Not even in my boldest of spirits could I have stomached hearing some of my erstwhile allies on the left proclaim that the spectacle of a United States thrown into chaos was tonic for the soul.

These are the people who decided that America needed to have a long hard look at itself, and celebrated Trump’s election because of it. They pronounced – with a certain want of gallantry – that they were willing to see the keys to the Oval Office handed over to a capricious huckster and chauvinist if it meant teaching a lesson to the venal establishmentarians of DC. After all, demonstrating that Washington is corrupt to the core is the highest of all moral and political principles, according to them.

If you are able to dig through the nihilism of this position and excavate the canard at its core, you will find what is offered as a “silver lining”: that the Trump victory will necessitate a “shake-up” of American politics. That the absolute calamity of an administration of misfits, cynics, and anti-establishment types will force Americans into recalibrating their political system, and somehow that will be advantageous to the left. That somehow Trump’s disaster will end up the ironic key to unlocking the door to a more progressive political future.

But of course the hostage that was sold to fortune in this credulous way now lies in the dumpster with his throat cut. The administration being prepared by President-elect Trump is actually a salad of some of the most fanatical elements of the Republican Party and its most well-to-do. It’s set to be the wealthiest in history, made up of hedge fund billionaires, former Wall Street bankers, and others who have lived dauntlessly from the fat of the land.

Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didn’t know the air conditioner didn’t work and sweated like dogs, and they didn’t know the room was too big because they didn’t have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me —and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY

Since he was elected, Trump has given presidential benediction for some of the most senior offices in the land to an objectionable cast. Nominated for the honourable position of Attorney General – that is, the chief law enforcer of the United States – is Jefferson Sessions, a rather uncouth chap whose former colleagues have sworn in a court of law that he used the “n-word” and once glibly intoned that he thought the Ku Klux Klan were “OK, until I learned that they smoked marijuana.”

After being picked by President Reagan to serve as judge on the US District County for Southern Alabama, Sessions made a failed bid to prosecute three voting rights activists who were working to increase African American voter turnout and registration.

Other appointments include Kathleen “KT” McFarland – another Reagan-era acolyte and Fox News commentator – as Deputy National Security Advisor, and Tea Party cheerleader Mike Pompeo as director of the CIA. Pompeo has proclaimed that he “looks forward” to “rolling back” the Iran nuclear deal, a historic monument in diplomacy that was achieved after years of arduous talks which brought the promise of slowly normalising relations with Iran.

And of course, the survey would not be complete without acknowledging the Catholic-inspired zealotry of Vice President Mike Pence who, with divine permission, has signed every anti-abortion bill that has landed on his desk as governor of Indiana.

Alec Baldwin mocks Donald Trump's tweeting

These politicians and pundits, while an unsavoury bunch, have been part of “the establishment” for decades, serving in the main legislative and judiciary organs of the United States’ government. The only difference is that previously, they were compelled to stay on their best behaviour by the noble conventions and norms attained through struggles for civil rights.