White House photo
President Obama holds his first cabinet meeting in April 2009.
While we wait for the official announcement from President Obama about Chuck Hagel's nomination, it's worth pausing to note the larger context: as a candidate, Obama promised a bipartisan team, and whether one approves of the goal or not, it's a promise the president has kept.
Traditionally, this hasn't been much of an issue -- presidents were largely expected to create cabinets from their own party -- but Clinton added some Republicans to his team in the 1990s, including naming William Cohen to head the Pentagon, and when George W. Bush ran in 2000, he presented himself as a relative moderate by assuring voters there would be a Democrat in his cabinet, too.
Bush later tapped Norm Mineta to lead the Department of Transportation.
But even before Obama nominates Hagel as Secretary of Defense, as best as I can tell, this president has given more administration positions to Republicans than any modern president has given to members of the other party.
For all the talk on the right about Obama being a bitter partisan, the president made former Republican Rep. John McHugh the Secretary of the Army; he made former Republican Rep. Ray LaHood the Secretary of Transportation; he put former Republican Rep. Jim Leach in charge of the National Endowment for the Humanities; he named former Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman as U.S. Ambassador to China; and he put former Republican Rep. Anne Northup in charge of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Obama also kept Bush's Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, in his post, and for a while, nominated former Republican Sen. Judd Gregg as his Commerce Secretary. Indeed, Hagel has already been on the White House team, serving as a co-chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.
To be sure, opinions can vary widely as to whether this is a positive development or not.
There's a credible school of thought that suggests if Americans wanted Republicans in key administration posts, they would have elected a Republican president. For that matter, it's not as if Obama's GOP's detractors are giving him credit for crafting such a bipartisan team -- the right still considers the president a radical, left-wing partisan who refuses to reach out to Republicans, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding.
Still, for good or ill, this is largely what Obama promised the public four years ago, and at least in theory, it's what Americans say they like -- a leader who's not afraid to surround himself with a diverse group of advisors, including folks from the other party.
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Hagel tells the truth about the wars and Israel, so Republicans don't like him.
Bloomberg tells the truth about Climate Change, so the far right doesn't like him either.
Obama should challenge Bloomberg to put up or shut up on climate change- and agree to run the EPA and use it to ram through confiscatory fines on export of CO2 polluting energy- whether that is XL pipeline oil or LNG fracked in the US.
These major sources of revenue should be directed to payment for disasters, and for research and promotion of green technologies (such as upgrading refining to output only Hydrogen, with carbon extracted sequestered into deep undersea basalt formations (such as the vast ones off the Pacific Northwest coast). At these depths, the CO2 is liquid and heavier than water.
Conversion to a green energy economy can be done using market forces, not fighting them. When energy companies receive a clear signal that this is the most profitable line of development, US industry will be the ally, not opponent of efforts to slow CO2 production.
Hey Steve,
What is Bill Richardson doing with Google/Novell/Apple's Eric Schmidt in Pyongyang, NK? Polishing up his reputation for a go in 2016? http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/08/world/asia/bill-richardson-and-eric-schmidt-of-google-visit-north-korea.html
Huntsman's service in Obama's administration hobbled his presidential run for his rabidly partisan party nicely, didn't it? But he was a good Ambassador, apparently. As LaHood has been as Sec of Transportation.
Vabelle, #3
Huntsman was a wonderful ambassador to China, and speaks fluent Chinese. He was also an excellent Governor, and well respected. I would have voted for him for president, frankly!
Of course, he got Borked by the likes of Michele Bachman and her T-Party subversives. They have a strong dislike for intelligent people, and try to ruin them.
See that's the thing here...this isn't about party affiliation as much as it's about Smart v. Stupid.
The problem isn't that there aren't any competent Republicans or intellectual conservatives it's that they have to keep a low profile and pander to the lowest common denominator, which in this case is FOX News viewers.
The Republican party has waged such an effective war over the years of trying to peg Democrats as "Liberal College Boys" and "Elite Snobs" while trying to portray themselves as Regan's "Everyman" and the second coming of Gene Autry that they can't demonstrate any kind of overt intelligence or education themselves. These days they are more likely to say "William F. Buckley...Who's that? Is he one of those pinko liberal America Haters?"
^I agree, this is Smart Vs. Stupid. This is the GOTP's two headed love child from copulating with the teatards.. Another of God's little rape baby miracles I suppose..
