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The Caroline Kennedy fiasco

January 22, 2009 /

What a mess.

It’s painfully apparent that Caroline Kennedy lacks the political skills possessed by her famous father and uncles. Her rollout was terrible, and she’s done nothing to help herself along the way. Now she’s pulling out, and every story suggests a different reason, depending on the source. Can’t she just go on Larry King like everyone else and field some softball questions?

Meanwhile, Governor Patterson looks like a bumbling fool. Why has he stretched this out so long? Why does he keep contradicting himself? In one sense, Kennedy put him in a tough spot, but he also made matters worse.

I initially thought it was a great idea to appoint Caroline Kennedy. Sure, she didn’t have the usual credentials, and it’s probably not fair that she’s benefiting from her famous name, but she’s the sole heir of one of our most influential political figures, and I felt she could be a powerful and unique advocate for Obama’s agenda. She emerged as a real force during the campaign, and this presented an interesting opportunity for her to begin a career in politics.

Unfortunately, she really wasn’t ready. She was too uncomfortable in front of cameras. She never took command of the process. I thought she would seize the moment. I was wrong.

Democrats, Politics

Obama issues tough new lobbying restrictions and opens records

January 22, 2009 /

Many of the left and the right have long complained that the game was rigged in Washington. That will probably never end, but President Obama seems determined to change the climate in Washington by lessening the role of lobbyists and making the government more transparent.

New lobbying and records rules issued by President Obama yesterday appear to go beyond changes implemented by previous presidents, and could usher in an era of openness in federal government, according to ethics experts and open-government advocates.

In two executive orders and three presidential directives, Obama laid out stringent lobbying limits that will bar any appointees from seeking lobbying jobs while he is president and will ban gifts from lobbyists to anyone in the administration. He also ordered agencies to presume that records should be publicly released unless there are compelling reasons not to do so, and he loosened restrictions on the release of records related to former presidents and vice presidents.

Open-government advocates described the moves as a sharp departure from the policies of former president George W. Bush and former vice president Richard B. Cheney, who sought to shield details about White House inner workings from public view and imposed public records restrictions.

These changes are very significant. We’ve just endured one of the most secretive administrations in history, rivaling the paranoia of the Nixon years. Obama wants to opposite. Energy policy will not be set in secret meetings with industry executives.

The changes regarding the records of former presidents are most interesting.

In a separate order, Obama mandated more openness for presidential records following a congressionally established five-year waiting period after any president leaves office. The order permits a review by the attorney general and the White House counsel of claims by former presidents that information should be withheld under the doctrine of “executive privilege.” It also leaves the final decision in the hands of the incumbent president — not the former president, as provided in a 2001 order from Bush.

This accelerates how quickly we will learn what really happened during the Bush years.

Policy

Obama will close Gitmo

January 22, 2009 /

President Obama continues the clean break from the policies of the Bush administration. Today he signed new executive orders regarding the closure of the Guantanamo detention facility within a year, the review of military trials of terror suspects and a ban of the harshest interrogation techniques. Obama made his intentions clear:

The message we are sending around the world is that the US intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism and we are going to do so vigilantly, we are going to do so effectively, and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals … We intend to win this fight, and we intend to win it on our terms.

I find it interesting that he did not use the phrase “war on terror.” I have no idea if that was intentional, but as I’ve said in the past that phrase was always overly broad and misleading. Hopefully we can move beyond simple slogans to a more sophisticated policy that effectively fights those who wish to do us harm and rebuilds our bonds with moderate and peace-seeking peoples around the world.

Civil Liberties, Culture War, Foreign Policy, Policy, War on Terror

Spying on Americans by the NSA

January 21, 2009 /

I’m watching Countdown and Keith Olbermann is interviewing former NSA analyst Russell Tice. Tice has been explaining how the NSA has been snooping on ordinary Americans, including phone calls, faxes, emails etc. He specifically stated that the NSA was tracking major American news organizations and their reporters.

This is outrageous and scary as hell. It will be interesting to see what the Obama administration does with this.

Civil Liberties, Media, Policy, Politics, War on Terror

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