I’m guessing no. That will be the first sign that the Obama administration is all about loyalty and not much else.

The range of responses here is disturbing: “I’d be a tad flattered. Then again, I was also born with one of those…whaddyacallits…a sense of humor……..” (I have a damn fine sense of humor myself. This is not funny.) “I would have been a bit flattered and laughted about it.” “Let’s just put it in the right setting and boy’s will be boy’s even if they are in their twenties.” “It looks like college boys being… college boys. The length of that campaign was overwhelming as well as the stress, I’m sure. It was bound to get goofy just to relieve tension.” Hillary’s reaction aside, there is plenty wrong with those reactions. If two guys walked up to you at a work function and one of them squeezed your breast and the other tried to feed you a beer, would you think it was funny? Would you laugh it off and say “Oh, it’s been stressful lately and these guys are just blowing off steam.” (Maybe you need to reacquaint yourselves with a case called Tailhook. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/navy/tailhook/rat.html) I don’t think so. Are you saying that sexism isn’t “real” if it’s clearly a “joke” and Clinton (allegedly) laughed it off? This isn’t objectification since it’s a cardboard cutout? It’s not demeaning and disrespectful since it’s merely an alcohol-fueled lapse of judgment? What if he’d hung a sign around the cutout’s neck saying “Iron my shirts’? What does this say about the comprehensive Obama administration vetting process? Why do so many people—including commenters here—seem so compelled to make excuses for what is, at best, such puerile, obnoxious, and just plain disrespectful behavior?

The reasons were stated in the story above: 1. Bair is extremely independent, as she should be. Geithner forgets that FDIC doesn’t report to the Federal Reserve or to the White House. The idea of having someone that independent and influential not singing the same tune as everybody else makes him nervous. Geithner is one of the big Banker Boyz so he’s mad because Bair won’t “play ball” and let them give away all the money to the bankers without conditions. 2. Trying to push her out is a political risk because she is respected by lawmakers including Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. 3. Obama’s commitment is questionable. Bloomberg’s story included a “no comment” from the transition but notes, “Even if Bair remains at the FDIC, the Obama economic team has decided that she won’t play a central role in policy, the people said.” Bad move. What does that say about Obama when he keeps Robert Gates and tries to boot Sheila Bair? If nothing else, it should question his commitment to re-regulation.

This group is forming its own denomination which it says represents true Anglican beliefs. I live in Virginia so this has been very much in our news since our Bishop, Peter Lee, is trying to keep the breakaway churches from taking property with them. Archbp. Akinola is very dangerous. He authored a law in Nigeria making homosexuality a crime. Akinola may also have been involved in a retributive rampage in Yelwa, Nigeria, in which more than 650 Muslims were killed by Christians. When four Episcopalians come together, you usually find a fifth. :-)

Having the name Kennedy doesn’t guarantee success. RFK Jr. would be a disaster appointment to head EPA. RFK wrote a ridiculous “expose” about how the CDC and big pharma supposedly “covered up” a link between mercury in vaccines and autism, all the while misrepresenting the science. No one who falls for pseudoscience should be allowed anywhere near an agency that relies on science-based policy making. This is just a trial balloon I think; I’d be very surprised if Gov. Patterson really appoints her.

While her mention is a good sign potentially for the Employee Free Choice Act, labor issues go far beyond unions. It’s not clear she has the chops for the job or has broader appeal beyond gay-rights groups and unions. She also lacks star power and you need some of that in a high profile job like a Cabinet position. It is what it is.

We subscribe to VF and my husband will flip when he sees this cover! He adores Tina Fey and I look forward to reading the entire story. She is just fabulous.

