I haven't followed the news about Retired Gen. James Mattis. In reading he was chosen by Donald Trump to be Defense Secretary, I read a few things today.

• He and Trump likely get on famously. They both make appalling comments. Mattis is famous for this quote:

“You go into Afghanistan, you got guys that slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil,” he said in 2005. “So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.”

• NBC reports on a former special services member who claims Mattis left his troop to die in Afghanistan. (The question apparently not whether he did, but whether he was justified in doing so. The incident was also referred to in a book, The Only Thing Worth Dying for.)
• He serves on the board of a controversial blood-testing company.
• Congress would have to pass a law before confirming him because he's only been retired from the military for 3 years.

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The New York Review of Books (Daily) has an article by Massa Green (a Russian author and journalist and staunch opponent of Putin -- see the review of her book Putin: Man Without a Face), titled Trump: The Choices We Face. Green's grandfather was a member and later a leader of the Bialystok Judenrat, the Nazi-appointed Jewish council that ran the ghetto. At first the council was tasked with things like bringing in food to the community and urging residents not to form resistance groups. By the end, the group was tasked with selecting members of the community for the Nazis to kill first.

The question she takes on:

Criminal regimes function in part by forcing the maximum number of subjects to participate in the atrocities. For nearly a century, individuals in various parts of the Western world have struggled with the question of how, and how much, we should engage politically and personally with governments that we find morally abhorrent.

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Donald Trump has narrowed the field of Secretary of State candidates to four (or five). While his spokesman didn't name them, one is believed to be Rudy Giuliani.

Rudy Giuliani has no foreign diplomatic credentials. He's taken money from numerous foreign governments.

He would be a terrible choice for Secretary of State. Here's a list of 10 things you should know about Rudy.

When Rudy left the Mayor's office, he did something unprecedented. He took all his papers with him. [More...]

Trump is considering Sarah Palin for Secretary of Veteran Affairs. On Twitter, Palin seems to be open to the job -- or actively seeking it, depending on how one reads her fawning over Trump as Commander in Chief.

Since her biggest claim to fame is that you can see Russia from Alaska (or as Tina Fey translated, she can see Russia from her window) I'm surprised he didn't make her Secretary of State.

What qualifies her for this position? Absolutely nothing as far as I can tell.

As the Daily Mail says about Trump's cabinet picks: Trump isn't draining the swamp, he's diving into it

Meet the Fantastics: Pakistan has published a readout of the Prime Minister's telephone conference with Donald Trump. (Via Buzzfeed).

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif called President-elect USA Donald Trump and felicitated him on his victory. President Trump said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif you have a very good reputation. You are a terrific guy. You are doing amazing work which is visible in every way. I am looking forward to see you soon. As I am talking to you Prime Minister, I feel I am talking to a person I have known for long. Your country is amazing with tremendous opportunities. Pakistanis are one of the most intelligent people. I am ready and willing to play any role that you want me to play to address and find solutions to the outstanding problems. It will be an honor and I will personally do it. Feel free to call me any time even before 20th January that is before I assume my office.

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Update: These tweets by the Office of Government Ethics today are really funny. No one knows who posted them, but they are legit. When did Trump say he would totally divest himself of his businesses? He called it a "separation." The NY Times has more.

Donald Trump dropped a cliffhanger on Twitter this morning, reminding me of a reality show preview. He announced he would separate from his companies. How? He'll tell us in two weeks at a press conference.

Does anyone believe him? I think the only way for him to eliminate conflicts of interest is to sell his businesses to people outside his family, and put the proceeds in a blind trust. He'll never do that. [More..]

Mitt Romney took a seat at the devil's table last night and not only dined with Donald Trump but lavishly praised him afterwards. (No link needed, it's on every news site.)

What a horrible menu. I would have thrown up during appetizers: "Young garlic soup" and scallops with "carmelized cauliflower" and a "caper raisin emulsion."

