In the wreckage of this week's news, it's encouraging to watch the Obama Administration taking shape with an emphasis on extreme competence (no heck-of-a-job Brownie in the lot).
Today's New York Times describes it as "tilting toward the center, inviting a clash of ideas," but the left-right analysis seems less to the point than the question of getting things done as transition team members "believe that the new administration will have no time for a learning curve."
Starting with the choice of Rahm Emanuel, a can-do guy if there ever was one, the new President clearly intends to surround himself with brains and real-world experience rather than like-mindedness and loyalty.
That was reflected in the leak yesterday about the new Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, a pragmatist with deep experience, whose choice sent the stock market into euphoria. As America's face to the financial world, he will represent steady resolve compared to former Treasury chief Lawrence Summers, a bombastic figure Obama considered putting back into the job, who will likely end up in the White House as a senior economic adviser.
After such choices as the new Attorney General Eric Holder, Peter Orszag as Budget Director and Greg Craig as White House Counsel, conservative David Brooks calls the new Obama team "more impressive than any other in recent memory...open-minded individuals who are persuadable by evidence...admired professionals" who are "not excessively partisan" and "not ideological."
How does Hillary Clinton fit into this picture? She certainly would not blend into the Obama woodwork, but there is something more at stake in her choice as Secretary of State. For those who have become unsure about American values, she would make the Bush-Cheney worldview look like the aberration it has been and reassure continuity of our good intentions and good sense.
As with all of Obama's other choices, personal loyalty would be beside the point.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Wall Street Life Preserver
A stock market starving for reassurance bounced up 500 points late this afternoon on reports that Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, is going to be Barack Obama's Treasury Secretary.
For a look at what he will bring to the crisis, a piece by Noam Scheiber in the New Republic is a good place to start, reporting an almost picture-perfect combination of the kind of intelligence, judgment, temperament and experience for that crucial position.
Wall Street was in need of a life preserver to keep from drowning in panic, and the Administration-to-be threw out one that should buoy investors up, through the weekend at least.
So much for the theory of releasing only bad news on Friday nights.
For a look at what he will bring to the crisis, a piece by Noam Scheiber in the New Republic is a good place to start, reporting an almost picture-perfect combination of the kind of intelligence, judgment, temperament and experience for that crucial position.
Wall Street was in need of a life preserver to keep from drowning in panic, and the Administration-to-be threw out one that should buoy investors up, through the weekend at least.
So much for the theory of releasing only bad news on Friday nights.
Making Scenes and Making Laws
As pop culture goes gaga over teenage vampires, Washington's idea of infusing new blood is a Congressional coup with 69-year-old Henry Waxman wresting chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee from 82-year-old John Dingell.
Such generational change is stirring hopes on the left and fears on the right that Detroit will be pressured to stop making gas guzzlers as a start toward energy independence that could help the economy and slow global warming.
But the difference between the new chairman's Hollywood constituency, which feeds on trends like popcorn, and Washington, where inertia is a way of life, should give pause to those reading too much into the ascendance of Waxman, whose rise to power has been marked by championing such causes as expanding Medicaid coverage for children, helping AIDS patients and making generic drugs widely available.
But he is no Frank Capra hero, constantly grabbing attention with such stunts as horning in on the Valerie Plame publicity and hauling Roger Clemens in front of TV cameras for alleged steroid use.
In the Bush years, Waxman has had ample opportunity to strike poses, but how will he do at making deals that lead to legislation?
The Wall Street Journal is convinced that "Mr. Waxman, speaking for the upscale precincts of Beverly Hills, wants to phase out coal and cars that use gasoline. The coastal elites who now dominate Democratic politics will happily trade the blue collar for the green collar...It's obvious who now pulls the Democratic levers of power, and anyone in the energy or health-care business had better erect the barricades."
Nice imagery for a Hollywood movie, but how will it play out in Washington?
Such generational change is stirring hopes on the left and fears on the right that Detroit will be pressured to stop making gas guzzlers as a start toward energy independence that could help the economy and slow global warming.
But the difference between the new chairman's Hollywood constituency, which feeds on trends like popcorn, and Washington, where inertia is a way of life, should give pause to those reading too much into the ascendance of Waxman, whose rise to power has been marked by championing such causes as expanding Medicaid coverage for children, helping AIDS patients and making generic drugs widely available.
But he is no Frank Capra hero, constantly grabbing attention with such stunts as horning in on the Valerie Plame publicity and hauling Roger Clemens in front of TV cameras for alleged steroid use.
In the Bush years, Waxman has had ample opportunity to strike poses, but how will he do at making deals that lead to legislation?
The Wall Street Journal is convinced that "Mr. Waxman, speaking for the upscale precincts of Beverly Hills, wants to phase out coal and cars that use gasoline. The coastal elites who now dominate Democratic politics will happily trade the blue collar for the green collar...It's obvious who now pulls the Democratic levers of power, and anyone in the energy or health-care business had better erect the barricades."
Nice imagery for a Hollywood movie, but how will it play out in Washington?
George W. Bush's Impossible Achievement
As he serves out his time, the self-styled Decider is putting Americans through the most agonizing period of indecision in three-quarters of a century, leaving a unified nation holding its breath until January 20th.
Paul Krugman cites today's parallel with the "power vacuum" in 1932-1933 that was "disastrous for the U.S. economy, at least in part because the outgoing administration had no credibility, the incoming administration had no authority and the ideological chasm between the two sides was too great to allow concerted action."
George W. Bush has spent eight years using the power of an imperial presidency to make government impotent and has succeeded so well that Congress is helpless to do anything about saving a failing economy until he leaves Washington.
His Treasury Secretary has disbursed almost half of the $700 billion bailout money he begged for and, with the crisis worsening, has gone into hiding until he can get out of town.
