OMG!
Please read the whole diary before commenting. This is huge!
Pursuant to my authority as President-Elect of the United States,
Recognizing that the American people suffered large-scale depravations over many years at the hands of the Clinton administration,
Noting the grave concern of Progressives regarding the threat posed by the continuation of Clinton administration networks and personnel in the new administration, and the intimidation of my advisors by Clinton administration officials,
Concerned by the continuing threat to my agenda of change posed by former members of the Clinton administration,
I hereby promulgate the following:
Section 1
Disestablishment of the Clinton Administration
- On November 21, 2008 the Obama-Biden Transition Project disestablished the Clinton administration. This order implements the declaration by eliminating the former administration's structures and removing its leadership from positions of authority and responsibility in American society. By this means, the Obama-Biden Transition Project will ensure that representative government in America is not threatened by Clintonian elements returning to power and that those in positions of authority in the future are acceptable to the people of America.
- Full members of the Clinton Administration holding the ranks of Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Undersecretary, Assistant Undersecretary, or Paper Pusher (together, "Senior Administration Officials") are herby banned from future employment in the public sector. These Senior Administration Officials shall be evaluated for criminal conduct or threat to the security of the Transition. Those suspected of criminal conduct shall be investigated and, if deemed a threat to security or a flight risk, detained or placed under house arrest.
- Individuals holding positions in the top three layers of management in every national government agency, affiliated corporations and other government institutions (e.g., universities and hospitals) shall be interviewed for possible affiliation with the Clinton Administration, and subject to investigation for criminal conduct and risk to security. Any such persons detained to be full members of the Clinton Administration shall be removed from their employment. This includes those holding more junior ranks, as well as those determined to be Senior Administration Officials.
- Displays in government buildings or public spaces of the image or likeness of the Clintons, or other readily identifiable members of the former regime are hereby prohibited.
- Rewards shall be made available for information leading to the capture of senior Clinton administration officials complicit in the crimes of the former administration
- The President-Elect or his designees may grant exceptions to the above guidance on a case-by-case basis.
Section 2
Entry into force
This order shall enter into force on the date of signature.
Barack Obama
President-Elect of the United States of America
Link
I can't believe this!
The President-Elect or his designees may grant exceptions to the above guidance on a case-by-case basis.
Exceptions? EXCEPTIONS? We've been BETRAYED!
::
For those of you that didn't make the connection immediately, "de-Clintonification" is a reference to Coalition Provisional Authority Order 1, which purged the Iraqi government of not only higher-level Ba'ath party officials, but a number of lower-level technocrats, not ideologically aligned with Saddam's regime but politically neutral civil servants.
Many people who have written about the invasion and occupation of Iraq have pointed to this order, and the order disbanding the Iraqi military, as the principle reason for the chaos that followed after the collapse of Saddam's regime.
I believe that while the situations are obviously vastly different, a similar principle applies. That is, when you're trying to establish a new government after throwing out a tyrant, you don't just throw everybody out and start over. Some kind of continuity has to be maintained, because while Obama sets about his agenda, the Federal government needs to keep running smoothly, especially right now.
My question to Obama's critics on this site is this- if Obama is to hit the ground running and not only implement the change we were promised, but also govern effectively, who else should he look to hire, other than people who worked in the Clinton administration?
Moreover, what would you prefer as the alternative? Bush's people training Obama's people in their new jobs? No thanks.
Moreover, I'd like to point out that for as much as Progressives are "concerned" about Obama's cabinet so far, his appointments do show that he is committed to keeping his word. To wit-
"I will tell you, though, that my goal is to have the best possible government, and that means me winning," Obama said, per ABC News' Sunlen Miller. "And so, I am very practical minded. I'm a practical-minded guy. And, you know, one of my heroes is Abraham Lincoln."
Obama then referred to "a wonderful book written by Doris Kearns Goodwin called 'Team of Rivals,' in which [she] talked about [how] Lincoln basically pulled in all the people who had been running against him into his Cabinet because whatever, you know, personal feelings there were, the issue was, 'How can we get this country through this time of crisis?'"
...
"That has to be the approach that one takes," Obama said, "whether it's vice president or cabinet, whoever. And by the way that does not exclude Republicans either. You know my attitude is that whoever is the best person for the job is the person I want. ... You know, if I really thought that John McCain was the absolute best person for the Department of the Homeland Security, I would put him in there."
An audience member yelled out: "No!"
"No, I would, if I thought that he was the best," Obama said. "Now, I'm not saying I do. I'm just saying that's got to be the approach that you take because part of the change that I'm looking for is to make sure that we're reminded of what we have in common as Americans."
Link
We're getting exactly what he said we would be getting, and I couldn't be more thrilled. If he's keeping his word now, I have no reason to believe that he won't keep his word down the road.
::
As I'm writing this, I'm listening to a public affairs show on my college radio station with some guy saying that Obama is going to be "like the first Black cop- he'll beat you harder than the white cop because he's got something to prove."
I also saw a comment on Kos today where somebody said "Obama=Bush's 3rd term".
That kind of hyperbole is flat-out insane, and shows an ignorance of histoy. Both Lincoln and FDR appointed ideological rivals to their cabinets in a time of crisis, and both were enormously successful. Why should we expect different from this cabinet?
Remember all that nonsense in 2004 about "changing horse in the middle of the stream"? This transition is more like sacking the entire fire department while the whole city is burning.
We don't just need people who have a lot of great, innovative theories about how to fight fires. We need those people in addition to people who know how to drive the trucks and operate the hoses. And if you look a little closer at Obama's transition team, you'll note that both are present. This blog at Mother Jones makes that case better than I can.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't push back against truly repugnant cabinet picks, but it seems like Progressives take umbrage at the simple fact that some of these people used to work for Bill Clinton. That, in my estimation, is a mistake. I could be wrong, but I'm not willing to declare Obama a traitor just yet.