Rise and shine!
Lots of reaction to the latest round of leaks and speculation, including Geithner at Treasury, Richardson at Commerce and Grijalva as Secretary of the Interior. Imagine my surprise when I read that my former Congressman from Arizona was under consideration for the top spot at the Department of the Interior!
Also, Desmond Tutu gives an interview to Democracy Now and the international media reacts to TurkeyGate.
The Wall Street Journal summarizes the reaction to Timothy Geithner as a potential Treasury Secretary:
At a time of crisis unmatched since the Great Depression, President-elect Barack Obama has put his faith in one of the world's most experienced financial crisis managers -- a man popular with the Wall Street leaders he's consulted with closely over the years, but a mystery to many traditional Democratic constituencies.
While Mr. Geithner's record on Wall Street is well-documented, his approach on other issues -- such as tax and trade policy -- is less certain. Generally, Mr. Geithner is seen as a pragmatist, cut out of the mold of two of his main mentors -- Messrs. Rubin and Summers.
Noam Scheiber at the New Republic says the Geithner pick is better than you think.
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The New York Times believes Obama's choices so far indicate a preference for "pragmatists rather than ideologues," and says of Geithner:
"He’s no liberal," said a former colleague at the Treasury Department, where he managed the American response to the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s.
At the time Mr. Geithner developed a reputation as the ultimate pragmatist, putting together a package of more than $100 billion in aid to halt the financial contagion. That turned out to be a training session for his role, a decade later, in the bailouts of Bear Stearns, A.I.G. and the injection of nearly $350 billion in Congressionally authorized money, whose exact use has become something of a political football.
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Daniel Gross at Slate says it is a strong pick and that Geithner has been "a sort of community organizer for the financial world":
Geithner, whom I've met briefly, is a creature of the establishment. But he manages to be an establishmentarian without exhibiting self-importance and arrogance. To a degree, then, he's the un-Summers. And while previous treasury secretaries drawn from Wall Street may have called their colleagues for updates on business conditions, Geithner relies as much on charts drawn from a Bloomberg machine. Which makes him, to a degree, the un-Paulson.
What do you think of the Geithner pick? For my part, I plan to reserve judgement until I see all these players in action and how they carry out Obama's policies.
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Meanwhile, the folks at the Nation - who weren't happy with the Holder pick - are still not happy:
Not a single, solitary, actual dyed-in-the-wool progressive has, as far as I can tell, even been mentioned for a position in the new administration. Not one. Remember this is the movement that was right about Iraq, right about wage stagnation and inequality, right about financial deregulation, right about global warming and right about health care. And I don't just mean in that in a sectarian way. I mean to say that the emerging establishment consensus on all of these issues came from the left.
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The Washington Post Editorial board is encouraged:
President-elect Barack Obama's picks thus far are experienced, capable, smart and pragmatic.
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Richardson would prefer Secretary of State, but sources say he will "settle" for Commerce Secretary:
Even though Bill Richardson wanted to be secretary of state, Obama insiders believe he will accept secretary of commerce if and when he is offered the position.
Obama sources said the cabinet post is not a done deal, but Richardson is clearly Obama's top choice for commerce.
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Gus West, the chairman of the Hispanic Institute, has praise for the Napolitano pickin the San Francisco Chronicle:
President-elect Barack Obama's selection of Gov. Janet Napolitano as Department of Homeland Security secretary is change, and change at this agency significantly impacts Latino and immigrant families.
and:
She is an advocate for increasing the number of worker visas and for working with the Mexican government to remove incentives for forced migration. Should she be nominated and confirmed as secretary, we hope it sends a signal that immigration reform is a priority for the new administration.
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Edward Alden at the Washington Post also thinks Napolitano will bring a lot of credibility to the immigration issue:
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a skilled hand at handling border issues who is widely believed to be Obama's choice for secretary of homeland security, has a rare opportunity to get immigration policy back on track -- to improve our security without sacrificing our openness.
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Several media outlets are reporting that Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva may be chosen as Secretary of the Interior:
Grijalva is an up-and-comer who recently became co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Espino, sharing Obama's liberal vision on public land policy. He also carries little baggage as a politician, worked on the presidential campaign and hails from a Western state where land issues are crucial.
I am very familiar with Grijalva and have seen him speak many times in Tucson. I am actually pretty surprised that he would show up on Obama's radar, but regardless, I think this would be a great pick:
Environmental leaders were thrilled at the prospect of Grijalva assuming the secretariat. Mining, ranching and other land-use industry representatives expressed dismay.
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Joe Conason at Salon says Get over it, Clinton Haters:
Whatever the merits of any of the president-elect's particular personnel choices, he has hardly betrayed the faith of his supporters -- and in fact has displayed the very character and maturity that they always attributed to him. To say the least, he has showed that he cannot be swayed from exercising his own judgment by the petty backbiting of Washington at its worst.
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And, Tim Rutten at the Los Angeles Times looks at the task ahead for Obama and Clinton in the Middle East:
A close associate of Olmert's recently told the New York Times that the outgoing prime minister "is part of a group of onetime rightists who now seek a negotiated two-state solution largely because [they recognize] a change in Palestinian attitudes."
Obama and Clinton ought to move quickly to seize the opportunity. The flexibility to achieve moral progress through change is one of the characteristics of liberal democracies like the United States and Israel.
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The Obamas have made the much-scrutinized decision about their daughters' schooling, according to the AP:
President-elect Barack Obama and his wife have chosen Sidwell Friends School for their two daughters, opting for a private institution that another White House child, Chelsea Clinton, attended a decade ago.
Joe Biden's grandchildren also attend the same school. Now the media can turn their attention to the very important question of where the Obamas will attend church.
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Desmond Tutu gave an interview to Democracy Now's Amy Goodman this week and I especially smiled at his exclamation in explaining Obama's victory:
AMY GOODMAN: Your response to the election of the first African American president, a son of an African man from Kenya?
ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU: Yippee! No, "yippee" actually—it captures something that is almost inevitable. It’s very close to the kind of feelings we had on April the 27th, 1994. And some, maybe a few people in this country, have said it was as it was with Mandela—Mandela moment. It’s a moment when especially people of color have a new spring in their step. They can walk a great deal taller than they used to.
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And on a totally different note, the international media seems pretty amused by Palin's TurkeyGate. This quote from the Daily Telegraph (Australia):
The Alaskan governor, whose election campaign was punctuated by blunders, could not resist trying something 'fun and different'.
But in perhaps her worst faux pas yet, she floundered through questions on the price of oil and the economy, while the gruesome scene over her shoulder made the unremarkable event of Thanksgiving in Alaska seem absurd.
Hehe.
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So what's on your mind this morning? What's your opinion of the latest transition leaks?
Oh, and my husband (who is currently serving his country in the military) received a letter today that his vote was thrown out. Supposedly someone challenged his absentee ballot and election officials "determined" that the signature on his ballot did not match the signature on the absentee ballot application - even though he signed them both. I would love to know how many other voters also had their votes discarded like this... I can't even describe to you how angry it makes me.