Barring some cataclysmic shift in the next few weeks, the next four years are going to be absolutely nauseating. If you thought the media had truly just become tougher and more willing to press issues over the last four years, their response to Biden announcing who he wants to nominate for Secretary of State will dispel you of that notion. But come on, no one actually thought the media were going to keep up their opposition footing without Trump in the White House.

Apparently, Biden wants to nominate his long-time aide Antony Blinken to the top diplomatic position in the nation. That led to an avalanche of puff pieces and swooning within the media-sphere.

“The selection of Blinken as America’s top diplomat signals Biden’s aim to place experienced people in key cabinet posts.”

This sentence would not have stood out before 2016, it likely would not have been written at all actually. https://t.co/IQGyLzV9nZ

— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) November 23, 2020

The New York Times also wrote a glowing piece labeling Blinken as a “defender of global alliances.” In reality, Blinken is going to cause a sigh of relief in Iran, as he’s completely status quo when it comes to Democrat views of the Middle East and foreign policy. You can also expect our European friends, most of which despised Trump because he actually tried to make them contribute to their own defense, to be really excited about the prospect of returning to business as usual.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Washington D.C. without a bit of corruption and influence peddling in the mix. Blinken is essentially what you’d expect out of a Biden pick for a top cabinet position. He’s well entrenched in the muck of the beltway, enriching himself via an overnight created consulting group which did work for Google and Facebook.

WestExec Advisors, Blinken and Michele Flournoy's strategic consultancy, had an unusual lease that could be broken with no penalty if Blinken and Flournoy got jobs in the next administration. I guess there's good DC real estate on the market nowhttps://t.co/CXrJU918wM

— David Dayen (@ddayen) November 23, 2020

Per this 2017 @FastCompany piece, Biden’s reported choice for Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, has advised both Facebook and Google. https://t.co/mmUmoU8mTu https://t.co/2SDAeVipQm pic.twitter.com/UUdUFknEkj

— Deepa Seetharaman (@dseetharaman) November 23, 2020

I’m sure this will all work out really well. Because what our government needed was more influencing by big tech companies that already contain far more power than is healthy for a society.

Meanwhile, Susan Rice is on board, which is about the worst endorsement anyone seeking the position of Secretary of State could get.

⁦@ABlinken⁩ been my dear friend and close colleague for over 25 years. He will make a superb Secretary of State and do our nation proud. Competence, decency, strength, and respect for our career professionals are coming back to @State. #GoTony https://t.co/qOpzCg5CY1

— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) November 23, 2020

I guess the silver lining is that Rice herself won’t be Secretary of State, but there’s no doubt in my mind she will be in the administration. I expect her to be appointed as a close advisor and to play the same pivotal role that Ben Rhodes did for Barack Obama. She can perhaps be even more influential in that position.

Biden’s administration is going to hurt the country. There’s no getting around that. Keeping the Senate, while important, will not stop all the damage that his executive appointments will do. Israel is going to play nice because they have no choice, but the newly formed Arab-Israeli alliance is on shaky ground now. But the group most happy about the Blinken appointment (and Biden in general) are the Chinese. They are about to get everything they wanted, from bending the knee over the pandemic, to a renewed dominance of trade that allows them to keep growing richer and stronger. That is going to be something this country pays the price for not just in the next four years, but for decades to come.

(Please follow me on Twitter! @bonchieredstate)