Since the election there’s been some concern (at least from those of us on the lower taxes/brutalize criminals* side of the isle) as to what kind of President BAM** is going to be. Will he govern center-left like he claimed during his campaign, or far-left like before he ran for President? Inquiring minds want to know. Actually, a lot of them stopped paying attention after Election Day…but I want to know!
And I’ll be honest, as I look at some of the names for Cabinet positions…there’s not really all that much to complain aboot. I know some of my conservative brethren are beefin’ aboot Eric Holder, but I’m personally indifferent.
There was also criticism of Rahm Emmanuel for being an “extreme partisan.” And that’s true, Rahm is an extreme partisan…as head of the DCCC where being an extreme partisan is a job requirement (as it’s supposed to be for the RCCC as well). Rahm in the Clinton Administration was a centrist who pushed for free trade and welfare reform.
But let’s look at some of the rest:
The economic team looks to be Tim Geithner at Treasury, Bill Richardson at Commerce, and both Larry Summers and Bob Rubin as top White House advisers. I’ve always been a fan of Richardson, and the other three have all been applauded by economic folks on the left as well as the right. The DOW jumped 500 points upon Geithner’s name. The only one of consequence who isn’t happy aboot Geithner seems to be Jim Cramer…and that just makes for some entertaining television.
For foreign policy you have Hillary Clinton at State, Jim Jones at the NSA, and Robert Gates staying at Defense. Clinton is more of a Hawk then some of the Republicans BAM was thinking of for the position. Jones was rumored to be in the running for Vice-President…then the next day unofficially endorsed John McCain and was an unofficial adviser on his energy plan (one of them may have even been the best man at the others wedding). And Gates is the current Sec. of Defense who did this weird thing where he held people accountable for fucking up.
(And as a side note, the fact that he replaced Don Rumsfeld in 2006 instead of in…oh, I don’t know…2003, is the source of great anger for us at JBdotC HQ)
(And as another side note, knowing that with every former Clintonite that gets appointed a piece of people like Chris Matthews and Andrew Sullivan dies inside, makes me feel a tingle down my leg I’ve never felt before)
Then there’s Janet Napolitano, a Governor from a border state, for Homeland Security. She’s for increased border security (though not “The Fence”), cracking down on employers who higher illegal immigrants, and creating an online database to help employers verify citizenship. Plus it’ll create a new Republican Governor (the AZ Secretary of State is an R), so that’s good too. 
I know criticizing every appointment the other guy makes is part of the game we play, and had it been President-Elect McCain you would have MSNBC, NYTimes, and all of the other Obama supporters nitpicking over every decision he made, much in the same way the right is doing to P.E. BAM now. But if we all take a step back, his picks have little to do with ideology (the source of most of our disagreements) as they have to do with experience and competence. There’s really not a whole heck of a lot to complain aboot.
At least for now…
*That was a Sideshow Bob reference, so please save the hate mail.
**I hope everyone else is having as much fun saying BAM as we are. My favourite is saying “BAMelot.”
Yes, but what happens when “Bam” orders Hil to throw Israel off the bus? Will she do a Colin Powell WMD volte-face or won’t she?!
The problem here, John, is whether these MOR picks are going to do what their consciences and personal histories suggest, or whether they are going to live and rule according to Obama’s dictates.
My feeling? They will do as they are told, albeit against every fibre of their being, because they would prefer being called hypocrites for trying to shore up an incompetent President to being known as racists who are trying to torpedo a black man’s rule!
I know, I know….I’m making too much of the race card; we shall know soon enough!