Congressional Democrats are tap-dancing for time by castigating drowning Detroit auto makers for not flying tourist class while checking airline schedules for their own two-month vacations.
Meanwhile, Wall Street keeps sinking to new lows daily, credits markets are freezing up again and the rest of America is facing a holiday season of deep despair.
Bush's crowning achievement is that he will leave the White House, having united the country, in fact the whole world, in a universal hunger for government to do something, anything but what he has been doing and not doing during his tenure in office.
The minute Barack Obama takes the oath, there will be a huge sigh of relief heard around the globe.
Paul Krugman cites today's parallel with the "power vacuum" in 1932-1933 that was "disastrous for the U.S. economy, at least in part because the outgoing administration had no credibility, the incoming administration had no authority and the ideological chasm between the two sides was too great to allow concerted action."
George W. Bush has spent eight years using the power of an imperial presidency to make government impotent and has succeeded so well that Congress is helpless to do anything about saving a failing economy until he leaves Washington.
His Treasury Secretary has disbursed almost half of the $700 billion bailout money he begged for and, with the crisis worsening, has gone into hiding until he can get out of town.
Congressional Democrats are tap-dancing for time by castigating drowning Detroit auto makers for not flying tourist class while checking airline schedules for their own two-month vacations.
Meanwhile, Wall Street keeps sinking to new lows daily, credits markets are freezing up again and the rest of America is facing a holiday season of deep despair.
Bush's crowning achievement is that he will leave the White House, having united the country, in fact the whole world, in a universal hunger for government to do something, anything but what he has been doing and not doing during his tenure in office.
The minute Barack Obama takes the oath, there will be a huge sigh of relief heard around the globe.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Obama's Women
With the Hillary Clinton melodrama still unfolding, the news today is about two women heading for the Obama cabinet--Janet Napolitano as head of Homeland Security and fund-raiser Penny Pritzker for Secretary of Commerce.
Gov. Napolitano of Arizona won reelection in John McCain's home state by a nearly 2-1 margin in 2006 and, during her years as a US attorney, was involved in the investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing. Her new job could position her to run against McCain for the Senate in 2010.
Ms. Pritzker, on the other hand, is a Chicago billionaire with no previous political experience but much in the field of commerce as a member of one of America's least-known richest families.
My final years as editor of McCalls were spent working for her uncles, who bought the magazine as a minor investment in the 1970s and were astonished to find themselves on the front pages of the New York Times. "Welcome to the information industry," I told them by way of explanation.
Their niece may be similarly surprised if and when she faces Senate confirmation and finds herself being grilled about her stint with the Superior Bank of Chicago, another minor family subsidiary that made headlines by being embroiled in a subprime mortgage mess two decades ago. But her career in business and philanthropy will no doubt override that minor embarrassment.
Meanwhile, along with the appointment of Karen Kornbluh as his chief policy director and longtime family friend Valerie Jarrett as White House senior adviser, Barack Obama has made a good start at surrounding himself with powerful women, no surprise for a young man who was reared by a strong grandmother and chose an even stronger wife.
Update: Ms. Pritzker late today announced her withdrawal from consideration for the Commerce position. As I recall, her family always hated getting too much attention to their business dealings.
Gov. Napolitano of Arizona won reelection in John McCain's home state by a nearly 2-1 margin in 2006 and, during her years as a US attorney, was involved in the investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing. Her new job could position her to run against McCain for the Senate in 2010.
Ms. Pritzker, on the other hand, is a Chicago billionaire with no previous political experience but much in the field of commerce as a member of one of America's least-known richest families.
My final years as editor of McCalls were spent working for her uncles, who bought the magazine as a minor investment in the 1970s and were astonished to find themselves on the front pages of the New York Times. "Welcome to the information industry," I told them by way of explanation.
Their niece may be similarly surprised if and when she faces Senate confirmation and finds herself being grilled about her stint with the Superior Bank of Chicago, another minor family subsidiary that made headlines by being embroiled in a subprime mortgage mess two decades ago. But her career in business and philanthropy will no doubt override that minor embarrassment.
Meanwhile, along with the appointment of Karen Kornbluh as his chief policy director and longtime family friend Valerie Jarrett as White House senior adviser, Barack Obama has made a good start at surrounding himself with powerful women, no surprise for a young man who was reared by a strong grandmother and chose an even stronger wife.
Update: Ms. Pritzker late today announced her withdrawal from consideration for the Commerce position. As I recall, her family always hated getting too much attention to their business dealings.
Health Care in a Sick Economy
As jobs disappear and economic anxiety spreads, the incoming Congress is showing signs of getting serious about health care reform, and the entrenched health insurers are signaling their willingness to negotiate.
Two trade groups, America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, are saying they would guarantee coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions, if they can get a mandate for individual coverage by everyone, sick or well.
This "concession" comes as seven senators responsible for health legislation met yesterday and promised to work together--Democrats Max Baucus, Chris Dodd, Ted Kennedy and John D. Rockefeller IV along with Republicans Michael Enzi, Charles Grassley and Orrin Hatch.
The imminent appointment of Tom Daschle as Obama's point man on the issue is another sign that the failing economy is putting more pressure on Washington to create a health care safety net for everyone just as the 1930s produced Social Security for the old.
Without limits on predatory premiums and safeguards against fraud by providers, guaranteed coverage would do nothing to solve the crisis in which one out of every three dollars spent on health is going to insurers' overhead and profits.
