# Obama's Cabinet (not the kind that's made of wood) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 5, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282 "2008-11-05T16:11:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/81 "2008-11-11T03:12:16Z")
> [@tds1273](#): > > I am kind of disheartened at the Emmanuel pick. Way too Clinton/DLC/AIPAC-y for what I would consider real change. I’d like to think the pick was for the Illinois strong arming, and not his policy positions; I \*really \*hope it was not for the policy positions. Why not? He has plenty of experience in Washington and was a major driving force in pushing Universal Heath Care during Clinton’s administration, he didn’t succeed, but it doesn’t mean he hasn’t learned anything. Universal Heath Care is on top of Obama’s priorities, why wouldn’t he want a guy that’s been there done that? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/82 "2008-11-11T05:40:30Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Joe Wilson as Secretary of State, or Ambassador to the UN. It would be nice to have a career diplomat in either position, rather than politicians. And would be a nice repudiation of the Bush administration’s scorched earth policy against him. > > Please don’t throw things, but Hillary Clinton could make a perfectly fine Secretary of State. Wilson has always been a staunch republican. He only started talking to the dems when they threw him and then his wife under a bus. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/83 "2008-11-11T19:37:37Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Wilson has always been a staunch republican. Cite? In his book, he came across as resolutely non-partisan, which is how he remained in government service through so many different administrations. ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/84 "2008-11-11T20:12:10Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Why not? He has plenty of experience in Washington and was a major driving force in pushing Universal Heath Care during Clinton’s administration, he didn’t succeed, but it doesn’t mean he hasn’t learned anything. Universal Heath Care is on top of Obama’s priorities, why wouldn’t he want a guy that’s been there done that? Looking at [his policies](http://www.ontheissues.org/IL/Rahm_Emanuel.htm), you’re right, he does have a very good, imho, strong left, social/domestic record. It’s the few blemishes on his record that he does have that really stick out to me however. First off he supported the supported the war, but to be fair he has some strong votes in favor of bringing it to an end. My biggest issue with him however, is with his votes to a)make the Patriot Act permanent and b) voted against telecom immunity. These two issues were also my biggest complaints about Obama(note: BO didn’t vote to make it permanent, but for its reauthorization when he pledged to repeal it); their immunity votes were the same. I also take issue with [the way he acted](http://thatsmycongress.com/index.php/2006/07/06/understanding-the-rahm-emanuel-hissy-fit/)in regards to Howard Dean’s ‘50 state strategy’. Mixed feelings. He is not as bad as I had originally thought, again, I do really like his social platform, and I actualy like the fact that he can be a real pitbull. I have supported Obama all the way through his campaign (DK was my top pick fwiw), though I have for near as long been fairly wary about just how far to the right his foreign policy/homeland security positions go. I’m by no means devastated by the pick, in fact I really get it for the most part, I am just a bit disappointed that the pick does not appear to be as progressive on the security side as it is on the social. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/85 "2008-11-11T20:29:04Z")
Secretary of State: Bill Richardson Secretary of Defense: Adm. Fox Fallon ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/86 "2008-11-11T21:58:53Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Cite? In his book, he came across as resolutely non-partisan, which is how he remained in government service through so many different administrations. I saw several interviews with him saying he and wife were lifelong repubs and contributors. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/87 "2008-11-18T21:58:14Z")
Sounds like Obama’s first pick been announced or leaked out, since I thought they wanted to make the Treasury pick first. [Everybody’s reporting that Eric Holder has been chosen as Attorney General.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Holder) Holder was a Deputy AG for Clinton, and since everybody else is saying it, it should be noted that he would be the first African-American U.S. Attorney General. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/88 "2008-11-21T21:44:53Z")
[Geithner is said to have been selected for Treasury](http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081121/bs_nm/us_usa_obama): > [@](#): > > President-elect Barack Obama has selected Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary, charging the respected head of the New York Federal Reserve with pulling the United States out of an economic nosedive, NBC news reported on Friday. > > Geithner, 47, had been seen as one of two main candidates for the job along with former Clinton administration Treasury chief Lawrence Summers. > > U.S. stocks soared on the news, pushing major indices up more than 6 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 8,000, an important psychological trading level. > > “A fantastic choice to help lead the financial markets out of the wilderness,” said Chris Rupkey, senior economist at The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in New York, of Geithner. “A crisis manager par excellence who will hit the ground running as he has been on the case since the global funding crisis began way back in July 2007.” > > A senior Democrat told Reuters in Washington that Obama wanted Geithner for the Treasury job, but had yet to make a offer. He did confirm that Summers was no longer under consideration. > > “Summers is off the list,” the source said. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/89 "2008-11-21T21:48:11Z")
