US Presidential Election 2024 - Trump vs Harris - Vote Hard with a Vengence

[Good2Golf]

I actually 100% believe that the Health Minister should be a doctor, and Education Minister be a teacher.

…or ex Disney+ subscriber finance secretary/minister, etc. The corollary has anecdotally had its failings as well.

Yes, they have SMEs for the details, but we complain about CAF officers not knowing enough about their portfolios on postings. But we let someone with zero experience in the field become the Minister?

We don’t ’let’…we empower a group of people, several or many of whom could, for example, be ill-qualified to do anything at all, or perhaps just act as thought they think they know what they’re doing…

So I asked the question earlier, what would/should a codified set of requirements for a political position look like? In the case of the YS, some people were okay with a part-time E9 being
Qualified enough to be a Deputy Commander in Chief. So wouldn’t an O4 who served in several GWOT AOs be suitable in a supporting cabinet role? Should SECDEF at least be an O8 perhaps?

 

[dimsum]

…or ex Disney+ subscriber finance secretary/minister, etc. The corollary has anecdotally had its failings as well.


We don’t ’left’…we empower a group of people, several or many of whom could, for example, be ill-qualified to do anything at all, or perhaps just act as thought they think they know what they’re doing…

So I asked the question earlier, what would/should a codified set of requirements for a political position look like? In the case of the YS, some people were okay with a part-time E9 being
Qualified enough to be a Deputy Commander in Chief. So wouldn’t an O4 who served in several GWOT AOs be suitable in a supporting cabinet role? Should SECDEF at least be an O8 perhaps?

Said E9 was (and still is) a State Governor. So I’d suggest that the Governor experience is a tad more relevant than the military one to be VPOTUS.

 

[Good2Golf]

Said E9 was (and still is) a State Governor. So I’d suggest that the Governor experience is a tad more relevant than the military one to be VPOTUS.

Which is a solid point.

Perhaps the US should only take its cabinet from Congressional (ie. Elected) members?

 

[Kirkhill]

For the record - you all work for civilians. Civilians are there to govern you.

Edit - PS the Canadian civilians are there to ensure that the departments serve the people and meet their needs.

 

[dimsum]

Which is a solid point.

Perhaps the US should only take its cabinet from Congressional (ie. Elected) members?

They don’t?

 

[Good2Golf]

They don’t?

No, not by policy/regulation/legislation.

Hegseyh, while he had a brief run at the Senate, has not been elected to the house.

Then again, he hasn’t been confirmed yet.

Current SECDEF wasn’t an elected member before being appointed.

 

[Kirkhill]

Cabinet of the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The President can appoint anyone to Cabinet, subject to Senate approval.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Hegseth on the Shawn Ryan show...

 

[Fishbone Jones]

A few closer to home examples. And not necessarily ones knowledgeable in their jobs.
Freeland was appointed to finance.
Jolie to Foreign Affairs
Blair to DND
Holland to Health
Just to name a few ministers that were appointed by a PM voted into position without having been in politics, except a tiny stint as Opposition Leader.
None of the above named had any background in their appointed portfolios.

What counts is your ability to adapt, learn and surround yourself with SME's.

I'll bet Hegseth won't up and dissappear and book himself into the hospital without telling anyone, including his boss.

 

[Remius]

What counts is your ability to adapt, learn and surround yourself with SME's.

isn’t the plan to fire most SMEs though? And how does one learn when one plans to enact a bunch of stuff within 24hours of taking up the job?

 

[brihard]

A few closer to home examples. And not necessarily ones knowledgeable in their jobs.
Freeland was appointed to finance.
Jolie to Foreign Affairs
Blair to DND
Holland to Health
Just to name a few ministers that were appointed by a PM voted into position without having been in politics, except a tiny stint as Opposition Leader.
None of the above named had any background in their appointed portfolios.

What counts is your ability to adapt, learn and surround yourself with SME's.

Absolutely fair points. It gets more challenging if your intended COA on taking office is to fire the SMEs who fail to show blind and absolute loyalty to the personality of the leader.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

isn’t the plan to fire most SMEs though? And how does one learn when one plans to enact a bunch of stuff within 24hours of taking up the job?

Absolutely fair points. It gets more challenging if your intended COA on taking office is to fire the SMEs who fail to show blind and absolute loyalty to the personality of the leader.

Are we really talking about SMEs or people knowingly in opposition to the Trump administration that would try stymie everything and create a silent coup like the last time?

I haven't heard of any plan to fire SMEs loyal to the Constitution and their duty to the Commander in Chief.

 

[Pelorus]

I haven't heard of any plan to fire SMEs loyal to the Constitution and their duty to the Commander in Chief.

The ones getting fired will almost certainly be because they were loyal to the constitution over whatever illegal and/or unethical scheme the Trump Administration political appointees try to force them into.

 

[Kirkhill]

The ones getting fired will almost certainly be because they were loyal to the constitution over whatever illegal and/or unethical scheme the Trump Administration political appointees try to force them into.

Opinions count.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

A few closer to home examples. And not necessarily ones knowledgeable in their jobs.
Freeland was appointed to finance.
Jolie to Foreign Affairs
Blair to DND
Holland to Health
Just to name a few ministers that were appointed by a PM voted into position without having been in politics, except a tiny stint as Opposition Leader.
None of the above named had any background in their appointed portfolios.

What counts is your ability to adapt, learn and surround yourself with SME's.

I'll bet Hegseth won't up and dissappear and book himself into the hospital without telling anyone, including his boss.

Freeland as Finance Minister was/is hilarious.... her only claim to fame in the realm of finance was almost single handedly running Reuters in to the ground.

When you compare her to Paul Martin, Jim Flaherty, Joe Oliver, Bill Morneau, etc... it's pretty unimpressive.

 

[Maxman1]

a PM voted into position without having been in politics, except a tiny stint as Opposition Leader.

Trudeau was never Leader of the Official Opposition. Thomas Mulcair was, because in 2011 the Liberals battled the Bloc for third place.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Trudeau was never Leader of the Official Opposition. Thomas Mulcair was, because in 2011 the Liberals battled the Bloc for third place.

So even less experience than I was giving him credit for.

 

[IKnowNothing]

Someone with Hegseth's qualifications would be a fine appointment be Minister of Defense in Canada. But Canada is not the US, and our cabinet appointments are not apples to apples. Its hard to overstate the difference in "current crop of elected MP's" and "literally any one you want that you can convince to take the job" as potential hiring pools.

 

[MARS]

Someone with Hegseth's qualifications would be a fine appointment be Minister of Defense in Canada. But Canada is not the US, and our cabinet appointments are not apples to apples. Its hard to overstate the difference in "current crop of elected MP's" and "literally any one you want that you can convince to take the job" as potential hiring pools.

Michael Fortier enters the chat...

Michael Fortier - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[IKnowNothing]

Michael Fortier enters the chat...

Michael Fortier - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Interesting, I genuinely thought it was a rule rather than an almost universally followed norm