But at least the issue is on the table, and the Wall Street Journal is sounding the alarm about a "slow-motion catastrophe" that might "add tens of millions more people to the federal balance sheet. Because the public option will enjoy taxpayer sponsorship, it will offer generous packages to consumers that no private company could ever afford or justify. And because federal officials will run not only the new plan but also the 'market' in which it 'competes' with private programs--like playing both umpire and one of the teams on the field--they will crowd out private alternatives and gradually assume a health-care monopoly."
Sounds something like the approach of a single-payer system, which rational observers have been urging all along, but nothing could be worse than what we have now
Two trade groups, America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, are saying they would guarantee coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions, if they can get a mandate for individual coverage by everyone, sick or well.
This "concession" comes as seven senators responsible for health legislation met yesterday and promised to work together--Democrats Max Baucus, Chris Dodd, Ted Kennedy and John D. Rockefeller IV along with Republicans Michael Enzi, Charles Grassley and Orrin Hatch.
The imminent appointment of Tom Daschle as Obama's point man on the issue is another sign that the failing economy is putting more pressure on Washington to create a health care safety net for everyone just as the 1930s produced Social Security for the old.
Without limits on predatory premiums and safeguards against fraud by providers, guaranteed coverage would do nothing to solve the crisis in which one out of every three dollars spent on health is going to insurers' overhead and profits.
But at least the issue is on the table, and the Wall Street Journal is sounding the alarm about a "slow-motion catastrophe" that might "add tens of millions more people to the federal balance sheet. Because the public option will enjoy taxpayer sponsorship, it will offer generous packages to consumers that no private company could ever afford or justify. And because federal officials will run not only the new plan but also the 'market' in which it 'competes' with private programs--like playing both umpire and one of the teams on the field--they will crowd out private alternatives and gradually assume a health-care monopoly."
Sounds something like the approach of a single-payer system, which rational observers have been urging all along, but nothing could be worse than what we have now
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Rivals, Retreads and Other Irrelevance
As he picks Rahm Emanuel, Eric Holder, Tom Daschle and flirts with the former First Lady, there is a predictable chorus of criticism that going back to the Clinton years is not the change Barack Obama promised in his campaign.
Some of that was heard when he chose Joe Biden as his running mate, but Obama's goal all along was to persuade voters wary of his inexperience that the best of the past would not be swept away in rhetorical enthusiasm for the new.
He is fulfilling that promise and concentrating on the real change from the Bush-Cheney years, bringing competence back to Washington, wherever he finds it--in the over-touted Lincolnesque "team of rivals" or in the best of the 1990s.
Holder, the new Attorney General who served under Janet Reno, will have the monumental job of restoring Justice to its pre-Ashcroft, pre-Gonzales stature, as he indicated in a speech last June, citing that "disrespect for the rule of law is not only wrong, it is destructive in our struggle against terrorism."
"Our government," he said, "authorized the use of torture, approved of secret electronic surveillance against American citizens, secretly detained American citizens without due process of law, denied the writ of habeas corpus to hundreds of accused enemy combatants, and authorized the use of procedures that violate both international law and the United States Constitution."
Obama's apparent willingness to consider keeping Robert Gates on as Secretary of Defense is based on Gates' capable performance following Don Rumsfeld's ideological reign in the Pentagon, and there may well be places in the new administration for Colin Powell, Chuck Hagel and other able Republicans.
So far, Obama's choices have reflected well on his judgment about the judgment of those who will be helping him, regardless of their resumes. January 20th can't come a minute too soon.
Some of that was heard when he chose Joe Biden as his running mate, but Obama's goal all along was to persuade voters wary of his inexperience that the best of the past would not be swept away in rhetorical enthusiasm for the new.
He is fulfilling that promise and concentrating on the real change from the Bush-Cheney years, bringing competence back to Washington, wherever he finds it--in the over-touted Lincolnesque "team of rivals" or in the best of the 1990s.
Holder, the new Attorney General who served under Janet Reno, will have the monumental job of restoring Justice to its pre-Ashcroft, pre-Gonzales stature, as he indicated in a speech last June, citing that "disrespect for the rule of law is not only wrong, it is destructive in our struggle against terrorism."
"Our government," he said, "authorized the use of torture, approved of secret electronic surveillance against American citizens, secretly detained American citizens without due process of law, denied the writ of habeas corpus to hundreds of accused enemy combatants, and authorized the use of procedures that violate both international law and the United States Constitution."
Obama's apparent willingness to consider keeping Robert Gates on as Secretary of Defense is based on Gates' capable performance following Don Rumsfeld's ideological reign in the Pentagon, and there may well be places in the new administration for Colin Powell, Chuck Hagel and other able Republicans.
So far, Obama's choices have reflected well on his judgment about the judgment of those who will be helping him, regardless of their resumes. January 20th can't come a minute too soon.
Bailouts: The Game Show
TV news is beginning to look like the mother of all game shows with Washington contestants competing to pick a jackpot for the economy.
Here is Henry Paulson wavering between the curtains marked Toxic Loans and Bank Capital, some members of Congress wanting to take a flyer on Detroit, Sheila Bair of the FDIC choosing Foreclosure Relief as the audience of lobbyists cheers them on and the rest of us wait anxiously for someone to come up with a winner.
Mitt Romney, whose family money comes from the car industry, shows up today to opt for Big Three Bankruptcy while a nearby New York Times editorial urges Congress to open the curtain marked Modifying Home Loans.
The Bailout Show so far is not getting stock-market ratings like the Neilsens of such classics as Deal or No Deal, but changing the host in January may make a difference. Meanwhile we're all watching, remote in hand, hoping that no one shows up to repossess the TV set.
So far, the show looks far from ready for prime time.
Here is Henry Paulson wavering between the curtains marked Toxic Loans and Bank Capital, some members of Congress wanting to take a flyer on Detroit, Sheila Bair of the FDIC choosing Foreclosure Relief as the audience of lobbyists cheers them on and the rest of us wait anxiously for someone to come up with a winner.
