Author: Buck Banks
If Obama Screws Up, Blame It on the Yankees
As Politico astutely points out, Barack Obama has not named a single Southerner to his cabinet, and half the slots are already gone. Some politicians below the Mason-Dixon line have noticed the snub and are not happy about it:
“Not a one,” grumbles a one senior Democratic aide who hails from the South. “Not even half of one, unless you count Hillary Clinton, and she doesn’t count because she’s not even an Arkansan anymore. She’s a Yankee.”
Noting that Obama picked up 55 Electoral College votes in North Carolina, Virginia and Florida, the conservative-leaning Web site speculates why he has not chosen a denizen of the South:
Some Democrats chock (sic) it up to happenstance and say Obama is simply picking the most qualified people, no matter the region. Others acknowledge, however, that the paucity of Democrats in Obama’s cabinet reflects the declining political power of the red-leaning Southern states and the weakening bench of the blue team there.
“Who comes to mind immediately?” asked Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia. “No one, really.”
“The leading politicians in the South at least for the last generation have been active as Republicans,” Bullock added. “You just don’t have Democrats that come to mind as the go-to person or the expert. It highlights the thinness of the Democratic bench in the South… The skill set is so depleted.”
If Obama doesn’t appoint a Southerner to top level policy positions, it looks like he is buying into the stereotype that there isn’t anyone from the South smart enough to work for him
Ouch! Bullock does have a point. And he is a professor, so he must be right.
Alas, the Democratic Party in the South is much like a Southern family saga to be found in the works of William Faulkner — the strong, populist patriarchs of yore have degenerated into the ineffectual bumpkins running the party today.
Just look at the southerners rumored as prospective cabinet members:
Had he not self-destructed in a sex scandal, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards might have landed a Cabinet post. The names of former Georgia Sens. Sam Nunn and Max Cleland briefly bounced around the Obama orbit.
Inez Tenenbaum of South Carolina is in the running for secretary of education. Former Texas Rep. Charlie Stenholm has been mentioned as possible pick for Agriculture secretary.
But Obama hasn’t pulled the trigger yet, prompting one former senior Democratic Hill aide to complain of a “geographic snubbing.â€
“Southerners are pretty sensitive to the stereotype that they are slow in mind as well as voice,” the former aide said. “The risk to the president-elect is that if he doesn’t appoint anyone from the South to top level policy positions, he is going to look like he is buying into the stereotype that there isn’t anyone from the South smart enough to work for him.
But no matter who he chooses, Obama is screwed. Hispanics were pissed when he passed over Bill Richardson for secretary of state: “We’re definitely a little sore about it,†one Hispanic Democrat said. “I’ve heard lots of grumbling in the Hispanic community.â€
And gays and lesbians expect a non-closeted cabinet member: “We’ve paid our dues in terms of money and effort. It is time for the people of our community to serve at the highest levels of government. This is something our community expects,†said Denis Dison, vice president of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute.
At the rate Obama is going, however, one thing is certain — if he screws up, we can always blame the Yankees.
Who’s Footing the Inauguration Bill?
According to Barack Obama’s official inauguration site (who knew?), a whole bunch of regular folks have given a whole lotta moolah to help him usher in his administration. Obama doesn’t have a PAC, he has a PIC, which is described on the page:
In keeping with President-elect Obama’s commitment to changing the way business is done in Washington, the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) is taking unprecedented steps to insure transparency in the public reporting of donors to a Presidential Inaugural Committee. This chart will allow you to view, sort, and search virtually real-time information on all donors contributing over $200 to the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee.
Unlike previous inaugural committees, the 2009 PIC does not accept contributions from corporations, political action committees, labor unions, current federally-registered lobbyists, non-U.S. citizens and registered foreign agents and does not accept individual contributions in excess of $50,000.
The list has some well-known names or names that seem like they belong to well-known people: Halle Berry from Bumper Inc. gave $50k, the max. Several people from the Powers, Rogers and Smith firm in Chicago gave $25k, for a total of $100. Glass sculptor Dale Chihuly gave $50k. Jamie Curtis of Santa Monica gave $25k. Berry Gordy of L.A. gave 50. Christopher Guest gave 25. Samuel Jackson of SZT Promotions in L.A. gave 50. Wendy Rockefeller of the Rockefeller Family Foundation gave $12k, while Laurance Rockefeller of the League of Conservation Voters gave $38k, for a total of 50. Five members of the Soros family each donated $50k. Sharon Stone of L.A., who lists herself as self-employed, gave $50k. Robert Zemekis of Burbank, also self-employed, gave 50.
Gee, I guess all that stuff they said about Obama and celebrities was true after all.
The site has a schedule of events, a blog and my favorite part — Inaugural Store: Coming Soon!
Quote du Jour
Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh? Is this really the kind of party that we want to be when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts?
— Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, in an interview on CNN, on the problems of the Republican party.
Quote du Jour
I have a hard time pronouncing his name. I just call him the idiot.