[This Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama_transition) on the Obama transition includes a table (updated as needed, I presume) of announced appointees to date. Hillary Clinton will be SoS. (I would’ve expected her to stay in the Senate by her own choice.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/90 "2008-11-21T23:56:27Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Sounds like Obama’s first pick been announced or leaked out, since I thought they wanted to make the Treasury pick first. > > [Everybody’s reporting that Eric Holder has been chosen as Attorney General.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Holder) Holder was a Deputy AG for Clinton, and since everybody else is saying it, it should be noted that he would be the first African-American U.S. Attorney General. Good choice, I guess, but I was **so** hoping for Ralph Nader. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/91 "2008-11-22T00:08:35Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Good choice, I guess, but I was **so** hoping for Ralph Nader. ☹ I, uh, hope you didn’t read what I said about that in the other thread. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/92 "2008-11-23T17:47:38Z")
Looks like Richardson will get Commerce for now as a consolation prize. Wouldn’t be surprised at some point if Clinton goes on to other things and Richardson becomes Sec State. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/93 "2008-11-23T17:52:02Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Sounds like Obama’s first pick been announced or leaked out, since I thought they wanted to make the Treasury pick first. > > [Everybody’s reporting that Eric Holder has been chosen as Attorney General.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Holder) Holder was a Deputy AG for Clinton, and since everybody else is saying it, it should be noted that he would be the first African-American U.S. Attorney General. Yeah, that’s an unfortunate choice. More drug war for everyone! > **[Eric Holder and Drug Policy | StoptheDrugWar.org](https://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy/2008/nov/19/eric_holder_and_drug_policy)** > > Obamaâs selection of federal prosecutor Eric Holder to serve as attorney general has provoked concern among reformers, namely due to Holderâs calls for increased marijuana enforcement and harsher sentences in Washington, D.C. during the... Really really abysmal choice. Change? Yeah right. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/94 "2008-11-23T17:53:05Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Looks like Richardson will get Commerce for now as a consolation prize. Wouldn’t be surprised at some point if Clinton goes on to other things and Richardson becomes Sec State. Actually for someone who says he wants to renegotiate NAFTA, taking a border Governor with foreign policy experience for commerce isn’t such a terrible idea. ---
**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 23, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/95 "2008-11-23T18:02:29Z")
So who’s it going to be for Interior? The only name I heard whispered is Raul Grijalva, but he seems unlikely to me. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/96 "2008-11-26T04:22:40Z")
Obama has asked Gates to stay on, at least temporarily, as Sec Def. He’s also reported to ask Gen. James Jones (US Army, Retired) to be his National Security Adviser. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/97 "2008-12-11T02:49:07Z")
[Nobel Prize-winning physicist Stephen Chu will reportedly be nominated for Energy Department secretary](http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/10/obama.energy/index.html), and former Clinton EPA head Carol Browner will be appointed to a new climate post. While I’m not familiar with either, Chu is certainly not one of the Washington insiders people have been complaining about, and it’ll be interesting to see how people respond to that choice. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/98 "2008-12-11T03:58:03Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Yeah, that’s an unfortunate choice. More drug war for everyone! > > [Eric Holder and Drug Policy | StoptheDrugWar.org](http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle_blog/2008/nov/19/eric_holder_and_drug_policy) > > Really really abysmal choice. The author of the linked article does not share your conclusion. > [@](#): > > As the political landscape surrounding drug sentencing continues to evolve, Holder’s “open mind” along with Obama’s concerns about over-incarceration of non-violent drug offenders could provide a positive climate for sentencing reform. > [@mswas](#): > > Change? Yeah right. > [@abcnews.com](#): > > In June, former deputy attorney general Eric Holder gave a speech to the American Constitution Society (ACS) in which he blasted the Bush Administration’s tactics in the war on terror, saying the nation needed to reverse “the disastrous course” set by the Bush administration. > > “We have quite frankly lost our way,” Holder said, calling for the U.S. to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay (“an international embarrassment”); declare that it is the law, policy and practice that the U.S. does not torture people or subject them to cruel or inhumane treatment; end the practice of rendition; and stop any warrantless domestic surveillance. > > “Our needlessly abusive and unlawful practices in the ‘War on Terror’ have diminished our standing in the world community and made us less, rather than more, safe,” Holder said. “For the sake of our safety and security, and because it is the right thing to do, the next president must move immediately to reclaim America’s standing in the world as a nation that cherishes and protects individual freedom and basic human rights.” Looks like change to me. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282/99 "2008-12-11T18:04:02Z")
And the head of the EPA is… Lisa Jackson, formerly Jon Corzine’s chief of staff. I don’t know a thing about her, I don’t need to know a thing about her. All I want to say is “Phew!” Also, deputy LA Mayor Nancy Tutley will be in charge of the WH Council on Environmental Quality, which I think is a new group. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-cabinet-not-the-kind-thats-made-of-wood/471282.md?page=4)