Chuck Hagel is a fine choice for this position. Of course, the GOP, like Lindsay Graham and his ilk will fight this. Why? Well, of course, first because that's what they DO! And secondly,
beacuse Hagel tells the truth, and wants to cut back the bloated defence budget and make the military a finely honed, high tec machine, as it should be. Graham and that group make a ton of lobbyists money from these unnecessary military expenses. They'll have Hagel turned into the mad bomber or the anti-Christ by the time they're done spouting their lies. They think THEY can pick the President's choices.
I don't think so. That's why we reelected Obama.
Not to mention that McCain and Graham have lost all credibility (Not that either of them ever had any, IMO)
My problem isn't that he's picking from both parties, my problem is "are the people he's picking from the other side" giving him the best advise for the nation or is it just the "party line"?
Republicans still do not understand that the election is over, that the American people have spoken, and that their brand of hate speech and extremism is on the way out the proverbial door. Yet the attempts to embarrass the president at the expense of a functioning government will not stop until these knuckleheads end up at impeachment. Conservatives are fluent in a kind of toxic and pervasive hypocrisy that this country has never seen before. Obstruction is not a tool to be used sparingly for these GOP clowns; it is the only way they know how to operate. - progressive
Barney Frank strongly opposed Hagel's appointment just a few weeks ago...I guess before he realized opposition might get in the way of him being appointed Senator in Kerry's place...then he backed off that statement...what strong values, huh. Both sides play politics with EVERYTHING!
RobDon #6.1
Two wings of the same vulture basically. But the Democrats are far better for the working class.
If you provide some evidence for your statement about Mr. Frank, then there might be some reason to regard what you've posted as something other than run-of-the-mill trollery...
Doug, you tried to correct my math (which was accurate) in a previous post and now you want me to "provide some evidence" despite the fact I have a link in my comment to Frank's comment as reported in the Huffington Post (I try to provide neutral or left leaning sources because most here without reading dismiss other sources). I don't know what other evidence you want????
I'm not a troll, either, been here for a while and provide sources to the vast majority of my comments.
Given that the Israelis are in the middle of an election campaign that is likely to make their government even more pro-fascist and racial/religious supremacist than it already is (proving that Jews can indeed become Nazis) is more than time to rein in the AIPAC Israel-Uber-Alles lobby. That Hagel knows that the American interests are not synonymous with the annexationist, pro-apartheid policies of current Israeli politics makes him the best candidate.
The Israelis need to go back and read the prophets in the Torah, the ones who point out that the Jews brought on every disaster they suffered back then when they failed to act in accordance with their religious morality. The one thing I know about that area is that racial/religious supremacy has never been considered a virtue in Judaism - since they used to know well what happened to them in such situations. But they're bringing on the seeds of their own destruction again, just as they did at the time of the destruction of the first temple. Someone needs to find a way to save them from themselves.
TCinLA, #7
The right wing Republicans have a fantasy about Israel that is very unlike Israel.
It's bought him precisely zero good-will from the diseased minds of Republicans. And it's antagonized his base (which he seems to enjoy). And Anne Northup is flat-out incompetent.
This only works if the "other " party members have the greater good in mind.
We need someone to speak out against Israeli extremists. We do not need any foreing country whether an alli or not dictating our foreign policy.
bflynch, #10,
Well said. Lord knows we are being dictated to enough right here in the GOP caucus. They refuse to believe that the election is over and we won. We don't need Israel's answer to George Bush telling us what to do on top of that!
The thing that will probably kill the Hagel nomination is AIPAC, which is one of the most powerful PAC's in Washington. Israel has an inordinate amount of power in the congress. President Obama tried to be friends with the republicans as soon as he was inaugurated, but they rejected his overtures. The de facto head of the republicans, Rush Limbaugh, stated that he hoped Obama failed and his party has been trying to ensure his failure ever since.
Anne Northup was never the chair of the CPSC; that post went to Inez Tenenbaum. Northup was chosen because as an independent commission like the FCC or SEC, the CPSC must by statute have members of both parties. By long-standing tradition, members of the minority party on commissions are recommended by that party's leader in the Senate, i.e. McConnell.
Hagel never seemed like a rocket scientist. He's just an ordinary Republican with the prejudices common to his race, class and geographical origin. He does seem to have seen what a lot of veterans of wars see- that war is something to be avoided if possible. McCain and Graham never had the opportunity to learn that. They are only too happy to condemn other people's children to death as cannon fodder.