There are better things to worry about than Hillary as SoS. Let me remind everyone that she is more than qualified for this position: Hillary is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. She is incredibly smart and well prepared on the complex issues that face this committee. Hillary stood in front of the United Nation’s 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing and said, “If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all.” Her reputation could help put America back center stage as a force for human rights internationally. The Clintons are loved overseas, and there is no one else in America (other than Bill, who will presumably be by her side) who would demonstrate more clout than having Hillary Clinton arrive in your country. Likewise she already has relationships with many world leaders and doesn’t have to build up that trust from scratch. Clinton can hit the ground running, and assuming Obama makes it clear that he’s backing her, she can speak with more authority than perhaps anyone else could, on his behalf. Would any of you argue that Colin Powell or Condi Rice has done a better job? So let’s stop the handwringing over her “ambition,” whether she “likes Barack” or Bill’s “outsized ego.” Hillary Clinton and former President Clinton aren’t possibly so self obsessed as to be completely incapable of serving the Obama administration and working on behalf of the greater good of American citizens.

People around here need to get over their Clinton Derangement Syndrome and fast. Look at all the drama of the last week and all the leaks which I expect the Clintons are responsible for. Really? And who would be responsible for the leaks surrounding the other names that have been floated? Are you going to blame the Clintons for that as well? The “No Drama Obama” discipline from the campaign seems to have evaporated now that they’re in the White House. The Clintons, both of them, are too personally ambitious to be team players. Naturally. That’s why they knocked themselves out to GOTV for Barack Obama. It was all about them. Tell me—where were the other Democratic primary candidates campaigning for Barack Obama? Even Biden didn’t campaign for him until he was named VP candidate. Nobody without ambition goes into politics, including Obama. The move also proves Obama is building what he’s called the “Team of Rivals.” This myth needs to die. It’s become conventional wisdom among the DC chattering class and the politicians they influence, and that’s a serious problem. From an L.A. Times op-ed: Consider this inconvenient truth: Out of the four leading vote-getters for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination whom Lincoln placed on his original team, three left during his first term — one in disgrace, one in defiance and one in disgust. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-pinsker18-2008nov18… Lincoln’s real rivals had already seceded from the Union and were building an army. Obama is talking about a “fully bipartisan government,” and he’s even exploring options for Republicans in major posts, and that ought to have you worried if he’s basing that on a work of what amounts to fiction by Doris Kearns Goodwin. As for me, I think Hillary is qualified to be SoS but I would rather she remain in the Senate for two reasons. First, Teddy Kennedy’s health will likely not allow him to do as much as he wants to on health care reform and that is an opportunity for her to help him lead. Second, I want her to challenge Harry Reid for Senate Majority Leader. He’s been a total waste of space and would really be a good opportunity for her to shine.

Well since Tom Daschle’s appointment as HHS Secretary appears to contradict Obama’s ethics policy, it’s no surprise that Penny Pritzker’s appointment would as well. The failure of Superior Bank lost money for 1,400 customers, by the way. Bloomberg News published an in-depth article on Penny Pritzker, whose family is worth $40 billion: All told, the Pritzker empire is worth as much as $40 billion, a person familiar with the situation estimates. The family’s offshore accounts prevent anyone from getting a complete picture of their wealth. In 1986, when Abram Pritzker died, his heirs claimed an estate worth $25,000. The Internal Revenue Service sued to collect $53 million in back taxes. The two sides settled in 1994 for $9.5 million, according to U.S. Tax Court records. In his campaign, Obama says he wants to crack down on overseas tax havens and stop allowing hedge funds to pay a 15 percent capital gains rate on most income, rather than the 35 percent income tax rate. “The top 50 hedge fund managers made $29 billion last year,” Obama said in Philadelphia in April. “That’s not fair.” Penny says there’s no contradiction between her family’s tax avoidance and her support for Obama. “Our family has done more than just good tax planning,” she says. “What we’re good at is building businesses, creating jobs and supporting our economy.” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/marketsmag/mm_1008_story1.html And avoiding taxes, too. Let’s all give a big hand for our new Secretary of Commerce.

