First line of business, Chief of Staff.

NBC reports Rahm Emanuel accepts the position.



"Chicago is...my kind of town...."

Any word on the appointment of the puppy?

i'm glad that emanuel accepted. he's a complex man, a capable man, and there is something wonderfully symmetrical about obama's first appointment from a man with a muslim name going to a man with a hebrew one.

I'm looking for further details on vetting process (ha! Vet-ting), the short list, etc.

Biden will not be the only one in the White House on a short leash.

Thank you folks, drive safely!

He's Ari Gold, he's a fucking lunatic.

In the selection of his administrators, it certainly is true that those working under the President should not feel neutered under his power. They will need to be trained ...yet not be at his heels at every moment, and not bark loud responses out of spite when disagreeable to his orders. The worst thing that can happen would be for one of these selected persons to soil the Oval Office with issues that are repellant to making our country a great place to live, work and play.

Any SOMBies out there have an inside track to be named Senator by Blogo to replace Obama? I think I'd make a great Senator.

My call is Tammy Duckworth.

And my wife and I discussed that he's definitely going to have to get a shelter dog. No way around it. Sorry girls, no puggle for you this time.

Vote Nick for Senator!

Malia has allergies, so I think the early word is on some sort of hypo-allergenic super dog of some sort. Saw that on the tubes this morning.

Move to Delaware, your odds are better there.

I'd be willing to take the train home on weekends and talk for 80% of my allotted time during conformation hearings.

volcker for treasury secretary would be OUTstanding.

also, i very much hope he retains gates as defense secretary.

i'd have no problem whatsoever if he returned colin powell to his old post as sec. of state.

i'd like to see him pick chuck hagel to be his national security advisor.

pat fitzgerald for AG. (i always screw-up his surname. the one who nailed scooter libby is who i mean).

How so? Not disagreeing--my interesting in economic policy far outstrips my understanding of it, is all.

he's a practical guy, is all. we've gotten a few decades worth of 'let the market do as it may' monetary policy. not saying that greenspan, et al didn't treat us to years of unprecendented prosperity. but at what cost? volcker is a learned hand (from his first stint as fed chief, which was by almost every account an almost unqualified success) and not some egghead.

plus, he's someone whose likely to be palatable to the GOP as well (he's a right-leaning centrist politically), which has the benefit of insuring quick confirmation (important as we don't have a lot of time for dithering, BS) and is also symbolically valuable (obama reaching across the aisle to come up with a solution that's for the good of the order, rather than something that's just politically expedient/partisan).

Jesse Jackson JR. & Carol Mosely Braun are sure to get cabinet posts

Dick Lugar as the token "across the aisle" pick

Agreed. I chuckled when I read this the other day. Its from the New York Times in June 3, 1987 - the day Volcker stepped down and Greenspan took over.



One of them was dead wrong.

not CMB. no chance.

Your last point is hard to argue with. But is it true that his first go around "was by almost every account an almost unqualified success"? Again, I'm no expert--I've started reading Secrets of the Temple about three times now with the result that I got bored and/or too busy with other stuff to finish, and that's about all I'm going on here. But doesn't he get a lot of the credit for plunging the U.S. into a very deep recession in the early 80s? I know he was well liked by the financial markets, since he was tough on inflation. Or at least that's my vague recollection of Grieder's account. But the recession the U.S. went through in the early 80s doesn't really sound like unqualified success to me.

God, let's hope not.

that would be his brother, ari emanuel, a high powered hollywood agent. still, we could use that kind of gall and charisma in the white house.

RFK Jr. as the head of the EPA seems to be getting a lot of play already, which sounds fantastically poetic. And I honestly can't imagine a worse idea than Jesse Jackson or Carol Moseley Braun in a prominent position of any kind. The last thing President Obama (....yes!) needs is to associate with the type of race-baiting Dems that have sabotaged the next wave of the civil rights movement for the past twenty years.

John Oliver on the Daily Show so stole my material. Who knew he read the SOMB?

so when it comes time to name something in Chicago after Obama -- whats he gonna get?

How about the city?

Obama, IL.

I'm okay with that.

Today's Chicago Reader cover headline, paired with an illustration of Obama:

"DON'T SCREW THIS UP"

http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/election/

Sources: Rivera To Head Obama's FCC Transition Team
Partner At Wiley, Rein Firm, Previously Served At The Agency
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 11/5/2008 4:26:00 PM

Washington -- President-elect Barack Obama is expected to name Washington, D.C. lawyer Henry Rivera, a Democrat, to head a transition team focused on the Federal Communications Commission, according to informed sources.

Rivera, a partner at communications law firm Wiley, Rein, served at the FCC from 1981 to 1985 under Republican FCC chairman Mark Fowler. Current FCC chairman Kevin Martin worked at Wiley, Rein prior to joining the FCC in the late 1990s as an aide to Republican FCC member Harold Furchtgott-Roth.

"The only thing I can tell you is that there will be a release of the folks involved in that," said Rivera, who answered his own phone. "I just can't comment on anything. They told us not to talk to the press."

Rivera is married to Dr. Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, who is associate administrator of the Office of Telecommunications and Information Applications at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. She is one of the officials running the $1.5 billion digital TV converter box coupon program.