Mitt Romney, whose family money comes from the car industry, shows up today to opt for Big Three Bankruptcy while a nearby New York Times editorial urges Congress to open the curtain marked Modifying Home Loans.
The Bailout Show so far is not getting stock-market ratings like the Neilsens of such classics as Deal or No Deal, but changing the host in January may make a difference. Meanwhile we're all watching, remote in hand, hoping that no one shows up to repossess the TV set.
So far, the show looks far from ready for prime time.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Triumph of the Turncoat Houdini
Today's escape from losing his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee caps Joe Lieberman's career of having it both ways in two decades of sanctimonious posturing and backroom politicking.
With a novelist's eye for the absurd, Joan Didion nailed him in her reporting of the 2000 election campaign:
"Senator Lieberman, who had come to the nation's attention as the hedge player who had previously seized center stage by managing both to denounce the president [Bill Clinton] for "disgraceful" and "immoral" behavior and to vote against his conviction (similarly, he had in 1991 both voiced support for and voted against the confirmation of Clarence Thomas) was not, except to the press, an immediately engaging personality...
"His speech patterns, grounded in the burdens he bore for the rest of us and the personal rewards he had received from God for bearing it, tended to self-congratulation."
Lieberman called today's verdict “fair and forward-looking” and one of “reconciliation and not retribution,” but others, like this constituent, will see it as another slithering out of responsibility for his actions by the weasel who was voted out by his party in the 2006 primaries but kept his seat when Republicans named a non-entity to throw the three-way race his way.
The President-Elect and Senate Democrats may congratulate themselves on today's act of anonymous generosity, but Connecticut residents who are enraged by and stuck with Lieberman's smug, self-righteous, self-serving wrong-headedness won't join in the celebration.
With a novelist's eye for the absurd, Joan Didion nailed him in her reporting of the 2000 election campaign:
"Senator Lieberman, who had come to the nation's attention as the hedge player who had previously seized center stage by managing both to denounce the president [Bill Clinton] for "disgraceful" and "immoral" behavior and to vote against his conviction (similarly, he had in 1991 both voiced support for and voted against the confirmation of Clarence Thomas) was not, except to the press, an immediately engaging personality...
"His speech patterns, grounded in the burdens he bore for the rest of us and the personal rewards he had received from God for bearing it, tended to self-congratulation."
Lieberman called today's verdict “fair and forward-looking” and one of “reconciliation and not retribution,” but others, like this constituent, will see it as another slithering out of responsibility for his actions by the weasel who was voted out by his party in the 2006 primaries but kept his seat when Republicans named a non-entity to throw the three-way race his way.
The President-Elect and Senate Democrats may congratulate themselves on today's act of anonymous generosity, but Connecticut residents who are enraged by and stuck with Lieberman's smug, self-righteous, self-serving wrong-headedness won't join in the celebration.
Kissing Hillary
An editor who didn't get an expected promotion once cabled Henry Luce of Time Inc, "If you didn't intend to kiss me, why did you keep me standing on my tippy toes?"
The image comes back as days stretch out over the possible appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, creating the first tiny crisis of the Obama Administration in the making.
As in all matters Clinton, the stumbling block is the former President and possible conflicts of interest created by his current activities, donors, backers and business associates in the complex corporation of Bill Inc.
Symbolically, he enthused this weekend, “I think she’ll be really great as a secretary of state” while in Kuwait for a paid speech at a symposium sponsored by the National Bank of Kuwait to “share with a select audience his perspective on the issues likely to shape the future prospects of the region.”
The media frenzy, set off by the face-to-face meeting of Obama and Hillary Clinton last Thursday, raises the question of why the vetting could not have done before that event, which was sure to start a furor of speculation.
Now there are reports of rising anger and unhappiness among Obama supporters as the process drags on with no confirmation or denial.
For someone who was almost uniformly sure-handed during the campaign, the President-to-be has let things get out of hand on this possible appointment. Or did he intend to create such venting of emotion before making the announcement? There will be no shortage of opinions both ways.
The image comes back as days stretch out over the possible appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, creating the first tiny crisis of the Obama Administration in the making.
As in all matters Clinton, the stumbling block is the former President and possible conflicts of interest created by his current activities, donors, backers and business associates in the complex corporation of Bill Inc.
Symbolically, he enthused this weekend, “I think she’ll be really great as a secretary of state” while in Kuwait for a paid speech at a symposium sponsored by the National Bank of Kuwait to “share with a select audience his perspective on the issues likely to shape the future prospects of the region.”
The media frenzy, set off by the face-to-face meeting of Obama and Hillary Clinton last Thursday, raises the question of why the vetting could not have done before that event, which was sure to start a furor of speculation.
Now there are reports of rising anger and unhappiness among Obama supporters as the process drags on with no confirmation or denial.
For someone who was almost uniformly sure-handed during the campaign, the President-to-be has let things get out of hand on this possible appointment. Or did he intend to create such venting of emotion before making the announcement? There will be no shortage of opinions both ways.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Obama and Palin: Publicity Saints
Much has changed since I worked in the Fame Factory as an editor, exploiting big names to sell magazines and, in the circular process, enlarging their status as media megastars.
But even in today's climate of disposable celebrities who are quickly used up like Kleenex, there is still the rare publicity saint, where mere mention of a name invokes automatic interest over time, as Barack Obama and Sarah Palin (sorry to say) now do.
Merit is moot--it's the tingle of curiosity that attaches to every sighting or utterance, no matter how trivial or vapid, as evidenced by reports that Palin is signing a $7 million book deal and by a magazine editor's breathless comment that "photos of her just sitting there, looking like a normal person, could go for solid five-figure sums."
