Hillary At State?

I am nonplussed by this from the Times:

Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday.

Comments

[kim]

I suppose she thinks she'll actually administer the Department.

And what about Bill, who still wants to run the UN?
========================================

[clarice]

Why nonplussed?

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

I can't believe that Bill (and his foreign sugardaddies) is not going to be trouble for this nomination. But, has Obama not noticed that he's got a problem with the economy?

He needs to put his econ team together right now.

[2Ky]

Public Diplomacy. Obama is now talking.

The changes at the Air Force were just announced and now Obama wants free school for federal employees. The public Service Academy will give free education to anyone who goes to work for the federal government under the dems like Obama and his executive agencies. The university will hire dems to staff the school and it is the jobs for the staff that will create the academy.

We need free university for everyone, not just dems who will get federal jobs and live off our taxes.

Federal employees are already lobbying.
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=41480&dcn=todaysnews
Huff Po too.

[Appalled]

Interesting.

Hillary at State -- who is somewhat hawkish.

Jones at NSC -- who gets along well with Hillary, and is somewhat hawkish.

President of the NY Federal Reserve at Treasury

Someone may need to ask the netroots how things feel under the bus. I'm actually feeling somewhat happier, myself. (I don't know about Hillary -- I worry that the requisite trust between her and Obama is not there, and that could be a problem.)

Thing we may be seeing is that Obama is not tempermentally a radical. (I think his operating framework is College Left, circa 1983, which will cause us all some heartburn later)

[Daddy]

NON-PLUS

Verb,-plused or plussed, -plus-sing, or plus-ing
Noun,-(verb) used with object

1) To render utterly perplexed; puzzle completely.
2) A state of utter perplexity.

I see TM is already hard at work raising his cerbral rating on the blog analyzers of the previous post. Charles Darwin IIRC frequently wrote that he was nonplussed as well. But can any of you French majors out there tell us if nonplus in the French is a masculine or feminine verb? I'd hate for TM to rise in the Intellectual Blog analyzer at the expense of becomming more womanly on the Gender blog analyzer.

[kim]

Yes, with Rahm, it is interesting. Also backing off of Pritzker.
======================================

[bgates]

Patrick, I've seen Geithner of the NY Fed mentioned as Treasury. I assume I don't like him because he's been (apparently) named by Obama, but I don't know anything more about him.

Why is all this coming out on a Friday afternoon? Fear of nutroots reaction?

[Daddy]

Achh "cerebral" darn it all.

[kim]

Verb gender? Hey, Jones speaks French. Joe Wilson for Ambassador to France.
==================================

[kim]

Or maybe to the Country of Africa.
=====================

[centralcal]

... and Richardson at Commerce

[kim]

Both Pritzker and Richardson were/are rewards, and neither capable of the task.
==============================

[kim]

Makes you kinda think Richardson's defection tipped the supers. No wonder Bill was pissed.
====================================

[kim]

It has never previously been Obama's management style to set up fault lines. Wait, what was his previous management style? Who's is this.

Oops, sorry, I forgot the link. Hillary at State and Richardson at Commerce is faulty.
================================

[centralcal]

kim: I have never thought Richardson was particularly bright.

[kim]

Who cares about bright when he knows how to wield the knife and run.
===================================

[glasater]

Does not Richardson epitomize the 'Peter Principle'?

[kim]

He sure knew the precise moment to turn on Hillary.
==============================

[DrJ]

Here's what Kudlow has to say about Geithner (from NRO; sorry about the length):

New York Fed president Tim Geithner has been chosen to lead Obama’s Treasury, according to news reports. The stock market cheered by rising 500 points on the announcement.

Geithner is generally well regarded on Wall Street in his handling of the banking crisis. He’s been the point man for both the Fed’s Ben Bernanke and Bush Treasury man Paulson in their various rescue efforts to deal with the ongoing credit crisis.

It is generally believed that Geithner would have bailed out Lehman Brothers, according to street gossip and some news speculations (although this has never been definitively confirmed). Nonetheless, Geithner has done a good job in dealing with the multitude of crises and setting up various lending facilities to keep the banking system afloat.

