth this president, we've crossed into the truly horrifying. Under Bush, I rebuked my friends' lamentations that the US was in permanent decline. I retained my optimism about the forces of history and the capabilities of our great nation.
No longer.
These last six months, I have seen that this really is it. This is the end of Pax Americana, of the postwar order in which the US was the envy of the world, of Anglo-American domination.
Our last president was a reflection of the best things about America: diversity, intelligence, the finest higher eduction in the world, nobility of character, optimism, vision, promise and the ethic of hard work. Our current president reflects the very worst tendencies of our country: vulgarity, shallowness, materialism, ignorance, anti-intellctualism, greed, bombast, selfishness, and puerility.
No, I can't laugh anymore. A great country is in precipitous decline, and the stability of the postwar order, based on cooperation and an eye toward a better future, is gone. I am sad to be witnessing it. But I am glad I got to be alive for some of America's best decades. One day in the not-too-distant future, people will study the American empire in history books and countless pages will be devoted to analyzing what went wrong.
No longer.
These last six months, I have seen that this really is it. This is the end of Pax Americana, of the postwar order in which the US was the envy of the world, of Anglo-American domination.
Our last president was a reflection of the best things about America: diversity, intelligence, the finest higher eduction in the world, nobility of character, optimism, vision, promise and the ethic of hard work. Our current president reflects the very worst tendencies of our country: vulgarity, shallowness, materialism, ignorance, anti-intellctualism, greed, bombast, selfishness, and puerility.
No, I can't laugh anymore. A great country is in precipitous decline, and the stability of the postwar order, based on cooperation and an eye toward a better future, is gone. I am sad to be witnessing it. But I am glad I got to be alive for some of America's best decades. One day in the not-too-distant future, people will study the American empire in history books and countless pages will be devoted to analyzing what went wrong.
14
I propose the prize be a half-baked yam, to recognize all the disingenuous yammering Trump's best and brightest engage in to mislead the American people.
4
Unfair to both yams and sweet potatoes
2
There is a very special emoji, often favored by teenagers who think they are clever, that looks like a cup of smiling soft chocolate ice cream. One of those teenagers explained to me what the image actually represents.
I was shocked, shocked.
But it might make a perfect award for Worst Trump Cabinet Member, and it is easy to send.
Then again, IKEA did recall cabinets that were dangerous if not attached to something more stable, so one of those recalled pieces of furniture could also be appropriate.
I was shocked, shocked.
But it might make a perfect award for Worst Trump Cabinet Member, and it is easy to send.
Then again, IKEA did recall cabinets that were dangerous if not attached to something more stable, so one of those recalled pieces of furniture could also be appropriate.
3
In a Parliamentary Democracy don't you get ministers with portfolios who are there because their parties won a certain number of seats in the government. They serve to advance their party policies. They cannot be fired by the Prime Minister who has formed a government according to party winners.
Instead of the major work of impeachment required to change the government when it's performance is disagreeable don't you have the option of calling for another election, or a vote of no confidence? I am told the advantage is faster changes in direction & legislation, and the disadvantage is faster changes in leadership and legislation. Many of us don't believe in our government anymore. If the popular vote, that mob democracy the electoral college was meant to protect us from was gone, well we'd not have had the war in Iraq. We would have had Obama, but then he may have not been so much of a product of elitism, incapable of confronting the parasites of finance banking instead of giving them more of the Treasury. I don't know for sure of course, but between the Fed & the Electoral college the mistakes of Rome are replicated and the empire is not just a threat to other nations, but turns its rigid institutions against the people taking their homes, destroying indigenous industry, and out now to diminish defense from disease. It is the system. We need utility banking, not finance banking.
Instead of the major work of impeachment required to change the government when it's performance is disagreeable don't you have the option of calling for another election, or a vote of no confidence? I am told the advantage is faster changes in direction & legislation, and the disadvantage is faster changes in leadership and legislation. Many of us don't believe in our government anymore. If the popular vote, that mob democracy the electoral college was meant to protect us from was gone, well we'd not have had the war in Iraq. We would have had Obama, but then he may have not been so much of a product of elitism, incapable of confronting the parasites of finance banking instead of giving them more of the Treasury. I don't know for sure of course, but between the Fed & the Electoral college the mistakes of Rome are replicated and the empire is not just a threat to other nations, but turns its rigid institutions against the people taking their homes, destroying indigenous industry, and out now to diminish defense from disease. It is the system. We need utility banking, not finance banking.
It wouldn't make a whit of difference if any or Mr Trump's appointees approached their positions with a semblance of humility in regard to their understanding of the people of our nation; all of whom, at least in theory, they represent.
Ms DeVos does share a view which is espoused by some, but no means all of our citizenry. The same is true when considering the views of Mr Pruit and Mr Sessions or any other cabinet appointee who are the peoples representatives; all the people not just the sliver who voted our President into office.
To consider winning an election as a mandate to do as one pleases voids every tenet of our Democratic Republic and those who now occupy positions of power know this without any reasonably valid question.
This is not a board game.
Ms DeVos does share a view which is espoused by some, but no means all of our citizenry. The same is true when considering the views of Mr Pruit and Mr Sessions or any other cabinet appointee who are the peoples representatives; all the people not just the sliver who voted our President into office.
To consider winning an election as a mandate to do as one pleases voids every tenet of our Democratic Republic and those who now occupy positions of power know this without any reasonably valid question.
This is not a board game.
Obama assassinated four US citizens, in clear violation of the Constitution.
Did you have some sort of point to make here?
Did you have some sort of point to make here?
Ms DeVos is leading a department which has to address all the voices raised and not just a few who claim to have answers.
She like the rest of the Cabinet appointees may, but should not espouse a particular philosophy beyond that which is balanced, yet her position and financial investments in private for profit education makes clear she has a position which appears to my questioning eye as innappropriate for one in her chair.
Government is not a private conglomeration of businesses rather the means by which we agree to see our public agencies operate. This in turn should consider all and not simply a particular facet of thought in our society.
It is after all regardless our political position, both your and my tax dollars they are spending.
She like the rest of the Cabinet appointees may, but should not espouse a particular philosophy beyond that which is balanced, yet her position and financial investments in private for profit education makes clear she has a position which appears to my questioning eye as innappropriate for one in her chair.
Government is not a private conglomeration of businesses rather the means by which we agree to see our public agencies operate. This in turn should consider all and not simply a particular facet of thought in our society.
It is after all regardless our political position, both your and my tax dollars they are spending.
Given that Trump lost the popular vote by something like 3 million votes wouldn't it be apropos to choose worst cabinet member based on who received the fewest votes?
4
Even one vote for confirmation is too many.
2
It is obvious that too many of the people's "representatives" are either the pawns of materialistic individualists, or are them selves driven by materialistic, individualistic greed.
Remind them: "We the People" are still here. We are the Americans who believe in democratic ideals such as:
Actual equality of opportunity for all, beginning with equitable funding for public educational institutions, should be a major democratic goal.
Equal justice under the law, even if it costs us tax-payer dollars to assure such justice, should be established within the court system. Equal justice is not assured in a system in which each person is allowed all the "justice" he or she can afford.
Healthcare is a basic human and democratic right. It is not just one commodity among others competing for your consumer dollar.
True freedom begins with rational autonomy and is best promoted by means of education. Those who love true freedom oppose all forms of crass, demagogic manipulation..
Money is not speech and, with respect to political contributions and freedom of religion, corporations are not persons.
Freedom of religion is not the freedom of believers in any one religious tradition to assume a privileged position and impose their values on others; to allow such to be the case is contrary to the law and the Constitution.
Etc.
Materialistic individualism is the opposite of democratic idealism. It is "Never give a sucker an even break" versus "Everyone deserves a leg up."
Remind them: "We the People" are still here. We are the Americans who believe in democratic ideals such as:
Actual equality of opportunity for all, beginning with equitable funding for public educational institutions, should be a major democratic goal.
Equal justice under the law, even if it costs us tax-payer dollars to assure such justice, should be established within the court system. Equal justice is not assured in a system in which each person is allowed all the "justice" he or she can afford.
Healthcare is a basic human and democratic right. It is not just one commodity among others competing for your consumer dollar.
True freedom begins with rational autonomy and is best promoted by means of education. Those who love true freedom oppose all forms of crass, demagogic manipulation..
Money is not speech and, with respect to political contributions and freedom of religion, corporations are not persons.
Freedom of religion is not the freedom of believers in any one religious tradition to assume a privileged position and impose their values on others; to allow such to be the case is contrary to the law and the Constitution.
Etc.
Materialistic individualism is the opposite of democratic idealism. It is "Never give a sucker an even break" versus "Everyone deserves a leg up."
4
Just keep in mind that in general Mr Trump and Steve Bannon want dummies in these jobs. They don't care. They want to destroy these agencies. They don't believe in regulation. Regulation means that they can get sued when they pollute, poison and cheat.
That is the reason that none of the vacancies in these agencies are getting filled.
That is the reason that none of the vacancies in these agencies are getting filled.
6
DeVos is a slow witted person who does not consider whether what she wants will produce what she wants. In a Congressional hearing she refused to confirm that she would conform with the law and withhold Federal funding to an school which would not allow enrollment of students who did not conform with their religious beliefs. Later, she denied having done so. In addition to being too dumb to anticipate the consequences of her words she has this idea that charter schools can replace public schools even though there is no evidence to support such a proposition. If anything, the evidence supports the hypothesis that when students who disrupt classroom instruction are excluded the remaining students thrive. Many charter schools are failures. This means that charter schools must be monitored by a well functioning government bureaucracy. So in the end, it re ally does not seem that charter schools are the panacea which DeVos presumes.
3
Comedians like Samantha Bee and Trevor Noah are doing everything they can to make the Trumpocalypse endurable. But what's really going to get me through it is reading Gail Collins! She combines humor, plain speaking, and astute observation like no one else.
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
politicsbyeccehomo.wordpress.com
5
• Do you think we should do this every few months?
Oh, yes, please!
• And what should the award look like?
Hmm .. tricky. A gold-plated Godzilla attacking the Statue of Liberty?
As long as all the nominees pay top dollar to the awards ceremony ...
There are so many great nominees. Maybe you need something like the EU presidency, which rotates among the 27 member nations every six months. That way, everyone gets a turn.
Oh, yes, please!
• And what should the award look like?
Hmm .. tricky. A gold-plated Godzilla attacking the Statue of Liberty?
As long as all the nominees pay top dollar to the awards ceremony ...
There are so many great nominees. Maybe you need something like the EU presidency, which rotates among the 27 member nations every six months. That way, everyone gets a turn.
5
Tolstoy's Anna Karenina Principle comes to mind: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." We are witnessing the Smile of Reason become utterly lost amidst the sneer of arrogance, the smirk of power, the grimace of pain and the glaze of stupidity.
4
Absolutely we should do this every few months! We need to keep alive the realization that this is one of the worst, if not the worst, administrations in history, filled with incompetents and liars.
Maybe we should have a worst member of the month, so they all get a chance to be highlighted.
Maybe we should have a worst member of the month, so they all get a chance to be highlighted.
2
There's no winners in this, nor should there be a ranking of worst to "best".
All Cabinet members should do their best to truly represent the American people and not special interests or by biased opinions to truly make "America Great" (not necessarily again, just great).
All Cabinet members should do their best to truly represent the American people and not special interests or by biased opinions to truly make "America Great" (not necessarily again, just great).
3
Yes, Gail, I think you need poll to do this regularly. Speaking only for myself, my opinion about "the worst" changes every time one of them opens their mouth or actually does something. For that fleeting moment, that person is worst in this endless horror show.
5
"...charter schools, none of which will need much oversight because, you know, the choice thing."
Kids are born ignorant and incompetent. After nutrition, a parent's job is to make them less so--i.e. education. Many are not up to it--lacking education themselves (teenagers), lacking time (working), or lacking motivation.
Depending on the state, compulsory public school (with a few exceptions) became law--only a century ago--more or less. Parents could not be trusted to do the job. An educated population was too important--for both individual and public welfare. Illiteracy and ignorance are disabilities and thus lost opportunities--for employment and otherwise.
In a knowledge based economy even functional education takes longer. Fixing ignorance and incompetence is not unlike fixing physiological dysfunction--medicine. It used to be myth based too; but is now science based--requiring professionals. Parents should not do DIY medicine.
Given professional educators, parents job is to assist the pros. They are not qualified for DIY education and often can not judge the programs or teachers.
"The choice thing" even gets worse. Letting the incompetent to do or judge, lets con-artists swoop in--like quack medicine,
Prohibiting quackery, however, means limiting the "free market"--i.e. free from law, logic, knowledge and competence. Of course quacks like De Vos will object--squealing loudly "the choice thing."
Kids are born ignorant and incompetent. After nutrition, a parent's job is to make them less so--i.e. education. Many are not up to it--lacking education themselves (teenagers), lacking time (working), or lacking motivation.
Depending on the state, compulsory public school (with a few exceptions) became law--only a century ago--more or less. Parents could not be trusted to do the job. An educated population was too important--for both individual and public welfare. Illiteracy and ignorance are disabilities and thus lost opportunities--for employment and otherwise.
In a knowledge based economy even functional education takes longer. Fixing ignorance and incompetence is not unlike fixing physiological dysfunction--medicine. It used to be myth based too; but is now science based--requiring professionals. Parents should not do DIY medicine.
Given professional educators, parents job is to assist the pros. They are not qualified for DIY education and often can not judge the programs or teachers.
"The choice thing" even gets worse. Letting the incompetent to do or judge, lets con-artists swoop in--like quack medicine,
Prohibiting quackery, however, means limiting the "free market"--i.e. free from law, logic, knowledge and competence. Of course quacks like De Vos will object--squealing loudly "the choice thing."
She is a fool.
I suggest New York Times publish the standings weekly on nytimes.com with some highlights of statements and deeds by these cabinet members. Let's call it Trump's Puppets Board. Once it gets Trump's personal attention, I am sure he will promote it by criticizing it in his daily morning tweets. It would boost the rating sky high. One good thing can come out of it is that it makes the public aware of the astonishing incompetence and ignorance these cabinet members. Being ridiculed by the liberal media may be treated as a badge of honor to some of the cabinet members, but a reasonable person would recognize a sycophant and a dimwit like DeVos very easily.
3
oh hush! we only encourage them.
The whole NYT should pay more attention to the cabinet and their shenanigans than to Trump. He is the Distractor in Chief while the lobbyists and corporate cronies he appointed re-write long in place rules and decades of negotiated regulations. We cannot trust our MSM to report on what is really going on because all their editors have ADD and are only looking for easy shiny objects which our buffoon in the WH provides all the time.
In this column I think Ms. Collins has found her "Seamus the Irish Setter on the Roof" for the current regime. This contest should definitely be repeated periodically to give some other nincompoops a chance to win.
4
OMG!! How can I choose just ONE!!?? We're in deep trouble, folks....
2
I remember this from my teen years.
It's been real.
It's been nice.
It hasn't been really nice.
Think about it.
It's been real.
It's been nice.
It hasn't been really nice.
Think about it.
1
survey may not be scientific but Betsy doesn't believe in science. So it is obviously correct.
8
I think she believes in science fiction.
1
Why in every other aspect of american life do we celebrate "the choice thing" but in education choice is the devil? DeVos was voted the worst because she wants school choice for kids suffering in poorly performing public schools to have a choice. The teachers union hates this since it costs jobs for adults. That is the unions job to get the highest paid jobs for adults. The union does not have the kids interests at heart. The black graduation rate is being celebrated in NYC since its up to like 60%. That means 40% of kids are starting there adult life with little skills and almost no hope of college. DeVos wants to change this.
Pruitt is so much worse than DeVos. No one directly lose money when people harm the environment so people are not as angry with Pruitt.
Pruitt is so much worse than DeVos. No one directly lose money when people harm the environment so people are not as angry with Pruitt.
1
DeVos is a long time Koch bros connection and tax evader. She inherited a fortune, dumbsheet that she is. She doesn't know anything about anything.
Teachers are paid peanuts. So what's wrong with trying to improve the pay scale for teachers ? I mean, it's not like teaching our kids has any ramifications on our future, right ?
I am unpersuaded by Chris' judgment, based on his or her inability to distinguish between there and their.
"And what should the award look like?"
The award should look like a wrecking ball - because that's what Trump and his cabinet members are doing to the government - and to the country.
The award should look like a wrecking ball - because that's what Trump and his cabinet members are doing to the government - and to the country.
241
RE: what the award should look like--
send your suggestions to Gail--
How about an orange with pins in it?
send your suggestions to Gail--
How about an orange with pins in it?
1
Tom Price's anti-evolution rant ("...lies from the pit of hell") seems to have been removed from the internet.
Too bad--it might have helped push him across the finish into first place. It was a stellar performance.
Too bad--it might have helped push him across the finish into first place. It was a stellar performance.
6
Actually, that was another Georgia Republican — and physician (!) — Rep. Paul Broun, who served from 2007-2015, and sat on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee ( http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/07/nation/la-na-nn-paul-broun-evolu... ).
1
Thanks for the clarification. Even so, Price is a strong contender. I'd say a top-five finish at least.
Would it be an exaggeration to suggest that this is probably the worst Cabinet in the history of the republic? Would it be wrong to say that the nation is really 'going to hell in a hand basket?' Never have so few caused so much pain to so many.
16
I would agree.
3
DeVos is definitely our Worst Cabinet winner."
===================================
Focusing on Betsy DeVos might actually be good for education. There is enough blame to go around. Personally, I think teachers should be blamed the most, because so many of them resist criticism and change.
I, myself, was a college teacher and I resisted change. When you teach the same subjects at the same grade level, year after year, you may get stuck.
In Rochester, NY, where I live, city schools are doing a very poor job. So, perhaps focusing on Betsy DeVos and her foolishness will encourage more pressure at the local level, as well.
I vote for Sec. of Education, Betsy DeVos!
----------------------------------------------------
===================================
Focusing on Betsy DeVos might actually be good for education. There is enough blame to go around. Personally, I think teachers should be blamed the most, because so many of them resist criticism and change.
I, myself, was a college teacher and I resisted change. When you teach the same subjects at the same grade level, year after year, you may get stuck.
In Rochester, NY, where I live, city schools are doing a very poor job. So, perhaps focusing on Betsy DeVos and her foolishness will encourage more pressure at the local level, as well.
I vote for Sec. of Education, Betsy DeVos!
