Ablogination

Time to take a look at the Obama cabinet as it stands. Overall there is obviously a problem, but in fairness, each pick should be assessed on an individual basis.

Reuters Fact Box gives us the generic, depth-deprived rundown.
We’ll give you the reality….

SECRETARY OF STATE

* Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama’s former Democratic Party rival for the White House, was named to the top diplomatic post. The move is seen as part of Obama’s effort to rebuild America’s reputation abroad. Aides have said Obama admires Clinton’s work ethic and also believes the former first lady’s star power would boost his vision of improving America’s global standing.

Obama’s first and worst choice. There are few positions if any that are as important, especially at this time, in our nation’s administration. And Obama fell flat on his face.

Hillary Clinton is an awkward specimen with no more experience in diplomacy than the average house wife.
Coming in behind the worst SoS in history is going to require more than the ability to throw a tea party and commit to smile and wave parades.
Clinton’s credibility is virtually zero after the Bosnia Betty lies and the latest revelation that her wife, Bill, has taken donations from numerous gubberments and blood splattered corporations like Blackwater Security.
They took money from India. How does that translate into diplomacy with Pakistan? They took money from the Saudi Royals. How does that sit with the average Arab, particularly the Shia who control Iran and Iraq?
The biggest chicken hawk hypocrite in the Democratic party and he makes her the Sr. Diplomat?

We warned you, Barack. The Clinton’s will waste no time in undermining your presidency. They want the White House and will work against you constantly behind your back.
This was a major mistake. One I hope the entire nation doesn’t live to regret.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

* Current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, named by President George W. Bush in late 2006, is considered a moderate voice on the Republican’s national security team and embodies an important signal of continuity. Obama had said early on he would include Republicans in his Cabinet and the 65-year-old Gates has been lauded by members of both parties since taking over the Pentagon from Donald Rumsfeld.

Gates is a Republican, a NeoCon, and what’s worse, he’s still loyal to BushCo. Jack Reed or Chuck Hagel should have been offered this position and Gates stay on until his office is transitioned.

TREASURY SECRETARY

* Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, is Obama’s choice for the Treasury Department, making him Obama’s point person in dealing with the economic crisis. Geithner has helped lead efforts to stabilize financial markets and argued that banks crucial to the global financial system should operate under a unified regulatory framework.

Went to Dartmouth, young and enthusiastic, any replacement for BushBot, Henry Paulson, will be an improvement.

HOMELAND SECURITY

* Janet Napolitano, the Democratic governor of Arizona, was named to head the U.S. Homeland Security Department, a sprawling agency formed to bolster civil defense following the September 11 attacks.

First, the DHS is a useless waste of tax dollars and should be dissolved. Having said that, if we’re going to have a useless agency, Janet Napolitano could at least try and make it useful.
Unlike Michael Chertoff she is not (that we know of) a Nazi.
Probably as competent a choice as possible, we will have to wait and see if she continues Chertoff’s assault on liberty and record of failure in securing our borders.
Her exit from Arizona will also leave that state wide open and in Republican hands. Her veto pen will be missed there.

NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL

* Lawrence Summers, 53, has been chosen to head the council. He was treasury secretary for the final 1-1/2 years of the Clinton administration and has been a senior adviser to Obama for several months, helping to guide his response to the financial meltdown.

This is probably a good choice.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

* Retired Marine Gen. James Jones, the former top operational commander of NATO, was named by Obama to be his national security adviser. Jones is widely respected by both Democrats and Republicans and has avoided aligning himself with either party but is known to have been a strong critic of the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq war.

Jones wouldn’t be an issue if not for the fact that he would have been McCain’s pick also.
Jones and McCain are good friends. That doesn’t make Jones a bad choice, it do leave much to be desired of his taste in friends though.
Gotta keep a close eye on this cat. Real close.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

* Eric Holder, a former Justice Department official in the Clinton administration, will run the Justice Department. Holder has been a senior legal adviser to Obama’s campaign and helped vet his vice presidential candidates.

