I've been watching a number of complaints arise on this site concerning some of Obama's choices for his transition team and for his Cabinet positions. One of the biggest complaints is that Obama is choosing veterans from the Clinton Presidency for positions in his Cabinet, which apparently is a betrayal in their eyes of his promise to bring "Change" to Washington. But is it?
First, I'd like to point out that I am no fan of the Clintons. I held considerable disdain for the Clinton Presidency and felt that President Clinton should have been thrown out of office for perjury. (Yes, I know. It was a lie about an affair, and "technically" he didn't lie because of the tense he used in answering the question. I call bullshit on that, but it's a decade in the past and is primarily of historic note.) However, after Dr. David Brin pointed out that I was letting my prejudices about the Clintons blind me to the good they did, I took a second harder look at the Clinton Presidency.
One thing that is true is that there were no convictions of any of Clinton's staff for crimes committed in office. The Republicans spent millions of dollars in large investigations and would have ended up with egg on their face if 9/11 hadn't happened to hush up their inability to find any crimes of merit. Thus the main failings of the Clinton Campaign seems to be that the House and Senate went Republican during President Clinton's time in office, and on some legislation he signed while Republicans dominated Congress. Oh, and his personal behavior, but that's a given.
At the end of his second term, President Clinton had a budget surplus. This broke the cycle of increased debt that started under the reign of President Reagan (which reveals the lie to the Republican claims that Republicans are for smaller government and less spending; while Democrats controlled Congress (or at least the House of Representatives - they'd get the Senate back in 1986) under Reagan, he did have the ability to veto budgets that he disagreed with... yet he supported increased spending for programs he was interested in). Part of this was due to a strong economy and tax revenues that were a result of this (and which the Shrub promptly destroyed with his own tax cuts). But part of this was also due to a Cabinet that was competent at its job and knew what it was doing.
Back in 1976, President Carter's presidency started out strong, only to run into problems due to conflicts with a Democratic Congress. President-Elect Obama is smart enough to know his history, and to avoid the pitfalls of the past. The choices he is making are designed to ensure he does not repeat the mistakes of the past and to bring about change... change in the country itself. In order to bring this change, he needs people who know their way around Washington, who have the contacts needed to encourage both Democrats and Republicans to listen to his ideas and to follow his lead.
In short, what we need as a country is not a bunch of new inexperienced faces who stumble their way through Congress and alienate everyone, ensuring that Congress ignores him and goes its own way and enacts its own policies. Instead, we need to change the very foundation of this country. We need to shift away from the trend of anti-intellectualism that has gotten a stranglehold on the country. We need to move away from oil and non-renewable resources and lead the world in wind, solar, and other renewable technologies. We need to encourage the social responsibility of not just corporations, but of average Americans. We need to change how the world looks at us, and become a part of the global community rather than a global police force or a big brother that "guides" the rest of the world.
Change is coming. But to achieve that change, we need experienced men and women in Obama's Cabinet and advising him, to help him in bringing these changes about. We trusted him in his election policies, which led to a significant victory against the Republicans and a repudiation to the failed policies of the Shrub and the Right. Trust him now as he builds a team to help him lead this country.
Robert A. Howard, Tangents Reviews