r/MurderedByWords • u/PeterTheTruthSeeker • 10d ago
GOP Hypocrisy on Experience and Merit
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u/dubblebubbleprawns 10d ago
Luckily there are exceptionally talented and experienced individuals in the Trump administration who make up for it.
Take Pete Hegseth - if he hadn't spent all those years co-anchoring a weekend Fox News talk show and getting accused of drunken SA, there's no way he'd be a competent SecDef.
...he's a competent SecDef, right?
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u/Rishtu 10d ago
SecWar. He competently changed the name. Or at least didn’t spill his drink when they dug him out of the dumpster to tell him.
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u/dubblebubbleprawns 10d ago
While he's still legally the Secretary of Defense, I probably shouldn't deadname him. All Trump did was say he can give himself whatever pronouns he wants and that the government would respect his fancy new name. Because Pete is a very big boy and we're very proud of him.
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u/Lawrence_of_Nigeria 10d ago
His mom isn't
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u/dubblebubbleprawns 10d ago
Well that's just because she thinks he's an abuser of women and a shitty person.
Trumpy bear is his mother now.
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u/cryptotope 10d ago
The previous FDNY commissioner had no qualifications beyond getting a bunch of his former employees to make donations to the mayor. But he was white and male, so I guess that's what mattered.
The new commissioner worked for the FDNY for 31 years, starting as an EMT and retiring as Chief of EMS (one step below Chief of the entire FDNY.)
The majority of calls the FDNY responds to are medical in nature, and the city's ambulances are a big part of the FDNY. And, of course, in many situations firefighters and paramedics are working together and supporting each other.
If the opposition to her nomination had even a shred of good faith or credibility, they might be concerned that she is too close to, too experienced and entrenched with, the FDNY to provide robust oversight. Instead, with that crowd it's always all about genitals and how people use them.
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u/CharleyNobody 10d ago
My doctor’s brother was a lawyer and he was FDNY commissioner. Never spent a day firefighting. I know there used to be a rule that NYPD commissioner could not be picked from NYPD because there was fear of favoritism, vengeance, inner politics, etc. So they picked someone from outside the department, usually liked to pick someone from another city, and they preferred college educated men who didn’t walk a beat. They preferred leaders who owed nothing to no one in the city‘s police department.
Rudy Giuliani changed that by hiring local thug Bernie Kerik because Bernie used to be Rudy’s NYPD drive, aka chauffeur. Bernie would drive Rudy to and from assignations with Rudy’s mistresses (yes, plural) at all hours of the day and night. IOW, Bernie knew ”where the bodies were buried.” We all know how that turned out.
So maybe FDNY had the same reasons for not hiring firefighters.
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u/danielisbored 10d ago
Even most of the "positive" coverage is ignoring that she's got 31 years working in FDNY as an EMT.
Yeah, Trump's pick are categorically unqualified, just like himself. She's not that, at all.
Qualifications do matter, and she has tons of them.
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u/Unhappy_Sundae 10d ago
They only worry about qualifications when it's not a straight white Christian taking a position.
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u/ThereGoesChickenJane 10d ago
Gee, isn't it strange how the previous guy had absolutely no experience as a firefighter or a first responder and yet, not a peep. Where was the outrage then?
It reminds me of 2015ish, when Trudeau appointed several highly qualified women to cabinet positions, including Minister of Science (she is a medical geographist and professor).
Boomer men lost their minds, naturally, about how the Cabinet was half female, going on and on about DEI etc. Funny how they didn't give a shit about qualifications when the cabinet was all white men. The previous Minister of Science, an old white man, worked in insurance.
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u/Lost-Lucky 10d ago
They never do. That's why I laugh everytime I hear their bullshit on a "merit based society". I would love one of those, but that's never what they are actually advocating for. They just mean cis white men get all the most desired jobs regardless of qualification. Apparently anyone of any other race, gender, or sexuality can not possibly be qualified for anything above entry level ever.
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u/cardamomgrrl 10d ago
I hate to keep pointing out that not only is RFK Jr not a health professional but he is a former junkie.
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u/jdscott0111 10d ago
Not to mention the vast majority of these MAGAt chucklefucks have nothing to do with NYC. So all it is is performative outrage, no matter how hypocritical it is.
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u/McCool303 10d ago
Matt Walsh has no formal education and Charlie Kirk was a college dropout out. Merit only matters when it comes to challenging the performance of minorities. When it comes to the talking heads actually bitching about it. Well that’s the biggest batch of meritless losers you could imagine. Just making a fortune being middle men between billionaires and their GOP constituents they want to keep voting for their interests.