At the other end of the substance scale, Obama's imminent presidency recalls the editorial excitement over JFK. I put a black-and-white picture of him with Caroline on his lap on a Redbook cover in 1961, over the protests of the Circulation Department, and it sold out. Now Obama is on the cover of GQ after a photo shoot of less than two minutes, accompanied by a paean from, fittingly enough, Ted Kennedy.
My friend, Dick Stolley, the first editor of People, formulated the rule for best-selling celebrities in the 1970s: "Young is better than old. Pretty is better than ugly. Rich is better than poor. Movies are better than music. Music is better than television. Television is better than sports. And anything is better than politics."
Now that politics has become show business, sports and beauty contest rolled into one, there are, as Bill Maher would say, New Rules. But if we can get an Obama, putting up with Palin is worth the price.
But even in today's climate of disposable celebrities who are quickly used up like Kleenex, there is still the rare publicity saint, where mere mention of a name invokes automatic interest over time, as Barack Obama and Sarah Palin (sorry to say) now do.
Merit is moot--it's the tingle of curiosity that attaches to every sighting or utterance, no matter how trivial or vapid, as evidenced by reports that Palin is signing a $7 million book deal and by a magazine editor's breathless comment that "photos of her just sitting there, looking like a normal person, could go for solid five-figure sums."
At the other end of the substance scale, Obama's imminent presidency recalls the editorial excitement over JFK. I put a black-and-white picture of him with Caroline on his lap on a Redbook cover in 1961, over the protests of the Circulation Department, and it sold out. Now Obama is on the cover of GQ after a photo shoot of less than two minutes, accompanied by a paean from, fittingly enough, Ted Kennedy.
My friend, Dick Stolley, the first editor of People, formulated the rule for best-selling celebrities in the 1970s: "Young is better than old. Pretty is better than ugly. Rich is better than poor. Movies are better than music. Music is better than television. Television is better than sports. And anything is better than politics."
Now that politics has become show business, sports and beauty contest rolled into one, there are, as Bill Maher would say, New Rules. But if we can get an Obama, putting up with Palin is worth the price.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The Obamas: Keeping It Real
If self-possession is a requirement for a successful presidency, Michelle and Barack Obama showed it in abundance on 60 Minutes tonight.
In half a century of watching White House occupants publicly and privately, I have never seen a couple as comfortable with themselves and each other as these two people who had to overcome extraordinary barriers to get there.
Obama, who avoided talking about race after his Philadelphia speech, acknowledged on Election Night "emotion that I could see in people's faces and in my mother-in-law's face...Michelle's mom, who grew up on the west and south sides of Chicago, who worked so hard to help Michelle get to where she is, her brother to be successful. She was sitting next to me, actually, as we were watching returns...
"And suddenly she just kind of reached out and she started holding my hand, you know, kind of squeezing it. And you had this sense of, 'Well, what's she thinking?' For a black woman who grew up in the 50s, you know, in a segregated Chicago, to watch her daughter become first lady of the United States. I think there was that sense across the country. And not unique to African-Americans."
When their journey started, Obama told Tim Russert with a nervous smile that his wife and friends thought he was still there behind all the hype and hoopla. Almost two years later, he still seems to be himself after all the exposure and pressure to become the fictional character that presidential aspirants usually morph into.
From the evidence of their interplay tonight, his staying grounded has much to do with the woman at his side, who teased him about the car he drove with a hole in the floorboard when they first met and his Washington apartment ("a dump") that she refused to sleep in during his Senate days.
Talking about what he will face as president in dealing with a sick economy, the President-to-be projected a no-nonsense approach that would be seamless with the kind of personal life he has led and will, if Michelle Obama has anything to say about it, continue to lead in the White House.
In half a century of watching White House occupants publicly and privately, I have never seen a couple as comfortable with themselves and each other as these two people who had to overcome extraordinary barriers to get there.
Obama, who avoided talking about race after his Philadelphia speech, acknowledged on Election Night "emotion that I could see in people's faces and in my mother-in-law's face...Michelle's mom, who grew up on the west and south sides of Chicago, who worked so hard to help Michelle get to where she is, her brother to be successful. She was sitting next to me, actually, as we were watching returns...
"And suddenly she just kind of reached out and she started holding my hand, you know, kind of squeezing it. And you had this sense of, 'Well, what's she thinking?' For a black woman who grew up in the 50s, you know, in a segregated Chicago, to watch her daughter become first lady of the United States. I think there was that sense across the country. And not unique to African-Americans."
When their journey started, Obama told Tim Russert with a nervous smile that his wife and friends thought he was still there behind all the hype and hoopla. Almost two years later, he still seems to be himself after all the exposure and pressure to become the fictional character that presidential aspirants usually morph into.
From the evidence of their interplay tonight, his staying grounded has much to do with the woman at his side, who teased him about the car he drove with a hole in the floorboard when they first met and his Washington apartment ("a dump") that she refused to sleep in during his Senate days.
Talking about what he will face as president in dealing with a sick economy, the President-to-be projected a no-nonsense approach that would be seamless with the kind of personal life he has led and will, if Michelle Obama has anything to say about it, continue to lead in the White House.
Dates Certain for Iraq Withdrawal
Deadlines for American troops to leave were set today with a near-unanimous Iraqi Cabinet vote that requires coalition forces to withdraw from cities and towns by the summer of 2009 and from the country by the end of 2011 with no ifs, ands or buts.
As late as Friday, Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr was calling for armed resistance against a continued US presence in Iraq, and there will undoubtedly be sectarian jockeying before the full parliament approves today's decision, but it lays out timetables that an Obama Administration will have as a framework for its own decisions about starting to draw down the 150,000 troops still there.
