Trump has appointed Stephen Miller, acolyte of Satan, to be his new chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles and declaring his deeper commitment to supporting Nazis. I don’t think he plans on being more accommodating and sensible in the last half of his term. He’s firing a warning shot across the Democrat’s bows.
What is fascinating are Miller’s remarks about his appointment.
Despite the GOP’s catastrophic losses Tuesday, Miller praised Trump, saying he
saved the Republican party from the ash heap of history and has made it stronger, more popular, and more resilient than ever before.
If it wasn’t for President Trump, the United States of America would not exist right now,Miller added.
None of that is true. A little exaggeration as repayment for his reward is to be expected, but that is stepping outside of actual accomplishments to making up effusive lies. None of that is believable.
But then we get Miller’s pledge.
I swear to you, and I pledge to you, Mr. President, my absolute loyalty, my unwavering commitment, and my total devotion to your success and the success of this country.
Jesus fuck. That’s way too obsequious. Has any presidential appointment before been so desperate in swearing their fealty to a president? Most people would pledge their loyalty to the Constitution rather than slobbering over an individual. I guess the Constitution is irrelevant now.
Put that man higher on the list of enemies of the state, and put him first in the queue to be issued a blindfold and a cigarette.
Now Trump has big loser stink on him, his pool of job candidates is going to be shrinking fast. You’d need to be a complete idiot to take a job from him at this point. Maybe there weren’t that many takers to choose from?
We know who’s first in line for the blindfold and cigarette. Miller is second, but he’s been in that position for some time. I can’t imagine reporting to him, so I suspect more staff departures in the coming weeks.
DJT built his brand on being a winner. Fuck him. Remind him and his cultists every day that they are losers.
I do not usually use that word but since his followers think that way remind them of how his senate picks keep losing. His negotiations about the wars are failures. The interest rate of government bonds is going up. Other countries are bringing home their gold reserves from USA. The Trump coin has lost 95% of its value while Trump won half a billion from the suckers who bought it.
The guy who looks most like Benito Mussolini is now chief of state. Or a mixture of BM and Klaus Kinski in Nosferatu.
Very apt.
It’s really debatable if it makes it better or not but I don’t think Miller believes any of that. Instead he is willing to say anything to get the power he needs to implement the extreme right wing policies he does believe in.
The rats have been leaving the ship already.
The smart rats always leave first.
Trump and Blanche turned the US Department of Justice into the legal arm of the US Gestapo secret police. They then started inventing fake charges against people who opposed the fascists.
Most of their fake charges collapsed early in the courts and the Federal judges were appalled by what they saw.
I’m sure this violates numerous laws and some DofJ people are now in serious trouble with the Federal judges.
A lot of them have already started swimming for safer shores.
They are vaguely aware that Nixon’s Atthorney General, John Mitchell actually went to prison.
For any US attorneys reading this, just ask yourself.
Can you rock an orange jump suit? Do stripes work on you?
Why would Miller bother with lip service to values he does not share?
It’s been irrelevant for Republicans for a while now; same with things like the rule of law, etc.
birgerjohansson@3:
For the oligarchs, that’s a feature, not a bug, since they own a major portion of the bonds. That’s another way that our taxes are being transferred to the wealthiests’ bank accounts where it just sits and so gets removed from the economony.
My candidate for most obsequious/insane tRump suck-ups… A cabinet member (Noem IIRC) in 2025 and the WH communications team in 2026 thanked His Tubbyness for the US not getting hit by hurricanes those years.
I see the UFC guy has turned down the job offer for Press Secretary.
Putting Naziferatu in one of the concentration camps he created would be nice symmetry with his family history.
Let’s see if he manages to hold that position longer than half a Scaramucci. Apparently the dementia patient in Chief had to be sedated Tuesday night, and his health aide took his phone away.
Doesn’t matter what Donnie plans. He is incapable of being accommodating, and it’s a toss-up as to whether the heart condition or the dementia will take him out.
The big beautiful obituary would make a great Christmas gift to the world.
s. miller is one of the most hate-filled, bigoted, destructive weasels I’ve ever read about. But, he fits right in with those same characteristics as they permeate the entire tRUMP magat cult.
Cue Martha and the Vandellas again.
Oh, and, based on his words that PZ quoted above and we read elsewhere, s. miller is as frequent and obscene a liar as tRUMP!
