# Obama's appointsments...oh yeah, big change **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 19, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-appointsments-oh-yeah-big-change/473515 "2008-11-19T20:25:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-appointsments-oh-yeah-big-change/473515/101 "2008-11-24T15:34:40Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Are not you getting just a bit tired of typing this by now? Perhaps you have a macro for it. Don’t kid yourself. They’ll still be typing it at the end of Obama’s first term. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-appointsments-oh-yeah-big-change/473515/102 "2008-11-24T17:45:17Z")
I’ve already pointed out that there is no reliable correlation between so-called “executive experience” (that is, previously having been a governor, lt. governor, president, vice-president, or military officer) and being a good president. “Executive experience” was defined by the Republican party in this election in such a way to include McCain and exclude Obama, but you can bet dollars to donuts it’ll be re-defined next election to include whatever either party thinks is convenient. I will be happy to link to that demonstration again every time the “executive experience” banshee raises its head. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-appointsments-oh-yeah-big-change/473515/103 "2008-11-25T17:38:01Z")
I am not pleased that he brought in people who were involved in the deliberate removal of regulation and the creation of hedge funds and swaps. Yet ,if they realize that their previous actions threaten the economic system of the world ,it may work out. They may actually have consciences. I hate having to rely on that. There were a lot of economists who predicted what would happen. I hope they are consulted at least. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-appointsments-oh-yeah-big-change/473515/104 "2008-11-25T20:38:50Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > There were a lot of economists who predicted what would happen. I hope they are consulted at least. Not just consulted. Appointed. You need to research more about Summers. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-appointsments-oh-yeah-big-change/473515/105 "2008-11-25T21:21:39Z")
I must admit, some of Obama’s supporters are disappointed. [William Greider,](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081208/greider_web) for instance: > [@](#): > > A year ago, when Barack Obama said it was time to turn the page, his campaign declaration seemed to promise a fresh start for Washington. I, for one, failed to foresee Obama would turn the page backward. The president-elect’s lineup for key governing positions has opted for continuity, not change. Virtually all of his leading appointments are restoring the Clinton presidency, only without Mr. Bill. In some important ways, Obama’s selections seem designed to sustain the failing policies of George W. Bush. > > This is not the last word and things are changing rapidly. But Obama’s choices have begun to define him. His victory, it appears, was a triumph for the cautious center-right politics that has described the Democratic party for several decades. Those of us who expected more were duped, not so much by Obama but by our own wishful thinking. > > Let us stipulate that these are all honorable people, smart and experienced veterans of Washington combat. But they represent the Democratic party that mainly sees itself as managerial–making government work better. The long era of conservative dominance has taught them to keep their distance from big reform ideas that promise fundamental change of the system. Their operating style is incremental and cautiously practical. They conscientiously avoid (or actively block) propositions that sound too liberal or radical. Alas, Obama is coming to power at a critical moment when incrementalism is irrelevant. The system is in collapse. Financial chaos won’t wait for patient deliberations. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-appointsments-oh-yeah-big-change/473515/106 "2008-11-25T21:33:32Z")
It’s like nobody was even paying attention during the campaign. All of the far-lefts think Obama is growing horns and a tail because of his Cabinet picks. He never ran as a liberal! Ever! He ran as a centrist. He and Hillary had about thismuch distance between their policies. I am not at all surprised that he’s floating her as SoS. And I don’t think it’s a bad idea. Likewise, I LIKE the Emanuel pick for Chief of Staff. Rahm Emanuel is a political wrangler extraordinaire…he’s the perfect pick for someone to ride herd on the rest of the Executive Staff. He’s also perfect as an armtwister for Congress. He’s appointing realists to the economic seats and he’s appointing experts all around. I’m incredibly happy to see that Obama is not continuing the Bush tradition of running away from expertise. He’s not appointing cronies. He’s appointing people with strong personalities and political philosophies so that he doesn’t end up in a bubble like our Current Occupant has been in since before he took office. That gives me more confidence in Obama. The ZOMG!!1! people at DailyKos\* and ThinkProgress (who are not all and not even a majority of either site) are annoying the hell out of me over this crap. He’s not even POTUS yet! Give the man room to breathe! Geez… \*And don’t even get me started on the sponge-headed idiots who think Code Pink meeting with Ahmenijad was some kind of cosmic paradigm shift in American/Iranian relations. Please. Every time I think I’ve slid down the left-facing slope too much, I get reminded that I’m nowhere near the swamp at the bottom… ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-appointsments-oh-yeah-big-change/473515/107 "2008-11-25T21:44:11Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > It’s like nobody was even paying attention during the campaign. All of the far-lefts think Obama is growing horns and a tail because of his Cabinet picks. He never ran as a liberal! Ever! I both agree and disagree with you. 😃 It’s just the semantics that bothers me. I preached through the whole campaign that Obama was not a leftist. But I do think he’s a liberal, more in the classical sense — the sense most of the world uses. That sort of liberalism is, in some ways, especially fiscally, the very opposite of leftism. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-appointsments-oh-yeah-big-change/473515/108 "2008-11-25T23:54:32Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > I both agree and disagree with you. 😃 > > It’s just the semantics that bothers me. I preached through the whole campaign that Obama was not a leftist. But I do think he’s a liberal, more in the classical sense — the sense most of the world uses. That sort of liberalism is, in some ways, especially fiscally, the very opposite of leftism. I expect Obama to show more respect for privacy and civil liberties than Bush has done, but otherwise, what do you expect him to do along liberal/libertarian lines? Cut the overall size/budget of the federal government? Deregulate industry? Resist bailouts to troubled industries? End affirmative action? Chloroform the welfare state? Decriminalize drugs? End all standing U.S. military presence in foreign countries? I don’t see any signs of him doing any of those things a Libertarian POTUS presumably would do, nor much even tending in those directions. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-appointsments-oh-yeah-big-change/473515/109 "2008-11-25T23:59:07Z")
Breaking news: it looks like Robert Gates is staying as Defense Sec., at least for awhile. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-appointsments-oh-yeah-big-change/473515.md?page=5)