He was a protégé of Larry Summers in the Clinton Treasury and rose up through the ranks to become undersecretary for international affairs. Geithner collaborated closely with Robert Rubin and Summers in dealing with the Asian currency crisis and other fire drills in the late 1990s.

He is highly regarded by those who worked with him as a very smart, sharp, and insightful player. He has developed a strong working knowledge of markets and the economy as a central figure in the dramatic events of the past couple of years.

Presumably, as a former deputy to Rubin and Summers, Geithner shares their policy views on free-trade and a strong dollar. While it is too soon to know how trade and the dollar will play out in the Obama administration, it is likely that Geithner would represent a free-trade and strong-currency position.

Regarding tax policy, it is harder to say. When Bill Clinton finally signed a Republican capital-gains tax cut in 1997, it was reported that Rubin and Summers opposed the move. But I don’t know that with any certainty. And Geithner’s thinking on Obama tax policy — especially the threat to raise the capital-gains tax and upper-income tax brackets — is at this point unknown.

As for the TARP bailout story, it is generally believed that Geithner is a strong interventionist. And so we can expect him to move toward raising the second $350 billion tranche of the originally authorized $700 billion package by Congress.

Certainly, Geithner’s announcement today shows some movement by team Obama to fill the economic power vacuum that has taken over Washington during the transition. Stock market traders are cheering this movement. Nobody knows what Geithner might say about the GM/Detroit/carmakers bailout story. But Congress may actually take action on that in a couple of weeks — even before Obama is inaugurated.

It is interesting that Obama chose Geithner over Larry Summers and other names like Paul Volcker. Geithner is a young guy at 47 years old. And to the country at large and most of the Washington political establishment, he’s a new face.

[clarice]

I know what nonplussed means, I just don't know why after all the flap about the nomination, TM would be surprised..the NYT' take doesn't seem as odd as Obama naming to the post the person he beat because she defended the war and at the same time he appoints Jones who also did.
Hey, nutrooters, see why you shouldn't vote for a cipher?

[glasater]

Zero had to do something like appointing Geithner. Else there would be no economy to tax the way things were/are going.

[centralcal]

The Cabinet meetings should be interesting.

[glasater]

Hey, nutrooters, see why you shouldn't vote for a cipher?

Clarice--thank you, thank you!

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Remind me who won the Dem nomination again?

[Rick Ballard]

Hilbama?

[Extraneus]

For Iowahawk fans:

All new for 2012, the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition is the mandatory American car so advanced it took $100 billion and an entire Congress to design it.

[PeterUK]

Pigs also eat ACORNS.

[Thomas Collins]

Don't underestimate Zero's ability to manage Billary (for better or worse). This is an individual whose political opponents have gotten knocked off the ballot or had divorce records unsealed. An individual who put together a money raising operation (from US and probably overseas sources) that will be the envy of politicians for years to come. An individual who played MSM types like an accordion (I realize that MSM is typically in the tank for Democrats, but with Zero they were in an underground storage tank waiting to be pumped at the right moment). He gave the finger to Billary once and got away with it, and he'll do it again if necessary. Let's face it, becoming POTUS with a resume thinner than a Twiggy-sized model takes fine people manipulation skills.

[kim]

Yah, TC, thence my distrust.
==================

[kim]

Yah, and with minions like that witch in Ohio who investigated Joe. That one didn't need direction. There are millions like her who will be leaping forward in service utterly negligent of their own personal ethics or the law.
=========================

[Elliott]

Bill Clinton: shadow foreign secretary.

[matt]

One person who "thinks Obama's back smoking something" is Bob Woodward.....

"hold your friends close and your enemies closer" ain't going to work with this one. And Blowhard Joe is gonna be ticked from the outset. It will be very interesting to see how this all plays out.

One good thing is that if Napolitano is Homeland Security (still the dumbest name for a cabinet level organization), Arizona is probably going to vote a republican into the governorship.....

small victories count more when you get your butt kicked.

