Obama's Cabinet
| Fri Nov. 21, 2008 2:10 PM PST
OBAMA'S CABINET....The New York Times says Hillary Clinton has decided to become Barack Obama's Secretary of State. New York Fed chief Tim Geithner will head up the Treasury. So far, then, Obama's cabinet looks like this:
State: Hillary Clinton
Treasury: Tim Geithner
Defense: Robert Gates (maybe)
Attorney General: Eric Holder
Health & Human Services: Tom Daschle
Homeland Security: Janet Napolitano
Whatever else you can say about this crew, there's not much question that Obama is assembling an extremely experienced and competent set of advisors. This is a team that can definitely hit the ground running.
On a related topic, I guess this means I have to eat my hat. After my trip to the Genius Bar this afternoon I shall search the local bakeries for a chocolate cake shaped like a hat and report back to you on how I fare.
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Comments
I think we all expect to see photo(s) of said cake and the consumption ceremony. Of course I wouldn`t expect you to have to follow through on this until the details are official.
"...it`s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine..." - REM
Napolitano is "extremely experienced and competent" in the area of homeland security issues why now?
On the rest of them, I agree entirely. I'm particularly happy with Geithner, who appears to be a very bright and energetic guy.
Arizona doesn't have many ports and harbors to secure, and we're not too worried about someone blowing up the Grand Canyon, but thanks to Spy Cam Jan, our citizen surveillance is top notch!
"extremely experienced and competent?"
YMMV
Complaining about Gov. Napolitano over at Pandagon led to quite a heated discussion, which concluded with Rahm Emanuel and soap.
It's Pandagon, a nutball site led by bigoted anti-liberal democrats, so I wasn't expecting much, but I figured someone was threatening have Rahm Emanuel wash people's mouth's out with soap.....
I have no idea why Kevin would have Pandagon on his blogroll. Bigotry is bigotry even when the bigots are claiming its okay because their motives are good.
At least it isn't Summers for Treasury. Don't know much about Geithner yet.
Bad news: it's suggested (NYT) that Summers will remain a "key economic advisor". Makes sense only if Obama views it like using Willy Sutton as a bank security consultant. Summers: "That's the bullshit I was touting Mr. President. As recent events make clear, you should never listen to anyone with ideas like that."
Bring Roubini back to the CEA, and get Stiglitz and Setser too.
"I guess this means I have to eat my hat."
Like the Chesterton character, whose name escapes me, what you really need to do is to wear an edible item (such as a cabbage leaf) for a week, and then when it is accepted to be a hat, eat it. Chocolate, which melts just around the human body temperature, wouldn't work!
Submitted by Blue Girl (not verified) on Fri Nov. 21, 2008 5:17 PM PST.
How is this change, especially if Gates remains at Defense.
My hunch is that he wants to appoint one of the Generals that retired shortly before or after Bush took office (there were several, most prominent among them Wes Clark and Anthony Zinni) but there is a reg in place that requires a military person be out of uniform for ten years before taking that position. Why not keep a guy who is doing a competent job and has no desire to stay for the entire term rather than settle for a second or third choice, or worse, change the pentagon leadership twice in a short period of time?
Submitted by Blue Girl (not verified) on Fri Nov. 21, 2008 5:22 PM PST.
Mark, she was part of the prosecution team that convicted the domestic terrorists McVeigh and Nichols for the OKC bombing. That counts in my book, and the law enforcement and intel people I talk to think that the threat level from that type of terrorism is higher than that of Islamists.
Submitted by Blue Girl (not verified) on Fri Nov. 21, 2008 5:25 PM PST.
Alaska, Nevada, and Arizona
Alex, what are three states that I would never have set foot in without official orders?
Submitted by Blue Girl (not verified) on Fri Nov. 21, 2008 5:32 PM PST.
Hi Jerry! How the hell you been? I agree it's beautiful - but after a career of missile bases scattered throughout the empty parts of the country, I will stay in my inner city coop on three transit lines and never drive a car again if I can get away with it...I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate long stretches of empty desolate roadway. If I never drive down another one in my life, it will be too soon.
With me it's the opposite, having experienced only the beautiful parts of Alaska and only for a too brief period of time, I just get terribly jealous of people who move there.
A decade or so ago, the LA Times Science Writer started telecommuting from Alaska. Could there be a better job and job location?
Anyway, I'm doing okay after a summer learning about what good medical insurance is all about. But I've had to cut way down in the blogs I read because my blood pressure couldn't take it anymore. (not true, but sounds better than the truth.)
Newsbusters (via Slashdot so no stoning please) has a video of Eric Holder advocating for "reasonable restrictions" of the net after Columbine.
That doesn't sound great. Holder views are defended by Eugene Volokh here: http://www.volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_11_16-2008_11_22.shtml#12272...
Volokh disagrees with Holder and thinks some of what he suggested is unconstitutional, but thinks there is an argument that Holder's views are moderate and constitutional restrictions on speech.
After 8 tears of pure undiluted incompetence and strife, the thought of a competent President and Cabinent that actually solves problems instead of creating more and more difficult ones may take more than abattery change to comprehend!!!
When your two most recent models to draw on are Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton picking competent if moderate pragmatists as opposed to outsiders or a cabinet that looks like America seems to be a pretty good idea.
Submitted by Bruce Temkin (not verified) on Sun Nov. 23, 2008 6:46 AM PST.
In my blog "Customer Experience Matters," I make the case for President-Elect Obama to appoint a Citizen Experience Officer.