----------------------------------------------------
3
I think a prize for worst cabinet member would be to make them live for 6 months in a poverty ridden low income neighborhood. People with no understanding of poverty can't lead our democracy, they can only respond to their income stable supporters.
8
"After all, we've got another three and a half years." Let's rate them now by how much damage they can cause between now and then. I think DeVos would still win. Three and a half years of a child's education is critical. She alone can do more damage then climate change in that time frame.
5
What a mean-spirited and out of touch article. It illustrates the elitism of the NY Times perfectly—readers can have a collective laugh at the game of picking which Trump cabinet member is “worst” (when the implication is that all of them are “awful”).
It shows no awareness of the Democratic Party’s complete drubbing in 2016, the fact that it is probably the weakest it has been since Reconstruction, or that they just lost 4/4 special elections—spending the most in history on a single candidate in a House race by far in Georgia and still losing.
True there are serioius concerns about Mr. Trump and his Cabinet, but self-righteous jeering is what has continued to cause those election defeats.
The Democratic Party needs to offer compelling policy alternatives instead of resorting to dinigrating its opponents if we are to have an opposition (or if it ever wishes to govern our country any time soon).
It shows no awareness of the Democratic Party’s complete drubbing in 2016, the fact that it is probably the weakest it has been since Reconstruction, or that they just lost 4/4 special elections—spending the most in history on a single candidate in a House race by far in Georgia and still losing.
True there are serioius concerns about Mr. Trump and his Cabinet, but self-righteous jeering is what has continued to cause those election defeats.
The Democratic Party needs to offer compelling policy alternatives instead of resorting to dinigrating its opponents if we are to have an opposition (or if it ever wishes to govern our country any time soon).
5
Plenty of alternative policy-decisions have been and continue to be suggested. First and foremost, cabinet members should not be heading up departments/agencies they have openly expressed a desire to destroy. Perry and Pruitt should have been rejected on those obvious grounds alone. Secondly, as a matter of policy, cabinet members should be able to demonstrate some kind of proficiency in the areas concerned (or at least show respect for those who do have the expertise to guide them). It is not, for instance, a personal attack to say that Ben Carson's skills are not particularly relevant to housing and Pruitt should not be hindering scientists from undertaking scientific studies just because he does not want to deal with the conclusions they may draw. Third, as specific policy proposal, Sessions' enthusiasm for a return to the days of mandatory sentencing is ill-advised. We are living the results of the last experiment with that idea and it's not pretty. Fourth policy suggestion, the existence or not existence of climate change should be a question of scientific fact, not one of economic needs. Shutting down inquiry into climate change on the basis that the associated regulations would hurt jobs is not rational because the existence/non-existence of climate change (as an observable phenomenon) is not altered by jobs numbers.
1
Next time, let's vote on whose speech to the deal leader at that eerie and awful cabinet meeting was the most obsequious. I think Reince summoning the spirit of the "blessing" might have the inside track. Elaine Chao had the look in her eyes I imagine one gets when one realizes the plane in which they are flying is crashing.
5
It is the goal of this administration to make every single appointment without regard to the wellbeing of the American people. In reality, these appointees are tasked with dismantling our governmental agencies and rendering them impotent vis a vis their intended purpose. Each is a testament to evil. There is no good to be seen here. Why compare?
7
Don't be such a downer. You say we've got another three and a half years, but that's only if Mattis can keep Trump's tiny hands off the nuclear codes. Our national nightmare could be over in just a few short weeks.
6
God help us all! Let this blow over in a much shorter period than three and a half more years. The Trumpet and all his sycophants should have been removed before April 20. Three months was long enough!
O Lord, how much longer must we endure?
God bless America, land that I love, from sea to shining sea!
O Lord, how much longer must we endure?
God bless America, land that I love, from sea to shining sea!
The award should simply be a half-melted slab of cheap trophy plastic. Possibly a melted shape that began as a life as a round ball: apt symbol of what these people are doing to our world
1
"Do you think we should do this every few months?"—Gail Collins
Absolutely, but the gravity of the issues involved will forever prevent such polls from reaching the comic heights of Collins' repeated references to Seamus, the beleaguered Romney retriever.
Absolutely, but the gravity of the issues involved will forever prevent such polls from reaching the comic heights of Collins' repeated references to Seamus, the beleaguered Romney retriever.
4
Betsy DeVos is a study in the oblivious arrogance of the super-wealthy. DeVos never tried to conceal that she was buying her position and fully expected a return on her investment despite having absolutely no experience needed for the job. She is the personification of the ignorance that comes along with extreme wealth. It is obvious she has never really worked a day in her life. She lives a fantasy existence purchased with her inherited billions.
5
As much as I admire humor and the ability to laugh through tough situations, this one goes beyond my ability to conjure up even a small smile. Just can't seem to bring myself to do it. This group of misfits, sycophants, kelptocrats, xenophobic, misogynistic, racists who between them couldn't raise a respectable idea let alone a country, could spell the end of this nation as well as life as we know it on this planet.
5
"DeVos really hates public schools — something you don’t find often in a secretary of education. Her goal seems to be replacing them with charter schools, none of which will need much oversight because, you know, the choice thing."
What, exactly, has Mrs. DeVoss done to weaken the quality of our public school system?
What, exactly, has Mrs. DeVoss done to weaken the quality of our public school system?
3
The award statuette could depict the emeperor himself without any clothes, except for a Make America Great Again cap. And might I suggest an Ensemble category for times of particular stupidity, incompetence and dishonesty?
3
It is difficult to imagine this country living through this actual nightmare for three and a half years. Enough is enough!!!
5
These excellent columns by Ms. Collins, Mssrs. Blow and Bruni and their colleagues are SO helpful to me from the standpoint of coping with our current national disaster but, after Georgia, it's clear that such truthful prose, however superbly delivered, can't paper over the gaping holes in our sinking ship. How about a regular column with specific recommendations for citizen action?
4
Eva Moskowitz says that we are all wrong to think Betsy DeVos is the worst. Ms. Moskowitz says she is a wonderful and terrific choice for Secretary of Education and we should all be very grateful that Trump appointed her.
Governor Andrew Cuomo says Eva Moskowitz should be given lots more schools and power because she always shows great judgement and we should trust her -- no oversight necessary -- because Moskowitz strong endorsement of DeVos PROVES she always puts the needs of children first. If Moskowitz insists that Betsy DeVos is a magnificent Cabinet Member whose agenda we should all help enact, Governor Cuomo says "give that woman lots more charters and let's Make America Great Again" with Moskowitz and DeVos running our schools!
I am so glad Govenor Cuomo has the good judgement to embrace Eva Moskowitz and Betsy DeVos as the two people who care the most about educating all American children. The rest of us should stop criticizing DeVos and accepting that she is the best way to make America great again. I know this because Eva Moskowitz keeps saying it is true. And I'm sure she would never tell a lie.
Governor Andrew Cuomo says Eva Moskowitz should be given lots more schools and power because she always shows great judgement and we should trust her -- no oversight necessary -- because Moskowitz strong endorsement of DeVos PROVES she always puts the needs of children first. If Moskowitz insists that Betsy DeVos is a magnificent Cabinet Member whose agenda we should all help enact, Governor Cuomo says "give that woman lots more charters and let's Make America Great Again" with Moskowitz and DeVos running our schools!
I am so glad Govenor Cuomo has the good judgement to embrace Eva Moskowitz and Betsy DeVos as the two people who care the most about educating all American children. The rest of us should stop criticizing DeVos and accepting that she is the best way to make America great again. I know this because Eva Moskowitz keeps saying it is true. And I'm sure she would never tell a lie.
The saddest line was saved for last..."After all, we’ve got another three and a half years."
"After all, we’ve got another three and a half years."
Oh, my! Such a depressing way to end an amusing column! We are in such deep dooky.
Oh, my! Such a depressing way to end an amusing column! We are in such deep dooky.
2
Couldn't cry past January.
I laugh now in disbelief.
Go, Gail!
I laugh now in disbelief.
Go, Gail!
1
The award should be a 2/3 of life size bust of Alfred E Newman in the cheapest metal you can find. Something that's guaranteed to tarnish quickly.
2
Unfair to Alfred E and Mad
1
DeVos' distinction is well deserved.
For all the Republicans rhetoric about caring about how our tax dollars are spent, she's pretty free with giving mine away to schools I know nothing about.
I don't know the requirements for the administration or teaching staff, class size, salaries, the physical plant, budgets for texts or science materials or computers, school hours per day/year/ required courses, extra curricular activities. sports or physical activities offered.
I don't know what math or reading standards they have. I don't know what "science" they are teaching them - is climate change accepted or taught as a hoax, is evolution taught or creationism, are kids taught that men and dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time?
Are teaching hours spent on religious indoctrination of one sect over another? If so, do they teach about burning in hell or killing the infidel?
Most of all, am I being compelled to pay my tax dollars to schools where my children cannot go, where I cannot "choose" that they go?
Every parent in this country already has "choices". They can educate their children at home. They can get together with like-minded parents and teach them together. They can pay for their children to go to private or parochial schools. Or they send them to the free public schools provided by public tax dollars.
Public dollars for the public school choice. They need the dollars desperately.
For all the Republicans rhetoric about caring about how our tax dollars are spent, she's pretty free with giving mine away to schools I know nothing about.
I don't know the requirements for the administration or teaching staff, class size, salaries, the physical plant, budgets for texts or science materials or computers, school hours per day/year/ required courses, extra curricular activities. sports or physical activities offered.
I don't know what math or reading standards they have. I don't know what "science" they are teaching them - is climate change accepted or taught as a hoax, is evolution taught or creationism, are kids taught that men and dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time?
Are teaching hours spent on religious indoctrination of one sect over another? If so, do they teach about burning in hell or killing the infidel?
Most of all, am I being compelled to pay my tax dollars to schools where my children cannot go, where I cannot "choose" that they go?
Every parent in this country already has "choices". They can educate their children at home. They can get together with like-minded parents and teach them together. They can pay for their children to go to private or parochial schools. Or they send them to the free public schools provided by public tax dollars.
Public dollars for the public school choice. They need the dollars desperately.
5
Eric Trump's wedding planner? (He said silently to himself unsure if this was reality)
3
I've never tried LSD, but the current political situation has to be just like a bad acid trip.
2
This will surely bring back those slogans
1
In the 1980's in Ontario, we began public funding of catholic schools in parallel to public schools. Property taxes pay for both and there are no extra charges. Religious Jews, Christians and others, however, need to pay both property tax plus school fees if they want to send their children to religious schools (many thousands per year). They rightly feel that this is very unfair.
I believe that the primary goal of DeVos' support for charter schools is to provide a school funding model for religious Christians. Vouchers will allow parents to avoid double payment. I don't think that she really cares about much else.
I believe that the primary goal of DeVos' support for charter schools is to provide a school funding model for religious Christians. Vouchers will allow parents to avoid double payment. I don't think that she really cares about much else.
80
I still vote for Jeff Sessions, the assistant liar in chief, who thinks observing reality and acting in community is an "insult to the prerogatives of the creator".
God forbid we should practice stewardship of the earth, rather than continuing the policy of using jail to suppress the vote of people of color.
The whole boiling of them are monstrous, but Jeff Sessions has flown under the radar of the unskeptical "skeptics" who deny climate evidence and understanding. His god is the voices in his head, and they support his opinion that being white (and male) entitles him to regard himself and his favorite wealthy exploiters as due an extra dose of god's favor, while the rest of us can go hang.
It's not just bad, it's evil. Making America Small and Mean.
God forbid we should practice stewardship of the earth, rather than continuing the policy of using jail to suppress the vote of people of color.
The whole boiling of them are monstrous, but Jeff Sessions has flown under the radar of the unskeptical "skeptics" who deny climate evidence and understanding. His god is the voices in his head, and they support his opinion that being white (and male) entitles him to regard himself and his favorite wealthy exploiters as due an extra dose of god's favor, while the rest of us can go hang.
It's not just bad, it's evil. Making America Small and Mean.
24
Can we focus on congress now? Republicans run against Nancy Pelosi, surely Democrats can make the case against Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell.
14
They are not toadies, which implies are merely trying to ingratiate, playing career games.
They are true believers, an entirely different animal.
They are true believers, an entirely different animal.
6
David, they are toadies *and* true believers. The two go together in the Republican belief system.
4
Why can't they be both?
3
Gail, you have definitely come upon an exercise to engage readers, but this is really depressing because of the subject matter. Your "we’ve got another three and a half years" made all this even more depressing. Although I usually immensely enjoy your op-ed pieces, I am in this instance awarding you the "Debbie Downer" prize.
6
The good news in Gail's field of gloom and doom sprouts up in the last sentence, which I have reconstructed to read:
Anything's possible; but face it folks 1/8 [12.5%] of the term is behind us and we are all here to talk about it. Not trivial given the alternatives.
Anything's possible; but face it folks 1/8 [12.5%] of the term is behind us and we are all here to talk about it. Not trivial given the alternatives.
5
Tragicomic is the word...
Wait for the movie.
Wait for the movie.
2
It's been out since 2006. Watch "idiocracy"
1
I feel it should be Pruitt.
Yes, DeVos is palpably dumb and yes, she affects our children - but remember, children are highly resilient! Plus, there are a lot of great teachers out there mitigating DeVos' worst effects.
Pruitt on the other hand, while we watch what may be the last window of opportunity to stave off the worst effects of climate change closing, will doom our children and grandchildren.
Yes, DeVos is palpably dumb and yes, she affects our children - but remember, children are highly resilient! Plus, there are a lot of great teachers out there mitigating DeVos' worst effects.
Pruitt on the other hand, while we watch what may be the last window of opportunity to stave off the worst effects of climate change closing, will doom our children and grandchildren.
1
I contend the winner still needs to be Acting Secretary of State Vladimir Putin. The little orchestrated near miss fly-bys of US and Soviet military jets is pure evil genius! Now Trump can say, "You think I'm in cahoots with Putin? We almost just got in a shooting war!" Tip of the cap to the smartest and worst cabinet member.
9
Repeating this analysis quarterly would be too depressing. A monthly "damage update" rotating the bottom five or six loyalists might help us more accurately predict our chances of surviving this "smartest cabinet ever put together" (by KitchenAide?). I'd like to know how Ben Carson spends the day, whom Rick Perry schmoozes, etc. Shine a bright light on these "loyalist" cucarachas so they have nowhere to hide the damage they do.
4
Remember when Americans believed that character, honesty, and dignity were important qualities in our political leaders?
Wouldn't we want the person in charge of public education in this country to reflect the values we admire and want our children to learn?
So I looked up Betsy DeVoss's background, and here is what I found.
if we learn our values in the family, her family is scary. Her husband was a CEO of Amway (Scamway), founded by his father. Her brother was founder of the infamous Blackwater military contractor firm during the Bush-Cheney years. Her father founded the Prince Corporation in Michigan and was determined to foist Christianity on the world. See where our children's education is headed with DeVos in charge?
Like the EPA"s Pruitt, DeVos is out to wreck the agency she heads and our public education system. Why? Not because charter schools are better than public schools (no clear evidence for that), but because this is yet another scheme to make investors rich by having taxpayers transfer their hard-money to financing school choice so they can skim as much money off the top by minimizing school costs per pupil and teacher salaries in order to maximize profits for investors. I suspect Trump U. is her model.
Anyway, the Republicans certainly don't want intelligent voters who value truth, respect science, and believe in a fair deal for all Americans. Will DeVoss get the job done for the GOP?
Wouldn't we want the person in charge of public education in this country to reflect the values we admire and want our children to learn?
So I looked up Betsy DeVoss's background, and here is what I found.
if we learn our values in the family, her family is scary. Her husband was a CEO of Amway (Scamway), founded by his father. Her brother was founder of the infamous Blackwater military contractor firm during the Bush-Cheney years. Her father founded the Prince Corporation in Michigan and was determined to foist Christianity on the world. See where our children's education is headed with DeVos in charge?
Like the EPA"s Pruitt, DeVos is out to wreck the agency she heads and our public education system. Why? Not because charter schools are better than public schools (no clear evidence for that), but because this is yet another scheme to make investors rich by having taxpayers transfer their hard-money to financing school choice so they can skim as much money off the top by minimizing school costs per pupil and teacher salaries in order to maximize profits for investors. I suspect Trump U. is her model.
Anyway, the Republicans certainly don't want intelligent voters who value truth, respect science, and believe in a fair deal for all Americans. Will DeVoss get the job done for the GOP?
10
It seems to me that, if Politifact can name Donald Trump himself "Lie of the Year" because pretty much everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie, we should be able to declare the Trump Admin. "Worst Cabinet Member", esp. after that cult-like debacle at his first cabinet meeting.
4
Thank you, Ms Collins, for the update on the "worst" of the bad. However, we may all have spoken too soon.
Why? I have every confidence that 45 and his administration will keep on showing us such extremes of incompetence, self-dealing, overblown rhetoric, lack of direction, and confusion that we will all look back on these 5 and a half months of 45's regnum with a heavy dose of nostalgia.
Why? I have every confidence that 45 and his administration will keep on showing us such extremes of incompetence, self-dealing, overblown rhetoric, lack of direction, and confusion that we will all look back on these 5 and a half months of 45's regnum with a heavy dose of nostalgia.
2
I actually like Rex Tillerson a bit, because, when he speaks, it almost seems like the late, great, Jonathan Winters is back.
5
I don't like Tillerson but the Winters sound a like gave me a good laugh. I loved Jonathan Winters.
3
I suppose the rule of thumb is to maintain one's sense of humor and certainly the ability to laugh helps with hypertension. I love your columns, Ms. Collins - they are a must read for me and have been for years. Keep doing your job, for sure.
But when I read this most recent one, I got really depressed because it wasn't really satire, it was spot on reporting. I just could not muster up a laugh or even a chuckle.
But I'll keep reading. And one day - sooner rather than later I hope - I will be looking forward to your lampooning the Trump administration once the country is out of its onerous clutches.
But when I read this most recent one, I got really depressed because it wasn't really satire, it was spot on reporting. I just could not muster up a laugh or even a chuckle.
But I'll keep reading. And one day - sooner rather than later I hope - I will be looking forward to your lampooning the Trump administration once the country is out of its onerous clutches.
7
DeVos clearly is clueless and an enemy of public education. DeVos was so unpopular the Senate had to delay Sessions confirmation so he could vote for her confirmation. DeVos' sole qualification is great wealth. As Trump made clear in my hometown last night he prefers "the rich" for cabinet positions. However I would not pick DeVos for the worst cabinet member because thankfully she has less power to harm to public education then other cabinet members have to harm the country.