[SteveMG]

Well, many people - including those who voted for him - have been saying that we don't know what we'll get from an Obama presidency.

Boy, were they sure right.

This absolutely smacks of total politics.

That is, Obama is both rewarding/silencing the Clinton supporters and white women voters as well as making sure that the success of the Clintonistas is directly tied to a successful Obama presidency.

If his presidency goes down, so do the Clintons. If his presidency gets into trouble, he won't have to worry about the Clintons shooting at him from the outside.

I can see no other explanation for this other than domestic, first-term politics.

[FD]

obama is keeping the federal jobs and tax money in the family. It's bums. Bill's wife gets to be Congressman and president? They'll never leave and expect their kids and wivesand hubands to get federal jobs from theirs. They get rich off our tax money.

Bums.

[kim]

Dirty bums.
=======

[Thomas Collins]

I think you are correct, kim, in focusing on an area MSM totally overlooked about Zero (as opposed to the areas they substantially overlooked), namely, that Zero has syndicate organizing skills at all levels that John Gotti or any other top organized crime chieftain could never have imagined. We are all going to have a front row seat to observe how Zero will apply these skills.

[PeterUK]

Anyone who thinks Obama will control this vipers nest should re-run Rome.

[PeterUK]

"If his presidency goes down, so do the Clintons. If his presidency gets into trouble, he won't have to worry about the Clintons shooting at him from the outside."

Clinton,"I did not have marital relations with this woman".On the other hand now he has Lucretia on the inside.
Sorry folks,this is going to be another Tony Blair - Gordon Brown,Cain and Abel.

[SteveMG]

Anyone who thinks Obama will control this vipers nest should re-run Rome.

Well, as Carville once admitted, defending the Clintons is like being in the Mafia; once you're in it, you're in it for life.

Gotta' admit; the Clintonistas are loyal. Problem for Obama is finding out who they're loyal to.

My guess is that by tying the success of his presidency to the Clintons, and vice-versa, Obama may - may - be able to control things a bit better.

Or thinks he can.

[glasater]

Zero could be reading Jay Cost's Horserace Blog

Given the data presented here, I think this is a cautionary tale for the President-elect. This does not mean, of course, that he must govern like a Republican from Kentucky. Far from it! It just means he should be aware that there are factions in the country that strongly opposed him, and he should be careful with how he manages these groups. He does not have to do what they want him to do, but he should not overly antagonize them.

[kim]

Peter, if PUMAs were particularly premonitic, these vipers are vituperative.
===================================

[SteveMG]

Sorry folks,this is going to be another Tony Blair - Gordon Brown,Cain and Abel.

Yes, but if the Clintons are shown to be weakening internally an Obama presidency or trying to distance themselves from a failing administration, their careers are over.

Among other items, there won't be a chance in hell that black Americans would ever vote for Hillary. And without the black vote, she's got no chance.

The press, the left in general, academia, Hollywood, all would abandon them.

[Barney Frank]

Things are shaping about as I figured.

Economics he knows nothing about so he's taking his cue from Clinton; relative economic centrism.
Foreign policy he knows nothing about so he's taking a dollop of Bush with a smattering of Clinton.
Domestic policy and political infrastructure is where he made what few bona fides he has so he'll gut us with goofy judges and stealthy social activism mixed with tilting the political playing field as far as possible for as long as possible.

[MayBee]

The Obamas choose Sidwell Friends.

I dare him to pick someone that believes in an "educational debt" that has built up through the centuries. I dare him to pick someone that believes that equality in the schools is paramount (I believe that in theory, but in reality they always just end up ruining the good schools).

[Antimedia]

kim

It has never previously been Obama's management style to set up fault lines.

You could have stopped right here - "It has never previously been Obama's management"

[Antimedia]

Let's hope Obama is as bright as the media claims he is. OJT is going to be quite interesting with the eclectic collection he's assembling.

[Extraneus]

One thing we learned from Newt is to just shut up once you take power. Unfortunately, Obama seems to have learned this lesson, too.

