MY DREAM CABINET

The polls make it clear Americans – Republicans especially – are disgusted with political insiders.

There’s something to be said for political experience. But as neurosurgeon Ben Carson – one of three outsiders at or near the top of the polls noted: “There is more than 9,000 years of political experience in Congress. Look where it’s gotten us.”

We’ve learned through bitter experience that what matters most in a public officeholder are intelligence, courage, and character –little of which are in evidence in Washington D.C. these days.

And an outsider president could compensate for his or her lack of experience in government by assembling a Cabinet for the ages. My dream Cabinet would consist of:

* John Bolton or Condoleeza Rice as Secretary of State. Condi was a disappointment the first time ‘round, chiefly because she’s a lousy administrator. But she’s a brilliant woman, a Russian expert, an attractive spokeswoman for America.

Bolton is brilliant too, and tough as nails. He has the administrative skills Condi lacks. My preference would be to have Condi out front, Bolton as Deputy Secretary actually running the place.

*Duncan Hunter as Secretary of Defense. The long time chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and former Army Ranger is just the guy to restore order, direction and morale to a bloated Pentagon that has gone badly awry. (His son, Duncan D. Hunter, is his successor currently in the House.)

*Rick Perry as Secretary of Homeland Security. Who better to build the wall, accelerate deportation of violent felons among illegal immigrants, and to crack down on “sanctuary cities” than the man who for 12 years was governor of the state with the longest border with Mexico?

*Mitt Romney as Secretary of the Treasury. He wasn’t the right candidate for president in 2012, but he’s perfect for this job.To clean up the awful – and rapidly worsening – economic mess we’re in, Mitt will need a lot of help from:

* Mitch Daniels as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Purdue University president, former Indiana governor, and former Reagan budget director. We’ve got to clamp a lid on wasteful federal spending. No one could do this better than Mitch.

*New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or New Mexico Gov. Susanna Martinez for Attorney General. Christie was a U.S. attorney before being elected governor, Martinez a state prosecutor. Both are tough enough to clean up the cesspool the Obama Justice Department has become.

*Bobby Jindal as Secretary of Health & Human Services. Arguably the biggest Augean stable a new administration will have to clean up is the Obamacare mess at HHS. Inarguably, the man most qualified to man the hoses (or divert the river) is the current Louisiana Governor.

With the possible exception of Sen. Ted Cruz, Jindal is the smartest Republican in politics. He was Secretary of Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals at age 25, an Assistant Secretary at HSS at age 30. He served in Congress before being elected governor in 2007.

*Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for Secretary of Labor. While others have talked the talk better, no one has walked the walk better. No one is better qualified to do – or more likely to succeed at – reining in federal public employee unions the way he did public employee unions in the Badger state.

Perhaps the greatest threat to our democracy is a federal civil service that has become a Mandarinate, relentlessly increasing its perks and privileges, shielding itself from accountability, callously treating the people it is supposed to serve. Scott Walker is perhaps the only person in America who can convert “public servant” from an oxymoron to the truth once again. There is no more important job.

There are other important Cabinet posts. Fortunately, there are many qualified people on a deep Republican bench to fill them. I’m thinking in particular of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who has drawn well-deserved praise for how she’s handled the Charleston church shooting, the Confederate flag flap, and the recent flooding. But there are others.

If a President Carson or Fiorina – or even a President Trump – takes advantage of the enormous pool of talent available, he or she will have a successful administration despite their own lack of experience in government.

And just imagine my Dream Cabinet with a President Cruz.

Jack Kelly is a former Marine and Green Beret, and was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force during the Reagan Administration. He is the national security writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.