Swamp fox
I was determined not to say anything about Orange Caligula's latest Cabinet of Horribles. But I can't help noting that Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the lame duck congressperson from the hilariously gerrymandered Oregon Fifth District, is going to be the next U.S. secretary of
Her qualification for this job is... well... she was the mayor of Happy Valley and got quite a bit of labor money to run for re-election. A lot of good it did her. Against a strong opponent, Janelle Bynum, she lost by something like 9500 votes, 47.5 percent to 45.1 percent. And so it was one-term-and-out for LCD, whom a friend of mine accurately describes as "the accidental winner of the Schrader loss" in 2022.
To me the big question is: Why would anyone throw in with the Big Magat at this point, when it's been proven that almost everybody who does has their career, if not their entire life, ruined? She must think she's going to come out of it like Nikki the Budget Accountant™ or Gaslight Sarah Huckstabee, but compared with the two of them, LCD is a burner phone. As far as I can tell, Ms. Happy Valley doesn't bring money, or much political support, with her. What's in it for Donnie? She'll be lucky if she winds up like Gordon Sondland: mocked, broken, suing after being stiffed, probably dealing with personal security issues, but at least alive and not in prison.
It sounds like Chavez-DeRemer, who is 56 years old, sees her future as being in D.C., as a lobbyist or something. Maybe. But I wouldn't bet on the next few years ending well for her.
DeRemer is expected to be nominated to Labor, not Transportation. Trump picked her as a nod to the Teamsters and other unions because she is one of the few (only?) Republicans to support the PRO Act. So, in a strange twist, DeRemer is probably the only cabinet pick that Democrats could get mildly excited about.
ReplyDeleteOf course, labor! I shouldn't hit "send" before coffee.
DeleteThe real story is the so-called "independent" candidate, Brett Smith who creamed off just enough votes to squeeze Bynum over the top with a plurality. (No RCV for the feds!)
ReplyDeleteI saw that. The Jill Stein of Clackamas County.
DeleteA lot can be learned about people when their behavior surfaces after a contested election.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Confucius.
DeleteShe ran for the legislature a few times back when I was living in Powellhurst. She got clobbered by Bynum both times. She didn't do much to hide the fact she was planning a run for governor in 2018. She may have deleted them (and probably should), but she had posted several photos from a Koch Brothers thing she attended back in the Obama years. Right down to posing with Scott Walked (remember him?) back when he was the next big thing for the GOP.
ReplyDeleteSo the Kochs have just the person they want in just the seat they want her. Between her and Linda McMahon, it's gonna be a tough four years for teachers.
Teachers don’t need to fret too much. How ever, the teachers unions will go bananas.
DeleteIt looks much bigger-picture than anybody as noticed so far. For a decade, the trade and many private industry unions have been moving to the right, and many members are actually Republicans. Don't confuse this with the public employee unions (AFSCME, SEIU, Teachers and maybe nurses, but probably not police unions) who are still in the Democratic camp. The Republican party wants to keep the trade/private union voters and get their organizations' contribution money. So the long term plan is to fracture Labor into the R and D camps, and this goes a long way to shore up support now. But this will also cause some business consternation where both management and labor tend to be Republican. Look at the overall game plans of the parties on this - that's where politics will be interesting.
DeleteAmong the many things Democrats need to fix going forward is this idea that somehow teachers and their unions are two separate entities.
DeleteAs for the public employees, I have a friend who works at BPA. He tells me his coworkers are overjoyed at the results of the election. The fact their jobs are at risk doesn't even enter their minds. Same for another friend who's pretty high up with the state health department. He voted for Trump because government is too big. In the next breath, he'll tell you all about the cuts at his agency and how they're having disastrous impact on morale and services.
It's gonna be a wonderful next four years.
Bean, all these people voting against their own self-interest. It is mind-boggling.
DeleteLabor Secretary is probably about as safe as you can get in the Trump Cabinet. Unless she has some skeletons in her closet which come bursting out, or there is a general strike or something, she won't have much chance to get caught in the Trump whirlwind.
ReplyDeleteHer nomination is probably thanks to Teamsters president, Sean O’Brien. But who will head the National Labor Relations Board?
ReplyDeletehttps://portside.org/2024-11-26/republicans-freak-out-over-trumps-choice-labor-secretary?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0HYTx40-sHCmnXQTc5Qd6s1os8mO-rvpiSiXEDCIdAMAMowI2G490W9xQ_aem_XMOCmp3LbQu1xvqvZBob0w