Scott Pruitt is probably the worst cabinet member, because he is openly hostile to protecting the environment, and does have real power to carry out his anti environmental policies. Jeff Sessions is very close behind Pruitt. Sessions policies and his desires for the DOJ are dangerous. The only silver lining is Sessions is probably so hampered by his false confirmation testimony, and his involvement in the Trump campaign that he can't carry out his dangerous agenda.
Scott Pruitt is probably the worst cabinet member, because he is openly hostile to protecting the environment, and does have real power to carry out his anti environmental policies. Jeff Sessions is very close behind Pruitt. Sessions policies and his desires for the DOJ are dangerous. The only silver lining is Sessions is probably so hampered by his false confirmation testimony, and his involvement in the Trump campaign that he can't carry out his dangerous agenda.
7
Let's do this every three months. Awesome work.
2
The impossible was accomplished! Choosing the worst rotten apple from the barrel of rotten apples was a daunting task. Kudo to Gail and her wonderful readers who responded to the challenge and came up with a worst (wurst?). My wife was and educator and education issues top her list. I worked in the environment and environmental issues top my list so we have a hard time reaching consensus choosing the worst. I will agree MS. DeVos is a great candidate for the worst.
4
Our education system is broken and has been for years. Our students consistently show up in 20th to 30th places in the studies. So it seems that most readers of the NYT are OK with this. They want to maintain the status quo. Isn't one definition of insanity to do the same thing over and over and expect different results? DeVos wants to try something different. I realize change is hard for people. But to not try to change things does't seem very progresssive to me.
1
That's the whole mind**** of this administration. If almost anyone other than Trump and his Cabinet of loons was saying, "We're going to do things differently," I would be willing to listen. But based on individual track records and what has transpired so far, rather than be excited (or at least intrigued) by a new approach, I'm terrified they are going to break America.
1
How about every week? Every cabinet member should have his (Betsy has already won) chance.
3
I'm voting for a replica of the meat loaf Trump served potential but didn't get a post Chris Christie. It's shaped like Trump. It has the same ability to handle complex problems. If you plate it with fools gold it will be perfect.
1
I'm having a hard time thinking of a prize. I was thinking about a magic eight-ball, but that's probably how they make decisions already. It's hard to think of anything more humiliating than accepting a job in this administration in the first place, and the DeVos family actually spent a fortune get her there. People who take pride in destroying the very departments they represent are kind of beyond insulting.
7
Maybe it is a tie for the Worst Trump Cabinet Member. But, for the sake of truth in advertising, we need to change the names of the agencies these dreadful people head to more accurately reflect Trump and the GOP's true mission.
Pruitt (head of the Environmental Destruction Agency)
DeVoss (head of the Department of De-Education)
Price (head of the Department of Bad Health and No Human Services)
Republicans need to come with warning labels stamped on their foreheads: "CAUTION: Republicans may be hazardous to your health."
"Making America Great, Again"? NOT
Pruitt (head of the Environmental Destruction Agency)
DeVoss (head of the Department of De-Education)
Price (head of the Department of Bad Health and No Human Services)
Republicans need to come with warning labels stamped on their foreheads: "CAUTION: Republicans may be hazardous to your health."
"Making America Great, Again"? NOT
A weekly list might be medicine for all of us who are depressed and can't sleep by the overal almost criminal choices of all cabinet members, even including Mathis who was given a free hand to let the army make all their choices in battle and we know how well that worked since World War II .
All Republican Senators should be included as well as their total disregard for the failures and enriching of his family and friends. Not to forget is that they reached a 100% level of hypocrisy and lie as much as their mighty leader
All Republican Senators should be included as well as their total disregard for the failures and enriching of his family and friends. Not to forget is that they reached a 100% level of hypocrisy and lie as much as their mighty leader
sure and the liberal elites are huge fans of public education and would never send their children to posh private schools. No, never. Being the secretary of education should not turn that individual into a shameless shrill for the teacher's union. the only way to improve public education is to do away with unions and tenures for teachers, and not demonizing someone who is advocating for an alternative to the bloated underperforming status quo that is American public education.
2
Could it be that they are rated the worst by people who consider themselves to be the best? I don't remember the Obama Cabinet getting rave reviews. Have we forgotten "Too Big to Jail Holder? "Where's My Server" Clinton still hogs the limelight. "The Route to The Nobel Runs Through Jerusalem" Kerry surely has a place. The others are easily forgotten because they were do-nothings. Indeed, if there were any accomplishments during the Obama years, these were attributed to him.
Most of the Trump Gang were well-known beforehand so they were already in the public mind. Thanks to Congress, many will remain there for a while. After 2020, they will also be forgotten - unless the Dems manage to blow it again.
Most of the Trump Gang were well-known beforehand so they were already in the public mind. Thanks to Congress, many will remain there for a while. After 2020, they will also be forgotten - unless the Dems manage to blow it again.
2
DeVos is the highest profile woman on the list (including only cabinet members and barring cabinet-level officials), and she's received far more press than Chao. Here's a question: Is this a sexist choice? Men get all sorts of accommodation in the public sphere, but woman must be flawless. As to the cabinet, I don't like any of them, but in a close race to the bottom, the choice of a woman in a sea of men is a red flag IMHO.
Say, is that a picture of our esteemed Ed. Sec. being fingerprinted, with a group of Mueller's g-men behind her? Is she the first Trump tree to fall in the swamp forest? Gotta start somewhere.
Yes, do it every few months!!
Gee it's so hard to choose. No credit for participation?
2
Sessions is clearly Granny Glampett.
3
Not sure what we do with wastes of space like Carsons and Perry. At least they are so useless they aren't doing as much damage.
1
In the 4th/5th grade civics class in all public schools in America, they ought to play that ridiculous video of sycophantic cabinet members praising President “Dear Leader” Trump as a lesson titled, “How the world’s greatest democracy can turn into a fawning dictatorship?”
It seems pretty easy with this lot of fools and idiots to find the worse on a daily if not hourly basis. What would be difficult was to find anyone of them that did anything remotely helpful, good, to benefit their employers, 'We the people".
It's a crying shame we can't fire them, as they destroy much of the good we have built. Could each and every department be improved? Yes, definitely. However, that is not the intent of this administration.
It's a crying shame we can't fire them, as they destroy much of the good we have built. Could each and every department be improved? Yes, definitely. However, that is not the intent of this administration.
Putting aside the letdown of Betsy DeVos winning The Worst Cabinet Member Award (she is merely The Dumbest, edging out Rick Perry), I suggest a simple design for the trophy:
Sculpted head of a smiling Vladimir Putin on a base inscribed: Best investment I ever made.
Sculpted head of a smiling Vladimir Putin on a base inscribed: Best investment I ever made.
23
WOW and that's not even considering the likes of rick perry, the budget pig, the health care loser, ben carson and the other pigs.
6
Bob,
I share your sentiments, however, you are insulting a perfectly fine creature, the pig.
I share your sentiments, however, you are insulting a perfectly fine creature, the pig.
3
Well, while I certainly will accept the majority vote, I will remind everyone that only Tom Price took an oath, the Oath of Hippocrates, when he graduated from medical school. Looks like he was confused even then and thought it was the Oath of Hypocrisy. There is a special place in hell for physicians who abandon and harm their patients intentionally.
32
as someone who had worked in medical field for decades, i vote for Tom Price be first candidate heading to hell. no soul, no heart. why did he go to medical school to begin with ?
3
Perhaps next time you can canvas readers as to which level of Dante's hell the respective cabinet contenders will eventually be assigned to?
9
Since the lowest circle of Dante's Hell is reserved for liars, a new circle
will have to be added.
will have to be added.
2
Next time the Swampiest, then the most corrupt, then the swarmiest, then the stupidest, then the most outrageous, then the most obnoxious,then the most incompetent, then the most dangerous, etc.
8
Gail, it's not even Trump or his ugly white old (so old and out of date Mitch McConnell...) antiquated stuck in time entitled cabinet with their taxpayer subsidized golden health plan. It's the angry resentful mostly white male un/undereducated misogynist racist homophobic stupid (which can't be fixed) people in this country that voted for Trump and think to this day that he's doing a great job and will cut the noses off their faces (and Grandpa's oxygen tank and insulin) because of their hatred for people where the grass looks (and is folks, we're not fracking here) greener.
10
The Award should look like the sweater sewn from wet spaghetti
8
Usually I find these columns an oasis of uplifting humor, a refuge from the saddening reality of our current political condition. You really killed that buzz by listing Trump's cabinet secretaries. I know you meant well. I know full well that you listed their names only as a necessary step towards ridiculing them. Still, Betsy DeVos? Rick Perry? These are people who would be only marginally intellectually qualified to work as baggers at the local grocery store. Of course, they wouldn't keep that job because the customers would not like them. Sigh....
7
Certainly the result when you stock your Cabinet with moneyed idiots and stooges. Honorable mention has to go to Steve Munchkin for truly impressive achievement in never ever answering the question. Elizabeth Warren put him through the ringer and he still had that simpering grin that has become a trademark of this noisome administration.
6
Plus, Munchkin's voice hurts the ears.
Six months ago, she couldn't even spell e-d-u-k-a-t-s-i-o-n. Now she are one!
11
Her pageant mentor was Ms. Palin
2
Purely coincidental, I think. They ALL belong sucked into the drain of the swamp that is Washington DC. That drain is clogged, which is why it won't drain.
5
if it wasn't for gail collins and the new york times, i think i would just curl up
and cry..this is the worst shape this country has ever been in...
and cry..this is the worst shape this country has ever been in...
16
When you go through them all it does paint a picture - an evil clown morally bankrupt president surrounding himself with weak, incompetent, nasty, corrupt sycophants. The new United States of America - Wow!
6
Putting aside the letdown of Betsy DeVos winning The Worst Cabinet Member Award (she is merely The Dumbest, edging out Rick Perry), I suggest a simple design for the trophy:
The sculpted head of a smiling Vladimir Putin on a base inscribed: “Best investment I ever made.”
The sculpted head of a smiling Vladimir Putin on a base inscribed: “Best investment I ever made.”
4
Perhaps the award should be called the Knob award...a shout-out to Rick "Control Knob" Perry...to the opening of this Pandora's Box of a cabinet...and to the return of "strongman" philosophy, all at once.
4
Ready for the new model of American education? Get out your Bibles, kids!
4
For all the reasons you hate DeVos, are all the right reasons why DeVos is the right person for the Dept of Education. Government "public" schools are a disaster. They should be replaced by charter schools or better yet private schools. Government has no business educating our children.
But Gail you really show your nasty side with this piece. Shame on you.
But Gail you really show your nasty side with this piece. Shame on you.
"DeVos is definitely our Worst Cabinet winner."
===================================
Focusing on Betsy DeVos might actually be good for education. There is enough blame to go around. Personally, I think teachers should be blamed the most, because so many of them resist criticism and change.
I, myself, was a college teacher and I resisted change. When you teach the same subjects at the same grade level, year after year, you may get stuck.
In Rochester, NY, where I live, city schools are doing a very poor job. So, perhaps focusing on Betsy DeVos and her foolishness will encourage more pressure at the local level, as well.
I vote for Sec. of Education, Betsy DeVos!
----------------------------------------------------
www.SavingSchools.org
===================================
Focusing on Betsy DeVos might actually be good for education. There is enough blame to go around. Personally, I think teachers should be blamed the most, because so many of them resist criticism and change.
I, myself, was a college teacher and I resisted change. When you teach the same subjects at the same grade level, year after year, you may get stuck.
In Rochester, NY, where I live, city schools are doing a very poor job. So, perhaps focusing on Betsy DeVos and her foolishness will encourage more pressure at the local level, as well.
I vote for Sec. of Education, Betsy DeVos!
----------------------------------------------------
www.SavingSchools.org
2
You are not helping Democrats or our country by writing pieces like this that continue to spread hostility. You should get a new act.
1
This isn't hostile, just literal.
4
@Pia:
Same thing.
Same thing.
That Trump with whomever's assistance chose the idiots is criminal.
I hope the Times follows the people like state officials who stand up to morons like DeVos, Carson, Perry, Pruitt, et al.
Lets just hope that our Democratic party leaders get their heads out of their tuckuses soon. If I have to watch the Robbie Mooks and the cowards give away another election my bad heart may not survive.
I hope the Times follows the people like state officials who stand up to morons like DeVos, Carson, Perry, Pruitt, et al.
Lets just hope that our Democratic party leaders get their heads out of their tuckuses soon. If I have to watch the Robbie Mooks and the cowards give away another election my bad heart may not survive.
I am a big fan of cynicism and satire and attempts at comedy, but there is a correct time and place for everything.
Perhaps this is the time, but Ms. Collins, do you really think that this is NYT Op-Ed level? Obviously the editors think so, because they published it, but with all due respect, put this type of thing on your FB page. As an Op-Ed in the NYT, I, at least, expect something more serious, even as satire.
Perhaps this is the time, but Ms. Collins, do you really think that this is NYT Op-Ed level? Obviously the editors think so, because they published it, but with all due respect, put this type of thing on your FB page. As an Op-Ed in the NYT, I, at least, expect something more serious, even as satire.
2
Worst cabinet member should receive the Covfefe Award
14
I like that! I think we should go with that!
1
My vote for worst cabinet member remains Pruitt because he is dangerous for the whole planet and for the future living beings. Rick Perry is the most stupid. Price is the cruelest. Carson needs his brain check up and he hates poor people of color. I can not find any word for DeVos. All of them are very good in flattering the ultimate dictator boss . They have NO SHAME. Unfortunate.
9
Ms Collins,
This is not your"Finest hour"
Regards
This is not your"Finest hour"
Regards
1
Au contraire, Gail, it's your most hilarious!
1
The award should be a dumpster fire
3
Without a doubt it shouls be the Seamus award. In honour of Mitt Romney's dog.
If that doesn't work then how avout the wet spaghetti prize?
If that doesn't work then how avout the wet spaghetti prize?
1
I think the award should be a case of rotten tomatoes. And we should do this every few weeks. Every few months is too long with this group. We need to watch them much more closely than that, let they get away with more in secret.
"Do you think we should do this every few months?" Absolutely!! With all of the focus on our president, it would be a real public service to show that his cabinet members are also trying to destroy this country's reputation in the world as well as the environment, the public schools, the health care system, the rule of law, and our nuclear arsenal. Our president's damage to the country far exceeds his personal reach and people should be aware of it.
"And what should the award look like?" It should be a miniature version of the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. To quote from Roger Ebert's review of the movie - "A case can be made that "Caligari" was the first true horror film. There had been earlier ghost stories ... but their characters were inhabiting a recognizable world. "Caligari" creates a mindscape, a subjective psychological fantasy. In this world, unspeakable horror becomes possible." Sounds a lot like the possibilities of our dear president's cabinet, doesn't it?
"And what should the award look like?" It should be a miniature version of the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. To quote from Roger Ebert's review of the movie - "A case can be made that "Caligari" was the first true horror film. There had been earlier ghost stories ... but their characters were inhabiting a recognizable world. "Caligari" creates a mindscape, a subjective psychological fantasy. In this world, unspeakable horror becomes possible." Sounds a lot like the possibilities of our dear president's cabinet, doesn't it?
139
Just as the Nobel Prize can be given to a team, why can't the WORST Cabinet winner be collective? After all, a group of winners would contradict the superlative "worst" and be in keeping with their communication skills.
For the worst I nominate them all and therein lies the definition of kakistocracy.
For the worst I nominate them all and therein lies the definition of kakistocracy.
7
DeVos is unquestionably awful, but I'm still torn between her and the runners-up as worst. As for her award, that's easy: a dunce cap would be perfect.
10
"Do you think we should do this every few months?"
I was thinking daily. Or at peak periods, such as now, what about every hour or so? Maybe it's like the Kentucky Derby, a scrum at the start but you can make up ground on the competition via a late spurt...
I was thinking daily. Or at peak periods, such as now, what about every hour or so? Maybe it's like the Kentucky Derby, a scrum at the start but you can make up ground on the competition via a late spurt...
3
Believe I heard news yesterday that Trump want to expand the collection agent force to recover unpaid student loans.That will certainly be a help to the millions of young college graduates trying to "get their feet on the ground." Believe DeVos is close to one or more banks that have heavy student loan portfolios. Seems likely to me that DeVos requested increased collection authority for her banking friends. The thing about DeVos. Not only does she seem stupid. She is completely out of it.
4
In a contest of anything between two equal participants-- a man and a woman - the woman always loses.
2
It's so difficult to calculate. How do you compare the destruction of children's minds with rampant pollution or the introduction of institutionalized racism? I think Pruitt could win because his ineptitude impacts everyone, including the children who will eventually become clueless at to what they did to them, and thus lifetime Republicans. On a more positive note, I think Perry is off the list because he actually defended the need for scientists and scientific research in his department. I know! Crazy isn't it!? I think Ben Carson gets a pass too, simply because it appears he isn't really doing anything, which is about the best thing we could have hoped for.
I to think their should be a second competition, to determine who is the worst advisor. I think Jared wins because he's basically been given the job of running everything.
I to think their should be a second competition, to determine who is the worst advisor. I think Jared wins because he's basically been given the job of running everything.
6
I really don't want to have to do this ever again. I don't want these cabinet members performing so badly that they end up jockeying for Worst Cabinet winner every few months, but with this bunch... sigh, let's do it quarterly and give the winner 3 months living in poverty, in a food desert, without health insurance, without air conditioning during a heat wave, and have the police stop them daily for no reason at all.
10
Line in the Opinion Page should read: A lot of folks are still in trauma over that meeting in which the cabinet members tried to one-up each other in the fulsomeness of their praise for THE KING WITHOUT THE RING.
Message to DeVoss: The overwhelming majority of us have received a great education in our public schools. We have great respect for the teachers, administrators and all the folks involved in the public schools. That "great education" you received Ms DeVoss has failed you greatly!
Message to DeVoss: The overwhelming majority of us have received a great education in our public schools. We have great respect for the teachers, administrators and all the folks involved in the public schools. That "great education" you received Ms DeVoss has failed you greatly!
8
The prize trophy should be a lifetime ticket to Disneyland. Then the winner can spend their days in a place they're used to, Fantasyland (with all apologies to Disney).
