Well, President-elect Donald Trump certainly is off to a roaring start, isn't he? Ensconced at his Mar-a-Lago beach club with the richest man in the world glued to his side every moment, he's busy getting a whole new band together for his second term. Aside from his choice of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for Secretary of State, this time there's nary an establishment figure anywhere to be seen as he chooses his new Cabinet and White House staff. Trump is going directly to the lifeblood of MAGA and picking the most controversial, lib-triggering extremists he can find.

I mentioned his first group of nominees earlier this week, none of whom have anything to particularly qualify them for these jobs but who at least have some government experience behind them. The choice of Fox News celebrity Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense was the first inkling that this was about to go seriously off the rails.

Trump is going directly to the lifeblood of MAGA and picking the most controversial, lib-triggering extremists he can find.

-Heather Digby Parton in Salon.com