Obama to ask Robert Gates to stay and No to Brennan
By John Amato Tuesday Nov 25, 2008 5:40pm
OMG, another leak.
Seeking experience in a time of war, President-elect Barack Obama will keep Defense Secretary Robert Gates in that job — if only temporarily — and he has chosen a retired Marine general to be his national security adviser, officials said Tuesday. Gates and retired Gen. James Jones bring years of experience to the Cabinet of a 47-year-old commander in chief with a relatively thin foreign policy resume.
Obama, who rolled out the key components of his economic team this week, plans to announce his foreign policy braintrust after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Gates, who has served as President George W. Bush's defense chief for two years, will remain in the Cabinet for some time, probably a year, according to an official familiar with discussions between the two men. A Democratic official said Jones was Obama's pick to head the National Security Council, the part of the White House structure that deals with foreign policy.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama has not authorized anybody to discuss the deliberations.
I think most of us expected this pick. He's got his Republican now. Hopefully, Gates will be replaced once Obama is comfortably settled in as President. And don't be fooled by the conservative talking heads that cheer on his moves. It's all designed to tweak us and I bet behind the scenes all the David Brooks types are laughing, trying so desperate to be relevant again.
Meanwhile:
John Brennan won't be CIA Director or DNI
This is really exceptional news on multiple levels -- the best political news I've heard since the election:
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Id probably want John McCain as scty of vets affairs...it could very easily go to kerry though...
He's voted against Veterans benefits. ( The new GI Bill.)
gates needs to go
ashcroft was replaced...it is not that hard to replace the sec of defense
look at the mess that is afghanistan...and i dont care what the repukes say, iraq is still a powder keg
Who needs to go. John Brennan.
Check this out:
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2008/11/22
At this point I'm more inclined to believe that it's not butter than to believe it's change.
they way people bitch about some of the stuff this guy is doing in preparation to take office of a very messed up country, you'd think his decisions are cast in stone, he won't be able to steer his cabinet.
If you want to see an example of a guy who was steered by his cabinet, look at the waste of skin occupying the office now. President-elect Obama is cut from totally different cloth.
MSNBC this morning. MIka, I believe. And on that show, a talking head made a comment that rang true with me.
He said one of the reasons Clinton stumbled was because he was a Governor. And being a Governor, he didn't really know how Washington worked.
Obama on the other hand is/was a Senator. And knows how Washington works.
I just thought I'd throw that out there.
He also said that we should outlaw Governors from being Prez.
I couldn't help but laugh at that one.
For a fraction of our costs in Iraq we can rebuild and modernize their oil production capabilities that Bushco destroyed and neglected. It is all we can afford and the least we can do for the people of Iraq. Then get out.
just offered Saddam a nice, lucrative, contract and bought all the rights to their oil in the first place. Then we could have given him a nice private island somewhere far, far away. It would have saved a million lives and billions of dollars, and a mess in that part of the world that will haunt us for years...
The CIA is a secret government. It should be dismantled, along with the department of homeland security. Zeig Heil et al.
Then cut the 'Defense' budget in half and eliminate private outsourcing.
it's a safe bet that GHWB had his hands pulling stribgs in the CIA for a very long time....long past his time as dir.
Gates knows where some of the bodies are buried. If this is a thoughtful decision by Obama, and his decisions usually are, then I'd rather try to think along with him for a minute. You want order in your intel community. You want to get everything Gates has before tossing him like a salad.
You don't want some shit hitting the shredder or hitting the fan. You want to get the stink out of the hidden places.
We need to stop knee-jerking on Obama. boosh had 8 years to fuck things up and Obama can't waste time taking inventory. Also, who better to have in charge of intel than a boosh crony if there is a terrrrist attack. Then Obama can fire Gates fast enough to cause a hurricane. Gates should be leaving the whitehouse with a doorknob up his ass.
When he was C.I.A. director during the B.C.C.I. scandal with Clark Clifford etc.
I'll never forget when he was being questioned on the Hill and he jokingly said, "Yeah, at the C.I.A. we refer to B.C.C.I. as The Bank of Crooks and Criminals, Inc."
Ha!!!!!!
Oh, boy.
Private Eye, published in the UK. I'm sure they have to read it, since a mostly satirical publication in the UK probably has all sorts they can use while plying their trade.
I was in the UK in 91. and the moniker is 'The Bank of Crooks and Criminals, International.'
Give Gates a year of transition in wartime/s--there's logic to that. Logic also that a year runs out the clock on that obstacle to Wes Clark being SecDef. Maybe that's where this is headed?
I think this is a very smart move on Obama's part. Gates is respected by the troops and the goopers. By keeping Gates to get out of Iraq smartly, he doesn't have to deal with the bullshit OBAMA SURRENDERED crap. Gates will be very useful in accomplishing Obama's agenda.
Gates has pushed back on some of the crap Bush wanted.
We need to, as Obama put it, get out of Iraq in as smart a fashion as we got into it stupidly. (Ok, I paraphrased that.)
I think it is very logical.
The sec Def probably has as much on his plate as any since the second world war. The key thing will be to pick a good understudy. This is one portfolio where a year long hand off makes a lot of sense and Gates has done as good a job as was possible in the Bush Administration.
Yippee, we're all going to die!
Maybe, just maybe, Obama knows what he's doing, and he just happens to think Gates will serve him well. How about we give just a little credit to Obama, he is a smart man after all, that's why he was championed so.
...to recovery?