Meanwhile, the American death toll in George W. Bush's war has passed 4200 and will continue well after he leaves the White House, but at least the end is in sight.
As late as Friday, Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr was calling for armed resistance against a continued US presence in Iraq, and there will undoubtedly be sectarian jockeying before the full parliament approves today's decision, but it lays out timetables that an Obama Administration will have as a framework for its own decisions about starting to draw down the 150,000 troops still there.
Meanwhile, the American death toll in George W. Bush's war has passed 4200 and will continue well after he leaves the White House, but at least the end is in sight.
A Haitus for Honest Abe
News flash for the punditocracy: Barack Obama is not a YouTube reincarnation of Lincoln. Despite their common Illinois roots and the reverberations over race, pace Doris Kearns Goodwin, it's time to put aside Obama-Lincoln comparisons and be realistic about what the new president is facing in a 21st century world.
Evan Thomas at Newsweek obviously did not get the memo and in the new issue writes: "It is the season to compare Barack Obama to Abraham Lincoln. Two thin men from rude beginnings, relatively new to Washington but wise to the world, bring the nation together to face a crisis. Both are superb rhetoricians, both geniuses at stagecraft and timing. Obama, like Lincoln and unlike most modern politicians, even writes his own speeches, or at least drafts the really important ones—by hand, on yellow legal paper..."
But this kind of mooning over Obama obscures the tough, torturing questions he has to deal with, even before taking office. Notes on a yellow legal pad won't go very far toward stabilizing financial markets, saving Detroit, realigning our Mideast policy and solving the high pile of other problems George W. Bush is leaving on the Oval Office desk.
When President Obama is sworn in, the last thing he needs is gauzy expectations that he will wave a Lincolnesque wand and make them all go away.
There will be hard, practical political choices and the decisions of the new administration are going to displease and disappoint not only its critics but fervent supporters who, with the luxury of venting their rage during the Bush era, are not poised to accept tradeoffs and incremental improvements.
But there can't be an Emancipation Proclamation from the national enslavement to stupidity and meanness that makes all the consequences go away with a few strokes of a pen.
Even the ebullient Newsweek essay ends on a cautionary note:
"With luck, he will not be confronted with lose-lose decisions like LBJ, who had to choose between the Great Society and the war in Vietnam and ultimately lost both. Obama will surely face some hard choices, and possibly all at once. He may not wind up as a tragic figure like LBJ, but he may also disappoint the expectations of his vast legions of believers. He will not be 'the One'; he will be human like the rest of us."
Evan Thomas at Newsweek obviously did not get the memo and in the new issue writes: "It is the season to compare Barack Obama to Abraham Lincoln. Two thin men from rude beginnings, relatively new to Washington but wise to the world, bring the nation together to face a crisis. Both are superb rhetoricians, both geniuses at stagecraft and timing. Obama, like Lincoln and unlike most modern politicians, even writes his own speeches, or at least drafts the really important ones—by hand, on yellow legal paper..."
But this kind of mooning over Obama obscures the tough, torturing questions he has to deal with, even before taking office. Notes on a yellow legal pad won't go very far toward stabilizing financial markets, saving Detroit, realigning our Mideast policy and solving the high pile of other problems George W. Bush is leaving on the Oval Office desk.
When President Obama is sworn in, the last thing he needs is gauzy expectations that he will wave a Lincolnesque wand and make them all go away.
There will be hard, practical political choices and the decisions of the new administration are going to displease and disappoint not only its critics but fervent supporters who, with the luxury of venting their rage during the Bush era, are not poised to accept tradeoffs and incremental improvements.
But there can't be an Emancipation Proclamation from the national enslavement to stupidity and meanness that makes all the consequences go away with a few strokes of a pen.
Even the ebullient Newsweek essay ends on a cautionary note:
"With luck, he will not be confronted with lose-lose decisions like LBJ, who had to choose between the Great Society and the war in Vietnam and ultimately lost both. Obama will surely face some hard choices, and possibly all at once. He may not wind up as a tragic figure like LBJ, but he may also disappoint the expectations of his vast legions of believers. He will not be 'the One'; he will be human like the rest of us."
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Obama Baby Boom
The Urban Legend makers are ushering in the new era with speculation that large numbers of children may have been "conceived after Obama was proclaimed President, by way of celebratory sex" by young voters.
Newsweek even adds the nice touch that Obama himself, "the son of politically progressive parents, was born Aug. 4, 1961--almost nine months to the day after John F. Kennedy was elected to the White House. Is it possible Obama was conceived on that historic night?"
The history of baby-making myths is not reassuring. After the massive blackout of November 9, 1965, the New York Times ran three stories the following August reporting a baby boom resulting from that night.
Since then, demographers have debunked the theory with unromantic statistics showing that, despite the widespread phenomenon of couples having nothing to do that night and spending it by candlelight, the birth rate did not rise.
If Nature has failed to produce such results, there is still some evidence that man-made euphoria may do so, as in Germany last year after the excitement of hosting the World Cup soccer matches.
We'll have to wait until next summer to see if Obama mania overcame couples' inhibitions about adding to their families in a time of economic woes.
Newsweek even adds the nice touch that Obama himself, "the son of politically progressive parents, was born Aug. 4, 1961--almost nine months to the day after John F. Kennedy was elected to the White House. Is it possible Obama was conceived on that historic night?"
The history of baby-making myths is not reassuring. After the massive blackout of November 9, 1965, the New York Times ran three stories the following August reporting a baby boom resulting from that night.
Since then, demographers have debunked the theory with unromantic statistics showing that, despite the widespread phenomenon of couples having nothing to do that night and spending it by candlelight, the birth rate did not rise.
