“How did we transform from champions of human dignity and individual rights into a nation of armchair torturers? One word: fear.
The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08
Dedicated to Advancing the Idea That the Other Side May Have a Point
Archive for the 'Obama's Cabinet' Category
NO TRANSITION WOULD BE COMPLETE WITHOUT A SNAG
January 5th, 2009, 9:56 am by Dan Lehr
So, sheesh, with all the tough questions for any job seekers within the administration - “do you have any embarassing e-mails?” - you’d think “are you the subject of a grand jury investigation” might make the list.
So B-Rich is out as Commerce Secretary.
I was beginning to get worried that we were going to have a scandal-free transition. Glad human nature came through, once again.
So who fills the spot now?
Steve Clemons says:
“Leo Hindery — who was senior economic advisor to the John Edwards campaign and then was an economic advisor to the Obama campaign as well and authored the interesting book It Takes a CEO — is a real stand out.”
Further reading: track the Richardson developments on this New Mexico politics blog.
What do you think?
SEPARATED AT BIRTH?
December 16th, 2008, 1:02 pm by Dan Lehr
A friend pointed this out to me.
On the left: Arne Duncan, Obama’s Education Secretary nominee.
On the right: that principal guy from ‘the Breakfast Club.’
NEW FACES FOR THE CABINET
December 16th, 2008, 11:14 am by Dan Lehr
Above: The President-elect announcing his energy & environment team, yesterday. (note: Al Gore’s in the mix, too.)
Read more about the team here, & about the looming challenges they face here. Read a positive review of Nobel-winning physicist Steven Chu (Obama’s pick for Energy Secretary) here.
Read skepticism over a complete energy policy makeover here.
Obama announced his Health & Human Services Secretary in Saturday’s radio address, which you can watch here.
Also, later this week: he’s expected to name Arne Duncan as Education Secretary (background here). Click here for a piece on why he’d be a good addition & here for a piece on why he wouldn’t.
& Colorado Senator Ken Salazar (oh-oh! another Senate seat open!) as Interior Secretary later this week; read more about that here.
SHORT SHRIFT FOR SOUTHERNERS?
December 15th, 2008, 9:52 am by Dan Lehr
On this, the anniversary of the release of ‘Gone with the Wind,’ Marc Ambinder points out the dearth of southerners in the incoming Obama cabinet.
UH-OH
December 10th, 2008, 4:44 pm by Dan Lehr
“It’s quite unsettling to talk to members of Barack Obama’s transition teams these days, especially those who are helping with the economics portfolio. Without going into details, the sense I get from them is that they are very worried that the economy will get a lot worse before it gets better. Not just worse… a lot worse.
SHINSEKI’S BACK
December 6th, 2008, 5:46 pm by Dan Lehr
The guy who got it right in predicting how many ‘boots on the ground’ were needed in Iraq - & who was promptly shown the door for saying so - is going to be Barack Obama’s Secretary of the VA.
In 2003, Eric Shinseki testified before Congress that in his estimate half a million troops total were needed.
That didn’t gibe with Donald Rumsfeld’s “smaller & smarter” vision for the U.S. military, & he was forced to turn in his resignation, despite ultimately being proven right.
Read Shinseki’s end of tour memorandum he wrote in 2003 shortly after turning in his resignation here.
BREAKING THE MOLD
December 4th, 2008, 3:30 pm by Dan Lehr
There’s a lot of ways to read into Obama’s recent choices for his cabinet; Marc Ambinder tries to find some commonalities, including this:
A WATCHED PHONE NEVER RINGS
December 3rd, 2008, 4:40 pm by Dan Lehr
Kinda sad - but kinda funny - post at the Washington Note, written by a person, according to Steve Clemons, “who really does deserve a very top spot in Obama Land but is sitting pensively waiting for a call while trying to pretend he/she is not:”
“…I wait in a state of suspended ambition. I too have the dreams featuring, in no apparent order, Vice President Elect Joe Biden, Secretary of State-designate Hilary Clinton and, yes, even the man himself, President-Elect Obama.
Sometimes in these dreams they offer me a job, and sometimes they say they can’t offer me a job because they can’t find my resume amidst the other 300,000 on www.change.gov. I wake in a cold sweat.
B-RICH AT COMMERCE
December 3rd, 2008, 12:33 pm by Dan Lehr
Obama taps the New Mexico governor for his Secretary of Commerce.
His remarks this morning, from Change.gov:
“Bill has never been content to learn just from briefing books — never satisfied with only the official version of the story. During his time in Congress, he held more than 2,500 town-hall meetings, so he could hear directly from constituents. He was a regular in the U.N. cafeteria, mixing it up with U.N. employees over lunch. And during his 2002 campaign for Governor, he actually broke a world record by shaking nearly 14,000 hands in just eight hours.
All of this reflects a determination to reach out and understand where people are coming from, what they hope for, and what he can do to help. This approach, I believe, has been the key to Bill’s success as a negotiator and will be key to his work on the critical functions of the Commerce Department — from administering our census and monitoring our climate to protecting our intellectual property and restoring our economic diplomacy.
.
Blogger Grumpy Old Man (a registered Republican) likes the pick:
& IT CAME TRUE, DIDN’T IT?
December 1st, 2008, 3:56 pm by Dan Lehr
THE NEW NATIONAL SECURITY TEAM
December 1st, 2008, 9:58 am by Dan Lehr
Obama’s unveiling them as we speak; look for the clip from that news conference in this post shortly.
Click here to read more about some of the people pictured above, & here to see which slots in the cabinet are filled.
Read what the AP’s saying about the news conference so far after the jump.
STICKING AROUND
November 26th, 2008, 8:04 am by Dan Lehr
From the Washington Post:
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is close to finalizing an agreement to remain at the Pentagon for at least the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency, providing the new commander in chief with a Republican in his Cabinet and continuity for a military waging two wars, according to Democrats familiar with the negotiations.
Some sources described a “rolling transition,” in which Gates would stay on during a phased changeover of key political appointees at the Pentagon. Others said he could stay in the job indefinitely. Under both scenarios, most of the deputies serving under him would be replaced, the sources said.”
We talked about this last week; click here to read reasons why this is a good move.
UPDATE: Steve Clemons of the Washington Note has a hunch as to Gates’ motives:
‘OWNING’ IRAQ
November 24th, 2008, 3:46 pm by Dan Lehr
The reasons behind Obama’s selection of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State are varied & multi-leveled.
Ross Douthat has spotted one of them:
DOES HE KNOW WHAT HE’S GETTING INTO?
November 24th, 2008, 12:36 pm by Dan Lehr
“In matters of foreign policy, it has been proved time and again, the Clintons are devoted to no interest other than their own. A president absolutely has to know of his chief foreign-policy executive that he or she has no other agenda than the one he has set. Who can say with a straight face that this is true of a woman whose personal ambition is without limit; whose second loyalty is to an impeached and disbarred and discredited former president; and who is ready at any moment, and on government time, to take a wheedling call from either of her bulbous brothers? This is also the unscrupulous female who until recently was willing to play the race card on President-elect Obama and (in spite of her own complete want of any foreign-policy qualifications) to ridicule him for lacking what she only knew about by way of sordid backstairs dealing. What may look like wound-healing and magnanimity to some looks like foolhardiness and masochism to me.”
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