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Trump Puts Poli-Sci Major in Charge of Pentagon Research and Engineering

Speaking of Jason Ravnsborg, Donald Trump prefers loyal idiots to experts in federal government, too:

The White House on Monday announced that it was assigning Michael Kratsios, a 33-year-old White House chief technology officer, as the head of research and engineering for the entire DoD. Kratsios, who has a bachelor’s degree in political science, is replacing Michael Griffin, a former NASA administrator with a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering.

…Lindsay Cohn, an associate professor at the Naval War College specializing in civil-military relations, who spoke in a personal capacity, expressed concern that “the criterion that seems to be getting these particular young, inexperienced people in is personal loyalty to the president.”

“This can actually undermine the entire idea of a meritocratic democracy because it creates power with connection with the patron as opposed to power within the structure of the system,” she said.

…Kratsios, who previously served as an aide to venture capitalist Peter Thiel,… will keep his White House job while wearing the Pentagon hat, a balancing act that critics say will make it impossible to do the Pentagon job well.

“You can’t be dual-hatted and work at the Pentagon,” said Jim Townsend, who served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO policy from 2009 to 2017. “This is also that pattern Trump has had of putting actings in there. They are in there only for a year, they are beholden to him, they will do what he says.”

“The real problem is the Trump Administration simply can’t attract top tier talent for these critical posts,” added Chip Unruh, spokesperson for ranking Senate Armed Services Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island. “The President prioritizes blind fealty to him above competence and it shows” [Lara Seligman, “Trump Skirting Congress to Install Loyalists in Pentagon,” Politico, 2020.07.17].

If all I were toting around were a poli-sci B.A. and a , I would not consider walking into a tech-heavy office and asking to be their boss.

Kratsios’s Peter-Principled ascent part of a larger push by Trump to install loyalists over competents in Il Duce’s waning days of glory. But hey: why should we expect any Republicans who don’t believe in government to hire anyone good at government to govern?

8 Comments

  1. mike from iowa 2020-07-20 07:45

    drumpf has basically admitted he wants to bypass Congress and install magats who are loyal to him, regardless of their qualifications.

    McCTurtlefartface and Marlboro Barbie have to pay a high price for aiding, abetting and protecting this unhinged monster.

  2. Loren 2020-07-20 08:57

    Is Rounds going to come back to SD and tell us how he supports this train wreck? I guess he is because I just got an e-mail from him in which he says he is “an ally of the President.” Nice going, Bucko. Sadly, S. Dakotans, in general, will probably buy this swill. In the mean time, I earned a degree in biology some 50 years ago. I think I’ll go down to the hospital and do some heart surgery today, probably on someone who eats a lot of “gravy.” ;-)

  3. scott 2020-07-20 10:20

    What? Noem’s daughter wasn’t available?

  4. jerry 2020-07-20 10:48

    GNOem’s daughter is learning make up skills on the witch she calls her mother. In the meantime, republican fail on national security issues, so that claim to fame has been proven to be just another lie.

    “As novel coronavirus cases continue to climb across the United States and reach record daily highs, the number of federal workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 has also increased dramatically.

    Across federal agencies and the U.S. military, nearly 1% of all federal personnel have tested positive for the virus. Nearly 19,000 civilian employees have contracted COVID-19, in addition to more than 20,000 military members. This comes as thousands of federal workers who had been teleworking from the outset of the pandemic are heading back to their offices, while many more have continued reporting to their normal duty stations without interruption. ”

    Pretty quick, anyone who is healthy will be able to fly those bombers out of Ellsworth.. as long as you’re a card carrying trumper. Look out Polo and Pedro, bombs away.

  5. Debbo 2020-07-20 23:39

    “The President prioritizes blind fealty to him above competence and it shows”

    Wow. Does it ever. If there was a chart showing the advancing level of cumulative incompetence in the current deministration it would have to be on a permanently unscrolling vertical roll of newsprint.

  6. Wayne 2020-07-22 08:13

    Huh… I think Cory just shot down his own argument of the importance of liberal arts degrees.

    Fascinating.

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