5
Most people ignore the benefit of a Charter addict in charge: a decline in well educated upper middle class young adults even faster than with bad public schools. "Choice" allows a school to cherry-pick facts, disciplines, subjects, as well as kids, and, given the impact of a "tropical storm" on the South that refuses to believe in climate change, such "cherries" have more pits than fruit!
What most advocates ignore was the initial mission of all public schools: to create, in the vision of Horace Mann and, later, John Dewey, communities of residents who shared common, community experiences. American education is almost unique (there are some imitators) in recognizing that kids-teach-kids more than teachers do. That's because of Mann & Dewey and their peers, and precisely what DeVos and her crew don't recognize.
Ah well, they'll all float out to Puerto Rico in a few years as the weather they create inundates the cities they control.
What most advocates ignore was the initial mission of all public schools: to create, in the vision of Horace Mann and, later, John Dewey, communities of residents who shared common, community experiences. American education is almost unique (there are some imitators) in recognizing that kids-teach-kids more than teachers do. That's because of Mann & Dewey and their peers, and precisely what DeVos and her crew don't recognize.
Ah well, they'll all float out to Puerto Rico in a few years as the weather they create inundates the cities they control.
3
Okay, sure, it's too obvious, but how about a wurst in a cabinet. They should both be gold-plated. Our chief executive should foot the bill, though, in fairness. Oops, I forgot: that's a word that has an "alt definition" now. All right, then, ignore that last bit....
3
Just as her brother was able to make millions of dollars by overcharging the Pentagon for providing services, so too does Devoss intend to make millions providing "education" to the children of America.
This is a cabinet made of largely folks who hate all governments. It is the anarchist cabinet.
This is a cabinet made of largely folks who hate all governments. It is the anarchist cabinet.
1
There is more concentrated, poisonous contrariness here than at any other place or time in the history of the universe. This is not a cabinet - it's a box of rocks.
4
The accompanying picture is a perfect hoot as well. Betsy is like, "I got this, dawg. I don't exactly know what it is yet. But I got this."
4
It's such a tough question, starting with how you define "Worst." If it's "contemptible," then absolutely DeVos--someone who neither understands her job nor evidently has any compassion for, or even interest in, those she ostensibly serves. In terms of her ignorance and entitlement, she's a pretty solid embodiment of what's worst about America, and how much damage the clueless rich can do.
But she wouldn't be my pick, for two reasons. One, she's honestly too dumb to do all that much damage, and two, the USDOE was intentionally set up to have limited powers.
I'd dismiss Pruitt, too, in that pretty much any Republican president would pick a climate denier and pollution fetishist to run EPA. In fact I give Trump modest points for creativity in going with a bureaucrat rather than the coal company exec I would have expected.
Jeff Sessions--or as he's been dubbed on the internet, "Bilbo Bigot"--is my call. He's not an imbecile, he's not a government naif, and both in terms of his broad purview (including involvement in potential treason) and the specific wrongness of his views (does anybody else, anywhere, think the War on Drugs or maximum mandatory sentences are good ideas) he's uniquely evil. And that doesn't even get into the racism.
Maybe most important, he runs an agency that can do more than any other to wreck lives and communities, and even damage representative democracy itself.
But she wouldn't be my pick, for two reasons. One, she's honestly too dumb to do all that much damage, and two, the USDOE was intentionally set up to have limited powers.
I'd dismiss Pruitt, too, in that pretty much any Republican president would pick a climate denier and pollution fetishist to run EPA. In fact I give Trump modest points for creativity in going with a bureaucrat rather than the coal company exec I would have expected.
Jeff Sessions--or as he's been dubbed on the internet, "Bilbo Bigot"--is my call. He's not an imbecile, he's not a government naif, and both in terms of his broad purview (including involvement in potential treason) and the specific wrongness of his views (does anybody else, anywhere, think the War on Drugs or maximum mandatory sentences are good ideas) he's uniquely evil. And that doesn't even get into the racism.
Maybe most important, he runs an agency that can do more than any other to wreck lives and communities, and even damage representative democracy itself.
9
A reminder: Trump LOST the popular vote by (officially) almost THREE MILLION votes. If the election results had not been touted as a Clinton win before it occurred, anti-Trump voters would have come out and he would have lost the popular vote by several million more... perhaps as much as 7 MILLION more votes.
All the breast-beating about how "all those people" could put a monstrous, egomanical, lying, ignorant, stupid, illiterate into the White House, really ought to be about how the rest of us couldn't stop him from being put into the White House.
Clearly, some of that has to do with the antiquated State-based e\Electoral College whose allocation of members is based upon a formula frozen in 1929 when the US was primarily rural and agricultural and which gives states that are still primarily rural undue influence in choosing the President. The Constitution says nothing about a voter in North Dakota having 5 times as much influence with their vote than a voter in California... Increasing the number of members of the House to allow votes in larger, urban States to have even 1/2 the influence on the Electoral College as votes in North Dakota, would have assured a more democratic outcome and kept Trump out of the White House.
Alternatively, more people coming out to oppose the unlikely possibility of his election in just a few states, would have done the job.
All the breast-beating about how "all those people" could put a monstrous, egomanical, lying, ignorant, stupid, illiterate into the White House, really ought to be about how the rest of us couldn't stop him from being put into the White House.
Clearly, some of that has to do with the antiquated State-based e\Electoral College whose allocation of members is based upon a formula frozen in 1929 when the US was primarily rural and agricultural and which gives states that are still primarily rural undue influence in choosing the President. The Constitution says nothing about a voter in North Dakota having 5 times as much influence with their vote than a voter in California... Increasing the number of members of the House to allow votes in larger, urban States to have even 1/2 the influence on the Electoral College as votes in North Dakota, would have assured a more democratic outcome and kept Trump out of the White House.
Alternatively, more people coming out to oppose the unlikely possibility of his election in just a few states, would have done the job.
5
The winner should receive a large statue of Trump covered in sequins, or at least some of the gold paint used on his furniture.
2
Yes, let's do this every few months. Betsy was not my first choice. Jeff and Tom tied for first. My son is an Asst US Atty. My heart hurts that he has to work under Jeffie. As for Price, I would rather suffer with a broken leg than let that pervish looking doctor touch me!
2
This is like a bad joke. And the bad part is that we're living it.
5
Re Ms. Collins last paragraph: I much prefer "Anything's possible" (but, at risk of my freedom, I cannot suggest the possibilities I favor)....to "After all, we've got another three and a half years." (Say it ain't so.)
1
Since it looks like this Worst Cabinet Member award will be given periodically to make sure everyone gets a prize, I think the award should reflect the individuals receiving it, all with the common theme of weeping. For example, DeVos's statuette would be a child weeping; Sessions's would be the scales of justice weeping; Pruitt's could be the world globe weeping. And just to shake things up, Perry could be awarded a replica of the Dancing with the Stars trophy for his short-lived and humiliating performance on this reality show.
3
Have you noticed and wondered? If you stand Mitch McConnell and Jeh Johnson side by side and listen to them speak and render opinions, do you wonder how they could both be from the same political party? I am a Democrat, but I say "Johnson For President!"
1
Theory , sensical, is that if one lays off following the media, including snarky articles by liberal proselytizers posing as comedic writers, that we can acquire knowledge of an America whose citizens are more upbeat about country's future than media would have us believe. Coal fired plants to produce steel are sprouting up everywhere, country is becoming safer because of effort to deny funds to sanctuary cities,executive order revoking Unaccompanied Minors Program which let many M-13 gang members in, especially in L.I. tightening of border controls and emphasis on assimilation of newcomers are all positive steps. Trump is no buffoon as liberal outlets would have us believe, and Betsy de Vos, Christian conservative, is a force for good in education. She reminds me of Mennen "Soapy" Willams, another wealthy scion who contributed so much to the commonweal as governor and later as Asst.Sec. for African Affairs under JFK.(I still have a tie dating from his gubernatorial campaign,alongside my Lindsay cravate:valuable memorabilia.) Collins should go easy on Trump . Cabinet members r there because they are achievers. AG Sessions is not a buffoon, but a distinguished attorney, and birthplace in CSA state should not be held against him. Attended U. of A before transferring to Tulane and studied Latin under classical scholar, Dr. Perry.Strikes me as jejune on her part to endlessly make fun of Trump admin.R not relics on the left not worthy of criticism as well?
1
Until Attorney General Sessions champions victims in the next Ferguson or Baltimore, that would make Holder or Lynch proud-- I'm recasting my vote for him as the worst. And I repeat: why in heavens name was a so called rehabilitated racist named as Attorney General when there were so many others qualified who never needed to be rehabilitated and lived in the same America in the same era as Sessions?
4
DeVos is pretty terrible but I think at least her heart is in the right place and she actually does want to help kids, even though I 110% disagree with how she wants to do it. She's clueless but not malevolent like Sessions. And Pruitt is going to kill us all. So...yeah, DeVos is not the worst.
Definitely, do this every couple of months --
1
Let's have another round this one for "advisers" or other hangers-on in Trumplandia. I hereby nominate Sebastian Gorka. His job title is murky, as is his past. Plus that insufferable faux British accent.
4
The operative word for his cabinet is "wurst" rather than worst.
A political sausage of inferior and stomach turning components .
A political sausage of inferior and stomach turning components .
Well the comments were just excellent and entertaining and on point. Unfortunately, we are talking to each other and the Trump supporters across the country do not read the NYT or WAPO. And If a few do they will always find a reason to dismiss all criticism of the Liar-in-Chief and his minions. The only balloting that will change the course of events are the upcoming elections in 2018 and 2020.
I don't like this kind of ad hominem approach to politics. For example, I'd much prefer a competition like “Worst speech by a cabinet member” or “Worst policy action by a cabinet member”. You know, what used to be called, quaintly, “left brain thinking”. As Gail points out in her column, a number of votes were influenced by cabinet members' facial expressions or resemble to gnomes. Frankly, to me, that kind of thing is worse than a waste of time: it's in the same category as those pictures of Obama as a chimp.
Gail, you can and usually do do *much* better.
Gail, you can and usually do do *much* better.
1
This is really sad when I can say that Rick Perry is the one cabinet member that doesn't really bother me. I don't even know if he realizes he is a cabinet member. As to the worst of the bunch it would have to be who can do the most damage. I guess it would have to be Jefferson Beauregard Sessions. Wait I have to change my vote, Scott Pruitt. No wait, Betsy DeVoss. No wait Tom Price. No wait Wilbur Ross. No wait. How about all of them.
If Trump were a cabinet member he'd be the winner hands down. A gold medal winner in every event.
1
The award definitely should be shaped like a badly assembled Ikea cabinet, with a name like "FAÏLURE" or "VØRST." http://www.gutewerbung.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/412855_31383423534...
Let's just hope and pray that we don't have 3 1/2 more years of these monstrously bad human beings at the controls of this country.
1
You always believe that people who own so much money must at least have some brains in their head. But apparently this believe is an error. Quod erat demonstrandum.
What can I say-- I am 58- and I guess I was playing the game wrong. So actually actumulating wealth regardless of means and then seeking to restructure society into two classes-- only divided by wealth (poor of all classes are the same, including the intellectual class which produces "nothing" according to the new wealthy). Who knew? I though it would takes brains and skill to be a leader. I thought you would need to have intelligence and dedication to public service. Wow! I couldn't have been more wrong. Any idiot can run the counrty today-- and they do.
2
Prize, a fake gold turkey.
How come Mike Pence doesn't even warrant an Honorable Mention in your column? Is it because he has not bared his fangs as yet?
We are truly disappointed.
AG
Calgary, Canada
We are truly disappointed.
AG
Calgary, Canada
1
He's still on the runner-up tier.
1
I read the column as was just bored to death. We are preaching to ourselves in a hope we find solace. We try and find energy or strength and we try to remember the core of our patriotic nature only to find that we too are numb.
What is the worst? What is the difference?. They are all horrible citizens and each has a very narrow slice of an understanding of what it means to stand up for and represent the greater good.
The sad truth is that in my life-time, including history lessons I chased because "I wanted to know," in a half-century of incredible societal change, we are now facing an American leadership that couldn't care less about America and its values.
For those of you in the heartland of the "red" states, I am talking to to you more than anyone else. I not only know how hard you work and how much you care, but I fear that you want change so badly that you will grasp onto sand in a mirage to find it. It's not your fault but it is most certainly your responsibility to ask better, deeper and less "softball" like questions. You have the most to lose and when you do lose, you will really wake up to what the rest of us are complaining about. It is going to suck big time.
The people who now lead us care so much less about the rest of us than they do themselves, it pains me. I am an American, the most incredible experiment in modern citizenry that has ever been attempted. And for the life of me, I cannot fathom how we lost you, and is so doing, lost our way.
What is the worst? What is the difference?. They are all horrible citizens and each has a very narrow slice of an understanding of what it means to stand up for and represent the greater good.
The sad truth is that in my life-time, including history lessons I chased because "I wanted to know," in a half-century of incredible societal change, we are now facing an American leadership that couldn't care less about America and its values.
For those of you in the heartland of the "red" states, I am talking to to you more than anyone else. I not only know how hard you work and how much you care, but I fear that you want change so badly that you will grasp onto sand in a mirage to find it. It's not your fault but it is most certainly your responsibility to ask better, deeper and less "softball" like questions. You have the most to lose and when you do lose, you will really wake up to what the rest of us are complaining about. It is going to suck big time.
The people who now lead us care so much less about the rest of us than they do themselves, it pains me. I am an American, the most incredible experiment in modern citizenry that has ever been attempted. And for the life of me, I cannot fathom how we lost you, and is so doing, lost our way.
At least this article does not hide its slant, its a shame that political debate has lost its civility. I'm not a fan of DeVos but you would think that writing for the NYT would prompt an article that toes the line of moderate reporting.(I'm just a college student though, so what would I know?)
and i thought it'd take forever for dubya to lose his spot as the worst potus in modern american history.
never misunderestimate the 'folks' to surprise.
never misunderestimate the 'folks' to surprise.
2
"You know, the choice thing..."
Good lord! Parents should have a choice in how their own kids are educated? Horror! Blasphemy! Treason!
Good lord! Parents should have a choice in how their own kids are educated? Horror! Blasphemy! Treason!
The final sentence freaked me out. Please no, not 3.5 more years of this. We will all be in the booby hatch, if there are any functioning ones left.
Suggest the following option. Ancient Teachings point out that energy follows thought. Let us energize the following thoughtform.
Trump will resign to avoid prosecution resulting from the information supplied to the special investigator guy, whose name is escaping me, by all the rats who will be doing 3 to 5 in some rather nice federal prison somewhere. It will work. Just visualize the scenario 2 or3 times a day ,
Suggest the following option. Ancient Teachings point out that energy follows thought. Let us energize the following thoughtform.
Trump will resign to avoid prosecution resulting from the information supplied to the special investigator guy, whose name is escaping me, by all the rats who will be doing 3 to 5 in some rather nice federal prison somewhere. It will work. Just visualize the scenario 2 or3 times a day ,
Ms Collins' column today gave me a big laugh and made my day when she reported that Ben Carson has a painting in his house that portrays Jesus with his arm around Ben Carson
1
The award should be a charred science textbook. It needs to have the kind of symbolic meaning that could hold for whoever is the next dubious "winner" of the "Worst" title.
The charred science text book would be apropos because it is:
-- Charred by the animosity with which the Trump cabinet views the world.
-- Science because the attack on science is pervasive in this administration.
-- A textbook stands for the administration's animosity to scholarly expertise.
The charred science text book would be apropos because it is:
-- Charred by the animosity with which the Trump cabinet views the world.
-- Science because the attack on science is pervasive in this administration.
-- A textbook stands for the administration's animosity to scholarly expertise.
3
Perhaps the award could be a cabinet carved from a solid block of wood. Looks like a cabinet, but completely non-functional.
41
BOOM!!!
Well played!
Well played!
I laughed out loud. Thanks for that.
14
I am so pleased that Betsy won--she was a strong candidate. If our population of young kids can be well educated, learn about evidence-based government, and learn that they ALL have something to offer and ALL can be hit by misfortunate and a government safety net is to help all of us, maybe the disaster of the 2016 election will not happen again. Betsy is promoting the race to the bottom of government educated youth. She is working hard to waste the brains of our countries youth.
26
Why did no one nominate Mitch McConnell? In effect, these choices were all as much his as Trump's. Don't you remember when he silenced Warren? Not because she didn't have a point, but because she was 'impugning the honor' of Mr. Sessions by bringing up public records by shady personalities like the wife of Martin Luther King Jr.
Each cabinet member may be bad, but who put them there? Trump? No, Mitch McConnell.
Each cabinet member may be bad, but who put them there? Trump? No, Mitch McConnell.
24
The President's only 24/7 constitutional duty being to "see that the laws" are "faithfully executed" by his executive appointees if not by himself, it does seem to me that Trump's appointees are not only failing to fulfill the job description, but are actively working to defeat the purposes that Congress had in enacting those laws—to, in effect, break laws like the Clean Air Act. Andrew Johnson's deliberate attempt to violate the Tenure of Office Act comes to mind. If such actions do not make the President impeachable, what does?
93
It would appear that the President is executing the laws as fast as he can. I'm not sure that he understands the definition of execute as intended by the framers of the Constitution.
1
Trump is a demolition company working on the United States, and his cabinet members are the wrecking crew.
All right, I'll be the killjoy here. And I admit that Ms. Collins' column gave me more than one chuckle. And we do need a bit of humor if we're to survive the next three and one-half years (and quite possibly longer).
And yet... With columns such as these, like the wonderful skits and portrayals on Saturday Night Live, I wonder if they simply feed our complacency. Citizens in any other country, faced with this president and his cabinet, would be marching in the streets by the tens of thousands weekly. Citizens in any other democracy would not be tolerating a clearly deranged, mentally unstable man as their nation's leader.
Bush II was simply not up to the job, but he wasn't psychologically unstable, and he did have an arguable more capable cabinet.
The same cannot be said for this administration. Our president is dangerous -- not only to all of us, but to citizens around the world. And it is truly sad that the only coping mechanism we have for this is humor.
And yet... With columns such as these, like the wonderful skits and portrayals on Saturday Night Live, I wonder if they simply feed our complacency. Citizens in any other country, faced with this president and his cabinet, would be marching in the streets by the tens of thousands weekly. Citizens in any other democracy would not be tolerating a clearly deranged, mentally unstable man as their nation's leader.
Bush II was simply not up to the job, but he wasn't psychologically unstable, and he did have an arguable more capable cabinet.
