Trump Makes More Distressing Appointments As Media Obsesses About Tweets

In an earlier post, I mentioned that Trump's outrageous lies and tweets are often used to deflect media attention away from other, more important stories. So perhaps his tweet about the 3 million illegals who voted for Hillary was meant to deflect from his appointment of Donald McGahn as White House Counsel. McGahn is a rabid libertarian who previously served on the Federal Election Commission where he helped make that agency even more dysfunctional than it already is and loosened enforcement of campaign spending laws. In addition, he helped block the Commission's top lawyer from sharing information with federal prosecutors without the express approval from the Commission, something that was rarely forthcoming. His libertarian leanings probably mean he will not be that diligent in reining in some of Trump's wilder ideas, which is probably why he was chosen. In addition, Trump has also chosen KT McFarland as Deputy National Security Adviser. McFarland's national security experience came during the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan presidencies which should prepare her well for the threats of today. More recently she has been a contributor to Fox News. The biggest joke in the Washington Post story on her appointment is labelling support for McFarland as bipartisan, citing Joe Lieberman as the Democratic enthusiast. The Republican support came from Bud McFarlane who we last saw during the Iran-Contra scandal in the Reagan administration. You really have to laugh at that.

In addition, Trump also added to the area of his transition team that is focusing on the Treasury Department and the Fed. The lineup of four additions that were announced is impressive in a unique Trumpian way. One is a senior fellow a the Discovery Institute, which espouses the theory of "intelligent design". Another is a big believer in dynamic scoring. The third believes the Fed is politically biased and wants to return to the gold standard. The fourth supports trade sanctions against Cuba. Poor Janet Yellen must seriously be rethinking her announced intention to serve out her full term.

Update: This morning, the Trump team announced that Tom Price would be the nominee for HHS Secretary. Price is a big supporter of Paul Ryan's plan to privatize Medicare, suggesting the Senate should ram that change through via reconciliation which would only take 50 votes. He is also a fierce critic of Obamacare. This is probably the worst of all possible choices.

We should also notice that Trump put out another crazy tweet this morning calling for jail time and/or loss of citizenship for those who burn the American flag. This is another classic Trump deflection from the extreme choice of Tom Price. Which issue do you think will consume the media...