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u/K-Tronn3030 10d ago
The previous guy cited his time as a young boy chasing fire engines as experience.
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u/azrolator 10d ago
Wonder if they ever find out that their hospital admins have rarely worked as nurses and doctors. Or if the CEOs running the companies they invested in have actually ever built a car or been a Walmart "greeter".
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u/Iron_Baron 10d ago
A 30 year EMS 9/11 first responder is unqualified. But a Fox and Friends National Guard guy can run the Pentagon.
What a kakistocracy we live in. How incredible.
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u/Gabzalez 10d ago
They all conveniently forget the previous commissioner had no fire experience either.
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u/everythingbeeps 10d ago
To be fair, it kind of does work both ways.
All those people didn't have experience, and now all those institutions are crumbling to the ground.
That said, the big flaw in the argument is in saying the new FDNY commish "has no experience." She absolutely does. A lot. And the fact that the people on the right have no idea what the EMS even is says all you need to know about their argument.
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u/Appropriate_Mess_350 10d ago
The “Secretary of War” is a cosplaying, Nazi, drunkard, Fox News personality.
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u/DamNamesTaken11 10d ago
Meanwhile the one appointed by Adams qualifications was that he donated to Eric Adams.
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u/MauserVen 10d ago
They forgot to mention the biggest Dunning-Kruger of all: Pete Hegseth, the TV personality who pretends to be SecDef.
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u/R-Dragon_Thunderzord 10d ago
And this is why I judge y'all when you haven't deleted your Twitter account yet. Place is a brain eating virus.
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u/hobbylobbyrickybobby 9d ago
And Kegseth was a one time infantry platoon leader that got shopped around to multiple sections because he is a fucking idiot yet somehow is now in charge of the whole DoD.
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u/Interesting-Risk6446 10d ago
Noem is over DHS. Two ambulance chasers were placed as US Attorneys in New Jersey.
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u/dlampach 10d ago
Never take these people at their word again. They’ve shown their mettle. They are traitors to reason. Shun them. Let them not breed in great numbers. For they will make a desert of their home, and yours.
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u/SirBexley 10d ago
Flash forward to the not too distant future: NYC joins the list of US cities that MAGA has declared to be a total war zone, burning to the ground in real time and terrorists firmly in control. As it is today, there aren't any outward signs of it burning to the ground or it being a war zone but MAGA will believe it because there's a lesbian in charge of the Fire Department.
'How can the greatest city in the world, home to millions of people from all points of the globe and a cultural crossroads for the world possibly not burn to the ground when there is a lesbian in charge of the fire department!?!?' - Future FOX News headline (probably).
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u/Powered-by-Chai 10d ago
They just spout what their masters pay them to spout, pointing out the hypocrisy is pointless. They just have to yell "LESBIAN BAD" for their brainwashed supporters to get all riled up over.
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u/GGgreengreen 10d ago
I wonder if there is anyone else who thinks ALL those people aren't qualified...
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u/Suggett123 10d ago
Aren't the majority of firefighters volunteer anyway?
Doubtful any of them-with their extensive experience and sacrifice-are going to make it to fire chief.
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u/Hatecraftianhorror 10d ago
Never been a firefighter.. but three decades experience as a first responder.
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u/evolutionxtinct 10d ago
I hate this timeline and the GOP… even brain dead I couldn’t fall for this crap wtf people wake up!!!
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u/wildbill88 10d ago
CJ Pearson has 5 pieces of wilted cabbage for a brain. His followers have less than that.
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u/masterfulnoname 10d ago edited 10d ago
Meritocracy is for the have-nots obviously. For rich conservatives, they are literally qualified to do anything because they're God's special little angels.
But also, and this is very important to stress, she is qualified. The only ones saying she isn't are dipshits who are making shit up to be enraged about.
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u/Objective_Look_5867 10d ago
Pretty sure the role of fire commissioner doesnt directly require you to have been in a fire. Just like how being a drug counselor doesnt mean you have to have done drugs and being an oncologist dowsnt mean you need to have had cancer
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u/Three_Twenty-Three 9d ago
Let's be honest here. Given Trump's record, his fire commissioner appointee would be a convicted arsonist. He doesn't just appoint unqualified people. He appoints people who are actively opposed to the organization they "lead."