The same cannot be said for this administration. Our president is dangerous -- not only to all of us, but to citizens around the world. And it is truly sad that the only coping mechanism we have for this is humor.
66
I think you make an excellent point, instead of outrage, instead of reaching the point of taking action, we make jokes...we laugh it off because we made a "funny" about something seriously effecting our lives, the country's future....it's no joke, it's not funny anymore.
2
There ARE marches. In some places almost daily. If there's not one near you, organize one. At least join your nearest chapter of Indivisible (look it up online), which will give you daily small, but significant resistances.
Frankly, I think she edged out Pruitt and Sessions only because she's a woman. Sessions isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, so smarts doesn't distinguish them; and I believe that a lifetime of beating the cotton patch for white-sheeted allies should count for more than a love of charters. Betsy DeVos doesn't scare me: Jeff Sessions scares the pants off me. If she deals with children, it's at some serious remove as EdSec in a country where education is delivered and funded primarily at the state and local levels.
For those who still don't keep up with the latest scientific papers on the environment, Rick Perry is right that our oceans play a central role in climate regulation: indeed, they may prove the decisive influence. If I were resolved to condemn Perry for anything, it would be for rain dance ceremonies that don't yield rain.
As to what the award should look like, I can't improve on what Rowan & Martin's "Laugh In" concocted almost fifty years ago -- those old enough to remember the "Flying Fickle Finger of Fate" award probably would agree.
For those who still don't keep up with the latest scientific papers on the environment, Rick Perry is right that our oceans play a central role in climate regulation: indeed, they may prove the decisive influence. If I were resolved to condemn Perry for anything, it would be for rain dance ceremonies that don't yield rain.
As to what the award should look like, I can't improve on what Rowan & Martin's "Laugh In" concocted almost fifty years ago -- those old enough to remember the "Flying Fickle Finger of Fate" award probably would agree.
15
...and we are not surprised. Why would anyone think that a lifelong really, really rich person could make decisions that give all Americans a strong springboard for education. Even charter schools don't provide the well rounded education that public schools do. And then there's that ugly little sleight of hand that charter schools accomplish. Keeping children separate according to race, economics, religion etc. The first socialization in most kids life that begin to develop that part of the brain that exposes kids to different folks and teaches them that all people are worthy. But she wouldn't know anything about that.
310
Exactly. Thank you! I came from a small city that had a large mill and attended grammar school with a diverse sociological mix. I consider that a critical part of my education, which I appreciate. I was happy that my children also attended an elementary school with a diverse population. In both cases, the overall education was excellent.
1
Josie,
It's not just that he's a life-long really, really rich person. It's that there isn't a scintilla of actual evidence from a 71 year old life that he' actually cares about anyone but himself. He chose a career that involves getting buildings built for the 0.01% to live in and getting golf courses built (note that I don't attribute any actual "building" to him) for use by the 0.01%. The fact that millions upon millions of people with vastly less to their names could place their trust in this guy is the ultimate manifestation of the apocryphal, immortal epigram "There's a sucker......"...well, you know.
It's not just that he's a life-long really, really rich person. It's that there isn't a scintilla of actual evidence from a 71 year old life that he' actually cares about anyone but himself. He chose a career that involves getting buildings built for the 0.01% to live in and getting golf courses built (note that I don't attribute any actual "building" to him) for use by the 0.01%. The fact that millions upon millions of people with vastly less to their names could place their trust in this guy is the ultimate manifestation of the apocryphal, immortal epigram "There's a sucker......"...well, you know.
1
"Why would anyone think that a lifelong really, really rich person could make decisions that give all Americans a strong springboard for education."
A few responses for you:
1) Someone lecturing America about quality education should know that a question is usually punctuated with a question mark;
2) Just pretend her last name is Kennedy and I'm sure you'll feel much more sanguine about your hypothesis.
3) Being from Michigan, you are surely aware of the bang-up job the Detroit Public Schools have been doing for the past 50 years. Does the name Otis Mathis ring a bell? If not, Google him. Just make sure your kids are out of the room.
A few responses for you:
1) Someone lecturing America about quality education should know that a question is usually punctuated with a question mark;
2) Just pretend her last name is Kennedy and I'm sure you'll feel much more sanguine about your hypothesis.
3) Being from Michigan, you are surely aware of the bang-up job the Detroit Public Schools have been doing for the past 50 years. Does the name Otis Mathis ring a bell? If not, Google him. Just make sure your kids are out of the room.
What I'm hearing in some of the more supportive statements of the presidents cabinet picks is that so long as the appointee is against any Obama era initiative, then that's reason enough to assume they are competent and effective their present role (regardless of whether they possess a modicum of actual knowledge, skill, and ability). If true, then this sets a very low bar on the qualifications of ALL appointees and explains the circus act that has been the last 100 days. Sad!
176
"But DeVos deals with … children,” wrote a Michigan reader."
I will take this one step further. Betsy DeVos works with learners. We are all learners, regardless of our age. Conscious learning is the one thing that we do that makes us different from the animals. Yes animals learn, but only in a conditioning, stimulus / response type of way (see Pavlov's dog).
Humans actually have the ability to choose to learn or not learn. We consciously learn. To me learning is one the most meaningful things that we can do.
But she tears learning apart, and uses it to profit for herself. Furthermore, she sells learning to people, where there is no learning going on, just removing money from the learners pockets.
Learning is something that belongs to humans, not to "owners." It is not a profit-making exercise. But she and those like her pervert learning.
I hope that if there is one thing that we LEARN from the experience of Betsy DeVos, it's that they pervert learning, and that as a result, we take away the attempted control of learning from them forever. Learning is not a revenue stream activity. It is a human right, and must be given freely, professionally, meaningfully and completely to all peoples. We will put to an end people using others learning for profit. And we will finally acknowledge that learning is the property of all people.
I will take this one step further. Betsy DeVos works with learners. We are all learners, regardless of our age. Conscious learning is the one thing that we do that makes us different from the animals. Yes animals learn, but only in a conditioning, stimulus / response type of way (see Pavlov's dog).
Humans actually have the ability to choose to learn or not learn. We consciously learn. To me learning is one the most meaningful things that we can do.
But she tears learning apart, and uses it to profit for herself. Furthermore, she sells learning to people, where there is no learning going on, just removing money from the learners pockets.
Learning is something that belongs to humans, not to "owners." It is not a profit-making exercise. But she and those like her pervert learning.
I hope that if there is one thing that we LEARN from the experience of Betsy DeVos, it's that they pervert learning, and that as a result, we take away the attempted control of learning from them forever. Learning is not a revenue stream activity. It is a human right, and must be given freely, professionally, meaningfully and completely to all peoples. We will put to an end people using others learning for profit. And we will finally acknowledge that learning is the property of all people.
31
At the end of the piece, when readers were reminded that we have another 3 1/2 years to go, I stopped laughing. There's nothing funny about having our country in the hands of incompetents, bumblers, sycophants and liars. Only 30-some percent of the country has any respect for the government, Trump is despised by the same number, tension and anxiety are everywhere and our nation as lost its way. Trump and his cronies have every opportunity to create havoc around the world and ruin the lives of countless Americans. We can't even depend on our weak-willed Congress to keep the president in check. While it's fun to make fun, in reality this is serious stuff.
38
To MsPea: I had the same rude awakening when I got to the last sentence. The reminder that we're only 1/8 of the way through this hideous nightmare caused all desire to smile to disappear.
1
Yes, it is very serious, which is why when we stop laughing we have to "do something" (that phrase is what started the French Resistance during WWII) or we will weep.
I recognize that some think the French Résistance was insignificant, but among its other accomplishments was to help make D-Day work.
I recognize that some think the French Résistance was insignificant, but among its other accomplishments was to help make D-Day work.
Good idea to have this contest every quarter, Ms. Collins. Some of us should be paying attention to how the Republican's radical agenda is implemented by the Trump appointees. It has long been my position that it is foolish to elect candidates who hate the idea of being governed and specifically the idea of being governed by democratically elected representatives, senators, governors, or presidents who appoint people to cabinet positions they are unqualified to fill.
This gut-level reaction to being governed explains the Republican rush to suppress voting rights, gerrymandering at its most extreme and voter ID laws. Even when court rulings are against the actions they are taking at county, state and federal levels, the same laws get voted for again and again by Republicans--just like "trickle down" theories of improving the economy for more than the upper one or ten percent depending on who is lobbying for the tax "relief".
We who oppose the radical Republican agenda had better stop focusing on the obvious like Trump's lack of presidential qualifications and start telling the voters of the US just why Democrats will produce better results for them, their families and the planet if the voters elect Democrats at all levels of government. This means telling our Democratic story over and over and over with all the diverse voices of our party before 2018 in words voters can hear above the right-wing myths and lies.
This gut-level reaction to being governed explains the Republican rush to suppress voting rights, gerrymandering at its most extreme and voter ID laws. Even when court rulings are against the actions they are taking at county, state and federal levels, the same laws get voted for again and again by Republicans--just like "trickle down" theories of improving the economy for more than the upper one or ten percent depending on who is lobbying for the tax "relief".
We who oppose the radical Republican agenda had better stop focusing on the obvious like Trump's lack of presidential qualifications and start telling the voters of the US just why Democrats will produce better results for them, their families and the planet if the voters elect Democrats at all levels of government. This means telling our Democratic story over and over and over with all the diverse voices of our party before 2018 in words voters can hear above the right-wing myths and lies.
15
That cabinet meeting reminded me of the early scene in King Lear when Goneril and Reagan try to out duel each other in their "love" for daddy Lear. The only problem with that comparison, there was no one who wanted to play Cordelia....
Such a competitive field. This is the dream team of poor policy and destruction. I say we just give them all lots of awards and shuffle them offstage as quickly as possible.
9
I guess it's hard to find humor in these dark times, but that this isn't even ironic any more makes me want to cry.
10
Gail you ask if the voting should be done on a monthly basis, adding that we've got 3 1/2 years to go. With Trump and his cabinet of deplorables heading our ship of state that is careening around in the Bermuda Triangle, I have my doubts we'll be around at the end of those 3 1/2 years.
6
Bring back Seamus. The country is in desperate need of a positive Republican role model. There are none in the current political world.
4
This cabinet is a dog's breakfast any way one examines it. Okay, DeVos is not the brightest bulb in the sign, but Carson really bothers me because he gets a pass for being a skilled doctor. I admire that part of the guy but that did not prepare him for handling the policies he has entrusted to him. I'm a good musician and teacher but I know my limitations! Ideology of the alt-right persuasion drove all of these choices and it might take years to undo the damage the administration will bring with these fools at their various switches. 2018 is so very important.
12
Thanks Gale,it's some comfort to read the thoughts of some who laugh and feel
Some optimism.
Trump and his band of terminators may remake our country,and that's sickening.
Some optimism.
Trump and his band of terminators may remake our country,and that's sickening.
2
Yes, you should do this every quarter. First, we don't know if we will be voting on the same people again. Second, they all seem to be getting worse. That is what spending time with Trump will do to you. I think the prize should be to quote their words praising their humble leader in the first formal cabinet meeting at least three times in your column, like an incantation.
7
I think it should be called the Doofus Award. That should give a modicum of direction to the designer.
I'd say we need a party. What about several awards, in addition to Worst, like Worst Cabineto in a Planet Critical role. What about nominees? What about the red carpet? What about TV broadcast? Man-oh-man! We better start planning.
I'd say we need a party. What about several awards, in addition to Worst, like Worst Cabineto in a Planet Critical role. What about nominees? What about the red carpet? What about TV broadcast? Man-oh-man! We better start planning.
3
This vote makes me very nostalgic. It reminds me of being in 5th grade.
4
Me too, when I attended a Departure of Defense school.
Department. It was a long time ago.
Great column Gail, good to see your sense of humor returning.
Enough time has passed where we have had a chance to process what happened. I think the operative model that fits best is Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
I have finally reached the final stage, acceptance. Acceptance is good, it has let me move on with my life.
This column shows that you too have processed the results of the last election. The fact that your sense of humor is back in full form shows that you also have reached the final stage, acceptance.
However I feel that there is still one thing you need to do for both of us to reach full acceptance: a mea culpa column.
You need to accept the blame that comes from your support of Hillary that has gotten us to this point. You need to accept the fact that while Hillary was qualified she had way too much baggage to beat so-called President Trump.
You need to accept that you jumped on the bash Bernie bandwagon which also led to our current situation. You need to accept the fact that Bernie was articulating the pain that many of us in the 99% are currently feeling.
I hope you write such a column because I am ready to forgive you for your transgression. In order for us to fully forgive you you need show us you have reached full acceptance too.
As far as this column, when Rick Perry, famous for "oops!", does even not crack the top three you know things are dire. Oh well, time to #resist!
Enough time has passed where we have had a chance to process what happened. I think the operative model that fits best is Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
I have finally reached the final stage, acceptance. Acceptance is good, it has let me move on with my life.
This column shows that you too have processed the results of the last election. The fact that your sense of humor is back in full form shows that you also have reached the final stage, acceptance.
However I feel that there is still one thing you need to do for both of us to reach full acceptance: a mea culpa column.
You need to accept the blame that comes from your support of Hillary that has gotten us to this point. You need to accept the fact that while Hillary was qualified she had way too much baggage to beat so-called President Trump.
You need to accept that you jumped on the bash Bernie bandwagon which also led to our current situation. You need to accept the fact that Bernie was articulating the pain that many of us in the 99% are currently feeling.
I hope you write such a column because I am ready to forgive you for your transgression. In order for us to fully forgive you you need show us you have reached full acceptance too.
As far as this column, when Rick Perry, famous for "oops!", does even not crack the top three you know things are dire. Oh well, time to #resist!
4
At least with Ikea you can return defective cabinets. With few exceptions already noted in your column, Trump and most of his cabinet can only be removed by a Mass Impeachment Petition.
I will sign up in advance and we can leave a whole section blank for his new appointments of terribly inept toadies who will be saying, "I don't even know what the job requirements are for my recent appointment, but I just keep bending at the waist and kissing Trump's ring whenever he comes into sight."
I will sign up in advance and we can leave a whole section blank for his new appointments of terribly inept toadies who will be saying, "I don't even know what the job requirements are for my recent appointment, but I just keep bending at the waist and kissing Trump's ring whenever he comes into sight."
7
I still say it's Sessions. And that's because Sessions, more so than Devos, is currently ahead in points in the highly competitive race of who among Trump's Cabinet members may be convicted of a crime and spend some time in gray-bar hotel, hopefully right next to cellmate the, Great General Flynn (Trump pledged to hire only "Great" Generals).
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
8
Loved the column until the last line.
"After all, we’ve got another three and a half years."
What a depressing thought. Ruined my day.
"After all, we’ve got another three and a half years."
What a depressing thought. Ruined my day.
5
We can keep laughing at Collins" columns for three and a half more years. Or, we could figure out why American voters keep voting for people like Donald Trump even when they see what they do and how they think. Just look at the way they want to get millions off their health insurance in order to give billionairs more money.
10
DeVos is a great choice but we have to feel sorry for her though. You cannot blame a helping hand for not knowing what an oven is in a bakery that turns out dense bricks for bread. At least she shows some level of compunction and dares to sneak into buildings where she might get showered with soft tomatoes.
I think this should be a quarterly evaluation. We will have about 14 more quarters before this horror show ends. That means everyone in the circus still has an opportunity to take the cake for being WoW (Worse of the Worst)
I think this should be a quarterly evaluation. We will have about 14 more quarters before this horror show ends. That means everyone in the circus still has an opportunity to take the cake for being WoW (Worse of the Worst)
1
The award should be a statuette of Laurel & Hardy.
Gail, this is very funny, yet I'm having a hard time laughing at this point.
1
Please always share your worst candidates.When Blackwell pointed out the worst dressers many years ago people stepped up and improved. Would that happen now!
1
Gee, I wish Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee and Chris Christie had made it into the cabinet. Just for their intellectual heft. By the way, what's the latest on Newt's wife going to the Vatican? There's a lot of good pasta over there.
I think a quarterly award would be appropriate, assuming we survive another quarter. I am quite certain that the award should be a gilded raised middle finger because that is what all this basket of deplorables is giving to the American people.
2
and yet trump and his crew keep on winning congressional elections.....
3
How about sharing the stats.?
The worst are the ones of formerly good repute with brains: Mattis and Tillerson. Nothing was expected from the others, but Mattis and Tillerson should have known better, and squandered their reputations by signing on to work for piece of garbage.
1
Instead of trying to identify the best - that is, the worst - of the entire horde of grifters, perhaps we should just award "Participation" trophies to all of them.
2
The award should be the depiction of an evolutionary tree. trump and his cabinet occupying a low branch close to the ground on the evolution scale of hominids with small brain cases. Of course, the frame gilded.
3
Trump + his Cabinet = Endless multi tiered damage
2
So many WINNERS.
1
Given Trump's notoriously short attention span, distaste for details, and malleable ideological vision, I had always assumed that Steve Bannon was the brain behind these nominations. By choosing appointees specifically for their potential to do maximum damage to the departments they are supposed to be leading, Bannon has successfully struck a catastrophic blow to the 'administrative state' he so despises. The GOP, having no interest in actually governing in the best interests of the American people, just looked the other way and approved these evil people.
The damage these people are doing will take years or even decades to repair, and then only with new leadership elected specifically to rebuild our government. Looking at this as positively as possible, I hope we will finally learn that government is not the problem, as the Reaganistas would have us believe, but exists to provide the guidance and services that the private sector cannot and should not.
The damage these people are doing will take years or even decades to repair, and then only with new leadership elected specifically to rebuild our government. Looking at this as positively as possible, I hope we will finally learn that government is not the problem, as the Reaganistas would have us believe, but exists to provide the guidance and services that the private sector cannot and should not.
183
Yes, time for stupid cheap populist slogans on the Right and on the Left against government . Government should improve, and the electoral system should be reformed, just like schools should, but eliminating schools or governments , the Nihilistic solution, will soon lead to autocracy, not to utopia.
Trump's cabinet is a perfect example of what happens when propaganda becomes policy. Almost all of his cabinet members represent a fairy tail ideology propagated by special interest groups, who's only purpose is for their own economic gain and not for the betterment of their fellow citizen. We are now coasting on the fumes of the Obama administration, when Trump's people and policies begin to take hold, probably in about a year, have another vote, I think the results will be a lot different. Follow the money.
