Billionaires in a B-casting spectacle

Oddly enough, The Apprentice reality TV series, commencing 2004, was premised on Trump, as host, seeking a leader for one of his Trump companies. The series was billed as the “ultimate job interview” in the “ultimate jungle” conducted by a successful businessman living in splendor. When Trump was offered the series by Mark Burnett, the show’s producer, Trump was demeaning of reality TV: “for the “bottom-feeders of society.” Trump, of course, did accept and The Apprentice along with its second, The Celebrity Apprentice, ran for more than a decade. The show was highly viewed particularly in its early seasons (20 million viewers in 2004 down to 7 million 2014). The Apprentice did indeed establish Trump, his brusqueness, and his famed “you’re fired” and “Trumponomics.” It is not clear how the series experience may have impacted Trump’s strategies and processes for executive recruiting, for selecting his immense Presidential administrative staff

Donald J. Trump came to the nation’s stage in a reality TV show where he was hiring an organizational head– establishing his company’s leadership by ‘interviewing” would-be/wanta-be’s, engaging them in skill testing tasks from which they survived or “you’re fired.” Today, Trump, newly elected by a plurality, is once again galvanizing the nation’s attention as he selects his leadership cast for the second Trump Presidency.

Any rigorous interview process for candidates for the nation’s 2025 top leaders – the cabinet and other senior officials- is less evidenced than on Trump’s reality TV show. How have the supreme core of his administration been chosen, assessed, scrutinized for fit to key positions, not in a Trump tightly controlled real estate organization, but for the real-time world leader nation – the United States? How are his appointees scrutinized for their potential impact on national security, financial prosperity, public health and good will with other nations? How is Trump’s process successfully selecting officials whose knowledge, skills, experience, and character will be in service to the nation, will protect and better the well-being of the nation and its people? Trump’s loyalty test– that he won the 2020 election- attractive TV presence or family connection are clear selection criteria: what more is assessed and how?

Trump initially refused to have his selections undergo the long-standing FBI vetting of presidential appointees but then his Attorney General candidate, Matt Gaetz, was outed. A thick file of illegal acts had been investigated by a House Committee set to air their finding. Gaetz bowed out. Matt Gaetz, a radical Representative from Florida, had served three terms in Congress with his sole legislative distinction being the termination of the GOP Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy. Representative Gaetz was not a Department of Justice stellar pick rather a B- or lower talent/character. No legal experience, questionable character.

Peter Hegseth, Secretary of Defense appointee, is next up for severe public scrutiny. Hegseth is under pressures from both parties for questionable behaviors/ statements, lack of demonstrated competencies for managing an immense organization, ill-fitting notions about women in the military as well as of Muslims in an era of Middle East turmoil. For Hegseth, Princeton and Harvard degrees along with a weekend gig on Fox are not A level qualifications for leading an $800 billion, three million person organization. B- talent and character - or lower ratings- are attributable to other cabinet selections: Kennedy (Samoa measles deaths, mental instability), Gabbard (connection with ousted Syrian President Assad) Patel (conspiracy laden) followed by McMahon, Noem, Bondi - an obscure Florida sheriff has stepped down from an appointment to the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Trump’s cast of appointees for senior administration offices are billionaires or B- talent/character wanta-be’s vs accomplished, prominent persons with experience in areas they are charged with managing. Trump’s swath of billionaire appointees (numbering so far seven) have garnered massive personal wealth yet what do they know or care about service to the nation, to its citizens? Are their priorities personal rather than national? What they have proven by their abundant wealth is preservation of self-interest along with a willingness to donate millions to campaigns pledged to lowering their taxes and eliminating costly governmental restrictions.

Though Trump in his candidacy firmly stated he knew nothing of, certainly had no support for Project 2025, his appointees include the founding core of Project 2025 — a project set to decimate the US government by unwinding citizen rights and access to long established programs and services: Social Security, health care, clean air and water, veteran benefits and more.

Many of us may liken our current status – post the 2024 Presidential election - to being in the cheap seats for the shaping of our coming years. The plurality-elected President has, as was expected, strong-armed most Presidential transition processes including the vetting of senior officials and ethical pledges regarding domestic and foreign conflict of interests. The ethical pledge finally signed by the Trump transition team, months after its due date, excludes the President-elect. Trump is positioning himself, his Presidency, the Oval Office to front his businesses – he is under no ethical restrictions and has been granted total criminal immunity.

Who will stand for the Constitution? Who in the legislature will enact the precepts of their responsibilities - adhere to their oaths? A long, hazardous transition ahead. Happy holidays.


“It’s ok to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.” —Elon Musk

Kathy Herald-Marlowe lives in Sharon.

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Lakeville Journal and The Journal does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less