This could actually be good news. The American public voted to mandate change. But if Trump and Miller fight that mandate, it could well be a 2028 issue that effectively ends the GOP. More Senate seats flip, more House seats gained as deeply frustrated voters go to the voting booths to end the Trump era for good. And any ambitious GOP candidate for president in 2028 has no chance if they sign on to Trump – Miller intransigence And the Democrats can bait Trump and Miller until election day 2028..
Well, it’s not like we didn’t already think Miller was a cryptofascist who, over the last ten years, could barely be arsed to hide his true colours. That he now phrases his oath in the manner of oaths to Hitler shouldn’t come as a surprise.
More than just an acolyte of Satan…
In this case, the answer to a “shot across the bow” is a full broadside.
I have one of the first laws that should be considered –
“It shall be considered an act of treason to, in word or action, state loyalty to any government agency, or member of such, including the president, in contravention of, or in place of, an oath to the constitution. No such individual may take his place of appointment, an elected position, or be allowed to serve in government. This law is self executing.”
Because, apparently, we have to put that last part in, otherwise lunatics will trying to argue that, even if it applies to them, it somehow can’t be enforced by anyone. That being said, why the F this has to be spelled out in the first place is itself, utterly insane. And, heck, I am not sure it doesn’t also have to include freaking language explicitly banning them from just running again, or some other ass from trying to appoint them someplace else. This is the madness we are now dealing with.
BTW.. Really wish someone could be found that would fix the bloody bug that has existed on these blogs “forever”, which can be described as, “Thank you for logging in, but I am afraid you can’t post, unless you log in, because I literally just forgot you did that, as soon as you started typing! Have a nice day!”
Every Sauruman needs his Wormtongue.
Ugh.. just had the thought… some idiot might try to “work around” the above by failing to disclose a oath they took, which violates it, “prior” to being elected, or appointed, because, of course, that is not explicit (somehow) in certain interpretations. Sigh…
The Chief of Staff job requires some actual work (from maintaining staff dental plans to scheduling WH tennis court play times, as well as tracking follow-through on presidential orders, organizing travel, etc) – Miller may end up with less time for skulduggery than when S. Wiles handled all that.
On the possibly-even-better side, if Miller’s organizational skills match, say, Pete Hegseth’s, the executive branch might become yet more dysfunctional, even after factoring in how many of the less obtuse staffers run screaming into the hills. The fewer Trump commands effectuated, the better!
devnll@20: every Baron needs his Feyd ?
Pierce, you miss the actual dynamic, so you see positives that do not exist.
Or he could delegate and oversee. You don’t get what executives do, do you?
He’s been with Trump since his 2016 ascension and he proposes policy, not executes commands.
He literally has been advising Trump, not ‘effectuating’ Trump’s policies.
Now he has an executive role, he has authority to enforce the very policies he sells Trump.
As actual chief of staff, his fingerprints will be even more obvious than before.
Problem: DJT has the power to pardon weasels like him for federal crimes.
Are there any workarounds? Lawsuits?
Trump Says He Hangs Out with ‘Losers Because It Makes Me Feel Better,’ Admits ‘I Hate Guys That Are Very, Very Successful’ (March 2026)
Which is the opposite of previous lies he has told, but explains why he spends so much time with Confederates and Nazis.
While I agree with the blindfold and cigarette thing, he doesn’t even make the podium for mine. In order I would go DJT, RFK, Musk, Noem, Hegseth, Miller.
The first 5 there have a direct and instantly attributable body count, with the first 4 having a bunch of children in it. Whilst Miller is richly deserving of being tied to a stake and refusing the blindfold, the competition is heavy duty. Who would you demote to 6th on my list?
Maybe we can just line them all up against a wall and not worry about who is first.
No doubt Trump will pardon everyone and for 3 generations before and after.
Why not? What is stopping him?
It might not work that well though.
.1. It is not obvious that you can pardon people before they are convicted of a crime.
It has been done before but not often and it has never, AFAIK, been tested in court.
.2. If the pardons stick, Miller loses his 5th amendment rights to not incriminate himself in testimony. Then, if he refuses to testify to his (pardoned) crimes, he can still be charged with contempt and obstruction of justice.
.3. Trump can only pardon for Federal laws.
There are 50 states.
Most of the crimes of the Trump regime are also against state laws.
The ICE murderers will probably be charged under state laws in places like Minnesota, Michigan, and Texas.
.4. We could always turn them over to the Hague, International Criminal Court.
Yeah, that isn’t going to happen but it is an option anyway.
PZ @28: They do love walls.
@30
I wonder if we could get Mexico, or even Canada, to pay for that wall.