5
How about naming a good trump pick?? They are all lousy partisan hacks. The reason trump picked them- they can take orders and think trump is great his hair is great his everything is great. Republican stooges for the most part. Ben Carson seems amiable enough. So does Clarence Thomas. Once trump was elected you knew it would be bad. But it actually is mediocre at best. Trumps cabinet picks have one mission. To dismantle everything Obama enacted then when that's done go after anything any democrat ever enacted. The party of no. The only thing they are good at building is a big fatuous and bloated military. The conservatives mantra, be afraid. be afraid all the time. Don't even think about it. We can do all the thinking for you. It may have been morning in America for Reagan but it's back to the fifties for trump. Here's one for you Gail. Which one of the trump administration most reminds you of tail gunner Joe McCarthy.
3
Thanks, and let's vote QUARTERLY.
BTW, in Carson's painting, is Jesus white? Curious minds want to know...
BTW, in Carson's painting, is Jesus white? Curious minds want to know...
2
The most pathetic thing of all is that the head of an oil company is probably the least bad.
10
I've just heard that one of trump's WEDDING PLANNERs have been given a post to head the Housing and Urban Development’s office for New York and New Jersey!
A WEDDING PLANNER!
What next?
A waiter who gives him excellent service is appointed head of the F.D.A.?
http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-up...
A WEDDING PLANNER!
What next?
A waiter who gives him excellent service is appointed head of the F.D.A.?
http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-up...
11
The next appointment will be the chef who made the chocolate cake .
4
A cabinet consisting of decent waiters would be a enormous improvement of the current one.
5
How does this type of essay enhance civil dialogue in America?
5
Reply to Thomas: While it's somewhat humorous/ironic, I agree with you. It's time for everyone up and the political spectrum tone down the rhetoric and try to find common ground.
First things first! When members of Trump's cabinet begin to destroy most policies that moderates and progressives hold dear such as making the public school system better, protecting our environment and recognizing the science behind climate change, providing healthcare for all our citizens, rejecting the idea that more tax cuts are needed for the wealthy and on and on, what response do you expect? Aren't these policies representative of the dialogue from Republicans? This "type of essay" is a response to that.
3
We witnessed eminently civil dialogue during the Senate's questioning of these nominees. Almost without exception, Trump's picks dodged questions or revealed themselves to be stunningly ignorant or contemptuous of the mission of the agency he/she was being asked to lead. Betsy DeVos, Rick Perry and Scott Pruitt are the most striking examples.
Civil dialogue got us nowhere. These malicious incompetents are now in place, and doing real harm.
Civil dialogue got us nowhere. These malicious incompetents are now in place, and doing real harm.
5
All are bad and I names Jared Kushner Jack of all trades, master of none and his lovely wife Ivanka .
But my comment never saw the daylight, I wonder way ?
But my comment never saw the daylight, I wonder way ?
6
We do not have another 3.5 years. This "Russia thing" is Watergate on steroids. Things are moving FAST, as everything does in this age. I give him 18 months, tops. #lockhimup
4
Let's hope that Pence is caught in Russia-gate as well.
-
I believe in miracles. If we get a Democratic House with a Democratic speaker, that Speaker will be president. Highly unlikely the GOP Mafia will impeach.
I can't wait to see the Trump Titanic with all the Trump Dynasty, the GOP Mafia and their minions drown in the swamp of their own making. Keep talking donald.
-
I believe in miracles. If we get a Democratic House with a Democratic speaker, that Speaker will be president. Highly unlikely the GOP Mafia will impeach.
I can't wait to see the Trump Titanic with all the Trump Dynasty, the GOP Mafia and their minions drown in the swamp of their own making. Keep talking donald.
1
Dubbed the "Misfits Awards."
1
The award for worst Cabinet member should be a bust, made from a Jello mold, of President James Buchanan.
2
Our Secretary of State doesn't even get a mention here? Evidently your readers think it's okay to pay people to lie about global warming.
I suggest you repeat your survey a year from now, when a few more species are extinct.
I suggest you repeat your survey a year from now, when a few more species are extinct.
Gail, absolutely one of your Best Columns! All it needs is a Dog... Woof Woof....
Trump has chosen his cabinet members wisely. Our chump Donald Trump wants to end the protections enforced by E.P.A. so he appoints Pruitt to turn the E.P.A., a creation of Richard Nixon's administration into an empty shell.
Good luck with breathing that dioxin.
Attorney General Sessions itches to start arresting people for possession of a marijuana seed in Colorado, where smoking marijuana is legal, while Betsy DeVos' goal is the destruction of public education.
But Gail needs to be put on the carpet. Our fav columnist refers to Tom Price, a fast-talking charlatan as getting votes "for his heroic efforts to ruin national health care and the social safety net." Nothing is "heroic" about that.
Price and his squad should be fired with Mr. Price rightfully jailed for insider trading. They are a disgrace working for a man who is our national disgrace.
http://thegovernmentinexile.live
Good luck with breathing that dioxin.
Attorney General Sessions itches to start arresting people for possession of a marijuana seed in Colorado, where smoking marijuana is legal, while Betsy DeVos' goal is the destruction of public education.
But Gail needs to be put on the carpet. Our fav columnist refers to Tom Price, a fast-talking charlatan as getting votes "for his heroic efforts to ruin national health care and the social safety net." Nothing is "heroic" about that.
Price and his squad should be fired with Mr. Price rightfully jailed for insider trading. They are a disgrace working for a man who is our national disgrace.
http://thegovernmentinexile.live
3
@michaelslevinson. You may have missed the point about Secretary Price and "his heroic efforts." It's a clever, but subtle insult. "Heroic medicine" purported to cure disease by restoring the bodily humors to their proper balance through a combination of bloodletting, and dosing the patient with "heroic" quantities of emetics and laxatives. The basic "cure or kill" treatment, called heroic because the hero physician "tried everything to save his patient." Unfortunately, the treatment was often unsuccessful, thus the 18th century couplet, "How merrily we live that Doctors be. We humbug the public and pocket the fee."
Today's Oxymoron: "trump administration"
7
Those last six words "another three and a half years" really hits below the belt. How about a permanent impeachment committee to send them all back to where they came from?
3
The "worst" according to the democrats who no one is listening to these days. Just because the democrats do not want charter schools (because they want to CONTROL of education (with their wasteful teachers unions) don't push this on America. We are not interested; we support FREE CHOICE in education. Public schools are not doing the job. When people think chocolate milk comes from brown cows and the democrats do not understand how the electoral college work nor can people do math (without a calculator or spell (without spellcheck); proof.
We love Gail Collins, but at what point do these columns stop becoming funny? And are they contributing to the normalization of a government that is anything but?
Let's get serious about this, people!
Let's get serious about this, people!
Well DeVos doesn't seem to much know what she's doing (or even much care).
Pruitt on the other hand does, & therein lies his scariness.
As to which is more dangerous for children, well before you decide educational options & policy for kids, they have to first have an undamaged brain to develop.
Pruitt has just chosen not to ban Chlorprpyrifos, a ubiquitous pesticide known to cause brain damage in devloping fetus brains.
https://qz.com/946499/scott-pruitts-first-blockbuster-decision-to-keep-c...
Also DeVos is rich, she doesn't really have a vested interest in destroying education as much as Pruitt seems to have made his life's mission a crusade to dismantle the EPA & literally destroy environmental safeguards, willfully & knowingly endangering everyone & everything to the toxins of industry.
Something is driving Pruitt to pursue his purely villainous plans, & it doesn't seem to be money, it's almost a religious crusade to rid the world of its godless environmentalists who would dare interfere with god's directive to Adam's Dominion over, & consumption of the earth & all who dwelleth upon it.
Pruitt on the other hand does, & therein lies his scariness.
As to which is more dangerous for children, well before you decide educational options & policy for kids, they have to first have an undamaged brain to develop.
Pruitt has just chosen not to ban Chlorprpyrifos, a ubiquitous pesticide known to cause brain damage in devloping fetus brains.
https://qz.com/946499/scott-pruitts-first-blockbuster-decision-to-keep-c...
Also DeVos is rich, she doesn't really have a vested interest in destroying education as much as Pruitt seems to have made his life's mission a crusade to dismantle the EPA & literally destroy environmental safeguards, willfully & knowingly endangering everyone & everything to the toxins of industry.
Something is driving Pruitt to pursue his purely villainous plans, & it doesn't seem to be money, it's almost a religious crusade to rid the world of its godless environmentalists who would dare interfere with god's directive to Adam's Dominion over, & consumption of the earth & all who dwelleth upon it.
8
Betsy De Vos is the token women in Trump's Boy's Club. Her job? She my think she's the Education Secretary, but Betsy know less tha
1
There is just too much Worstness to go around.
God help us all!
God help us all!
6
“I’ve seen better cabinets at Ikea.” Ahhhhhhahahalol. What a fun read. Keep it up, Gail. It's gonna be a great seven and 1/2 years of fun reading your column.
No matter who you voted for as worst you were right. My last vote for Sessions was influenced by J.K. Rowling's description of Trump as a "tiny, tiny, tiny little man." During his infamous Senate hearing, America's Favorite Racist kept shrinking and shrinking until there was only a speck of a man left.
Let's not have this vote anymore. It's too much like jumping into a pig sty to find the fattest pig.
Let's not have this vote anymore. It's too much like jumping into a pig sty to find the fattest pig.
4
Call the new award the "Dumpty."
For the soon-to-be-splattered Humpty Dumpty, he of "When I use a word... ."
For the soon-to-be-splattered Humpty Dumpty, he of "When I use a word... ."
1
I am still trying to be optimistic in thinking that trumpty-dumpty will soon fall off his wall and we will not have to deal with another 3-1/2 years of trumposity
2
Gail, perhaps the trophy could be an Oscar sized version of the cheap IKEA cabinet mentioned by one of your readers?
All are dumb as rocks, and intend to hurt as many as people.
After all they hate paying taxes. The nerve of this country asking them to pay their fair share! They are the persecuted ones, right?
After all they hate paying taxes. The nerve of this country asking them to pay their fair share! They are the persecuted ones, right?
4
Worst cabinet winners are all of them, one more incompetent (by choice and spite) than the other. Who in the world could have chosen such a bunch of idiots, intent in destroying any vestige of sanity? The only hand in the final say in choosing these pluto-kleptocrats Trump played, was to make sure no one could surpass his own sense of entitlement, as Trump remains the stellar "Pinocchio", and his thievery in action by default (by nor releasing his tax returns). Even though they represent the fake reality of what should have been truly a fact-based government, we are stuck with them for the foreseeable future; and the price to be paid, priceless destruction of the base of any democratic society, the trust in each other.
4
Mentally incompetent donnie surrounds himself with this Confederacy of Dunces, in the hopes that he will look brilliant. His main problem with President Obama is that he is brilliant and competent. He surrounded himself with the best and brightest and listened to them.
Trump does not even know how to find the best and brightest and even if he did, he would not listen because he is "the most brilliant person" in the universe.
Trump does not even know how to find the best and brightest and even if he did, he would not listen because he is "the most brilliant person" in the universe.
A Cuckoo Clock would be a fitting prize. One with an orange capped brood parasite that Tweets "Believe Me!" at random times early in the morning.
1
The Award should be a bedpan. Trying to choose among this lot is like shopping for the most stunning of bedpans.
3
Ok, unfair to both beds and pans.
Where is Mulvaney's name in this crew of misfits? He's pathetic.
Mulvaney can't even do math correctly. Miscounted 2 trillion dollars in the budget. Oops.
Quick: How many cabinet members could you name from the last Obama administration? How many can you name now? Maybe there is a pony in there somewhere.
2
How about "Trump's the Worst!"
The correct answer is D All of them
Each in his or her own way is the pits. They are there to destroy
the village in order to "save it" and of course help the looters
and polluters wreck the joint and the planet.
Little did they know that when they signed up they would all
have to "lawyer up."
Word
Each in his or her own way is the pits. They are there to destroy
the village in order to "save it" and of course help the looters
and polluters wreck the joint and the planet.
Little did they know that when they signed up they would all
have to "lawyer up."
Word
The one word that could used to described Betsy DeVos is Clueless!
Although, it could be also: Incompetent! or Dangerous!
Two words: Scary Dumb!
Although, it could be also: Incompetent! or Dangerous!
Two words: Scary Dumb!
1
For the prize, give them a fake trump wig of there very own!
We can get a laugh at rubbishing Trump and his Cabinet. But who has the last laugh---- the Democrats can't even buy an election win!
So mock, deride-----and keep losing. Time for the NYT Editorial writers to try a more balanced approach and start turning the heat on the weakness of the Democratic Party--- its's leaders, policies, and candidates. Constantly wringing your hands about Trump and his cohorts every time they open their mouth sure isn't working.
So mock, deride-----and keep losing. Time for the NYT Editorial writers to try a more balanced approach and start turning the heat on the weakness of the Democratic Party--- its's leaders, policies, and candidates. Constantly wringing your hands about Trump and his cohorts every time they open their mouth sure isn't working.
1
Global warming is caused by the ocean and the environment. Poor Rick Perry .. sorry, I mean Pure Rick Perry.
Gallows humor is only funny if you think you're going to die......hahaha! Is the award based on stupid or malevolent? DeVos wins by a mile for malevolently stupid. Actually this might be a viable recruitment model: next time I need a pilot or brain surgeon I'll just pick someone random off the street. You never know, might work out.
DeVos may be the bigger idiot, but Sessions' job is way more important. In our federal system education is still primarily a state function.
The award should feature a likeness of Puxatawney Phil, the groundhog of renown, because this Cabinet of Dr. Caligari just keeps on and on in its murderous ways.
This is fantastically unfair to DeVos who was born with a severe and crippling birth defect. Every American not so afflicted should count their blessings by realizing "but for the Grace of God, ,,,"
Ms. DeVoe, an adherent to the Seven Mountains Domionist School of prophesy takes the mantle! If Senator Ted Cruz was in the Cabinet it would have been a photo finish tie. Luckily, he has already won most hated on Team 100. Is there something about ninja sheep” to put conservative Christians in control of American culture?
Let's vote every three months, or we'll get numb to idiocy too fast. And Mr. T has constitutionally 3 1/2 years left, but not these clowns. Ask Flynn...
What should the award look like? My vote's for a fright wig.
1
Just this ... I love you Gail Collins!
2
If if an education secretary had the capability of ruining public education, Betsy Devos has the requisite level of stupidity to do it.
Who needs the worst Cabinet members when we have the worst president EVER.
1
Sadly, I find no humor in the fact that an imbecile has created a confederacy of dunces.
1
Laughter lessens the sadness.
I must admit that I'm disappointed that Rick Perry didn't make the grade. Especially since he got the nuclear codes confused with the Cha-Cha-Cha causing him to be bumped from "Dancing With The Stars"! But, DeVos' grizzly performance on the subject of children and guns in school is a too, difficult burden to bear.
I did read that, Sessions had is horns photo-shopped into cute, floppy, little ears. But I don't expect the almost pot-head murderer to survive Trumpsky much longer. His performance on the Comey issues are pathetic even by his standards.
Yea, Gail, let's go for another round in a few months. It will be fun just to guess who the cabinet survivors are!
I did read that, Sessions had is horns photo-shopped into cute, floppy, little ears. But I don't expect the almost pot-head murderer to survive Trumpsky much longer. His performance on the Comey issues are pathetic even by his standards.
Yea, Gail, let's go for another round in a few months. It will be fun just to guess who the cabinet survivors are!
3
Rick Perry - (Trump's Sec. of Energy)Got a 'D' in a class called 'Meats' at Texas A&M.
Steve Chu - (Obama's Sec. of Energy) - got Nobel Prize in physics for micro-Kelvin laser cooling of atoms.
It's a close call. Hard to decide. I'm really torn. But I'm gonna give this one to Chu.
Steve Chu - (Obama's Sec. of Energy) - got Nobel Prize in physics for micro-Kelvin laser cooling of atoms.
It's a close call. Hard to decide. I'm really torn. But I'm gonna give this one to Chu.
1
I think the award should be either a rolling dumpster fire or a circular firing squad. (Although the latter award could be won by the democrats every month).
Another 3 years.... uugghhh
The award? A gun-shot foot.
1
Please expand winners:
Best Hypocrite
Biggest and Best Liar
Best Mean-Spirited
Best Delusional
Best Abuse of the Constitution
Best Economic Insanity
Thanks.......
Best Hypocrite
Biggest and Best Liar
Best Mean-Spirited
Best Delusional
Best Abuse of the Constitution
Best Economic Insanity
Thanks.......
Gail - next, how about worst member of Congress?
Keep it up! Gail, you write the only column in the Times that helps me stay sane.
1
Eh, mean spirited article. You don't add to the debate, you simply lash out and attack.
You're simply one more cog in the machine (left/right, Dem/Rep) that attempts to divide.
It all becomes white noise.
You're simply one more cog in the machine (left/right, Dem/Rep) that attempts to divide.
It all becomes white noise.
1
The reward should be a Republican-red dunce cap, produced in China of course, embroidered with "Make America Even Dumber Again."
1
DeVos needs to "charter" a bus out of Washington.
To quote the op-ed by Gail Collins: “I’ve seen better cabinets at Ikea.”
To quote the op-ed by Gail Collins: “I’ve seen better cabinets at Ikea.”
The DeVos Prize: In high recognition of a unique ineptitude far below the restraining confines of mere mediocrity; for tireless service to the nation in zealous pursuit of a singular agenda seeking to bring forth the fruits of a creative societal regression; honoring the bedrock principle of a free and independent people that true leadership can only reside in the elevation of monied patriots who selflessly assume high office free of the limitations of knowledge, experience, or judgement.
I recently took a stroll through a pasture filled with what are politely referred to as "meadow muffins", but are actually awards for worst cabinet member winners. I observed no shortage of such "awards", so I suggest you renew this competition on a quarterly basis.
4
All of these people have a couple of things in common. The first one is they all hate the departments they represent and swear to basically dismantle them. The second they are utterly unprepared for their jobs. if the Republican mantra of personal responsibility and corporate profoundness were true and those public entities were truly private corporations none of these individuals would be consider for their jobs, as matter of fact any Human Resources of a serious company will laugh at their resumes....
And the third but not less important is that the damage they will do to the future in the form of Children, the environment and regulations will have profound consequences.
And the third but not less important is that the damage they will do to the future in the form of Children, the environment and regulations will have profound consequences.
189
Thank you, and well said!