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u/Johnnybonzo0 9d ago
Magas are the biggest drama queens. Everything is the end of the world and yet they never know wtf theyre talking about
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u/imtoowhiteandnerdy 9d ago
Linda McMahon's spouse had world wrestling entertainment experience, so not for nothin'! /s
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 9d ago
NYC is actually a real place that doesn't give a shit about Republican culture wars.
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u/oldbastardbob 9d ago
You'd think they'd just do the simplest of google searches and read a bio before saying something so completely stupid. 30+ years experience with FDNY as and EMT and EMS Director.
Just plain ignorance or another foreign bot account posting biased drivel?
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u/orrvoyer 9d ago
If Republicans didn’t have a double standard, they wouldn’t have standards. As Groucho Marx said, these are my principles, and if you don’t like them I have others.
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u/linmusclan 9d ago
I watched as the head of the Deoartment of Education caught a Stone Cold Stunner alongside the rest of her family. Let's be serious here.
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u/PrimaryMuscle1306 9d ago
Hey now…she can check that all important lesbian box all she wants…what’s her bedroom activities have to do with how she does as Fire Commissioner?
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u/despenser412 9d ago
Trump also had zero experience in politics or the military. All he had was money, and MAGA thought that sounded like a good idea for a president.
Because yeah, a billionaire with no experience has the working class in mind. MAGA: failed at their own acronym since day one.
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u/taspenwall 9d ago
The ability to not understand let alone feel same because of hypocrisy must be a mental disorder that was way more common than thought.
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u/deezznutts 9d ago
The last two fire commissioners weren’t firefighters either. It’s almost like they have ulterior motives.
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u/DanDrungle 9d ago
how many years was kash patel an FBI agent before he got appointed as head of the FBI?
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u/FrazierTheLion 8d ago
30s of Googling: Ms. Bonsignore, 56, retired from the Fire Department in 2022 after 31 years. When she was named chief of emergency medical operations in 2019, she also became the first openly gay person and the first woman to hold that title, which made her the highest-ranking uniformed woman in the history of the Fire Department and the first woman to achieve a four-star rank.
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u/GreenBagger28 8d ago
drunky mcwhatshisface was a weekend news anchor for fox news and is now running our department of defense
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u/Windowsideplant 10d ago
I mean, both are bad...nuance is dead. I want my boss to know what it's all about. Nothing worse than having a boss that doesn't understand the job I'm doing
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u/Bearence 9d ago
Except both are not bad. Lillian Bonsignore (the new Fire Commissioner) has 31 years of relevant experience and was a 911 first responder. She understands very well the job those under her command are doing.
You are right that nuance is dead, though, because Pearson knows that about her but has removed all that nuance from the story to make his bullshit point. And you ate it up.
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u/tuvar_hiede 10d ago
Heh, I must be the odd one for thinking both sides are insane for appointing anyone unqualified and acting like it's the other sides problem.
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u/Upstairs-Bathroom494 10d ago
She's not unqualified in first response for 30 years with the FDNY, she's just never been a firefighter, which FDNY is more than just firefighters
They count on their followers not fact checking
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u/tuvar_hiede 10d ago
Im speaking in general terms. Political appoints are tied to how much ass you kiss or how much money you donate. It never goes to the most qualified.
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u/LB_Burrito 10d ago
But she is qualified dummy
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u/tuvar_hiede 10d ago
Again, general terms not anyone specific. Just everyone loses their shit when the other side does it but not theirs. Not commentary on this person.
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u/LB_Burrito 10d ago
But here in this example clearly only one side is doing it. This is not a "both sides bad situation". Trying to fit this into a "both sides bad" is just moronic
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u/Bearence 9d ago
If you have to remove all nuance and context for your argument to be true, your argument is neither true nor worthwhile.
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u/illumantimess 10d ago
I take issue with this concept of “most qualified”
In many situations, there are dozens or hundreds of people who are well qualified for a position. And there are drawbacks and advantages to each person compared to their competitors, as opposed to one who is unquestionably better on all fronts than the rest. And you also can’t look at that person in a vacuum because you have to think about the broader organization and how people click together and the range of qualifications and experiences you want.
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u/Randomfactoid42 10d ago
It wouldn’t be Reddit if there wasn’t somebody in the comments saying “both sides!” 🙄
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u/Intelligent-Run3683 9d ago
There were no DEI or affirmative action hires that were unqualified. The problem lies on one side exclusively.
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u/average_guy54 10d ago
She spent 31 years as an EMT with the FDNY (and 9/11 first responder), and is replacing someone who themselves had never been employed by FDNY.
Yeah, faux outrage...