[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by SFL Cat

John Podesta, who is overseeing the Obama transition team, is a former Clinton White House Chief of Staff.

I'm not sure why this is a problem. It seems reasonable that a CoS from the most recent Democratic administration would have a big advisory role in this transition. There's a ton of nuts-and-bolts stuff to sort out.

Rahm Emmanuel, who will serve as Obama’s Chief of Staff, is a former Clinton aide.

Emmanuel is the pick because of his tactical legislative record in the House, not because of his ties to Clinton. You're seeing what you want to see here.

The president-elect’s choice for Attorney General, Eric Holder, served in the Clinton administration as deputy attorney general under Janet Reno.

Heaven forbid we pick someone who is qualified for the job.

Peter Orszag, who has been picked to head Obama’s Office of Management and Budget, worked at the Clinton White House as a special assistant to the president at the National Economic Council.

Again, a nuts-and-bolts job - it's a good idea to give it to someone who can hit the ground running and obviously you're not going to give it to someone from the Bush Administration. Plus, this is the guy who's run the CBO since 2007. Sounds like an ideal choice.

Robert Reich, Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Labor under Clinton, is a high-level economic advisor to Obama

Virtually every high-level advisor to Obama on important issues has been in the Democratic forefront for some time, so it's ridiculous to expect they wouldn't have some ties to Clinton. Besides, Reich in particular is defined as considerably more than just Clinton's former Secretary of Labor.

Bill Richardson, a former Clinton Secretary of Energy was considered for Secretary of State and seems to now be a leading candidate for Secretary of Labor

The guy who stabbed Hillary in the back to endorse Obama? This is your example?

Originally Posted by GreenMonster

Janet Napolitano top choice for Homeland Security Director - Former Arizona Attorney General appointed by Clinton

If you're going to disqualify every attorney general appointed by Clinton, you're going to disqualify a lot of really good candidates.

Tom Daschle tapped as Secretary of Health and Human Services - Former Senate Minority Leader and Clinton sock puppet.

Now you're just making shit up.

Face it, you guys are seeing what you want to see.


Besides, the fact of the matter with most of these appointments is that for these, at the highest organizational level, you want people with name recognition and connections, so they can get to work in Washington (or wherever their remit is) as soon as possible.

If you really want to see change, look at the lower level, the people who are going to do the work behind the scenes and the meritocrats who are actually going to run these organizations. Austan Goolsbee, Arne Duncan, Joel Klein, Valerie Jarrett, Robert Gibbs, etc....

I notice you both fail to mention Tim Geithner. Is the president of the New York Fed unqualified because he worked as an aide to both Robert Rubin & Larry Summers?

Or is he perhaps missing from your lists because you've copied those lists from right-wing blogs in the hours before Geithner was announced as the new Treasury Secretary?

Originally Posted by SFL Cat

Oh, he's something of a messianic figure now, no doubt. But imagine how much more he would be if he could claim, "Not only did I kick the a$$ of the Godless communists in Russia, I've also whupped the great Satan of the West, the USA, and driven them from Allah's land."

Afghanistan is "Allah's land"?