Cult Of Competence: What Ties Obama's Cabinet Together

Washington Post:

Barack Obama won the White House last month in large part by running against George W. Bush and tapping into the public perception that his administration has been ineffectual in handling important policy questions. So it's not surprise that in the first month of his transition to the presidency, the president-elect is putting a premium on competence above all else.

From his decisions to bring in former rivals (is everyone sick of the "Team of Rivals" references yet?) to his repeated emphasis on the qualifications of each of his nominees for the Cabinet, Obama's first month as the president-elect seems designed to serve as a point by point refutation of the way Bush handled the White House over the past eight years.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[Peter007]

I see an interesting dynamic in this cabinet. We have Clinton as Secretary of State and Rice as UN Ambassador. Both Cabinet positions. What will be the responsibility of each?. When discussing foreign policy, both Clinton and Rice will have input. Are they equal?
In the Bush Whitehouse there was always a power game going on between the DOD and State. Cheany and Rumsfield and Powell.
Could be a soap opera.

[TLaw]

President Obama looks hawt in that picture with Clinton. I sure wish it was larger.

[schatsie]

I just want accounting in the government that works....If Medicare can account for billions and billions of dollars to the penny, but the DOD cannot... That needs to be fixed immediately...

I agree about the ideology and that right now we need pragmatists --who can actually do the job instead of a bunch of corporate yahoos who cannot even keep their businesses solvent....

[LKV]

Noval idea isn't it to choose a cabnet that has brains.

[bubbuh]

Obama's going to show for work every day. He's going to think things through. He's going to talk things over with other bright people who work hard from a problem solving mindset. And, they are all going to compare reality with the theories, making adjustments accordingly.

We've had eight years of visions, unbending principles and uncompromising partisanship and expediency first. We don't need a reprise from the vindictive left

The grand vision thing will take care of itself within the pursuit of excellence the citizens of the USA.

[PATina]

Okay... please allow me to point out... competence doesn't negate ideology. Just because a person is competent... doesn't mean they don't come to the table w/ their own ideological perspectives. Neither does being an ideologue rule out a person being competent. It is possible to be a "competent ideologue".

[lippp]

ok name one

[bubbuh]

"It is possible to be a "competent ideologue"."

It's much harder to be competent if what you really aspire to be is an ideologue. Ideologues judge things through the prism of their prejudices. It's not enough to solve a problem, the problem has to be solved within the constraints of the proper ideology. Solutions will be forced on problems with catastrophic results. In the last administration, they insisted on solving various problems ideologically, birth control, AIDS, energy policy. The lefties love to hiss, boo and laugh at the monumental screw-ups that ensued.

Yet these same folks seem unaware that there own proscriptions for the same problems are just as myopic because these were too constructed through the myopic lens of ideology. One of the most famous ideological solutions is Lysenkoism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism
Stalin's political correct solution for the disaster wrought by a previous ideologically correct program: collectivisation. Stalin was a monster; but, he was a politically correct left wing monster. Turns out they aren't much different than their opposite numbers,

Obama seems bent on assembling an administration which will focus on solving the massive immediate problems we face as quickly and with as little societal pain as possible. The solutions won't Conservative. They will be identifiably Democratic. They will at times lean to the left, And, they won't be pretty. But, I'm betting they will do the job.

[PATina]

Yes... but their solutions are going to come from their perception (or ideological view points). No one lives in a vacuum. It's even more impossible to live life w/o having some sort of perception on how things are supposed to work. For example... Most people already have an opinion on whether unions are good or bad. Therefore... you can choose the most competent person to be labor secretary... but their perception of unions will influence any solution the come up w/ on job creation.

[Jaybot]

Would you want someone competent working at cross-purposes from you? What this amounts to is an admission that they are really on the same page ideologically.

[bubbuh]

Misinterpret what's being said if you like. IBM was run on the same principle from the 1930s through the early 1980s, about 50 years with incredible results. Microsoft, as much as I detest their products, has run on these principles since 1981 and they are doing okay. Bush wasn't a disaster because he was a Republican; he was a disaster because he is an ideologue who puts principle before people. To this day, that is, according to him, his proudest achievement. Well, it's Fidel Castro's, too.

[iceage7]

The guys i think that will influnce policy are the deputies whom i think will be the brains of Obama administration. No dummies in these posts. Look at their qualifications and you will see they are Ivy league types.They do the real work for the political heads.

[indyny]

Can someone please remind me of Ms. Clinton's "competence"?

[edwcorey]

Can someone name one of these appointees who's not an a(s)hole?

[BlackJAC]

Other countries like her. That makes it easier to get them to see things our way.

[bubbuh]

Don't feed the animals. if Obama's judgment isn't good enough, yours won't be either.