The restaurant is not in Trump Tower but another Trump Hotel nearby, on Central Park West. (It's two blocks north of Trump Tower and just west of the Plaza Hotel, which means Trump was driven there. It's one of the busiest intersections, if not the busiest, in Manhattan. I wonder how long traffic was shut down so he could ride rather than walk a few blocks to dinner.

For such a pricey restaurant, you would think they could afford to update their website and provide a newer menu than the one for 2015. They don't. [More...]

UnPresident-Elect Donald Trump has named the wife of Republican Majority Leader and Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, Elaine Chao, to head up the Department of Transportation. She was Labor Secretary under GW Bush.

For Health and Human Services, he picked a a six-term Republican congressman from Georgia, Tom Price.

Just more shuffling the deck chairs -- nothing change-y about it.

In another predictable trend, Trump reaffirmed his disregard for Supreme Court precedent in a tweet suggesting anyone who burns the flag, which is an act protected by the First Amendment, be subject to loss of citizenship or jail. Since he is powerless to enact any law, or change any court precedent, I assume this is an Apprentice-style grab for attention and deflection from the vote recounts. [More...]

Protecting Donald Trump and his entourage grows more expensive daily.

Take his jaunt to his Palm Beach resort for Thanksgiving. NBC News reports it cost taxpayers $7 million:

As the soon-to-be first family sat down in Florida for their Thanksgiving feast, they were watched over by the core part of their new extended family — a contingent of at least 150 Secret Service personnel.

His and his wife's selfish insistence on maintaining two residences with Trump flying to New York on weekends will up the secret service contingent and related personnel to 950 and cause the expense to skyrocket.

Also complicating security arrangements is Melania Trump's decision to stay in Manhattan until Barron is done with school in June. Donald Trump has told his team that he intends to make regular weekend trips home to Trump Tower until his wife moves into the White House. So millions of dollars worth of infrastructure will have to be installed in Trump Tower to turn it into a White House North

Right now the cost to the Feds (funded by taxpayers of course) is already $2 million a day (just the federal cost): [More...]

Donald Trump moved his spectacle of the revolving door to his potential cabinet picks to his golf course in New Jersey this weekend, shutting down the Lincoln Tunnel in both directions Friday night causing delays of more than an hour as his motorcade passed by.

While that may not be of interest to anyone who doesn't live in NY or New Jersey, other issues of concern to the entire nation are glossed over as Trump deflects attention from them by causing a distraction. Latest example: The public would rather talk about his tweet criticizing the cast of Hamilton for what it said to Mike Pence than his willful blindness to the danger of his global conflicts of interest.

Another Trump distraction: Melania and Barron will stay in New York at least until June so the 10 year old doesn't have to be inconvenienced by changing schools mid-year. He can go to school in Antarctica for all I care. But what does matter is who will bear responsibility for the exorbitant extra security cost and the inconvenience to New Yorkers (and tourists)? The public should be demanding Trump bear the expense. And since New York City intends to ask the feds for reimbursement, this concerns all taxpayers. [More...]

Jefferson Beauregard Sessions and the Munchkins. Separated at birth? I think so.

I don't really have much to say about Trump's Friday dump of radical right cabinet picks. They are to be expected. It just shows the futility of Democrats' efforts to "reach out" to him in hopes he'll exercise some moderation. He's too far gone. He thinks he's the Wizard of Oz, controlling the country from behind the iron curtains of Trump Tower. If you're not one of his billionaire bundlers or an extremist right wing politician, you won't get as far as the elevator.

The New York Times calls Session's nomination for Attorney General "an insult to justice." (It calls Michael Flynn's nomination for National Security Advisor "an alarming pick."

Here's an article from McClatchy on Sessions hard-core anti-immigration views. [More...]

One week after the election, UnPresident Donald Trump shows he's not ready for primetime. His team is in utter disarray. It's one fiasco after another. The entire Republican party is mired in one crisis after another. And, barring an Indictment or impeachment of Donald Trump in both houses, the majority of the electorate -- who voted for Hillary -- are stuck with him and his seemingly rudderless ship for the next four years. [More...]