This week, we asked readers their opinion on the nominations of former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, an election results denier, for the role of U.S. Attorney General, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., an anti-vaxxer, as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

 

“I think [President-elect Donald] Trump is bringing a lot of old inspiration back to America. Were those individuals charged with something? These are American-born people, right? So, I think that’s Trump’s angle. My problem with Trump is the way he goes about things. I think maybe he’s pulling on the heart strings of people and trying to get people riled up as opposed to actually trying to be a leader. I don’t think a lot of the conflict he’s causing is necessary. I believe Trump loves America.”

Javontae “Reverse” Feagin,

Manhattan resident visiting Kingsbridge

“Regarding the nomination of Bondi, she’s an election denier and I know the election results (from 2020) were correct and honest, so I don’t like her being chosen for any type of job in government. She shouldn’t have been an attorney general. The selection of RFK, Jr., is the most absurd selection. Just because his name is Kennedy doesn’t make him qualified to work in government. He doesn’t like vaccines and that’s crucial to our existence. So, I don’t like him either.”

Naomi Jiminez,

Norwood

“If you presume Trump won by popular vote, then you must presume America at this time trusts him, but there’s no doubt his cabinet picks will, in some ways, bring us back to the 1950s. Some other picks, like his SEC (Security & Exchange Commission) nominee can bring us into the 2050s by advocating Bitcoin as currency. What does it all mean? Maybe join current USA exile Ellen DeGeneres?”

Anthony Rivieccio,

Bedford Park

“Is this a part of Project 2025? It’s supposed to eliminate Social Security and SSI and all public benefits, and I heard a couple of days ago that it’s not going to be like that. It’s very hard for me to say something before I see a person’s performance. I already know what Trump has done. I know what he did on January 6th (2021), and as far as I’m concerned, people didn’t learn from it.”

Tommy Brown,

Jerome Park

 

“Marco Rubio is a typical neo con (conservative), pro-Israel warmonger and not a good guy. He is a swamp creature, and it shows that Trump and his shtick was just that. The [now-abandoned Matt] Gaetz choice [for U.S. attorney general] was a disgrace. Pam Bondi is actually pretty hot for a 59-year-old former Democrat, but I don’t know much about her.”

Socrates Palmer, Jr.,

Pelham Bay

 

Editor’s Note: According to a PBS news report dated Nov. 22, Bondi personally solicited a 2013 political contribution from Trump as her office was weighing whether to join New York in suing over fraud allegations involving Trump University. Trump cut a $25,000 check to a political committee supporting Bondi from his family’s charitable foundation, in violation of legal prohibitions against charities supporting partisan political activities.

 

According to the article, after the check came in, Bondi’s office dropped suing Trump’s company for fraud, citing insufficient grounds to proceed. Both Trump and Bondi denied any wrongdoing.

 

According to a Brookings Institute article dated July 2021, the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was created (by a person or group that remains unidentified to this day) as a way to conduct transactions without the intervention of a trusted third party, such as a central bank or financial institution, which is the way traditional financial transactions are performed.

 

According to the same article, its emergence amid the global financial crisis, which shook trust in banks and even governments, was perfectly timed. Bitcoin enabled transactions using only digital identities, granting users some degree of anonymity. This made Bitcoin the preferred currency for illicit activities, including recent ransomware attacks. It powered the shadowy darknet of illegal online commerce, much like PayPal helped the rise of eBay by making payments easier.

 

According to the ACLU, Project 2025 is a federal policy agenda and blueprint for a radical restructuring of the executive branch of the U.S. government, authored and published by former Trump administration officials in partnership with The Heritage Foundation. The latter is a longstanding conservative think tank that opposes abortion and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, and racial equity. Project 2025’s largest publication, “Mandate for Leadership,” is a 900-page manual for reorganizing the entire federal government agency by agency to serve a conservative agenda.