The emerging shape of the Obama administration has some on the left up in arms. The problem: too many Clintonites, from Rahm Emanuel to Eric Holder to, well, Hillary (if she takes the State job.) Well, to those who are going over the edge, I'd say calm down. There are three reasons why Barack Obama's Clinton grabs are a damned good idea:
1. He doesn't want to be George w. Bush. Obama is avoiding the classic mistake made by George W. Bush, who brought with him a cloistered Texas crew that was loyal to him, but not loyal enough to the Constitution, or schooled enough in the ways of Washington to help Bush marshall lasting support on Capitol Hill. In fact, Bush is known both for policy tunnel vision and for having dissed even Republicans on the Hill in pursuit of total, ego-boosting power. Now, when he's down, they're not willing to stand up for him.
2. He wants to get things done. Besides, why bring a gaggle full of Washington newbies to the White House when you can choose experienced hands instead? Obama already signaled that he knows how tough his full agenda will be to get through congress, so he picked Biden, a 26-year Hill vet who knows whose coats to pull to get what the president wants. And by adding people who actually did the damned thing during the 1990s to his staff and Cabinet, he's giving his agenda the best possible chance at succeeding by bringing in people who know the game, know the players, and command instant respect. (The Tom Daschle pick for HHS is the latest example. Who better to push through complex healthcare legislation than a former majority leader with long experience at twisting arms? Once you get back the WTF factor, the Hillary pick is another. Why spend 6 months rolling out a new face at State when you can send someone around the world with 100 percent first-name only name ID? World leaders don't have to "get to know her" as they did with Condi Rice. And her respect level with them will be built in, as will her leverage, which is called Bill Clinton.)
3. He values creative dissonance. The Obama White House will clearly not be filled with yes-men. Obama is assembling a team that is a mix of Chicago-based loyalists, but with exterior ties (Emanel, Holder) and Washington thinkers who can challenge both him, and each other. That will help him avoid some of the tunnel vision that did poor Bush in, once he let his administration be overwhelmed by Cheney and the neocons.
The Prince of Darkness strikes again (and drives away)
Crack CIA agent outer and crotchety old political columnist Robert Novak has had an interesting week so far. First, he reports that John McCain will try to upend Barack Obama's international media extravaganza by announcing his running mate, then he complains that the McCain campaign used him to try and trick the media into talking about their guy (kind of like the way Karl Rove used him to out Valerie Plame, hm? but without the treason?) and now, a quick thinking bicyclist and Politico.com catch him in a full-on hit and run:
The bicyclist was David Bono, a partner at Harkins Cunningham, who was on his usual bike commute to work at 1700 K St. N.W. when he witnessed the accident. As he traveled east on K Street, crossing 18th, Bono said a "black Corvette convertible with top closed plowed into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed onto the windshield.”
Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "Walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street. “The car is speeding away. What’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian and drive away,” Bono said.
He said he chased Novak half a block down K Street., finally caught up with him and then put his bike in front of the car to block it and called 911. Traffic immediately backed up, horns blared and commuters finally went into reverse to allow Novak to pull over.Bono said that throughout, Novak "keeps trying to get away. He keeps trying to go.”
He said he vaguely recognized the longtime political reporter and columnist as a Washington celebrity but could not precisely place him. Finally, Bono said, Novak put his head out the window of his car and motioned him over. Bono said he told him that you can't hit a pedestrian and just drive away. He quoted Novak as responding: “I didn’t see him there.”
Sure you didn't, not even after he was PASTED TO YOUR WINDSHIELD... Novak's 66-year-old victim was treated at a local hospital, and Novak got a ticket for failing to yield the right of way. Apparently, he's quite the speed demon, and was both "shaken" and "relieved' as he told the Politico reporter, "he's not dead. That's the main thing."
<%
dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
