Cabinet Dropout... Go Back To High School

Your story's sad to tell
A Senate Ne'er do well
Most mixed up northeast GOP in the herd
Your future's in arrears now
two years on your career now
Can't even stick to Commerce on your word

Cabinet Dropout...
Takin' Obama For A Ride
Cabinet Dropout
Beggin' For Work's No Sign of Pride
If you don't like compromises, then don't get in the pool
stop chasing needless jobs... and go back to high school.

Okay, before we drift entirely away on parody... I have no idea what just happened with Judd Gregg. While comservatives are trying to hail this as a sudden burst of principles (on the part of Gregg, who's really shown no particular loyalty to conservatism, never mind the GOP), That hardly seems like the full story here. Nor do I buy a lot of the notions that Gregg had such deep seated objections to, say, the stimulus, that he couldn't swallow his concerns and work at Commerce.

I do buy a little more that the Devil was in the details, and that possibly Gregg, or other forces in the GOP, realized that he would get little or no benefit from running the Commerce Department if he couldn't control the Census. Gregg's been a weird, outspoken critic of the Census, and blocked its funding in the past - truly odd because the Census needs money more than almost any other agency. It's nowhere near fully prepared for 2010, and the past two years - when Congress and President Bush didn't pass full budgets but only Continuing Resilutions - where money for the Census was frozen year to year, neglect the fact that the Census is a sliding increase in budgetary needs, leading up to an enormous expenditure in 2010, when they do the Country's ten-year full enumeration.

Though conservatives would like to salvage this as a victory for good sense... and lots of people, on both sides, would love to hail this as the death of "bipartisanship," the current least favorite word of choice, I  think this will go down as one man's sad folly. Mostly, I think Gregg looked at leaving the Senate in 2010 with little to show for his time there, and thought a Cabinet position would be a nice last placeholder on the resume. Just what gave Gregg cold feet, I think we'll never know... but I'd guess it was omse combination of cold feet and pressure from other Republicans... which is a telling sign of Republican disarray.

If there's a problem for the Obama team, I think it's that the fiasco of filling Commerce is indicative of the growing clarity of the difference between the Administration's strengths and weaknesses. The stimulus bill, despite griping all around, really does show that Obama can get what he wants, and at least bend the process to his will, if not make the processof government something that makes us warm and proud day to day. But what this Administration already seems hung up on is clear statements of policy goals: so far the list for Commerce Secretary has been a wealthy heiress and high profile donor, a Hispanic competitor in need of a political payoff... and a Republican of dubious principles. Never mind the obvious scraping... what in the hell ties these selections together as an approach to running the business and trade relations of the government?

Up to now, I've been working on the assumption that while we don't know Obama's guiding political philosophy, he does; I'll admit I was naive not to realize that perhaps we didn't see a guiding philosophy... because there isn't one. And so, we have an enormous messy brand of "stimulus" where everything gets a little something but nothing gets enough emphasis... and we get a banking plan of stunning vagueness to be followed by a much-hoped-for foreclosure solution that, too, is likely to disappoint... and still, no idea of where the President draws a line, or takes a stand.  It's easy to make fun of Judd Gregg; it's less funny to consider that, outside of solving a complicated political puzzle by turning Gregg's seat over to a Democrat, there seems to have been no particular reason to appoint Judd Gregg over anyone else. You're the One That I Want? Not Really. Turn in your keys and phone... and go back to high school.

 

Comments

[Ted]

Obama’s stealing the census from Congress has suddenly awakened and enraged the Republicans. Maybe this will arouse them as well to challenge Obama for stealing the Presidency itself. They surely know he is not an Article 2 “natural born citizen” (which is more than merely being a 14th Amendment “citizen”) by virtue of either Obama’s birth to a dad of Kenyan/British citizenship or birth in Kenya itself — as manifested by his unwillingness to supply his long form birth certificate now under seal.

[weboy]

Ted - I would simply delete your right wing nuttiness... but I think it deserves debunking: there is nothing accurate about your "birth certificate" nonsense... and I suspect you know it. As for "stealing the census", perhaps if the Bush Administration hadn't withheld billions of dollars, and put poorly qualified political cronies into key roles, we wouldn't be facing a crisis in the census which required a strong, hands-on approach (one that, with Gregg, would clearly have been needed, given his own quixotic battles with the agency). I suspect that, without Gregg, there won't be a lot of need for White House control. But in either case, like your other claim, there's much less to it than meets the eye.

For you or anyone wishing actual facts on the birth certificate story:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/jun/27/obamas-birth-certificate-part-ii/

and

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=79086

And next time, Ted, if you plan to stick with this line of argument... I'll probably need to hit the "delete" button.