[kim]

Oh, yes, anti; and managing with the fault lines can be effective but is difficult. No sign of previous skill at that, but listen to TC's caution. Maybe he's skilled but has kept in under a barrel.

I agree with BF, much of this he's punting to skilled operatives. Can he control it? I guess we'll see. They certainly have a challenge in front of them, through no fault of Bush and plenty of their own.
========================================

[Sue]

I can see no other explanation for this other than domestic, first-term politics.

How about getting rid of Hillary? She won't be a thorn in his side in the senate and if she does anything wrong at State, he can fire her. Voila. No more Hillary.

[PeterUK]

"Yes, but if the Clintons are shown to be weakening internally an Obama presidency or trying to distance themselves from a failing administration, their careers are over."

The scorpion and the frog.

The reason Obama is keeping quiet is because he knows nothing,the man is winging it.If he had any management skills he wouldn't be shopping at Second Hand Rose.Does this bunch of retread look like "Hope and Change",where is the bright shiny new team?

[SteveMG]

Sue:
How about getting rid of Hillary? She won't be a thorn in his side in the senate and if she does anything wrong at State, he can fire her.

Yes, that's what I mean (in part).

He's tying his success to Hillary. And Hillary's success to his.

If she tries to undermine his presidency, she'll be weakening (in the eyes of Obama's supporters, especially the left and black Americans) her future chances. He can fire her. Or control her.

If she was outside of the Administration, she'd have more freedom to second guess Obama's moves.

[PeterUK]

"If she was outside of the Administration, she'd have more freedom to second guess Obama's moves."

Look what happened to Bush from within.

[jeanedcrusader]

Perhaps a sentiment carrying over from the Democratic nominations, but I see this as a distinct victory for Obama and a loss for Hillary. I know she'll have a great deal of influence as SOS, but we all know she's conceded her presidential hopes and will now play second fiddle, executing the will of another illuminati administration. That is a painful loss cloaked in nicety.

[Sue]

PUK,

Powell comes to mind. He did more to damage the Bush administration than MSM could have ever done. I wouldn't be surprised if the leaks that hurt Bush at every turn came from Powell himself.

[Sue]

Think about it. Most of the damaging leaks came during Bush's first 4 years. And who wasn't there during Bush's last 4 years?

[PeterUK]

Obama would be safer with Livia Drusilla the Empress Augusta.

[Thomas Collins]

PeterUK, the new National Security Advisor I believe once headed NATO's forces. It would seem to me that dealing with NATO politics is more of a viper's den than dealing with Billary at the Department of State. Zero is probably confident that Jones can dominate Billary just as Henry Kissinger dominated William Rogers a while back. It's not a slam dunk that will happen, but Zero seems to have a knack of affiliating with folks who can do his dirty work. Mafia chieftains don't have to be good managers, they just have to surround themselves with loyal folks who will do the managing. And Zero has a good track record doing that.

By the way, I don't think that Zero is worried that Billary will leak the opposition research on Zero that was most likely kept under wraps in the primaries. It is more likely the case, in my view, that Zero views Billary's campaign as one in which Billary was afraid to "go dirty" and thus demonstrated weakness.

As far as picking retreads go, steely, committed leftists understand that at times in history incremental change is necessary. If Zero in his Administration could get socialized health care, a federal judiciary that will expand "social rights" endlessly and a national mood that will inch away from the notion of US sovereignty, I suspect he would conclude that he had done a good four or eight years work. And I suspect he has concluded that he can accomplish these things more effectively with a good mix of retreads than with clearly committed leftists (too much pushback even from MSM if leftists were too clearly in charge).

[PeterUK]

TC,
Obama is no mafia chieftain,he is an actor,a chameleon,who schmoozed his way to the top and dropped lucky with an election during a massive crisis.This was helped by an uninspiring Republican candidate.
Obama is a front,that is why the spoils are being shared out amongst the tribe.

[Barney Frank]

Domestic policy and political infrastructure is where he made what few bona fides he has so he'll gut us with goofy judges and stealthy social activism mixed with tilting the political playing field as far as possible for as long as possible.

