Before acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell entered government, he had a different career path: spin doctor, hired by a range of foreign clients.
Richard Grenell wrote an op-ed about Nigeria’s highly charged 2015 presidential race, a move that drew notice from Nigerian media. A year later, Grenell defended the government of Moldova against corruption allegations from a whistleblower who, Grenell argued, was a Russian operative bent on destabilizing an Eastern European country trying to move toward the West.
For a while at least, until they all have to sign “Loyalty Oaths” to Dear Leader promising to never criticize him on pain of losing their broadcast licenses.
The noteworthy thing about Trump appointees is not that they’re ignorant as dirt and incompetent (which of course they are). Hell, you can take a dog and train it, or for that matter, a random person selected out of the phone book to do an important job might be ignorant and inexperienced, but at least he or she is more than likely willing to learn, and to act in good faith.
No, the abiding characteristics of the Trump appointee are that they are vicious, always act in bad faith, and possess the mentality of a vandal who likes wrecking things for its own sake.