There has never been a week like this one in the long history of U.S. presidential transitions. There have of course, over the past two and a half centuries, been missteps, bad nominees, and questionable calls by incoming administrations. But in this past week alone, we have seen at least five—perhaps more—of the worst nominations by any president for any senior level government position in American history.

They have come in such rapid succession, that has been next to impossible to contemplate one unfathomable, indefensible choice before the next is made. Indeed, that appears to be part of the objective—more flooding the zone.

The choices that Donald Trump has made to lead his administration have been so extreme as to appear to be a kind of unprecedented can-you-top-this challenge to late night comedians. It is tempting to respond with nervous laughter.

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The pet-murdering former South Dakota Snow Queen to head the Department of Homeland Security? Ron Burgundy to head the Department of Defense? An accused pedophile and sex-trafficker to be Attorney General? A woman Russian television proudly proclaims is an agent for them to be the top intelligence official in the U.S. government? The anti-vaxx conspiracy theorist with a brain worm to head the Department of Health and Human Services?

It would be funny if it were not so dangerous. It would be dark comedy were it not a calculated effort to turn the United States into an autocracy, to place loyalty to a single individual above that shown to the Constitution, our institutions of government or the well-being of the American people.

It does not take much to reveal the threats that lurk within these choices.

At a basic level, there is the peril associated with the inexperience and inappropriateness of each of these nominees for the positions to which they were named. Kristi Noem, Trump’s nominee to head DHS, has zero experience with immigration issues, virtually none with other major DHS concerns like combatting terror threats.

Pete Hegseth,........

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