Remember the promise from Candidate Trump that he would "bring in the best people, the smartest people" to replace all the idiots in government who have been messing up the country and "making bad deals"?
I say this as a former career idiot in government, who served four years in the Navy and then 24 as a career diplomat, promoting America's core principles and values; Smart Power [as Joseph Nye describes it]; and trying to deepen lasting relations between our nation and allies like NATO partners.
Yeah, what an idiot I've been.
Remember the promise from Candidate Trump that he would "bring in the best people, the smartest people" to replace all the idiots in government who have been messing up the country and "making bad deals"?
I say this as a former career idiot in government, who served four years in the Navy and then 24 as a career diplomat, promoting America's core principles and values; Smart Power [as Joseph Nye describes it]; and trying to deepen lasting relations between our nation and allies like NATO partners.
Yeah, what an idiot I've been.
2
I definitely think we should indulge in this excruciating and excruciatingly funny exercise quarterly - although the hits keep coming so fast that may be too long a stretch. Doing it forces us to go back over all the water under the bridge that they hope we will forget in the flood of the current mess that threatens the dam, and gives us a way to vent that doesn't involve stroke range blood pressure.
An ironic choice for the award, the irony of which I'm sure would be lost on the recipient, would be a copy of the painting "Abe Lincoln and Cabinet discuss the Emancipation Proclamation" July 1862, by Francis Carpenter. This depicts an event where a real President and a real Cabinet worked on a draft of a Proclamation of real importance to the most disadvantaged people in the country. People he - and his Cabinet - stood up for in the face of violent opposition.
As I say, the irony would be lost on them, but bitter sweet to the rest of us.
In the meantime, Gail, carry on. Find the silver linings, or at least threads, and tell them to us with humor and biting wit.
Don't know what we'd without ye.
An ironic choice for the award, the irony of which I'm sure would be lost on the recipient, would be a copy of the painting "Abe Lincoln and Cabinet discuss the Emancipation Proclamation" July 1862, by Francis Carpenter. This depicts an event where a real President and a real Cabinet worked on a draft of a Proclamation of real importance to the most disadvantaged people in the country. People he - and his Cabinet - stood up for in the face of violent opposition.
As I say, the irony would be lost on them, but bitter sweet to the rest of us.
In the meantime, Gail, carry on. Find the silver linings, or at least threads, and tell them to us with humor and biting wit.
Don't know what we'd without ye.
257
Despite your very legitimate concerns about the irony being lost, your suggesting of the Francis Carpenter painting is brilliant!
Can you imagine President Lincoln beginning that Cabinet meeting by asking all members to "tell me what you like about me and how magnificent I am."
I'm guessing it wouldn't be proper to suggest that Trump go take in a play at the Ford Theater?
I'm guessing it wouldn't be proper to suggest that Trump go take in a play at the Ford Theater?
Love your choice for an award, but alas, it would be lost on them.
Nice recap. I particularly like the tomato slicer comment. Although, a decent mandolin is actually useful. I'm not so sure about our President.
We should revisit Ben Carson for a moment though. He has been conspicuously absent from the news. We know Carson has been touring the country assessing the housing needs of low income families. Most famously, Carson declared poverty a state of mind. He also got stuck in a Miami elevator for 20 minutes. Apparently, you can't think your way out of imaginary building maintenance. That said, Carson really hasn't done much yet. I see that as a problem.
Affordable housing is essentially in crisis right now. One of our local newspapers recently did a report on it. The article states that a minimum wage employee would need a 94 hour work week in order to afford a two bedroom apartment. Said another way, you'd need $17 an hour or two incomes in order to live here working 40 hours a week. We're smack in the middle of national trend as well. Meaning half the nation requires even higher wages. That's reported in the conservative local paper too.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865683214/Report-94-hour-workweek-req...
You'd think Ben Carson would show a little more pep in his step. Not everyone has buddy Jesus helping with the rent. After six months, I'd like to hear at least some sort of policy outline that doesn't involve wishing poverty away. Come on man. Get moving.
We should revisit Ben Carson for a moment though. He has been conspicuously absent from the news. We know Carson has been touring the country assessing the housing needs of low income families. Most famously, Carson declared poverty a state of mind. He also got stuck in a Miami elevator for 20 minutes. Apparently, you can't think your way out of imaginary building maintenance. That said, Carson really hasn't done much yet. I see that as a problem.
Affordable housing is essentially in crisis right now. One of our local newspapers recently did a report on it. The article states that a minimum wage employee would need a 94 hour work week in order to afford a two bedroom apartment. Said another way, you'd need $17 an hour or two incomes in order to live here working 40 hours a week. We're smack in the middle of national trend as well. Meaning half the nation requires even higher wages. That's reported in the conservative local paper too.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865683214/Report-94-hour-workweek-req...
You'd think Ben Carson would show a little more pep in his step. Not everyone has buddy Jesus helping with the rent. After six months, I'd like to hear at least some sort of policy outline that doesn't involve wishing poverty away. Come on man. Get moving.
1
Gale-
I'm inspired--I'm going to run down to the basement and collect the means to create a trophy for you. I could repurpose my kids old soccer trophy, just replace the ball with a play-doh earth. Or maybe I can use Mr Potato head . . .
Just remember to let security know to expect on odd shape package!
I'm inspired--I'm going to run down to the basement and collect the means to create a trophy for you. I could repurpose my kids old soccer trophy, just replace the ball with a play-doh earth. Or maybe I can use Mr Potato head . . .
Just remember to let security know to expect on odd shape package!
9
Everyone with young children who voted for baby-trump and by extension, this cabinet should be worried what kind of Nation they are bequeathing to their progeny. My guess is the air will be a little dirtier, the water a little less safe. The schools will have to do more with less and those who don't fit the christian white-bread mold will find their civil rights in jeopardy. However, the rich will be better off. Private schools will be booming and those who can, will escape the most polluted areas. So if you are above the middle class, no worries!
11
I understand why Wilbur Ross is not mentioned...after all, he's demonstrated some actual expertise in his field (whether you agree with the results or not, he posted real differences) and Commerce is...well, Commerce.
But it's the economy, stupid. As it generally tends to be. Both parties seem to feel that getting their grubby paws on the Budget and adroit maneuvering by the Fed is all it takes to make America run really well. But it is still the billions of decisions made by millions of people that create a sound economy that generates enough tax revenue to fund the spending that keeps everything going. It's not trickle-down that works and it's not massive government programs that work. So both Republicans and Democrats are offering solutions that are more relevant to their sensibilities than the actual problems.
Like William Penn and Thomas Jefferson, I believe in the yeoman farmer. Today, that yeoman American farmer comes in all varieties of ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations...and occupations. They deserve a government that facilitates their work and doesn't impede it - with a balanced regulatory hand that both ensures free and informed markets while ensuring a sustainable environment for those who follow us.
I understand the frustrations expressed in this piece and the comments. Where are the adults in government? Who gave the car keys to the drunken reprobates? But we're worried about the cast, and it's the script that's truly flawed.
But it's the economy, stupid. As it generally tends to be. Both parties seem to feel that getting their grubby paws on the Budget and adroit maneuvering by the Fed is all it takes to make America run really well. But it is still the billions of decisions made by millions of people that create a sound economy that generates enough tax revenue to fund the spending that keeps everything going. It's not trickle-down that works and it's not massive government programs that work. So both Republicans and Democrats are offering solutions that are more relevant to their sensibilities than the actual problems.
Like William Penn and Thomas Jefferson, I believe in the yeoman farmer. Today, that yeoman American farmer comes in all varieties of ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations...and occupations. They deserve a government that facilitates their work and doesn't impede it - with a balanced regulatory hand that both ensures free and informed markets while ensuring a sustainable environment for those who follow us.
I understand the frustrations expressed in this piece and the comments. Where are the adults in government? Who gave the car keys to the drunken reprobates? But we're worried about the cast, and it's the script that's truly flawed.
12
A Pruitt champion says: “he can do major damage which will take years to undo.”
True,to be sure. But what kind of damage does a wrecked educational system do?
True,to be sure. But what kind of damage does a wrecked educational system do?
7
bad, but not planetary in scale
1
Hopefully they are ALL gone long before that in order to save countless lives, this nation, this earth, democracy.
5
In the hope that the 3.5 years will go faster (which I doubt), maybe the "flavor of the month" cabinet/staff member? Something akin (but inverse) to the "employee of the month."
1
*7 and a half years.
It is not funny.
They are doing damage.
They are doing damage.
8
As one commenter said we should expand the contest to include all those trying to hold the White House together. I agree, but I would also include in the contest those who enable the President to do such harm. If that is the case then the worst aspect of the Trump presidency are the people who voted for him and still support him as he tears this country apart. By putting a Manchurian Candidate into the oval office they are the dumbest of all.
7
The comments that criticize Gail's article come apparently Republican and Trump supporters and in all of them their overriding theme is their hatred and rejection of "Liberals" that they feel are destroying their nation.
This is something that however one defines "Liberal" or "Liberal Thinking" should be a concern for Democratic leaders who want to win future elections.
This is something that however one defines "Liberal" or "Liberal Thinking" should be a concern for Democratic leaders who want to win future elections.
2
"their overriding theme is their hatred and rejection of "Liberals" that they feel are destroying their nation."
She literally just wrote a whole article about who the worst Cabinet member is...do you not see the irony in then calling out the hatred and rejection of liberals in the comments. This whole article is hatred and rejection of republicans!
She literally just wrote a whole article about who the worst Cabinet member is...do you not see the irony in then calling out the hatred and rejection of liberals in the comments. This whole article is hatred and rejection of republicans!
1
Are you sure we can't pick Donald Trump? Apparently, he just said that while he loves both rich and poor people, he really doesn't want any poor people in his cabinet. I guess anyone not a billionaire is "poor" in Trump's view.
3
There are so many "winners" in the group, it's hard to choose just one.
The award needs to be called the Pluto, as the award reflects someone who is any or all of the following:
- cold as Pluto
- smart as Pluto (a rock)
- waaaaay far out there like Pluto
- want to be something it's not
- a plutocrat
The award needs to be called the Pluto, as the award reflects someone who is any or all of the following:
- cold as Pluto
- smart as Pluto (a rock)
- waaaaay far out there like Pluto
- want to be something it's not
- a plutocrat
4
Call the award the Mallie. The malignancy prize for excellence in implementing policies that are the most cancerous to democracy and society. The prize itself? A genuine tumor encased in acrylic.
3
Correction.
@TRB Galveston
Not sure what form the Worst Award should take, but it definitely should be carved from a lump of coal.
--------------------------------------------
How about...
A diminutive Pandora's box with an inoperable lid ajar, composed of ashes and soot with tar as the binder, all in their natural colors, a lump of coal within. In summary: A toxic gem of false promise in a dark and tacky container.
@TRB Galveston
Not sure what form the Worst Award should take, but it definitely should be carved from a lump of coal.
--------------------------------------------
How about...
A diminutive Pandora's box with an inoperable lid ajar, composed of ashes and soot with tar as the binder, all in their natural colors, a lump of coal within. In summary: A toxic gem of false promise in a dark and tacky container.
7
Definitely every month. For July, I'll vote for Tom Price. It is beyond me how any physician who takes the Hippocratic Oath can actually "unheal" - new word - millions of people.
I don't know exactly how this idea will actually help this pathetic state of affairs we find ourselves in, but it sure makes me feel better to know that so many other readers of the Times are with me in spirit. But maybe that is Gail Collins' hope...to not only have a sense of humor when so needed, to have a little fun where no fun can be found, but also to come together to motivate us not to be silent when silence is preferred.
By the way, how about worst presidential aid of the month, too? First up for me is Czar Trump's Rasputin, Steve Bannon.
I don't know exactly how this idea will actually help this pathetic state of affairs we find ourselves in, but it sure makes me feel better to know that so many other readers of the Times are with me in spirit. But maybe that is Gail Collins' hope...to not only have a sense of humor when so needed, to have a little fun where no fun can be found, but also to come together to motivate us not to be silent when silence is preferred.
By the way, how about worst presidential aid of the month, too? First up for me is Czar Trump's Rasputin, Steve Bannon.
Just how did the French Revolution begin?
--- or for that matter
the Russian Revolution?
Putin appears to have arranged a 100th-anniversary celebration of the Russian revolution by giving us Trump.
Have the Trumps exchanged Faberge eggs yet?
--- or for that matter
the Russian Revolution?
Putin appears to have arranged a 100th-anniversary celebration of the Russian revolution by giving us Trump.
Have the Trumps exchanged Faberge eggs yet?
7
No one seems to have pointed out the main theme running through all of Trump's horrible cabinet members: their deep Christian fundamentalism. If you have complete faith that god will fix everything and you don't believe in science or reason, why bother trying? DeVos has that wild eyed expression that you see in many Christian fundamentalists; Ben Carson seems to be in a perpetual state of prayer; Scott Pruitt is a Baptist preacher in a Washington DC suit. I could go on. This administration seems to be the final triumph of the Christian right's efforts for decades to take over our government. The only irony is that is happened under a sleazy, amoral NY real estate tycoon.
17
And yet, their "Christianity" doesn't extend to any of the ideas that (according to the bible) Jesus Christ actually espoused. Like caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, looking out for one another, humility, forgiveness...instead we have the money counters who've taken over the temple.
Should we do this again?
The cabinet is filled with folks who have no knowledge. experience, or training for their positions. That's what educators call students!
Heck, yes--we should do this again--a report card every 9 weeks! I vote for letter grades and comments.
The cabinet is filled with folks who have no knowledge. experience, or training for their positions. That's what educators call students!
Heck, yes--we should do this again--a report card every 9 weeks! I vote for letter grades and comments.
3
Perhaps we can separate who's doing the most damage this way: Legislators make the SAUSAGE, Cabinet members make the WURST. That way, you could have a monthly, "Worst of the Wurst" winner.
6
I always appreciate Gail's humor in the face of Armageddon. Might as well go out laughing, I suppose.
6
Perhaps the award should be a Ouija Board, which no member should be without.
1
Should Betsy receive the first “TrumpChump Award?”
Maybe it’s a statue in Betsy’s likeness, honoring for posterity her “first ever” achievement.
Maybe it’s a statue in Betsy’s likeness, honoring for posterity her “first ever” achievement.
I’m tired of reading, hearing, watching “news” reports about Donald Trump. I think many people are. Besides putting his name out there , there is too little news reporting regarding anything else. How many times can you say it? Over and over, again and again, on and on, and on. How do you like it? I would propose a one day a month amnesty policy. Just one day in which the word trump does not appear or is referenced, if only occasionally to get other news to the readers. One day, no Trump. Besides driving the president nuts it would demonstrate that other news is possible and welcome. If the NYT editorial staff gets spaced out on Trump withdrawal, double up on Trump the next day. One day a month. I, for one will read every word for a change.
2
What disturbs me is that Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce—a Trump Casino Investor, founder of the International Coal Group, and Vice-chairman of the Bank of Cyprus (aka Putin’s money-laundromat) didn’t even get an honorable mention in Gail’s contest.
2
Trump finds losers bigger than himself so he can reign supreme over them.
It's all part of "The Art of the Deal".
It's all part of "The Art of the Deal".
5
DeVos is absolutely the best, of the worst. It's the Scamway background, it's in her genes. And all her clothes and accessories.
Please, let's vote on who would be the winner, among this stellar group, on a survivor style competition. Imagine them all, on an isolated tropical island. Preferably an island once used for atomic bomb tests.
I would watch THAT. Bigly.
Please, let's vote on who would be the winner, among this stellar group, on a survivor style competition. Imagine them all, on an isolated tropical island. Preferably an island once used for atomic bomb tests.
I would watch THAT. Bigly.
5
Personally, I've thought for a long time that a desert island is where they all belong--with no cell phones!
1
That constant refrain re the lasting damage each and all can do! Are cabinet choices grounds for impeachment?
1
Should've voted for good person, bad only in your non existent minds, President Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, instead, then none of this would be happening as countless lives, this nation, this earth, democracy would be saved.
Forget the Constitution and impeachment. Arrest and jail and indict ILLEGAL dictator Trumpet administration including Pence and Gorsuch, Toomey, McConnell, McCain, Ryan, et al and install the TRUE winner of the election, President Hillary Clinton and the Dems instead.
There is nothing anywhere that says we cannot do this. Must be done. This is the correct thing to do immediately today now in order to save countless lives, this nation, this earth, democracy.
Forget the Constitution and impeachment. Arrest and jail and indict ILLEGAL dictator Trumpet administration including Pence and Gorsuch, Toomey, McConnell, McCain, Ryan, et al and install the TRUE winner of the election, President Hillary Clinton and the Dems instead.
There is nothing anywhere that says we cannot do this. Must be done. This is the correct thing to do immediately today now in order to save countless lives, this nation, this earth, democracy.
I think we are all suffering with PTSD. We wake up every morning dreading what might be. Terrible way to live. And it can only get worse. Been a few days wth no Trump tweet so I expect soon. I'm thinking we need a total 3.5 year news black out. Or maybe a lot of zanax.
2
I agree with reader Alan in HI that the worst cabinet secretary award should be called "The Stoopie." Maybe awarded quarterly or on an ad-hoc basis in the event of some particular stoopie worthy action or remark. Thank you, Alan in Hawaii.
1
This was a battle of degrees of toxicity. Pruitt is against protecting the environment. Sessions is against protecting the defenseless. Mnuchin is against protecting the working class stiff who got shafted on his mortgage. Perry is against fully knowing what his job is all about. Carson is against decent housing for the poor. But DeVos takes the cake. If there's one thing in this country that should be sacrosanct, it's kids. And DeVos is against providing an effective public school education for kids. Congrats, Betsy, you're the most toxic in a cabinet of toxicity.
2
>And what should the award look like?
What about a miniature Trump holding a fork with a sausage which is called "worst" in Dutch/Flemish?
What about a miniature Trump holding a fork with a sausage which is called "worst" in Dutch/Flemish?
1
"But DeVos is definitely our Worst Cabinet winner. For now. Do you think we should do this every few months? And what should the award look like? Anything’s possible. After all, we’ve got another three and a half years."
Yuck! "...three and a half years." And President Donald Trump is now thinking about a second term. I can only think that a "...Worst Cabinet winner..." they all would apply. And the voters would vote the "Don" in again like President Richard Nixon. There is some relief in that I only voted "Tricky Dicky" in the second term being my first presidential vote.