This appointment is a mistake. Why? Eric Holder is a sleazy kinda guy, that’s why. First we have the Marc Rich pardon, which Bill Clinton is guilty of and Holder an accessory.
In 1983, financier Marc Rich was indicted for evading more than $48 million in taxes, and charged with 51 counts of tax fraud, as well as running illegal oil deals with Iran during the 1979-1980 hostage crisis. During his last week in office, President Bill Clinton pardoned Rich, who had fled the U.S. during his prosecution and was residing in Switzerland. Clinton’s eleventh-hour move, along with pardons of his half-brother, Roger, and former business partner Susan McDougal, outraged Republicans and Democrats alike. The Rich pardon prompted an investigation into the possibility it was bought by the hefty donations Rich’s ex-wife, Denise, had given to the Clintons and the Democrats. In the end, investigators did not find enough evidence to indict Clinton.

Then, we have Holder’s association with the Chiquita Corporation. And the Death Squads they employed.
In 2004, Holder helped negotiate an agreement with the Justice Department for Chiquita Brands International in a case that involved Chiquita’s payment of “protection money” to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a group on the U.S. government’s list of terrorist organizations.In the agreement, Chiquita’s officials pleaded guilty and paid a fine of $25 million. Holder represented Chiquita in the civil action that grew out of this criminal case.

John Kerry should have been offered this position.

SECRETARY OF ENERGY

* Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics, is Obama’s choice for secretary of energy. Chu was an early advocate for finding scientific solutions to climate change and guided the Lawrence Berkeley laboratory to become the world leader in alternative and renewable energy research.

This is an excellent choice. Period.
Someone with a brain for a change.

SECRETARY OF INTERIOR

* Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado, who once practiced as an environmental lawyer, was named to head the Interior Department. The son of Americans of Mexican descent, he is one of two Hispanic people named to Obama’s Cabinet. He will be a key member of Obama’s energy team who would oversee the leasing of federal lands for oil and gas drilling.

Another huge mistake. Salazar’s voting record is an essay in BushCo/NeoCon appeasement. A DLC Jellyspine, Salazar has voted against Democratic, progressive legislation consistently.

Salazar voted against increased fuel efficiency standards for the U.S. automobile fleet, voted to allow offshore oil drilling along Florida’s coast, voted to allow the Army Corps of Engineers to ignore global warming impacts in their water development projects, voted against the repeal of tax breaks for Exxon-Mobile, voted to support subsidies to ranchers and other users of public forest and range lands, threatened to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when its scientists determined the black-tailed prairie dog may be endangered and fought efforts to increase protection for endangered species and the environment in the Farm Bill.

Salazar also endorsed William Myers III as Federal Judge. Myers was a former Interior Department Solicitor and lobbyist for the ranching industry. Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., called him ‘’the most anti-environmental candidate for the bench I have seen in 37 years in the Senate.” Bizarrely, Salazar praised Myers’ “outstanding legal reasoning” regarding endangered species, Indian affairs, federal lands and water, timber, and fish and wildlife issues. The American Bar Association rated Myers as “not qualified.” Salazar later supported Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General, introducing him at his Senate confirmation hearing. (HT to “blindpig” at DU)

COMMERCE SECRETARY

* New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, 61, a former U.N. ambassador and energy secretary during the Clinton administration, had been an early supporter of Obama after dropping his own presidential ambitions. Richardson is of Hispanic origin.

This pick is both good and bad. Good because Bill Richardson is a great guy and a highly experienced leader. Bad because he should have been Sec. of State.

As long as he’s there.

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT COORDINATOR

* Carol Browner, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration, was named to a new position coordinating White House policy on energy, climate and environmental issues. The new position was expected to spearhead climate change policy.

Browner has more experience than anyone in the nation and a pair of big brass ones to boot.
Good choice.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR

* Lisa Jackson has served as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection in New Jersey and was named to hold a similar U.S. position in the Obama administration. Jackson worked at the EPA for 16 years at the headquarters in Washington and in New York City.

No problem there.

SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

* Shaun Donovan, the head of New York’s housing department, was nominated by Obama to run the department charged with providing affordable housing to all Americans. Donovan worked in the department under former President Bill Clinton and has focused his career mainly on affordable housing issues.