— David Gergen, interviewed on CNN about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich
Crime Watch: Signs of the Times
The economy really sucks right now. How do I know this? By reading the Police Report section of the Miami Herald. See, when times were better, crimes were, well, more glamorous and exciting to read. But now, the Police Report is just kind of sad, what with a string of garbage can thefts and all. You’d think in hard times, crooks would set their sights a little higher, but nooooo.
Here are some examples:
- Little Havana: A thief shoplifted six bottles of liquor from a store at 99 NW 27th Ave. Oct. 7
- Brickell Area: A man on a bicycle stole a woman’s bus pass while she waited for the bus at the corner of SW 7th St. and South Miami Ave. Oct. 17
- Shenandoah: A thief tried to pry open the front door of a house in the 2400 block of SW 15th St. Oct. 22
- Silver Bluff Estates: A thief grabbed a City of Miami garbage can from the front of a house in the 3300 block of SW 23rd St. Oct. 21
- Coconut Grove: A thief stole a City of Miami garbage can from a house in the 3300 block of Ah-We-Wa St. Oct. 20
- Coral Way Park: A thief stole a money clip, a cell phone, a credit card and a driver’s license from a chair during a wedding party at the Big Five Club. Nov. 29
- Coral Gables: A thief stole three tickets to the Madonna concert from a desk at a University of Miami dormitory Nov. 24
- South Miami: A vandal smashed a window on a 1992 Ford Explorer in the 6300 block of SW 41st St. Nov. 25
- Fairway Heights: A thief took a cell phone from an unlocked 1996 Honda Accord in the 16700 block of SW 102nd Court Nov. 25
- South Miami Heights: A thief drove off with a 2005 Ford F-450 tow truck in the 12300 block of SW 212th St. Nov. 25. “Smart Towing” is printed on the sides of the truck.
Quote du Jour
If it isn’t the most corrupt state in the United States, it’ s certainly one hell of a competitor. Even the most cynical agents in our office were shocked.
— FBI special agent Robert Grant, quoted by the Chicago Tribune, characterizing Illinois’ place “in the pantheon of political corruption.”
10 Worst Predictions for 2008
While we went way out on a limb yesterday and posted Pensito Review’s predictions for 2009, we want to share with you today some of the worst predictions for 2008. Foreign Policy has collected the worst prognostications by the pundits. We predict you’ll enjoy them:
1. “If [Hillary Clinton] gets a race against John Edwards and Barack Obama, she’s going to be the nominee. Gore is the only threat to her, then. … Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single Democratic primary. I’ll predict that right now.†— William Kristol, Fox News Sunday, Dec. 17, 2006
2. “Peter writes: ‘Should I be worried about Bear Stearns in terms of liquidity and get my money out of there?’ “No! No! No! Bear Stearns is fine! Do not take your money out. … Bear Stearns is not in trouble. I mean, if anything they’re more likely to be taken over. Don’t move your money from Bear! That’s just being silly! Don’t be silly!†— Jim Cramer, responding to a viewer’s e-mail on CNBC’s Mad Money, March 11, 2008
3. “[In] reality the risks to maritime flows of oil are far smaller than is commonly assumed. First, tankers are much less vulnerable than conventional wisdom holds. Second, limited regional conflicts would be unlikely to seriously upset traffic, and terrorist attacks against shipping would have even less of an economic effect. Third, only a naval power of the United States’ strength could seriously disrupt oil shipments.†— Dennis Blair and Kenneth Lieberthal, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2007
4. “[A]nyone who says we’re in a recession, or heading into one—especially the worst one since the Great Depression—is making up his own private definition of ‘recession.’†— Donald Luskin, The Washington Post, Sept. 14, 2008
5. “For all its flaws, an example to others.†— The Economist on Kenya’s presidential election, Dec. 19, 2007
6. “New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will enter the Presidential race in February, after it becomes clear which nominees will get the nod from the major parties. His multiple billions and organization will impress voters—and stun rivals. He’ll look like the most viable third-party candidate since Teddy Roosevelt. But Bloomberg will come up short, as he comes in for withering attacks from both Democrats and Republicans. He and Clinton will split more than 50% of the votes, but Arizona’s maverick senator, John McCain, will end up the country’s next President.†— BusinessWeek, Jan. 2, 2008
7. “There is a real possibility of creating destructive theoretical anomalies such as miniature black holes, strangelets and deSitter space transitions. These events have the potential to fundamentally alter matter and destroy our planet.†— Walter Wagner, LHCDefense.org
8. “The possibility of $150-$200 per barrel seems increasingly likely over the next six-24 months.†— Arjun Murti, Goldman Sachs oil analyst, in a May 5, 2008, report
9. “It starts with the taking over of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which has already happened. It goes on to the destruction of the Georgian armed forces, which is now happening. The third [development] will probably be the replacement of the elected government, which is pro-Western, with a puppet government, which will probably follow in a week or two.†— Charles Krauthammer, Fox News, Aug. 11, 2008
10. “I believe the banking system has been stabilized. No one is asking themselves anymore, is there some major institution that might fail and that we would not be able to do anything about it.†— Henry Paulson on National Public Radio, Nov. 13, 2008
