Gates appointment: shouldn't they have to clean up their mess?

[nashville_brook]

Because it's too depressing to think otherwise, I'm trying to stay agnostic on the appointments of right-wingers and Bushies to cabinet level positions in Obama's administration. Pragmatism is a valuable strategy, and, maybe it makes sense to "hire" people with experience of working the gears of Washington as opposed to wide-eyed neophytes with all the right intentions.

I'm trying to stay agnostic, because the alternative is too ugly. We don't have the luxury of losing any time in fixing the holes in our sinking boat. So, maybe it makes sense to require some of the people responsible for the mess to fix it. In doing so, their actions might not be dismissed as easily as if we brought in a progressive outsider. If indeed we are to change direction swiftly and efficiently, then perhaps we need to use the machinery that is already in place.

One thing that I expect of Obama above all else is adherence to intelligence-based intelligence and not the 'smoke up our ass,' politically-correct variety of intelligence Bush's administration is famous for. Gates has been widely regarded as a straight-shooter, so I can see his appointment as consistent with the Obama brand -- but this has got to be the end of it.

It's at this point that my agnosticism reaches its limit. There can be no more right-wing appointments. There can be no Patraeus in an Obama administration. There can be no Mukasey -- because we can't trust a cabinet full of liars and crooks to do the bidding of what we take to be a decent and honest leader. It's just not in their nature.

I'll sit on my shock and horror at some of Obama's appointments as long as Gates is the last of it -- and I don't think I'm alone in this.

[Dis Pater]

1. "There Will Be "Multiple Republicans...Spread Throughout The Administration."

Podesta, a former chief of staff in the Clinton White House, also said Obama would complete “virtually the whole Cabinet” by Christmas, and the new president’s team will reach beyond the Democratic Party.

There will be “multiple Republicans” in the administration,” Podesta said. “You’ll see them spread throughout the administration.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=akf_DTv.v8ic&refer=home

[trollybob]

2. Let's wait and see.

I think we have to trust Obama for now. C'mon, just think what the alternative(McCain) would have been. Plus, it can't be easy finding military-minded liberals.