Word of the Year: Kakistocracy

Kakistocracy means government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state. Trump’s cabinet and ambassadorial appointments exemplify that disaster. Pete Hegseth is a prime example, but there are many others. 

Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, lacks any experience in managing a large organization. The Defense Department has a budget of $849 billion and nearly three million employees. Hegseth’s primary “qualifications” appear to be about five years of deployment as a member of the Minnesota National Guard and unsuccessful stints as the head of three political organizations. 

Hegseth served in the Minnesota National Guard and was deployed to Guantanamo in 2004-2005, and then in Iraq in 2005-2006 and in Afghanistan in 2012-2014 as a captain. He was promoted to major in 2014 and left active duty. After this extremely limited military experience, totaling about four years of active duty, he headed a political action committee with questionable spending and two politically-oriented veterans’ organizations. 

“[New York Times] “Mr. Hegseth’s successive tenures as the head of two nonprofit veterans groups, from 2008 to 2016, ended with both in financial trouble. At the first, Vets for Freedom, revenues rose sharply under his leadership, reaching $8.7 million in 2008. But spending rose even faster. The group fell into debt, then fizzled. In 2012, four years later, it received just $81 in donations, according to financial documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service.

“The second, Concerned Veterans for America, also often spent more than it took in and was $37,000 in debt by 2016, when Mr. Hegseth was listed in tax filings as the outgoing chief executive officer.”

After those fiascos, he moved on to Fox News. There, as in the veterans’ organizations, he was accused by whistleblowers of excessive drinking, public drunkenness, and sexual affairs.  He has admitted to multiple infidelities and affairs, though denying rape allegations. Although reports of drunken behavior are well-documented, he denies that alcohol is a problem and says he will have no problem being a teetotaler as Secretary of Defense.  And—remember this—managing the $849 billion-plus annual budget and almost three million employees.

He will have plenty of company in incompetence. For example, Trump has nominated Emil Michael as Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Qualifications? None. 

[New York Times] “Mr. Michael served as an executive at the ride-sharing company Uber, where he supported hiring investigators to pursue journalists who wrote articles critical of the company. He left Uber in 2017 after a report that he had visited an escort bar in South Korea as part of a business trip, which made some co-workers uncomfortable and led to a complaint to the company’s human resources department.” 

Over at Health and Human Services, RFK, Jr. could serve as a poster child for the kakistocracy. While a few Democrats point wistfully to some of his saner statements, such as condemnation of over-processed foods, his overall record shows more influence by a brain worm than by actual brains. If Trump has his way, Kennedy will be joined by a notorious peddler of fraudulent medical potions, Dr. Mehmet Oz, heading up Medicare. That’s the same Oz who said that the uninsured have no right to health. 

Then there’s Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to head the FBI. Last time around, Trump’s proposal to make Patel deputy director of the FBI ran up against the opposition of Trump Attorney General Bill Barr:

“When Trump, during his first term, reportedly considered making Patel deputy director of the FBI, former Attorney General Bill Barr wrote in his memoir that Patel ‘had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency,’ adding that Patel would become the FBI’s No. 2 ‘over my dead body.’”

Since then, Patel has written three children’s books starring Donald Trump and himself. He also claimed to be the “lead prosecutor” in the case of the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya. That is a blatant lie. 

[New York Times] “’I was the main Justice lead prosecutor for Benghazi,’ Mr. Patel told a former Navy SEAL, Shawn Ryan, in an interview posted in August on Mr. Ryan’s YouTube channel.

“Mr. Patel had no role on the Benghazi trial team. The pretrial investigation was handled by a team led by the F.B.I. and the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington. Mr. Patel was a junior Justice Department staff member at the time, who routed arrest warrants and the like up the chain for approval, according to multiple people involved in the Benghazi case.” 

To head the IRS, Trump chose Billy Long, who repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to abolish the IRS during his six terms in the House of Representatives. More recently, he worked with a tax advising firm that advises clients to file for a pandemic-era tax credit, which is a frequent target for fraud investigations. 

[New York Times] ““At least two accredited accountants whom the company brought on to help handle the influx of tax filings left after raising concerns about how the firm prepared taxes, according to two people familiar with the matter. Some former clients of Lifetime Advisors later faced I.R.S. inquiries, the people said. …

“Mr. Long, a former auctioneer and real estate agent, came to the work without any professional background in taxes. On his account on X, he describes himself as a ‘Certified Tax & Business Advisor’ who can help people save 40 percent on their taxes.

“Mr. Long received the certificate after attending a three-day course offered by Excel Empire, a Florida tax consulting company …” 

The parade of unqualified nominees continues with ambassadorial appointments. Charles Kushner, the father of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, pleaded guilty to federal charges of tax evasion, campaign finance offences and witness tampering in 2005, but was pardoned by Trump at the end of his last term in office. Now he’s the Trump nominee for ambassador to France. 

Kimberly Guilfoyle, an almost-in-law, is his pick for ambassador to Greece. Her four-year-plus engagement to Donald Trump, Jr. may be in trouble, so that’s a good consolation prize. 

Trump created a new post, special envoy to the United Kingdom, and named Mark Burnett to that post. Burnett created and produced “The Apprentice,” the television show that gave Trump a national platform for his trademark “You’re fired!”, surely a qualification for just about any diplomatic post. 

There are more examples of the kakistocracy that will take power on January 20—so many more. Only the Senate and the consciences of Senators stand between the country and these incompetents. God help us all.