Many would view Mitt Romney’s selection as secretary of state as a betrayal.

Sure, bringing the former GOP presidential nominee and Massachusetts governor into the Trump cabinet could be a way to help heal divisions within the Republican Party. But, as Kellyanne Conway has said, it would be seen as an act of betrayal by Donald Trump’s political base. For Romney, landing the secretary of state’s job might be viewed as a way to serve his country, but it would be another dramatic reminder that Romney will do just about anything to get ahead politically.

Romney, who already has a reputation as one of the great political flip-floppers of all time, took what appeared to be a strong, principled stand against Trump in March. Romney ridiculed Trump’s business credentials, belittled his economic policies, and raised alarm bells about his refusal to release his tax returns. “Here’s what I know,” Romney said. “Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He’s playing the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat.”

Regarding Trump’s foreign policy views, Romney was equally strident. “Donald Trump tells us that he is very, very smart. I’m afraid that when it comes to foreign policy he is very, very not smart.”

Yet after Trump’s victory, Romney met with the president-elect at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ, where the two men reportedly discussed the secretary of state job. Now Romney and Trump are scheduled to have dinner together Tuesday night in New York City. No one is sure what’s going to happen, but the dance between Romney and Trump is prompting enormous speculation.

Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen says Romney is being used. Either Trump is playing with Romney the way a cat plays with a mouse, or he’s using Romney for his own political ends. “So courting Romney is a case of cruel, Machiavellian revenge, or mature, if slightly cynical statesmanship. Either way, it’s a setup,” Cullen writes.

Cullen’s colleague, Joan Vennochi, takes issue with Conway for suggesting that naming Romney as secretary of state would be seen as a political betrayal by Trump’s political base. Vennochi points out that Conway, who regularly trashed Trump when she was working for a political action committee that supported Ted Cruz, probably wouldn’t have landed her job as Trump’s campaign manager if he demanded loyalty from those who work for him.

The New York Times reports Conway’s comments were not those of a Trump aide gone rogue. Indeed, Trump issued a statement saying he had encouraged her to go public with her thoughts on hiring Romney. “She has always been a tremendous asset and that will continue,” the statement said.

BRUCE MOHL

 BEACON HILL

Gov. Charlie Baker downplays the notion that Donald Trump could penalize Massachusetts. (State House News)

Possession of pot may not become legal on December 15 after all, as prescribed in the ballot question overwhelmingly passed by voters this month, because the Governor’s Council may not certify the results by then, says Secretary of State Bill Galvin. (Boston Globe) The Legislature should consider only minor tweaks, not any wholesale changes, to the marijuana law, says a Globe editorial.

Attorney General Maura Healey seeks the dismissal of a Remington lawsuit challenging her right to seek documents from the gun manufacturer. (Masslive)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse cites recent homophobic attacks on him in a fundraising letter. (Masslive)

Jury selection has begun in the trial of a Hingham police officer charged with insurance fraud when he allegedly lied about the severity of injuries he received when he was struck by a car while on detail. (Patriot Ledger) The officer, Kris Phillips, was at the center of a battle in town involving the selection of a new police chief that was detailed in CommonWealth last year.

Protesters at a Westport Board of Health meeting demanded the resignation of two members in the wake of an animal abuse case in the summer at a controversial tenants farm where officials removed more than 1,400 sick and dead animals. (Herald News)

The Boston City Council is considering a proposal to levy a 5-cent charge on all disposable shopping bags. (Boston Herald)

Ashland Town Meeting voters placed a moratorium on retail marijuana outlets until the town comes up with zoning regulations for the prospective pot shops. (MetroWest Daily News)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

President-elect Donald Trump is taking the country into “uncharted territory” with his propensity for peddling demonstrably false claims, reports the Globe. A Herald editorial expresses exasperation with Trump, “who has pinballed from one bizarre outburst to another.”

Trump names Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, a strong foe of Obamacare, as his secretary of health and human services. (NPR)

Hampshire College, in Amherst, where protests against the American flag are the latest in a long tradition of left-wing activism, is presumably the inspiration for Trump to declare that flag-burners should have their citizenship taken away. (Boston Globe)

The bombing and misery in Aleppo get even worse. (New York Times)

Rep. Steve Lynch has thrown his support behind Rep. Tim Ryan’s challenge to Nancy Pelosi for House minority leader. House Democrats will vote today. (Boston Globe)

ELECTIONS

The citizen initiative process in Massachusetts, meant to curtail the influence of corporate interests, has itself become big business, with a whopping $57 million spent this year on campaigns to support or defeat the state’s four ballot questions. (Boston Globe)

Tanisha Sullivan was elected as the new president of the Boston NAACP, replacing outgoing chief Michael Curry, who served for six years. Former state senator Dianne Wilkerson, who served time in federal prison on corruption charges, lost her bid to be elected first vice president. (Boston Globe)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

The family-owned Century Bank and Trust is the only Massachusetts bank offering services to medical marijuana dispensaries, a problem that could vex the cash-heavy legal pot business set to bloom in Massachusetts. (CommonWealth)

Some nonprofit organizations are offering free culinary training which is helping fill a worker shortage in the restaurant and food industry. (Boston Globe)

The luxury housing market in Boston may have peaked, according to a new report. (Boston Globe)

EDUCATION

Suffolk University’s enrollment has been steadily falling with the churn in the president’s office, including the latest public spat between the former president and the Board of Trustees. But a spokesman attributes the decline to an effort to pare back the law school. (Boston Business Journal)

Masconomet Regional High School in Boxford is considering pushing back its current start time of 7:35 a.m. (Salem News)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

Coal miners, whose cause Trump has said he would champion, would lose crucial health care benefits related to black lung disease if the Affordable Care Act is repealed, as Trump has promised. (STAT)

TRANSPORTATION

Steven Kadish, the governor’s chief of staff, sits in on an executive session meeting of the MBTA’s Fiscal Management and Control Board. (CommonWealth)

The MBTA is preparing to privatize its call center. (State House News)

State-approved background checks for Uber and Lyft drivers are scheduled to start in January. (WBUR)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

A team of 20 experts sent by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission began a comprehensive inspection of the troubled Pilgrim nuclear power plant as protesters greeted them outside the Plymouth facility demanding the shutdown of the 44-year-old generator. (Cape Cod Times)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

Bristol District Attorney Thomas Quinn protested a judge’s decision to grant bail to a Wareham man arrested for allegedly driving drunk the wrong way on Interstate 195. Quinn wanted the man held without bail even though there were no injuries. (Standard-Times)

The family of a Belmont man killed seven years ago by a commuter train is frustrated by the state medical examiner’s refusal to reconsider its declaration that the cause of his death was suicide. (Boston Globe)

MEDIA

Time Inc. reportedly rejects a buyout bid from billionaire Edgar Bronfman Jr. (New York Post)

Media outlets are changing their views over the use of the term “alt-right” after numerous complaints from readers and viewers who say the name allows racists, bigots, homophobes, and misogynists to rebrand themselves with a benign monicker. (New York Time