Projo Subterranean Homepage News

Sunday, 11.23.08 11:18 a.m.

It's more than provocative -- it's historically shocking -- that New York Times columnist and former editorial-page editor Gail Collins would suggest (Time for Him to Go) that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney quit now -- but not in that order -- and let the Democrats take over. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi would succeed them (the first woman President!), "defer to her party's incoming chief executive, and Barack Obama could begin governing."

While we're impatient to start changing what looks on all sides to be a headlong plunge into darkness, just quitting isn't really an option for these Texas oilmen. Current appointees are off house-hunting and scrambling for new employment elsewhere, and the incoming administration is still picking its teams.

Collins sees the downside humorously, as Chinese fire drill.

An instantaneous takeover would also ruin the Obama team's plan to have the tidiest, best-organized presidential transition in history. Cutting it short and leaping into governing would turn their measured march toward power into a mad scramble. A lot of their Cabinet picks are still working on those 62-page questionnaires.

I see a precipitously premature birth, which is why it won't happen.

So these last days could just deepen the mess.

Non-profit investigative-journalism site Pro Publica is tracking and explaining the President's flurry of last-minute Midnight Regulations, which every president employs to pass rules that he couldn't get any other way. They include,

EPA Lets Factory Farms Decide If They Need A Permit to Discharge Animal Waste into Waterways

Labor Rule Limits Employee Access to Medical and Family Leave Time

Interior Rules Could Limit Public Environmental Comments

Bush really is a lame duck.

Saturday, 11.22.08 7:38 p.m.
I need a break from the Thanksgiving recipe beat. Just heard this on the cable blues channel:

Feed me chocolate buns Feed me goose pate Feed me nuts and honey And your seafood buffet Feed me fresh ambrosia With a whipped cream spread Make me smack my lips But don't forget my head

I'm a hungry woman
Feed me like I want to be fed
You can feed my body
But you really got to feed my head
-- Hungry Woman Blues, Gaye Adegbalola

President-elect Barack Obama's weekly radio address today. At its change.gov page, there's a feedback form to share your ideas. Transcript is here. Money quote:

"We'll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels; fuel-efficient cars and the alternative energy technologies that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead."

Politico is all over new administration news, with an interesting survey of notables answering the questions, "Does Obama's reported economics team inspire confidence? Does his stimulus plan go far enough?"

Here's a bit from Robert B. Reich, Bill Clinton's Secretary of Labor, and a member of Obama's economic advisory team.:

All are pragmatists. Some media have dubbed them "centrists" or "center-right," but in truth they're remarkably free of ideological preconception. All have well-earned reputations as hard workers, well-versed in the technical details of public and private finance. They are not visible veterans of the old battles over supply-side economics or deficit reduction, nor are they well-known to the public. They are not visionaries but we don't need visionaries when the economic perils are clear and immediate. We need competence. Obama could not have appointed a more competent group.

Good read: The Closest of Frenemies: "In all the dizzying personal and political complexities of Hillary at State, one thing is clear: Obama has nerve" by John Heilemann, published yesterday at New York Magazine.

Despite the arch headline and an accompanying illustration of a scowling Hillary Clinton, this is actually a smart analysis of Obama's new meritocracy -- the goal of a working team drives appointments.

The thread that binds these names together isn't ideology but a devotion to a kind of hard-nosed, even ruthless pragmatism. Moreover, Obama's appointments to critical posts reflect an inclination toward people with deep institutional expertise and major-league political chops, who can effectively drive or implement an agenda. Picking Emanuel was all about mastering Congress, Daschle about actually passing health-care reform (as opposed to think-tanking the perfect, elegant policy solution, à la the Clinton effort in 1993-94). Keeping Gates is about getting out of Iraq without letting the country descend into chaos. The putative Clinton pick carries hints of a similar raison d'être. You can easily imagine Obama telling Hillary: A deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians--go bring that sucker home.

Worth clicking the link. And the comments are interesting, too.