Reid, Obama, and others have totally mischaracterized the situation: It’s not about revenge, conciliatory justice or First Amendment rights but accountability. As chairman of an important Senate committee, Lieberman should be held to a higher standard of conduct. He used his Chairmanship for only one purpose: to block oversight into Bush scandals and corruption. Senate Democrats need Lieberman’s vote, so they need to keep him happy. They need 60 votes to get things done in the Senate, and they need Lieberman to continue caucusing with them and not jump ship to the GOP side. This is a myth. Here is what bipartisanship in Washington means (thanks, Glenn Greenwald at Salon): To support Bush’s FISA law GOP - 48-0 Dems - 12-36 Lieberman - Yea To compel redeployment of troops from Iraq: GOP - 0-49 Dems - 24-21 Lieberman - Nay To confirm Michael Mukasey as Attorney General: GOP - 46-0 Dems - 7-40 Lieberman - Yea Kyl-Lieberman Resolution on Iran (labeling Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization): GOP - 46-2 Dems - 30-20 Lieberman - Yea To condemn MoveOn.org: GOP - 49-0 Dems - 23-25 Lieberman - Yea The Military Commissions Act (allows trial by military commissions instead of through the criminal justice system): GOP - 53-0 Dems - 12-34 Lieberman - Yea To renew the Patriot Act: GOP - 54-0 Dems - 34-10 Lieberman - Yea Greenwald: “On virtually every major controversial issue — particularly, though not only, ones involving national security and terrorism — the Republicans (including their vaunted mythical moderates and mavericks) vote in almost complete lockstep in favor of the President, the Democratic caucus splits, and the Republicans then get their way on every issue thanks to “bipartisan” support. That’s what “bipartisanship” in Washington means. ” I also think that Democrats should know better than to count on Joe’s vote for anything. Obama also encouraged Democrats to let him stay on. People apparently forget that we have a system of checks and balances in our government. The President (elect or inaugurated) has no business telling either house of Congress what it should or should not do. Joe Lieberman abandoned the Democratic Party long ago when he chose to stand with Bush and McCain and the party failed to hold him accountable.

The clearest opposition to the Clinton appointment comes from left-wing Democratic Obama backers, whose initial support for him was motivated in part by a desire to do away with the Clinton dynasty once and for all. Well they obviously missed all the Clinton retreads who are working on the Obama transition teams. And let’s not forget who, besides DNC Chairman Howard Dean, went above and beyond to campaign on his behalf. The vetting of the former president’s dealings is “complicated, and it may be the complications that are causing hesitation on both sides,” said Abner J. Mikva, one of Obama’s closest supporters and a White House counsel during the Clinton administration. Mikva has since been smacked down as not speaking on behalf of the Obama campaign. Politico says Obama aides are becoming exasperated by the Clinton camp’s slow response to demands for extensive information about Bill Clinton’s finances. This is too funny. Drama queens complaining to Politico about how EXASPERATED they are. For all the drama reported here, Joe Conason brings some common sense to the table: The concerns about the Clinton Global Initiative and Bill Clinton’s other activities seem slightly overblown (as I’ve noted before). Every paid speech he has delivered over the past eight years is recorded in his wife’s Senate disclosure forms. Nor have donors to CGI been concealed, either, as any journalist who attends its meetings or examines its Web site should be able to determine. The countries that have donated funding to the Clinton H.I.V./AIDS Initiative are also a matter of public record. When such questions arose during the campaign, he promised to publish the names of all future donors if his wife were to be elected president – and presumably he will now make any reasonable disclosures requested by the president-elect as part of the vetting process. http://www.observer.com/2008/politics/obamas-clinton-initiative-0 Enough of ginned-up controversies like this one.

Pardon my French but what a douche.

Silverstein provides absolutely no justification for any of his claims. Sounds like he’s got a bad case of Clinton Derangement Syndrome. Personally, my justification for Hillary staying in the Senate is so she can replace Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader. Reid’s been a total bust and she could do a better job.

It will be a private school because of security concerns. This is a non-issue.