27) @indianajones: Hegseth also has children in his body count. Maybe not as many as the first three, but I think more than Noem (?), and certainly more directly by his incompetent orders rather than willful neglect.
As for #6, I don’t think Greg Bovino should be off the hook just because they shitcanned him. Even though he was technically CBP, due to his support and partnership with them, and his active, on site participation in ICE actions, he’s more responsible for the ICE we have today than Noem or Markymarkwayne. If you doubt that, I challenge you to name any of the several acting directors of ICE under Dumpster without looking it up. If you can come up with anyone other than Homan, you get a silver star (DDJT has monopolized all the available gold).
Something I want to see:
I’ve heard noises that Trump “might” nuke Iran. I want to see the incoming Dems stand as a strong, confident, united group and tell him that “If you nuke ANYONE, we will see you impeached and removed from office, then tried a the Hague for genocide and crimes against humanity!”
My expectation is a TACO.
Todd Blanche could be the first to go. Followed by Alito and Thomas.
There are so many, it’s hard to know where to start the line-up.
woodsong @33: “tried at the Hague”
He’s done plenty to earn that already.
In the Infinite Thread: ForeignPolicy – Here’s what to do about Trump’s war crimes
Ahem. That is empty rhetoric. Should be, has earned, whatnot is irrelevant. It has no power.
The United States is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and it never signed the Rome Statute.
Here is an example: Putin is subject to an international arrest warrant by the ICC, but Putin flew into Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage to conduct high-level diplomatic talks completely untouched by local law enforcement, explicitly showing that the ICC warrant is powerless on US soil.
Kinda the other way around: the USA has sanctioned the ICC both for its members and as a body.
In short, the United States has never been subject to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court
(800lb gorilla thingy; international laws and norms are for other countries)
I’d be happy with prison sentences personally, but ill settle for the ignominy of defeat and irrelevance. This will require work from Dems at all levels if government, startting with election reform. Un-rig the system and watch them shrivel.
(But watch Dem leadership shrink from this)
Miller will be Trump’s bootlick until it is no long of use to him. There’s no way he actually feels loyalty to Trump.
There was some talk yesterday that the Dana White story may have been a misunderstanding by Trump. Someone suggested hiring Dana W. White, a former Pentagon mouthpiece and media commentator, who is a woman, but Trump thought it was the head of the UFC. White of the UFC turned the job down. It was funny that Trump suggested White might bring fighter Islam Makhachev with him, as I’m sure you can all guess Makhachev is a Muslim with a first name like that. Seeing the Trumpoids twist themselves in knots to welcome a Muslim from Dagestan would have been fun. He also suggested top fighter Amanda Nunes, who is Brazilian and a married lesbian.
Incidentally Dana W. White is black besides being a woman, a combination we haven’t seen prominently in the Trump orbit since Omarosa.
As I said yesterday in comment 29, Trump is going to pardon everyone. Everyone. Anyone who can spell Trump.
He said so last night on TV, 60 Minutes.
I get the award for most obvious prediction for this month.
This is just more corruption.
Without accountability and consequences, there is no Rule of Law. You simply have an out and loud kleptocracy.
We can’t let this go by without a struggle or it just happens again and again.
I mentioned the work arounds also in message 29.
It might be a good idea to just take the worst of the lot and extradite them to jurisdictions that do have a functioning legal system. The war criminals can to the Hague.
The mad boat bombers can stand trial in Venezuela, Columbia, and Ecuador.
This is the crookiest administration in US history.
And, ironically or maybe it is no surprise, the main base of Trump is fundie xians.
Well, that reminds me of some 90 years ago. The oath the then renamed Wehrmacht took. Instead of pledging loyalty to the country they had to take their oath to Schicklgruber personally. Hmmm…
And, ironically or maybe it is no surprise, the main base of Trump is fundie xians.
yes and all the anti-democratic right-wing racists and ignoramuses
Owen Jones has this new 15 mins long yt video – Be Afraid: Look Who Trump Just Made Chief Of Staff on Shadow POTUS Miller’s appointment.
If You Are Listening‘s Stephen Miller episode – Stephen Miller: Edgelord in Chief which is 22 mins long.
Plus a YT short summary here – Who is Stephen Miller? by NowThis Impact on how awful Miller is.
There was also another really good yt video I recall watching on Miller’s personal history and evolution but I can’t seem to find it again now..
(No, it didn’t start by was bitten and turned into a vampire back in 1930’s Germany…)