...selecting Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, selecting Defense Secretary Robert Gates to remain as Secretary of Defense, nominating Eric Holder as Attorney General, nominating Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, nominating Susan Rice as Ambassador to the United Nations and selecting General Jim Jones, USMC (Ret) as National Security Adviser.
While this looks suspiciously like a Clinton 2.0 team, it could, apparently, be worse. Gates is a genuine bright spot, but he's about it. Conservative talk show host and blogger extraordinaire Hugh Hewitt puts it this way:
Conservatives should acknowledge that this is as strong a team as they have a right to expect having lost the election.
Of course, there are some major problems, from our side of the aisle. We've already discussed how Eric Holder, Obama's AG, has a historical leaning toward censorship, but there's more. For one thing, Susan Rice had a major hand in letting Osama bin Laden run free in the mid 1990s:
The FBI, in 1996 and 1997, had their efforts to look at terrorism data and deal with the bin Laden issue overruled every single time by the State Department, by Susan Rice and her cronies, who were hell-bent on destroying the Sudan," one-time Clinton diplomatic troubleshooter Mansoor Ijaz told radio host Sean Hannity in 2002.
Richard Miniter, author of the book "Losing bin Laden," concurred, saying Rice played a key role in scuttling the deal that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.
In November 2003, Miniter told World Magazine that while Sudan was anxious to turn bin Laden over to the U.S., Rice - then a member of Clinton's National Security Council - questioned Khartoum's credibility.
Richard Miniter, author of the book "Losing bin Laden," concurred, saying Rice played a key role in scuttling the deal that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.
In November 2003, Miniter told World Magazine that while Sudan was anxious to turn bin Laden over to the U.S., Rice - then a member of Clinton's National Security Council - questioned Khartoum's credibility.
Another major red flag is a lesser-publicized appointment, Samantha Power (one of Obama's Cabinet of the Crooked):
Power is openly hostile to Israel, and supports arming Palestinians to make war against it. The fact that Power has been appointed to any position in Obama's administration is disturbing.According to the Associated Press, Power is part of a team of foreign policy experts tapped by President-elect Obama to help ease the transition at the State Department — the agency Clinton is expected to head up.
Power is also formally listed as part of the State Department agency review team on the president-elect's official Web site.
Napolitano has taken a few measures to reduce illegal immigration in Arizona, but only on the surface. Putting her in charge of homeland security when she doesn't appear willing to take the steps necessary to plug the gigantic security hole of illegal immigration doesn't exactly inspire confidence. And, finally, of course, we have the elephant in the room: Hillary Clinton. Though she does bring a certain gravitas to the position, she -- like Joe Biden -- has been wrong on national security issues more than she's been right. She voted for the war in Iraq (and, to my knowledge, never reversed her position), but she opposed the surge and has been on the bandwagon to wave the white flag of surrender ever since. And, of course, there's this:
Reporter to Obama: Um, didn't you belittle Hillary's foreign policy cred during the primaries?
Sure he did, but you can't hold him to things he said in the heat of battle. Remember, this is a guy who lied repeatedly on the stump about a pillar of American trade policy and then climbed down as soon as it was safe to do so. BS-ing about his contempt for Hillary's qualifications is small potatoes by comparison.
Sure he did, but you can't hold him to things he said in the heat of battle. Remember, this is a guy who lied repeatedly on the stump about a pillar of American trade policy and then climbed down as soon as it was safe to do so. BS-ing about his contempt for Hillary's qualifications is small potatoes by comparison.
Remember, what was said on the campaign trail didn't matter. I'm sure we'll learn more as these people begin to actually implement policy and make real changes.
Peter Kirsanow sums it up by suggesting that bad picks aren't made better simply because the alternatives would be even worse. That's a good way to put it. The real problem, of course, is the permanent appointments: federal judges. This is where Obama could really do lasting damage.
For now, I suppose it could be worse. But not much.
Elections matter.
There's my two cents.
Sources:
http://realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com/2008/12/01/obama-announces-natl-security-team/
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/g/3e22875e-98e6-40e9-a13f-40f70a7ba16b
http://hillbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/the-most-dangerous-woman-in-the-world-will-indeed-be-part-of-obama-white-house/
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/11/obama-nominates-osama-bungler-to-un.html
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/12/01/reporter-to-obama-um-didnt-you-belittle-hillarys-foreign-policy-cred-during-the-primaries/
http://www.theresmytwocents.com/2008/11/censorship-is-on-way.html
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Mzk2NTdmNWZjODJhOWQ4ZTNkMmI0MWRlOWIwZGEyMjk=
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