The New Cabinet: Part 1

Only one problem with Krugman (0.00 / 0)

He doesn't want the job.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.c...

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by: Matt @ Tue Jan 08, 2013 at 13:10:09 PM UTC

Don't Care.... (0.00 / 0)

I don't care that he doesn't want it, nor that he would turn it down if offered. I don't even care that he says he's a bad administrator. Not only is he the best man for the job, but just the whisper of his nomination would create some very good conversations that the GOP keeps hidden due to their lies about debt and deficit. Further, I bet a lot of people don't know who he is (sad but true) and the whispers might well get them information they haven't been exposed to yet.  

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by: DocJess @ Tue Jan 08, 2013 at 13:49:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Comment on Hagel (0.00 / 0)

Defense Secretary doesn't set foreign policy. Hagel has been military and knows what it means to take orders, and lead under orders. His background in the Military and Congress makes him a logical choice.

His comments from the past are just that, the past. A lot of people ave changed their position on gays serving in the military. And in the military, we have rules on displaying PDA (public displays of affection) so the whole paranoid thing against gays serving was overblown by the far right and anti gay folks. And a 2nd hand account of a comment from 23 years ago makes him an anti-Semite? Please.........

I would have preferred others for Sec Def like Colin Powell, John Kerry (just to irritate the right, and I know, he is getting SoS nod), or even David Petraeus.

Now to lighten the mood, for Treasury........Jim Cramer. ;o)

But more seriously, for Treasury, how about someone like Carmen Reinhart.

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by: Emit R Detsaw @ Tue Jan 08, 2013 at 14:50:23 PM UTC

Comments from Long Ago (0.00 / 0)

The thing about anti-Semitism, or any other kind of hatred, is that it's not an opinion that changes, it's a structural condition in many cases.

When I was 16, I started college, and was pretty naive, and went on a brunch date with a guy from my econ class. He was 18. When we ordered, the waiter, who was also the owner of the place, asked if I wanted bacon, sausage or ham, and I declined. The date asked why and I said I was a vegetarian. He told me that the only people who didn't like pork were Jews, and all Jews should die. Hitler was right. He go upset, he picked up his knife (admittedly, a butter knife) - and the owner sat next to him so he couldn't get out of the booth, and recommended I leave.

It's DECADES later, and I'm betting that guy didn't change.

As I've said many times before, I sleep better at night because we have a strong, proud, military that keeps our country safe. I couldn't do what you did, and they do, Emit. I know anti-Semites, and I don't want one in charge of protecting me. Is Hagel one? I don't know...but I want to hear from the Jews that knew him when.

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by: DocJess @ Wed Jan 09, 2013 at 11:32:47 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Governor George Wallace. (0.00 / 0)

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by: trud @ Mon Jan 14, 2013 at 10:22:27 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Also, (0.00 / 0)

I don't see anything in that article that convinces me he's anti-Semitic.  The claims of various individuals that he's "unfriendly to Israel" may mean nothing more than that he supports Palestinian human rights, or he thinks the U.S. shouldn't be spending trillions fighting Israel's wars so they can keep brutalizing the Palestinians and stealing more and more of their land in the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem.

Personally, I have seen so many human rights people smeared with false charges of anti-Semitism, that I give the charges no credence unless I see hard evidence and its context.

We need more people in leadership in the government who have their blinders off about Israel.  Immense damage has been done to the U.S. by supporting this Apartheid state.

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by: trud @ Mon Jan 14, 2013 at 10:31:09 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Geo Wallace was NEVER a racist (0.00 / 0)

He was a slimy politician who realized that racism was the ticket in the south in the 1960s (and elsewhere). When racism lost its winning punch, he embraced black folks. Not sure why they forgave him, but in Alabama, he won the last time with pretty strong AA support.

Not saying folks dont change, but GW didnt. He simply quit using a tactic that worked for a while and then didnt.

I knew him when I was a kid and he was an old man. He was not yet 60 and I was about 13-15, but he was sickly, deaf and wheelchair bound and seemed old.

from wikipedia:

In 1958, Wallace was defeated by John Malcolm Patterson in Alabama's Democratic gubernatorial primary election. At the time the primary was the decisive election; the general election was then a mere formality. This was a political crossroads for Wallace. Patterson ran with the support of the Ku Klux Klan, an organization Wallace had spoken against, while Wallace was endorsed by the NAACP.[12] After the election, aide Seymore Trammell recalled Wallace saying, "Seymore, you know why I lost that governor's race?... I was outniggered by John Patterson. And I'll tell you here and now, I will never be outniggered again."

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by: UplandPoet @ Tue Jan 15, 2013 at 07:37:31 AM UTC