Is it OK to italicize and respond to your own post or is that something only Joe Wilson would do?

Anyway I meant to add that what I italicized is where the nutroots will be fed the pabulum to keep them from crying Barry awake all night. Baby progs won't feel the bus wheels as long as they've got a tummy full of warm, pureed social justice.

[YesUn]

America was being prepared for Obama. He already ruled Congress foriegn aid policy and US housing policy and, now, gets to be president. It's the keep it in the family dems. they also get to stay in power without strokes and heart attacks from Obama's demands because Obama was paid. Yes, like lucifer.

obama is just the head of the families and there to take care of them as he expects to be taken care of; the cash has already been stolen, so he's going to relax and have that beer - he's already done his making and ruling. Next, it's who gets the federal jobs.

[Elliott]

What Amb. Joseph C. Wilson IV would do is comment on a paragraph he just typed up in italics and claim to have written it long ago.

[Thomas Collins]

I agree, PUK, that Zero has been lucky. I believe the baseball pitcher Lefty Grove said he would rather be lucky than be good. But Lefty Grove was good, and so I think is Barry-O (Daddy, aren't you glad I'm referencing Lefty Grove and not Tacitus?:-))). We'll see.

By the way, I have worked for 17 years with someone who grew up "across the pond." From time to time she goes back to visit her relatives. Her stories about the delays in getting treatment and devices such as hearing aids from the National Health Service convince me that Zero's socialized medicine plans are a change in the wrong direction.

On a lighter note, the newspapers she brings back are delightful. More incisive reporting than in the MSM papers in the Colonies, and more, ahem, shall we say, sprightly photographs. :-))

[clarice]

PUK, I don't know why you're always picking at that lovely Livia Drusilla. She is an inspiration to us all.

As for why this "team of rivals", the nincompoop take on Lincoln by the history plagiarizer Kearns, the man has never actually worked a job. It's obvious what he's doing--outsourcing everything but the pomp and circumstance.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I haven't had to time to read all the comments, so has anyone heard the blurb from late this afternoon that Bill Clinton will take Hillary's Senate seat? I heard a comment about it on the radio, but haven't had time to check online or the TV news.

[Porchlight]

What Amb. Joseph C. Wilson IV would do is comment on a paragraph he just typed up in italics and claim to have written it long ago.

Somewhat like what Obama does in person when asked a mildly difficult question (has he ever gotten a truly difficult one?): the everloving "as I have always said" gambit.

[PeterUK]

It would be worthwhile examining the Blair/Brown syndrome,it is amazing how a determined colleague can undermine a Prime Minister,President.

BTW Clinton begat Blair who begat Obama.

[clarice]

Sara I haven't seen that anywhere and am sure I would were it true.

In the meantime, Arianna has picked up $15 m to expand her crapola reporting empire.

[Thomas Collins]

If OxfordBubba joins the Senate, there will need to be a tenfold increase in page chaperones.

OK, sorry, I know that was sophomoric, but somebody was going to say it, so I figured it might as well be me.

[centralcal]

Hellloooo - is Clarice around?

#1. I am liking more and more the blog at Commentary. Even starting to like it more than NRO.

#2. Today my boss received the latest issue of Smithsonian, he was with a client, so I read an article by Lance Morrow on an ages old murder in D.C. - sadly, I have already forgotten her name . . . Mary Pinchot something or other? Anyway, it was quite interesting and I kept thinking how I wish Clarice was here with me so I could pepper her with questions. Yes, a lot of the tale occurred when you would have been but a girl, but still, I thought you might have some interesting anecdotes. Do you get the magazine? I guess she was a "mistress" of JFK and crept up the back stairs of the White House, so he says.

[glenda waggoner]

Clarice- Isn't a special election required in NY if she rides her broom to State? If it's just handed out by the governor, then in 2 years, when Kay Bailey Hutchinson runs for Texas governor, W can take over her seat! HEH!