Here's more:
Henry Rivera
From SourceWatch

Henry Rivera joined Wiley Rein & Fielding as a partner in August 2006. He "is an internationally recognized expert, author, speaker and conference leader in the communications field. A former FCC Commissioner (1981-1985) and President of the Federal Communications Bar Association (1995-1996), he represents a wide variety of clients before the FCC, Congress, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the White House. He was recently named in Guide to the US Leading Lawyers—Best of the Best as one of the top 12 telecom experts in the US and to The Best Lawyers in America in communications law (2007). Rivera received his J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law where he served as editor of the law review The Natural Resources Journal." [1]

"Henry Rivera is a senior partner in the Telecommunications Group at Vinson & Elkins’ Washington, D.C. office. Rivera has over 30 years of experience in the legal profession, with a majority of that experience in the communications field. Rivera served as a Commissioner of the FCC from 1981 to 1985 during the AT&T Divestiture. Prior to joining Vinson & Elkins, Rivera headed the Communications Section at Shook, Hardy & Bacon from 1998 to 2003. Rivera was assistant managing partner of Ginsburg, Feldman and Bress, Chtd., from 1990 to 1998. He was a partner with Dow, Lohnes & Albertson from 1985 to 1990.

"While with the FCC, he served as chairman of the Advisory Committee on Alternative Financing for Minority Opportunities in Telecommunications and was supervisory commissioner for the Telecommunications Industry Advisory Group, which revised the Uniform System of Accounts. He also served as Senior Advisor to several U.S. international telecommunications delegations and has been a telecommunications advisor to the U.S. Department of State.

"Rivera is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of New Mexico and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Rivera is a member of the New Mexico, D.C., American, and Federal Communications Bar Associations. From 1995 to 1996, he served as president of the Federal Communications Bar Association and from 1999 - 2001, as the Federal Communications Bar Association’s Delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates. Rivera is Chairman of the Board, Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (1994 - present) and Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Minority Interests in Media, Inc. (1987- present).

"He is a member of the board of directors of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, a member of the board of trustees of the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, and is Vice-Chair, Chair-Elect of the board of advisors for the Archdiocesan Legal Network. He is General Counsel of the Benton Foundation and was vice president and general counsel for the International Diabetes Federation. He is a member of the INTELSAT Panel of Legal Experts and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation."

You and yer photobucket skillz, Duff.
Take the link to check out the alternate cover they would have used if things went the other way.

I really hope that Volcker is the one that takes over the Treasury Secretary position. It would be nice to see Powell in there somewhere as well. I'm really excited to see who the choice for Secretary of State is going to be. Honestly, if Obama weren't the President-elect I think he'd be one of the best in that job.

But most of all, I'm just super-thrilled that Obama will be our next President. I really want to make sure he's there for 2 terms as well. I worry that, next time, if things are not going as perfectly as people's expectations, that the Republicans will indeed have a strong candidate (Charlie Crist or Bobby Jindal) to fight him with.

I wonder if a woman will be picked for a position in Obama's cabinet or will the "eternal nigress" be overlooked by Obama?

"eternal nigress"?

Sources close to Skinnyhips say that there will be Chief of Staff attending this years passover celebration.

kapow

say what now?

i'm hangin with the jews now bhickman. i wanna get in showbiz.

and someone you know knows Rahm?

this is correct.

wow. Rahm Emanuel & Howie Gordon from Big Brother. Some circles you swing in.

Paul Volcker is an American hero and a patriot. His under-credited move on jacking interest rates during the Stagflation days of the late 70s when it was a very unpopular move helped create the the economic boom Reagan took credit for. Appointing Volcker did Carter in, but it was the wisest move of his presidency.

Yosh Kawano should be rewarded for his wartime heroism & decades long Chicago service. See also: John Haggerty, Amy Rutledge and that fat guy from JBTV.

I'd love to see Bill Richardson as SecState. Definitely do NOT want Lawrence Summers as Treasury Secretary.

Kathleen Sebelius as Commerce Sec?

There will be some Republicans in the cabinet as well. I think Gates staying in to handle the transition out of Iraq wouldn't be a bad thing with someone like Richard Danzig waiting in the wings. Hagel or Lugar will probably also get serious consideration.

I've never followed these sorts of things, but now I guess I should? Can you give a summary of who some of these people are and/or how you came to these suggestions?

I want Sebelius involved in SOMETHING because I'm scared to death of the push to federalize insurance regulation that is likely to come. And being a former insurance commissioner, perhaps she could provide some input on the side of the states/MCCarran-Ferguson to make that unlikely. Fuck, I do NOT want to move to DC!

Obama won because of Hip Hop

women.........men still wear the pants, apparently.........and women are the eternal "nigger".

Richardson is the Governor of New Mexico, former UN ambassador, Energy Secretary, presidential candidate. He has alot of diplomatic experience and would be an ideal Sec of State.

Summers was briefly Treasury Sec at the end of the Clinton years. He has a few controversial marks on his resume. He once said that he didn't think females were genetically predisposed to do well in math and science and he has a record of supporting increased pollution in 3rd world countries. He is on Obama's short list.

Sebelius is the governor of Kansas and is a close Obama ally (many people felt she would have been VP if it hadn't been for Hillary supporters threatened revolt over another female on the ticket). As mentioned below she is the former Ins Commissioner for Kansas and is also the daughter of former Ohio governor John Gilligan. Commerce would be a nice high profile spot for her and with her insurance background would probably be more suitable than Education Sec or some other such job.

Lugar and Hagel are moderate Republicans who have heaped praise on Obama before. Given his stated goal of bipartisanship in the cabinet these two would probably be the most likely Republicans to be offered a slot.

Gates in the current Defense Secretary and is widely credited for getting the Iraq situation under control. Richard Danzig is a former Navy Secretary who endorsed Obama.

Jason Jones is going to have a very easy time looking like this guy on The Daily Show.