If Nature has failed to produce such results, there is still some evidence that man-made euphoria may do so, as in Germany last year after the excitement of hosting the World Cup soccer matches.
We'll have to wait until next summer to see if Obama mania overcame couples' inhibitions about adding to their families in a time of economic woes.
McCain, Secretary of Defense?
If the new president is serious about Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State as he follows Lincoln's "team of rivals" approach, Barack Obama should consider John McCain as Secretary of Defense.
When the two meet on Monday, at Obama's suggestion it turns out, "sitting down in a serious way" to "find common ground," the discussion might include a role for McCain in the new administration.
McCain's maverick history makes it unlikely that Senate Republicans will look to him for leadership. (One of them, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, is already accusing him of betraying Republican principles.)
Despite campaign differences over the past in Iraq, Obama and McCain, if they teamed up, would be faced with implementing an exit strategy being firmed up in the last days of the Bush Administration and shifting military attention to Afghanistan and Pakistan. The political aspect is not in much dispute
As Gen. David Petraeus' most vocal admirer, McCain is in a position to bring together the new Commander-in-Chief and the armed forces, and his abrasiveness, unlike that of the armchair warrior Donald Rumsfeld, could be effective in a Pentagon that needs strong leadership.
On the campaign trail, McCain persuaded a substantial number of voters that he was qualified to lead the nation on national security. As an Obama Administration focuses on saving the economy, he could provide leadership and reassurance in the war on terror.
If Obama is as generous and inclusive as he appears to be, bringing both of his chief rivals for the presidency on board would be a strong signal that national unity is possible.
When the two meet on Monday, at Obama's suggestion it turns out, "sitting down in a serious way" to "find common ground," the discussion might include a role for McCain in the new administration.
McCain's maverick history makes it unlikely that Senate Republicans will look to him for leadership. (One of them, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, is already accusing him of betraying Republican principles.)
Despite campaign differences over the past in Iraq, Obama and McCain, if they teamed up, would be faced with implementing an exit strategy being firmed up in the last days of the Bush Administration and shifting military attention to Afghanistan and Pakistan. The political aspect is not in much dispute
As Gen. David Petraeus' most vocal admirer, McCain is in a position to bring together the new Commander-in-Chief and the armed forces, and his abrasiveness, unlike that of the armchair warrior Donald Rumsfeld, could be effective in a Pentagon that needs strong leadership.
On the campaign trail, McCain persuaded a substantial number of voters that he was qualified to lead the nation on national security. As an Obama Administration focuses on saving the economy, he could provide leadership and reassurance in the war on terror.
If Obama is as generous and inclusive as he appears to be, bringing both of his chief rivals for the presidency on board would be a strong signal that national unity is possible.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Hillary Clinton's Defining Moment
Today's transition hot topic is the rumor that the President-Elect is considering Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State and that the two of them have met in Chicago to discuss it.
Coming right after the buzz about her as Senate Major Leader, this seems to be a fork in the road for the former First Lady. Does she best keep her presidential hopes alive by devoting herself to domestic issues or foreign policy?
It may be a close call. In the immediate future, the economy will be front and center on the national agenda, but if any Obama initiatives fail (and some almost certainly will), should the once and future candidate risk taking the heat for them as legislative overseer? As the original proponent of "a vast right-wing conspiracy" a decade ago, how effective would she be in reaching across the aisle for bipartisanship?
As Secretary of State, Clinton would be the face of America interacting with world leaders, but it would be President Obama's policy and, while there might less glory in it, the position would strengthen her future claims about experience against any upstart political opponent in 2016.
If Obama offers her the position, it would be tempting and, for the rest of us, fascinating to see Bill Clinton traveling the world in the role of an upgraded Denis Thatcher.
Coming right after the buzz about her as Senate Major Leader, this seems to be a fork in the road for the former First Lady. Does she best keep her presidential hopes alive by devoting herself to domestic issues or foreign policy?
It may be a close call. In the immediate future, the economy will be front and center on the national agenda, but if any Obama initiatives fail (and some almost certainly will), should the once and future candidate risk taking the heat for them as legislative overseer? As the original proponent of "a vast right-wing conspiracy" a decade ago, how effective would she be in reaching across the aisle for bipartisanship?
As Secretary of State, Clinton would be the face of America interacting with world leaders, but it would be President Obama's policy and, while there might less glory in it, the position would strengthen her future claims about experience against any upstart political opponent in 2016.
If Obama offers her the position, it would be tempting and, for the rest of us, fascinating to see Bill Clinton traveling the world in the role of an upgraded Denis Thatcher.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
A Katrina of Cash
Almost half the $700 billion bailout money has been shoveled out the door, but nobody is keeping track of it.
"It's a mess," says Eric M. Thorson, the Treasury Department's inspector general, who has overseen the dispensing of $290 billion so far until a special inspector general takes over. "I don't think anyone understands right now how we're going to do proper oversight of this thing."
Nobody expects neatness from a rescue operation in panic mode, but the spectacle of Bush Administration ineptness coupled with Congressional turf warfare in an interregnum is distressing.
Six weeks have passed without White House naming of an inspector general to conduct audits and investigations of the bailout, including equity investments in firms.with reports about assets acquired, their value, the reasons for acquiring them and details about individuals and companies in each deal.
Meanwhile in the Senate, the Finance and Banking Committees are arguing over the confirmation process when the Administration finally does, and lobbyists are besieging a former Karl Rove White House assistant in cowboy boots, 32-year-old Jeb Mason, who is charged with sorting out the supplicants for loans.
With each passing day, it's looking like another Katrina, with money instead of water.
"It's a mess," says Eric M. Thorson, the Treasury Department's inspector general, who has overseen the dispensing of $290 billion so far until a special inspector general takes over. "I don't think anyone understands right now how we're going to do proper oversight of this thing."