[Porchlight]

centralcal, I remember reading about the Mary Pinchot murder story. It popped up during the Chandra Levy scandal (which still gives me chills when I think about it, because it was all anyone was talking about in the innocent summer of 2001).

[centralcal]

Porch: Gosh, I had forgotten the Chandra Levy case. Another political mystery, huh? Gary Condit is from around my neighborhood, too. Ruined him. Maybe rightly, maybe not. Will we ever know?

[clarice]

Commentary has become a real favorite with me, too. Some of the best stuff around.
I read that same article in the Smithsonian today. Very interesting. I vaguely remember the event, but as the author notes, a lot about her (her affair with JFK and her ex-husband's work) was unknown at the time...the story was just that a friend of Jackie's had been mysteriously murdered along the canal pathway.

Glenda, each state has its own laws to deal with Senate vacancies. I don't know what NY's is.

Chandra Levy's body was found just blocks from my house.

[Extraneus]

Wow, Sara, I can't believe we didn't think of that. No sane person with average intelligence could decide to do such a thing, to let him back into the game while inviting her within kife range. Just the thought of it makes me think he couldn't possibly be that dumb.

[matt]

1 - I believe NATO (except the US & Britain) now has 26 tanks, 132 overweight Dutch paratroopers who can't jump because they have medical dispensations, and a Belgian.

2 - I don't know if Joe Wilson donated enough cash to earn anything other than, say, Zimbabwe or DR Congo. His wife will be persona non grata in a lot of places as well. Most countries don't like CIA types. They feed conspiracy theories and such.

3 - few enough people are reading Arianna anyway, so she'll blow through the $15 Mil pretty quick. She must have already blown through the divorce settlement.

[JM Hanes]

PUK:

"Look what happened to Bush from within."

Not exactly an encouraging view when the folks who sliced and diced Bush are falling all over themselves to embrace their new overlord.

[JM Hanes]

2Ky:

I bet the Public Service Academy will sail right through Obama's Congress -- quite possibly in less modest form. What could be more appealing to the burgeoning Internationalist faction and the French model of a governing/diplomatic class?

[JM Hanes]

***more appealing than the French model....***

[centralcal]

gawd matt! You gave me some of my best laughs of the day, all in one comment!

[Extraneus]

I found only two Senators who were ever appointed from NY: John Foster Dulles (appointed July 7, 1949; defeated November 8, 1949) and Charles Goodell (appointed September 10, 1968; defeated November 3, 1970). Considering the dates, it doesn't seem that NY has any sort of special election.

[Extraneus]

Now that I look at it, 1949 wasn't an election year. Maybe they need to run for election to the remainder of the term on the next election day, regardless of the year. Anyway, no way Bill Clinton would lose in NY.

[F0h]

Why would we pay for university for people who are going to get jobs in Obama's executive agencies? They get the federal job and benefits - and a free eduction before they are hired?

State and CIA? Same thing. The Plame marrying the diplomat scam is very old, maybe just the genetics.
Plame will be running Hilly at State and her 'free CIA university.'

[Extraneus]

Can you imagine what a hero Joe Wilson is these days? Oh wait, he endorsed Hillary. Heh. Think he'd have a job in her State Department?

[clarice]

A good idea!'It turns out that Afghans can make more money growing pomegranates than they can growing opium poppies and that's what they're starting to do now that demand for pomegranates is growing in Europe and the US (they are very good for you--antioxidants and they help reduce high blood pressure and they are delicious.)
http://news.scotsman.com/world/Afghanistan-finds-a-fruitful-way.4721184.jp>Wonderful idea

[12]

Richardson at Commerce. Plame's other pal. Maybe it's not free.

PC wars and Kennedy or is that Obama?

[bad]

Think he'd have a job in her State Department?

Well, even John Kerry blew him off...

[Pofarmer]

Not exactly an encouraging view when the folks who sliced and diced Bush are falling all over themselves to embrace their new overlord.
Uhmmmm, good point.