[edwarvir]

she has none, unless name calling and crying
qualifiy

[wijg]

Thank god! ;~)

[demfriend]

After too many years with the bush cronies in charge of things they don't know about the word competence rings mightily in my ears and mind! Can anyone believe the word is jut a simple one after watching the NO area and the Texas coast line still teem with INcompetence of Fema an all that Bush and his bunch failed us in so many other areas? I have prayed for competence to come to us and our gov for years as I have watched US of A suffer. We have high infant mortalty rates. High childhood starvation numbers. High unemployment numbers and we have the infrastructure which should embarrass us all too. The education system has failed even more with Bush appointees. I could go on and on but we all know the word COMPETENCE means much to us all and I for one am glad Barack Obama is the one we chose with the word in mind.

[bubbuh]

Hear, hear!

[bubbuh]

As a fellow sufferer of debble finger syndrome, let me recommend punctuation as way to help others figure out what you're saying when the digits have diddled in an ungraceful way.

[Yermammy]

These catchwords used now, such as "pragmatic" and "ideology" are used to wean you away from the thought of changing the way Washington works at present. You are being brainwashed, just like during the run up to the Iraq invasion, to not expect any good changes and to accept, even praise, the status quo. And I see the brainwashing is going swimmingly. Just as the Corporate Controlled Media (MSM) will constantly, incessantly chant the mantra of this being a "center-right" country, you are being trained to reject new and morally superior and to praise more of the same. Keep that in mind when you bang out an opinion on the keyboard, because the guinea pig shows, when you do.

[PATina]

Wow !! But you're right. I said earlier that Limbaugh had won in that he had liberals acting like it was a bad thing to be liberal. It's amazing to me how people on this site on one hand are so happy about having a "liberal mandate" at the same time saying that the liberal left are wingnuts and Obama is smart to ignore them. And then there are the ones who think its a good idea to have a center-right cabinet and keep the progressives hidden in lower positions. I think you're right. A lot of people have obviously been brainwashed into being ashamed of being liberal.

[bubbuh]

We're not ashamed of being liberal. We don't wish to be associated with knee jerk liberals. Mindless is mindless no matter what badge it wears.

[bubbuh]

status qou = incompetent

beneficial changes = competent

ideological labels = propaganda

Do your brainwashing on your own time

[juanjo]

Thank the Buddha that we have someone who puts country first over partisan politics. This country is in deep, deep doodoo and needs to pulled back into sanity. I have to confess that at first I was skeptical of Obama. I did not think he had the depth of experience to govern. I thought Clinton was the better candidate. I have had cause to reconsider that view. So far I have been delighted with Obama and his attempts to get it right.

[bubbuh]

You are a discerning and flexible entity. The banyan tree welcomes thee.

[harriscrl3]

I keep telling people it really doesnt take a genius to know how to fix this country although Obama is brlliant. All you need to do is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what Bush did. Bush made it EASY so dont be suprise if the WORSE President in our history is followed by what could be the BEST President in our history.

Carol

[DuPageDem]

Uh, how is keeping Bush's Iran-Contra criminal Defense Sec, and another oil exec as NSA adviser, the EXACT OPPOSITE of Bush?

[Georgia1992]

You're big on mediocrity, aren't you? That's what is wrong with the USA - can't stand intelligence.

[Grunty1]

[You're big on mediocrity, aren't you? ]

He didn't vote for Bush, so no.

[Yermammy]

Like a Phoenix out of the ashes.

[PATina]

So... if bush was an ultra right winger... the exact opposite would be an ultra left winger... right???

Seriously though... how can anyone following this transition period say that President O is doing the exact opposite of Bush. He's already pretty much given up on dismantling the Bush tax cuts and will just let them expire. He's not publically said anything about the Iraq status of forces agreement which will keep the troops in Iraq a year and a half longer than he said he would. It's not likely that he'll reverse the FISA legislation (and to be honest... he couldn't unless he did act like Bush and make it an executive signing statement). Yes... I think he'll be a better President than Bush (or even McCain would have been)... however that's not a large leap and it's far from being the "Best" President in US history.

[harriscrl3]

Not in this sense the Opposite of being Ultra Conservative and Right Wing which led to incompetence would be being Non Ideological and Pragamtic.

Carol

[edwarvir]

PATina I don't think anyone could do
worse than Bush. Having said we have
to give PE Obama a chance to sweep
out the garbage and clear the dust before
we can hold his feet to the fire about the
Iraqi mess and the Bush tax cuts. He will go down
as the Best President in US history, if by the
end of 100 days we are still standing. after the
nightmare he has inherited. .

[PATina]

Let me also add this.

I believe President Obama COULD be a GREAT President... but it seems to me that he's settled for being just "good enough"... and far too many of his supporters have settled for that as well. If we really want him to be a great or even the best President... we'll have to get him to do the right things... not just the politically expedient.

[harriscrl3]

I must disagree with this that is so not true. I fail to see how Obama can settle for being just good enough when he has put together an economic team and a National Security team that has gotten rave reviews from ALL groups. If Obama was interested in being just good enough he wouldnt have put forth a diverse cabinet he wouldnt have put forth a competent cabinet he wouldnt have put forth a cabinet that includes democrats republicans and independents. Remember the key is being the OPPOSITE of Bush its not simply being far right its about being a UNIFER and not a Divider. Obama is not someone who tolerates mediocrity he is someone who demands RESULTS.

Carol