Good.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

* Tom Daschle, a key early supporter and savvy former U.S. Senate leader, was selected by Obama as secretary of health and human services. The high-profile selection signals that the push to extend health coverage to the 46 million uninsured Americans will be a high priority for Obama.

Can’t help but think that there would be a more high profile role for Tom Daschle, but what the hell. He’s a good dude and will serve his country with honor as he has always done.
Daschle, on the receiving end of Dick Cheney’s famous “go fuck yourself” comment on the Senate floor, has a long history of, get this, intelligent decision making.

SECRETARY OF EDUCATION

* Arne Duncan, head of the Chicago public school system, is Obama’s pick for secretary of education. Duncan, a fellow Harvard graduate and longtime friend of Obama’s, has earned a strong reputation at the helm of the country’s third-largest public school district, tackling problems including teacher quality and failing schools.

Classic case of Obama giving a “buddy” a job. Duncan is one of Obama’s bestest buddies, so he’s a good pick for Barack. But he’s a bad pick for education.

Read Greg Palast sometime….
Duncan is not an educator. He’s a Lawyer.
Oh, he’s been in the educational system. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley charged him with the task of cleaning up the national disaster called the Chicago Public School system. And from bad to worse it went.
What’s really interesting? Barack and Michelle sent the First Rugrats to the Laboratory School where Duncan’s views are considered dangerous to the learning establishment.
Obama doesn’t trust ol’ Slam Duncan with his kids but he trusts him with ours?
Duncan is backed by teacher-union busting Republicans. Duncan’s biggest fan? David Brooks, the New York Times’ Republican columnist.
Why? Simple. Duncan is a staunch supporter of No Child Left Behind. The already failed Bush policy.

If you open your eyes and see dark, Barack. That’s because you have your head up your ass.

SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE

* Tom Vilsack, a former governor from the major U.S. farm state Iowa, is Obama’s choice to be agriculture secretary. Vilsack backs tighter farm subsidy rules and new-generation biofuels. One of his major issues as governor was bringing more high-tech agribusiness to Iowa.

Tom Vilsack is a moderate but actually a damn good pick for this post.

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION

* Rep. Ray LaHood, a Republican, has been offered the job of transportation secretary, a senior Democrat told Reuters. LaHood hails from Obama’s home state of Illinois and is said to have a rapport with the president-elect. LaHood is expected to accept the Cabinet position, the Democratic official said.

Hood is a Republican. ‘Nuf said.

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

* Mary Schapiro, a veteran financial market regulator, is Obama’s pick to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Schapiro currently leads the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business with the U.S. public. She is a former SEC commissioner and former chairwoman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

May work, my not. Who is this person anyway?

SECRETARY OF LABOR

* California Democratic Rep. Hilda Solis, 51, has been chosen to lead the Labor Department, a Democratic official said. Solis, who represents a Southern California district made up largely of Hispanic and Asian voters, is among the most liberal members of the U.S. House of Representatives and has taken a lead on both environmental and labor issues.

Solis is an excellent choice. Labor will get results and get them quick. Solis is the first genuine Liberal appointed to the Obama cabinet.
:D

U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

* Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk has been selected to be U.S. trade representative, according to a person familiar with the decision. Kirk, a partner at the Houston-based law firm of Vinson and Elkins, is little known in Washington trade circles and became Obama’s pick after his first choice, Rep. Xavier Becerra, a California Democrat and member of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, turned down the job.

Probably not a bad choice, but Barack Obama has bad trade policies to begin with so it’s basically a wash.
Free Trade is bad for the American worker and the country in general. Beyond that fact, it doesn’t really matter who’s in charge.

Basically, we have Obama picking his cabinet on a tit-for-tat basis. A NeoCon here, a Jellyspine there, a Left-Leaner or two as a cynical diss to those who voted him into power.

We can only hope that the President Elect’s actions and decisions post-inauguration will reflect far more courage and honesty than his pre-inauguration choices have.

Seven bummers, ten bright spots, a few in-betweens….
Could be a lot better.