[JM Hanes]

I'm pretty nonplussed by the prospect of Hillary signing on as SoS too. Maybe she figured that her fellow Dem Senators (the traitors!) weren't going to be granting her any leadership favors (see Kerry; John F.) and decided there were more empire building opportunities at State (see Powell, C & Armitage, R.) She can spend more time being courted abroad as SoS than President, along with more time in the press and more legacy making opportunities than she would as a Senator -- especially if Daschle does get the healthcare empire.

Sure would be somethin' if Obama were to throw mentor/father figure Daschle under the bus, wouldn't it? A whole lot of folks are discovering that the Prez-elect is not the Obama they thought they knew. Including some of us, I suspect. David Brooks has a gag-me-with-a-spoon paean to Obama's D.C. insider appointments.

[Thomas Collins]

I just did some quick Google research. It looks as if David Paterson gets to pick the individual to finish Hillary's term. Now, let me caution that I did not look at the actual NY election statutes, I did the research quickly on a Blackberry, and I have imbibed two glasses of red wine while I wait in South Station in Boston for my train. So at the moment I am not the most reliable research source. Anybody out there with access to the NY statute books?

[bad]

I love pomegranate juice.

[2lj]

Woo hoo

Universities. I think Obama wants us to know he's real smart and went to these schools and started some too 'cause he's a legacy. The reality is he's just a Chicago scammer who uses Americans, like paining,etc. to get jobs and money, then relaxes and counts the cash when he gets there.

[JM Hanes]

Apparently, the fact that Richardson was a national joke as Energy Sect'y has disappeared down the memory hole, not to mention his pitiful pirouette on the primary stage. That scraggly goatee alone is a high maintenance lapse in judgment.

[Thomas Collins]

Yes, bad, I know pomegranate juice is the way to go, but Clarke's Saloon at South Station doesn't sell pomegranate juice, and I needed something red. Don't worry, I had a few diced tomatoes and scallions with my salsa and sour cream saturated nachos and cheese. So I am eating and drinking sensibly.

[JM Hanes]

We all believe in pomegranates now!

[narciso]

I told you about Julius Genakowski and the firm of Rock Creek Partners, Joe Wilson's former employers; which seem to be on the national security transition team. Another figure is apparently Sarah Sewall of the Carr Center at Harvard; from whence Samantha
Power arises. who wrote a long review in the NY Times Review of Books ridiculing any
possibility of the success of the surge. It is galling to see obstinancy described as wisdom; and prudence described as brinksman
ship; see Joe Biden. The definition of insanity; oh well, "may the mayhem begin"

On another note, I don't want to hear another note about Tom Ridge's color coded
alert schemes, after foisting Janet
Napolitano on us at DHS. As for Geithner, he showed no particular wisdom at the NY Fed; spearheaded the disastrous maladroit bailout package; this constitutes as change.
Are the vetters so upset about Summer's very apt comments on female/male differentials to block his rise (you betcha)Another fellow up on the dais, is Miami Mayor Manny Diaz for Transportation? or HUD Secretary. The last is specially ironic as the mayor has gentrified Little Havana, almost entirely out of existence. He is a big admirer of the Richard Daley style of administration. All those working class folk, some of which appeared with McCain and Joe the Plumber, at Everglades Lumber had the price of housing spiral out of control, and then into a deep ditch; so he's bailing out of Dodge, much like Napolitano. Conflicts of interests with the former city manager, a truculent former commissioner and business partner, the whole FTAA controversy; will likely not forestall his rise to higher office. Well that would be hypocritical wouldn't it, now.

[JM Hanes]

Petraeus should preempt Obama with a Pomegranate Plan for Afghanistan.

[Captain Hate]

Not exactly an encouraging view when the folks who sliced and diced Bush are falling all over themselves to embrace their new overlord

Trash gravitates to trash.

[Soylent Red]

I love pomegranate juice.

Pricey out here in bitter-clinger land. However, a little known fact, both Iraq and Afghanistan produce wonderful pomegranates. Iraq's are considered to be some of the best in the world.

Somebody look into Dick Cheney's ownership stake in Big Pomegranate! No blood for pomegranate juice!

[bad]

lol Soylent