This pick simply mystifies me. Panetta has no background in intelligence and is known principally as Clinton's former chief of staff. I thought perhaps Obama would pick one of his high-profile supporters, Richard A. Clarke, well-known counter-terrorism czar and critic of both the Clinton and Bush administrations. The CIA post should not involve politics as usual; it should be based more on experience and merit.
Minnesota Election another Democratic Party Stolen Election?
In 2004, Republican Dino Rossi defeated Democrat Christine Gregoire (yes, the same Gregoire whom over this past holiday season allowed the posting of an anti-religion rant next to a Nativity scene) in a close election, but a third "recount" showed Gregoire "winning" by 129 votes. This is despite the fact that more ballots were counted in heavily Democratic King County than there were registered voters. I don't care what kind of mental gymnastics it takes some liberal judge to pretend inflated vote totals didn't throw the election to Gregoire because he doesn't know which ballots were illegal ones and hence doesn't know which candidate the illegal ballots favored. In addition to more ballots cast than voters, we know provisional ballots (many of which should not have been counted) were counted with legal ballots, military absentee ballots likely favoring Rossi were excluded because they were sent out too late, illegal felon votes were counted, while hundreds of "votes" were being "discovered" in warehouses, storage rental facilities, and private mailboxes, not to mention numerous "good" absentee ballots somehow "mistakingly" placed in the rejected ballot pile.
It's really not surprising in the tradition of Al Gore and Christine Gregoire trying to cherrypick their way into reversing an objective count of the ballots on election night on a consistent basis, Al Franken is joining Gregoire in a dubious victory, despite the double-counting of certain Al Franken votes, double-standard judgments favoring Al Franken's position, etc. (The Wall Street Journal has proven more context for the alleged irregularities.)
Senate Rejection of Roland Burris, Blago's Selection for Obama's Seat
Senator Reid is resorting to technicalities involving a legally dubious situation whereby the Illinois Secretary of State refuses to certify Burris' nomination by Governor Blagojevich and the Senate's gatekeeper privilege in seating members. In fact, Burris ran against Blago in the 2002 Democratic gubernatorial primary, and Burris ran for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate during an earlier election. A multi-time statewide office holder before Blagojevich became governor, Burris cannot be called a tainted pick (but one could certainly say that he doesn't look a gift horse in the mouth: it's probably the last shot he had of getting to the U.S. Senate).
Richardson Scandal Leads to Withdrawal of Commerce Secretary Nomination
The controversy over the awarding of state contracts has done in Richardson's national administrative chances. It's curious that in "turning the page", Obama has named a number of veteran politicians, and one must wonder about Obama's own vetting process.
Questionable Obama Picks Continue
Late word that a national news reporter/doctor Sanjay Gupta is to be named Surgeon General is yet another unconventional, puzzling pick (like Panetta's for the CIA). Given the fact that Dr. Gupta is a licensed doctor and surgeon, he certainly meets minimal qualifications. I do think Obama needs to focus more on substance than style or presentation.
Obama Stimulus Package: Save Your Grandkids: Just Say 'No'
Obama is trying to emphasize the tax side in his carrot tax-and-spend approach, hoping to lure over GOP/conservative support. Who's against a tax cut/credit? After all, doesn't that follow Mom, apple pie, and Chevrolet? This pushing-on-a-string approach to overloading the legacy of your grandkids, already facing a globally competitive future, to fund giveaways--which may not even be spent as hoped--is unconscionable. The way I think we have to proceed is to focus on drawing money in from the sidelines, and that means giving those with dollars more of an incentive to invest; the biggest thing Obama could do is to reduce uncertainty in the market--in particular, the soak-the-rich rhetoric needs to be set aside.