Yuck! "...three and a half years." And President Donald Trump is now thinking about a second term. I can only think that a "...Worst Cabinet winner..." they all would apply. And the voters would vote the "Don" in again like President Richard Nixon. There is some relief in that I only voted "Tricky Dicky" in the second term being my first presidential vote.
The entire lot are awful.
2
How about a poll for who is the best?
1
Obviously the award should look like a badly botched carpentry job. Google "bad carpentry" images and you will see a number of inspiring examples.
1
Disrespectful, childish and inane. This is what this page has turned into. From the paper that loves to speculate about all things crooked about President Trump, why not try to imagine a different point of view to see how things might turn out? Possibly a more business oriented culture at the WH will be an improvement over the last horrific 8.
1
I think it is well within our rights to disrespect and satirize autocrats, sleazy businessmen and religious zealots. You may not realize but many of us are trying to find some positives in this administration but come up short. Surely you could find some good in the previous administration who at least was not driven by personal greed and a nativist agenda.
The award has two look like a circus tent. I have no problem with the top three. Sessions was my top pick, but Pruitt should have probably been it. Pruitt is all about money for big oil. I love the info on Perry.
Please let the worst of the worst be ousted before they wreck unrecoverable damage to the plant and its vulnerable people...
1
Sheesh! Gail, how did Ben Carson got in this survey? After all, he's a brain surgeon and has Jesus' approval, according to the painting. I can't imagine where peoples' minds are.
I just didn't know who to pick. Such an embarrassment of embarrassments!
1
Can we bring back "Rowan & Martin's Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award"? Every month we can give it to a person or even a whole body, like Congress. My first nominee is Trump himself!
2
I think she ought to give her acceptance speech in a dunce hat---and a gold-plated dunce cap would make a fitting trophy.
As usual, Gail Collins is right on!
1
Ms. Gail, the next step, if you do want to run this again should be to write the top ten "unaccomplishments" of the candidates. With the Russian invasion of our elections and the health care shenanigans dominating the news, we just do not have a real feel for the damage these villains are doing to our country. While you have had the courage to do this survey, our media outlets have devoted no time to damage already done by these imbeciles.
1
Is there a way to squeeze in the Koch Brothers here? Worst Almost-Public Officials?
2
The award should be a realistic gold plated sculpture of a male fist with thumb extended, in the manner favored by Dear Leader, but with the sculpture turned upside down -- a golden "thumbs DOWN" award.
The president will not need to get to get his "immigrant ban" through the courts. He's creating a country to which no one will want to come. Problem solved!
1
Gail, thanks for the belly laughs while waiting with dread for the AHCA bill to be released. I think a revisit on a monthly basis would be good, so that we don't miss any precious moments sure to be made by this incredible bunch of boobs.
The award should be a six-foot-tall reproduction of the six-foot-tall portrait of Donald Trump that Trump bought for $20,000. with money from his "charitable" foundation. And the winner should be obliged to hang it in the front hall in perpetuity.
1
I would suggest a statue to Worst Cabinet member derived from Shelley's famous poem: Ozymandias. Instead of sand beneath the feet of the "trunkless legs of stone" one could pyramid the Cabinet with Worst at the top.
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
1
This is what happens when you put people in charge who "hate" government...you get bad, incompetent, heck 'uv a job Brownie staffers.
If you believe in good governance, vote Democratic. It's rather simple.
If you believe in good governance, vote Democratic. It's rather simple.
2
So as I understand it it's DeVos followed by Pruitt, Sessions, Price, Carson and Perry. All worthy contenders. However I think there should be two lists -- one for Stupid and the other for Evil. I think we know who would be where.
2
Gail when you get done with several rounds of worst cabinet member I suggest a next worst for you since I have my thoughts after almost 4 weeks in New England, my original home territory - have lived in Sweden now for 21 years.
What is the worst thing about the USA when you arrive for a vacation here, even if you have English as your first language?
But from what little I know from looking at my motherland from afar, Betsy DeVos is a good first choice for being bad.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
What is the worst thing about the USA when you arrive for a vacation here, even if you have English as your first language?
But from what little I know from looking at my motherland from afar, Betsy DeVos is a good first choice for being bad.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
3
There is a theory afoot, embraced by increasing numbers of people, that if we took a break from following liberal media crowd, or pack, since journos tend to run in a pack, about how rotten things are in Trump's America, which they are not, and what an incompetent buffoon he is--quite the contrary--we might all be better off, have a clearer vision of the country. Steel production, thanks to more coal fired plants, is up, folks in L.I., thanks to admin.'s crackdown on illegal felons,M-13 members, admitted under Obama's Unaccompanied Minors Program,are less of a threat,Market is flourishing, business community supports c-in-c, and "nous, "les petits" know we have a champion in the WH. Thus, barbs at De Vos which strike me as "rebarbatif,", who has achieved a great deal in life,appear unfair, and hunch that were she not a Christian conservative, wealthy, she would not have been subject of liberal ridicule. Think of De Vos as a modern day version of Mennen(Soapy) Williams, former governor, born into great wealth but who served his country well.Finally, best humor is bi partisan, and are not troglodytes,from Dem. Party, out of touch former icons like HRC, Pelosi, Sanders, fit subjects of mockery?Read that former colleague, David Brooks, believes charges of collusion between Trump's team and the Russians are w/o foundation, a "faux fuyant!"Time perhaps for other journos to admit what they know in their hearts to be true.
This competition should be run like the sausage race at baseball games.
Dear Gail, I vote for resurrecting the well loved Flying Fickle Finger of Fate award- a gloriously ugly piece of hardware, plus the opportunity to craft those award citations in the spirit of Rowan and Martin!
Let's not be too hasty here. Donald Trump may have an ulterior motive and if that's the case he's succeeding magnificently. The plan? None.
Oh Ms. Collins,
I guess, especially after Tuesday's "special" election in Georgia, your gallows humor will be the only thing to get me through the next 3 1/2 years.
Last night, at a victory rally in Iowa, our dear leader came out and just admitted what the criteria was for his cabinet members (it wasn't on the teleprompter).
Trump seemed to be free-associating about the members of his cabinet who came along for the trip. He referenced Gary Cohn and Wilbur Ross, two of the Wall Street bigwigs he (or someone) recruited to run his National Economic Council and Commerce Department. Trump rambled about their great business minds, but more importantly, about how rich they are. And in the process, he couldn't resist letting this one out:
"And I love all people, rich or poor," the president said, "but in those particular positions, I just don't want a poor person. Does that make sense?"
So, there you have it, the main criteria for our "populist" president, something the rightwing media still keeps identifying with Trump, is money, lots of it, but just for people like him, i.e. the people who crashed the economy in 2008.
The people that Trump railed against during his campaign, especially Goldman Sachs, which he intimated was controlling his opponents Cruz and Clinton, well now he's hired a bunch of Goldman Sachs, including Mnuchin, who ran a foreclosure mill during the Great Recession.
Why are Trump's supporters so stupid? I bet DeVos will help make Americans even dumber.
I guess, especially after Tuesday's "special" election in Georgia, your gallows humor will be the only thing to get me through the next 3 1/2 years.
Last night, at a victory rally in Iowa, our dear leader came out and just admitted what the criteria was for his cabinet members (it wasn't on the teleprompter).
Trump seemed to be free-associating about the members of his cabinet who came along for the trip. He referenced Gary Cohn and Wilbur Ross, two of the Wall Street bigwigs he (or someone) recruited to run his National Economic Council and Commerce Department. Trump rambled about their great business minds, but more importantly, about how rich they are. And in the process, he couldn't resist letting this one out:
"And I love all people, rich or poor," the president said, "but in those particular positions, I just don't want a poor person. Does that make sense?"
So, there you have it, the main criteria for our "populist" president, something the rightwing media still keeps identifying with Trump, is money, lots of it, but just for people like him, i.e. the people who crashed the economy in 2008.
The people that Trump railed against during his campaign, especially Goldman Sachs, which he intimated was controlling his opponents Cruz and Clinton, well now he's hired a bunch of Goldman Sachs, including Mnuchin, who ran a foreclosure mill during the Great Recession.
Why are Trump's supporters so stupid? I bet DeVos will help make Americans even dumber.
1
In terms of personal attributes and inclinations DeVos may be the worst, but her actual influence is limited because the federal government is not the major funder or regulator of education - that role belongs to states, counties and cities. Other Cabinet Members, such as Treasury and State, have a greater potential for harm. By the way, do we actually have a Secretary of State? If Trump himself performs the role the potential for harm is probably even greater.
94
Hah! I just *knew* it! It's Betsy. She has the best credentials, er, you know what I mean.
It's quite a group Gail. It's well worth convening a congress every few months to see how they're all getting along... or how *we're* getting along...
I think that the Trump presidency, in addition to being totally incompetent, is an experiment in American government. He's answering the question, "Does government require qualified people to run it?" Admittedly, it's not something you ask about brain surgery, although maybe Trump people pick the surgeon with the shaky hands who never really studied surgery. Ben Carson studied surgery, but he didn't study sociology.
The little prizes in the Cracker Jack boxes (do they still have these?) make good trophies.
Well, just send out the checks to us winners, Gail, and we'll be back at it again. Maybe we'll see a change in results, but Betsy is going to be one tough cookie to beat. She really does her homework.
It's quite a group Gail. It's well worth convening a congress every few months to see how they're all getting along... or how *we're* getting along...
I think that the Trump presidency, in addition to being totally incompetent, is an experiment in American government. He's answering the question, "Does government require qualified people to run it?" Admittedly, it's not something you ask about brain surgery, although maybe Trump people pick the surgeon with the shaky hands who never really studied surgery. Ben Carson studied surgery, but he didn't study sociology.
The little prizes in the Cracker Jack boxes (do they still have these?) make good trophies.
Well, just send out the checks to us winners, Gail, and we'll be back at it again. Maybe we'll see a change in results, but Betsy is going to be one tough cookie to beat. She really does her homework.
2
Perhaps the NYT will put Gail's column on the front page to encourage our citizens to scrutinize the damage being done. Once every 3 months is not too much to ask for such an important column. People need to be made aware of how our Democracy is dying.
1
Thank you for your work. It's hard to find humor in these times, but you always do. And I am thankful for that!
10
I second your nomination.
4
Should we do this again? Yes...with letter grades and comments!
"While Betsy is eager and enthusiastic, she does not have the knowledge necessary to be successful at this time. We regret that she feels bullied; however, her demand to be surrounded at all times by a protective detail makes it difficult for her peers to interact or communicate with her. Although Betsy is resistant to new ideas and fails to acknowledge her limitations, perhaps with some remediation and work with peer mediators she can improve her score. D-
"While Betsy is eager and enthusiastic, she does not have the knowledge necessary to be successful at this time. We regret that she feels bullied; however, her demand to be surrounded at all times by a protective detail makes it difficult for her peers to interact or communicate with her. Although Betsy is resistant to new ideas and fails to acknowledge her limitations, perhaps with some remediation and work with peer mediators she can improve her score. D-
25
Given the varying extreme levels of incompetence displayed in this administration once a month is the best idea. I'd go for every other week but I think we need to look at who's doing what for a longer period of time. In addition, I don't want to dilute the import of being selected as the worst by putting too many people in that category. Here's a suggestion when it comes to this administration and Congress: have a pool for the Trump nominees and inner circle and a separate one for Congress.
Right now DeVos's ignorance wins but you never know, Rick Perry might improve upon her by quite a bit. I will say that wearing glasses does make him look more "distinguished" but that's all. DeVos was incapable of understanding the basics of measuring students performance, a particularly frightening thing give the department she's beheading.
Right now DeVos's ignorance wins but you never know, Rick Perry might improve upon her by quite a bit. I will say that wearing glasses does make him look more "distinguished" but that's all. DeVos was incapable of understanding the basics of measuring students performance, a particularly frightening thing give the department she's beheading.
22
Your trophies can be made of skeletons. Small stature for children and education; mixed heights to represent families and health care; mixed sizes, racial looks along with various animals to represent the earth; etc.
The policies of this administration deny and with that denial of reality is increased death. Denial of the importance and need for public education, denial of health care, denial of the opioid crisis, denial of our warming climate, denial that a major tax break only creates far more debt, ...denial is written everywhere in this administration.
The policies of this administration deny and with that denial of reality is increased death. Denial of the importance and need for public education, denial of health care, denial of the opioid crisis, denial of our warming climate, denial that a major tax break only creates far more debt, ...denial is written everywhere in this administration.
15
The award should be something VERY valuable and expensive, like a 65" LG OLED, or Rolex, etc., that has an unremovable plaque fastened to the front bezel that says "Worst Cabinet Secretary 2017". You know, something soul searching that will make her think twice about the test of her values: will she discard the insult or cave to materialism? Either way, she'd never forget it. Raise a fund to pay for it, ask Colbert to sponsor the crowdsourcing.
10
I began reading this piece, and then I quit because it offered little besides name calling. Those who oppose Trump must become aware that such sophomoric rhetoric does nothing to persuade Trump supporters to change their allegiance.
Unless the media joins an effective effort to remove Trump from office, he will continue to damage on our democracy.
Unless the media joins an effective effort to remove Trump from office, he will continue to damage on our democracy.
10
You need to read the whole of this column and the original one! Besides explaining in detail the issues pertaining to each member, this one also includes choice nuggets from readers and examples of issues.
We definitely need to keep our sense of humor, too, in this dark era.
We definitely need to keep our sense of humor, too, in this dark era.
25
Well, we could perform one of those gags that we used to do at work, where we emptied someone's office while he or she was on vacation. The media is doing what it can.
You're probably haven't attended a play that is of the "Theater of the Absurd" genre; it's interesting to watch, but now we are watching, "Presidency of the Absurd".
You're probably haven't attended a play that is of the "Theater of the Absurd" genre; it's interesting to watch, but now we are watching, "Presidency of the Absurd".
1
To Willie.
"........ to persuade Trump supporters to change their allegiance" as you suggest may well be an exercise in futility.
Combating ignorance and stupidity is always a difficult and thankless task.
The uninformed, low information, poorly informed, easily lied to, single issue voters are part and parcel of our electorate - sadly enough.
in any case let me draw your attention to an early in June report from "The Hill".
The latest from "The Hill":
"More and more Americans support Congress pursuing impeachment proceedings against President Trump, according to a new poll."
"Support for Trump's impeachment rose 5 points in the Politico–Morning Consult poll, from 38 percent to 43 percent, in the last week."
"Pollsters found that more than half of voters who said they want to see Trump impeached say they want impeachment proceedings to go ahead "regardless of whether he committed an impeachable offense or not.”
Are Trump supporters a part of this changing demographic. I certainly hope so. Better late than never.
The roll of The Media is to inform the electorate of all matters pertinent to the Trump administration.
Accuracy is the prime responsibility of The Media and we can only hope that it is up to the task.
(Some of the media itself is designed to promote Trump and his GOP operatives.)
The electorate has its own responsibility to be as well-informed as possible.
A Democracy demands this.
(You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.)
"........ to persuade Trump supporters to change their allegiance" as you suggest may well be an exercise in futility.
Combating ignorance and stupidity is always a difficult and thankless task.
The uninformed, low information, poorly informed, easily lied to, single issue voters are part and parcel of our electorate - sadly enough.
in any case let me draw your attention to an early in June report from "The Hill".
The latest from "The Hill":
"More and more Americans support Congress pursuing impeachment proceedings against President Trump, according to a new poll."
"Support for Trump's impeachment rose 5 points in the Politico–Morning Consult poll, from 38 percent to 43 percent, in the last week."
"Pollsters found that more than half of voters who said they want to see Trump impeached say they want impeachment proceedings to go ahead "regardless of whether he committed an impeachable offense or not.”
Are Trump supporters a part of this changing demographic. I certainly hope so. Better late than never.
The roll of The Media is to inform the electorate of all matters pertinent to the Trump administration.
Accuracy is the prime responsibility of The Media and we can only hope that it is up to the task.
(Some of the media itself is designed to promote Trump and his GOP operatives.)
The electorate has its own responsibility to be as well-informed as possible.
A Democracy demands this.
(You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.)
Make it like a horse race. Positions will change over time. Like we'll have to lay off Sessions when he recuses himself from all Justice Department matters. A monthly survey should be fine.
11
"After all, we’ve got another three and a half years."
Given the constant lies and misinformation sold (at great profit) to the American public as actual news, it could well be seven and a half years.
Given the constant lies and misinformation sold (at great profit) to the American public as actual news, it could well be seven and a half years.
10
The Department of Education has limited influence. Almost all power lies with the states in this area.
Scott Pruitt by far is the worst cabinet secretary. He is completely unsuited for his position and his policies will do irreparable damage to the environment.
Scott Pruitt by far is the worst cabinet secretary. He is completely unsuited for his position and his policies will do irreparable damage to the environment.
14
By all means, continue the "Worst Cabinet" contest. But also consider "Worst Congressional leader." The President's not alone in wrecking our democracy. McConnell, Ryan and the whole busload of clowns are following the siren Trumpet song.
35
The GOP Mafia. We need the RICO Act to bring them down. Like any criminal organization, they only care about power, money and influence. They will continue to blindly protect their "DON" at the expense and death of our Democracy.
Someone please save us.
Someone please save us.
You know, this is the kind of preaching-to-the-choir exercise that doesn't do anything effective except to show how witty we are.
It's a warning sign of weakness, folks. If we're soothing ourselves with evidence of our own wit, it means we're losing.
So, resist - the temptation to indulge, at least.
It's a warning sign of weakness, folks. If we're soothing ourselves with evidence of our own wit, it means we're losing.
So, resist - the temptation to indulge, at least.
7
When things get this bad, you really need to keep your sense of humor as long as you can.
Dear Gail - yes, do this every few months. I must have your wonderful sense of humor coupled with real insights in order to not lose my sanity. Aside from my selfish reasons, your thoughtful, kind satire (oxymoron?) offers some markers in the fog of this war on humanity and reason.
6
I sometimes wonder if Trump's followers will someday strongly deny supporting him. Perhaps these silly cabinet members, along with millions of misguided supporters will cringe at their blind naivete when the dust finally settles. Not that it will do anything to help us now.
9
Thank you so very much; you knew we needed to calm down the explosions happening in our brains with no place to put the shrapnel.
There will be so much happening daily that every month would not be too much--but if it doesn't fit in your schedule--every other month will help. Readers should keep sending disasters as they happen and you know today has one evolving rapidly.
Carry on everyone...we have miles to go........