Nobody expects neatness from a rescue operation in panic mode, but the spectacle of Bush Administration ineptness coupled with Congressional turf warfare in an interregnum is distressing.
Six weeks have passed without White House naming of an inspector general to conduct audits and investigations of the bailout, including equity investments in firms.with reports about assets acquired, their value, the reasons for acquiring them and details about individuals and companies in each deal.
Meanwhile in the Senate, the Finance and Banking Committees are arguing over the confirmation process when the Administration finally does, and lobbyists are besieging a former Karl Rove White House assistant in cowboy boots, 32-year-old Jeb Mason, who is charged with sorting out the supplicants for loans.
With each passing day, it's looking like another Katrina, with money instead of water.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Pursuing Palin, Shunning Ron Paul
It would be restful if, along with Joe the Plumber, John McCain's running mate just went off into a disposable-celebrity waste basket along with the other used Kleenex of the campaign, but Sarah Palin and the idea of her are still with us, as Andrew Sullivan so cogently points out today:
"That the Palin absurdity should follow the two-term presidency of another individual utterly out of his depth in national government is particularly troubling; 46 percent of Americans voted for the possibility of this blank slate as president because she somehow echoed their own sense of religious or cultural 'identity'. Until we figure out how this happened, we will not be able to prevent it from happening again."
Promoting an over-aged cheerleader with no political substance whatsoever for 2012, as William Kristol and others are doing, is a sign that the diaper division of the Republican Party has no interest in going back to its Goldwater-William F. Buckley roots and offering principled opposition to the new Democratic majority.
Palin's ascension is highlighted by the decline and fall of Ron Paul who, in his own idiosyncratic way, identified some of the issues that his party should be considering and debating. As Paul now writes:
"In the rise and fall of the recent Republican reign of power these past decades, the goal of the party had grown to be only that of gaining and maintaining power--with total sacrifice of the original Republican belief in shrinking the size of government."
Instead, the GOP focus is on Palin's "star quality" and her media blitz this week to make GOP true believers forget how her vast emptiness and arrogance helped bring down John McCain's campaign.
"That the Palin absurdity should follow the two-term presidency of another individual utterly out of his depth in national government is particularly troubling; 46 percent of Americans voted for the possibility of this blank slate as president because she somehow echoed their own sense of religious or cultural 'identity'. Until we figure out how this happened, we will not be able to prevent it from happening again."
Promoting an over-aged cheerleader with no political substance whatsoever for 2012, as William Kristol and others are doing, is a sign that the diaper division of the Republican Party has no interest in going back to its Goldwater-William F. Buckley roots and offering principled opposition to the new Democratic majority.
Palin's ascension is highlighted by the decline and fall of Ron Paul who, in his own idiosyncratic way, identified some of the issues that his party should be considering and debating. As Paul now writes:
"In the rise and fall of the recent Republican reign of power these past decades, the goal of the party had grown to be only that of gaining and maintaining power--with total sacrifice of the original Republican belief in shrinking the size of government."
Instead, the GOP focus is on Palin's "star quality" and her media blitz this week to make GOP true believers forget how her vast emptiness and arrogance helped bring down John McCain's campaign.
Making Book on Paulson
An editor once proposed a picture book titled "They Must Know What They're Doing or They Wouldn't Be Where They Are," featuring the captain of the Titanic, the designer of the Edsel, LBJ running the Vietnam war and other disaster-prone people in high places.
Add Henry Paulson to the list. After pushing Congress into a panic to let him buy toxic mortgage assets, Bush's Treasury Secretary today said maybe not, announcing the plan is on hold.
At a news conference, Paulson said the $700 billion will be used instead to bolster the financial markets and, in turn, make loans more accessible for creditworthy borrowers:
“During times like these with a slowing economy and some deterioration in credit conditions, even the healthiest banks tend to become more risk-averse and restrain lending, and regulators’ actions have reinforced this lending restraint in the past.”
Four federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve and the FDIC, joined in by issuing a statement practically begging banks to step up: “Lending to creditworthy borrowers provides sustainable returns for the lending organization and is constructive for the economy as a whole.”
Paulson's turning on a dime is analogous to what the Bush Administration might have done five years ago if, after getting Congress to authorize invasion of Iraq and starting the shock and awe, they suddenly decided to stop and bomb Iran instead.
No wonder, in the face of all this fumbling, the stock market keeps going down, waiting for a signal about where all this confusion is heading.
The naming of Obama's Treasury Secretary, along with a clear statement of intentions about the financial markets, gets more urgent with each passing day.
Add Henry Paulson to the list. After pushing Congress into a panic to let him buy toxic mortgage assets, Bush's Treasury Secretary today said maybe not, announcing the plan is on hold.
At a news conference, Paulson said the $700 billion will be used instead to bolster the financial markets and, in turn, make loans more accessible for creditworthy borrowers:
“During times like these with a slowing economy and some deterioration in credit conditions, even the healthiest banks tend to become more risk-averse and restrain lending, and regulators’ actions have reinforced this lending restraint in the past.”
Four federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve and the FDIC, joined in by issuing a statement practically begging banks to step up: “Lending to creditworthy borrowers provides sustainable returns for the lending organization and is constructive for the economy as a whole.”
Paulson's turning on a dime is analogous to what the Bush Administration might have done five years ago if, after getting Congress to authorize invasion of Iraq and starting the shock and awe, they suddenly decided to stop and bomb Iran instead.
No wonder, in the face of all this fumbling, the stock market keeps going down, waiting for a signal about where all this confusion is heading.
The naming of Obama's Treasury Secretary, along with a clear statement of intentions about the financial markets, gets more urgent with each passing day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)