LOL. I knew Obama was going to throw the liberals under the bus, I just was expecting him to at least wait a few months. But it seems he has to one up me, and this Obama feller couldn't wait until a bit after the inauguration.
Oh, well... I liked Bowie's version of Changes better anyhow.
wowser, why do i feel like ive seen this all before? like when bush did something he fucked up, the repigs found the good in everything he did, and gave theorys as to why he did it ,and they even believed it themselves, just saying , day ja vu -------
Get real people, Obama is much smarter than everyone has given him credit for. He will move a very progressive agenda, but he needs to disarm the right wing nuts on the media and unite the country before. Don't forget that HE will be the boss and Gate will only be useful to us for as long as he moves Obama's agenda.
Not everyone...just those who want to do nothing but bitch about maybe's and might be's.
look for the silver lineing and everything will be okay as long as your heads up your anus
You're nothing but a whiner and complainer. Call yourself a waaah-mbulance already. It's getting old.
quitcer bitchin!
You're the one who has been ragging all day.
Take a mydol and get over it.
go up to the auto workers are makeing 70 bucks an hour thread and haunt them for a while toots!
You started it. If you can't stand the heat, pull your dick out of the fire.
no i didnt start it , maby one of your toadys did , now stfu and get lost!
I am not going anywhere.
Want some cheese and French bread to go with your constant whine?
WAAAAAHHHHHHH!
well that makes two of us ill be here when you get tired of your stallking let me know ,oh and sticks and stones ect ect! i thought stalking a poster was not allowed , bleed much!
Hah! You think too highly of yourself.
Who responded to whom here (initially up thread)?
Idiot.
sorry im not one of your admirers or toadys if you prefer , now just put pull your head out of your tukas take a deep breath and get back to the real friends that eat your slock !
i just love it when you talk dirty to me, , i know the boys think youve got a real big set of balls but dear if youll check in your shorts youll find nothing hanging there, now i never read many of your posts mainly because they seem to be mostly about your social life , and really if you have an opinion who cares, certainly not me, if my haveing an opinions not ok with you why all you have to do is like i do when i see your posts look at the top of the post it tells you whos posting so just skip on to the next poster perhaps youll find someone who agrees with you more so then i do, and if your going to stalk someone stick to trolls they might be more impressed with your machoisims, now lets just agree to ignore each other when we post, say starting now,
The real issue with keeping Gates on is not Gates himself, but all of the loony Bush plants working under him. Keep Gates, and you keep the loons.
that goes for every agency across the board.
Who does John Amato think he's kidding?
Lieberman just praised Obama's transition team as "just about perfect". That should tell you pretty much all you need to know about the kind of team Obama is putting together.
Joe wouldn't do anything deceitful. Or be up for kissing arse long and hard.
.
The appropriate title for Obama should be:
The "CHANGE" that refuses to change.
Sorry folks,
What accountability for war crimes committed? Obama all but admits his knowledge of the war crimes themselves(TORTURE) by insisting that America needs to return to the Rule of Law. But the Rule of Law requires accountability, NO? What "CHANGE" does Obama propose, if not accountability but instead a permissiveness to the notion that ANY president can commit war crimes with impunity?
Keeping the LIARman in the fold when that LIARman first said he wouldn't actively work against the Democratic Party and especially after Obama said he would rid the Democratic Party of such turncoats... Yea, real "CHANGE" happens when you end up compromising principles and values in the vein hope of not being seen as too partisan, NO?
And of course, what any reputable news reporting agency refuses to communicate and discuss about that "SPIRIT OF COOPERATION".
But of course there's that tax plan of Obama's. Can't change that Bush-up, now can we?
I'm not surprised in the least that Obama keep the chief war mongers in their place. Because there obviously is a greater pull on Obama to continue the course of "Change, but no change".
Bumper sticker slogans are one thing...
... Living them is another, NO?
p.s.
Got immunity for warrantless wiretapping of Americans communications? I know I don't and never will be protected from any Administration that seeks to usurp my Constitutional protections. The NSA as my witness... FEET TO THE FIRE!
And BTW,
When one promises much and delivers little, the People have the right to complain and point out the inequities. Doing so is not about hatin' on the man as much as it is about accounting for a failure to live up to promises. Remember the era of, "Read my lip..."? The GOP knew just what to do. One could "HOPE" that the Democratic Party could learn, NO?
But be careful Dems, don't step on any one's toes when you do act...
... Least you be seen as an incompetent bumbling fool, YES?
FEET TO THE FIRE, is what I say.
IF Obama is to be that agent of "CHANGE" then it will show through his actions, not his promises.
Gates mirrored McCain's position on the surge...while Obama objected to it.
Biden was one of three Senators (along with Hagel and Lugar) who REWROTE the Congressional Authorization to Use Military Force in Iraq in order to make SURE it wasn't a "vote for war" at all, but rather a limitation of Congressional authorization for Bush to use force only if Iraq failed the inspection process (they didn't and Bush knew it) or if the inspectors found that Iraq posed a threat to our national security or that of Iraq's neighbors in the region (they didn't and Bush knew it)...while Obama ran against his opponents as the one candidate who didn't "vote for the war".
His contrarion position on Iraq was Obama's CENTRAL campaign issue.
uh...I think you O-bots got suckered. Bigtime.
Bill was right. Obama's claimed singular position on Iraq was the biggest fairy tale in the campaigns.
This is after all SaintsandAngels.com, where we bring you good news from D.C. - All good news, all the time!! Even if it's bad, watch us spin.. That's SaintsAndAngels.com.. Restoring your faith in government, one thread at a time. /snark
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