An observation on Team Obama

[Wretched Excess]

I looked for an existing thread in which to make this observation, but came away not happy with hijacking any of them. 

the Team Obama orgchart is already suffering from top heaviness.  in addition to the traditional cabinet secretaries, He Who Occupies the Office of The President-Elect seems to be elevating an unusually large number of people to reporting directly to him, and naming an extraordinarily large number of presidential advisers.

his UN ambassador will report to him, as well as special advisers on the environment, energy, environmentally friendly energy ( ), a whole slew of economic advisers, whatever Valerie Jarrett is going to do now that she can't buy a senate seat, presumably a car czar, a small legion (I am sure) of health care advisers . . . and with the inauguration still over a month away, there is plenty of time left for it to metastasize further.

I realize that this is the same guy that had a campaign with a foreign policy advisory team of 300 "experts", but that really didn't work out very well for him.  his foreign policy positions were often slow to form, but quick to mutate;   a sure sign of "policy making by committee", and too large a committee at that.  and a campaign only really needs maybe a dozen ideas in the course of a general election;  it only lasts a couple of months (despite the extended dem primary, they really only argued over who was a war monger, and who was a neophyte).  you will never get away with that in the oval office.

my first prediction for the incoming obama administration is a very serious case of paralysis by analysis.  this is an unworkable organizational structure that he is putting together.  first of all, not everyone in washington can report directly to him;  it will never work.  and thinking that they can is simply a lack of anything resembling experience for the job to which he has attained.  my second prediction for the incoming dream obama team is infighting, backstabbing, and something resembling a purge (best case scenario) or an implosion (not such a best case scenario).  and naming a petty, self important little schemer like rahm emmanuel your chief of staff will probably turn out to be the match that lights the fuse.

the MSM is literally writhing in ecstasy at every obama appointment.  they should  be looking at the management structure that he is plugging these positions into.

[franksolich]

Damn, that's a good observation.

I never thought of that, not seeing the trees for the forest.

I suspect your "paralysis by analysis" is right on.

[dutch508]

So far, the typical Obama response to anything is hunker down in the bunker for 3 days to come up with a response...


Do we think we'll see anything different with all the advisors he is appointing?

[Wretched Excess]

So far, the typical Obama response to anything is hunker down in the bunker for 3 days to come up with a response...


Do we think we'll see anything different with all the advisors he is appointing?

the meeting would take longer, you would think . . . . 

[thundley4]

I'm thinking he is going to be much like Slick Willie in two ways.  He'll govern by polls, and he'll use the office and it's powers to create distractions for the news media. (bombing aspirin factories, etc.)

[Eupher]

There's no question that The Anointed One will use the power of the media to further his aims, agenda, and ultimately, lies.

Emanuel has already shown a fair amount of skill at this practice and he'll get better with time. The media will dutifully fall in line, but within six months or so, will begin to chafe under their Worship The Almighty One collar.

Then the inevitable slide downhill will commence.

Otherwise, great observations, WE. H5. You're no doubt correct with the top-heaviness angle, but we shouldn't underestimate The Anointed One's capacity for work. He's a young pup at 47 and has the energy to sustain not just a lengthy campaign (uh, let's not discuss his AWOL status within the Senate, which was nothing more than a whistle-stop for him to begin with), but a 4-year term as prez.

[Splashdown]

I looked for an existing thread in which to make this observation, but came away not happy with hijacking any of them. 

the Team Obama orgchart is already suffering from top heaviness.  in addition to the traditional cabinet secretaries, He Who Occupies the Office of The President-Elect seems to be elevating an unusually large number of people to reporting directly to him, and naming an extraordinarily large number of presidential advisers.

FDR did the same thing. He ran the executive branch with an iron fist.

[Wretched Excess]

FDR did the same thing. He ran the executive branch with an iron fist.

I am suffering from analogy indigestion at the comparison of FDR and bho

[Eupher]

I am suffering from analogy indigestion at the comparison of FDR and bho

A spoonful of castor oil will take care of it. 

[Wretched Excess]

I'm thinking he is going to be much like Slick Willie in two ways.  He'll govern by polls, and he'll use the office and it's powers to create distractions for the news media. (bombing aspirin factories, etc.)

I dunno.  this guy doesn't have clinton's problem with keeping it in the pants.  I think he's actually coming to washington with goals in mind beyond chasing skirts.


edited to correct unintentional and embarrassing typo;  but one that can be forgiven, I think, considering the subject matter.

[DumbAss Tanker]

naming a petty, self important little schemer like rahm emmanuel your chief of staff will probably turn out to be the match that lights the fuse.

That will actually be the crunch point, where the legions of advisors crash into the "I'm the gatekeeper, nobody talks to him without going through me first and getting my OK" mentality that goes with the job and comes so naturally to Rahm.  I suspect the WH will steer a wildly erratic course back and forth between the extremes of Rahm controlling everything (and only letting through what he wants to) for awhile, and an undifferentiated herd of cats all dissipating the O's vaunted intellectual powers like a river disappearing into desert sands at other times.

[thundley4]

I dunno.  this guy doesn't have clinton's problem with keeping it in the pants.  I think he's actually coming to washington with goals in mind beyond chasing skirts.


edited to correct unintentional and embarrassing typo;  but one that can be forgiven, I think, considering the subject matter.

I didn't mean his personal, problems, but rather any political ones that may arise.

[Wretched Excess]

I didn't mean his personal, problems, but rather any political ones that may arise.

sure, I followed your meaning.  I was just disagreeing a bit.     I don't think that he will be very much like clinton at all, because clinton had no overarching political philosophy or belief system whatsoever.  how can a man who tried to nationalize health care also say, "the era of big government is over?"  his entire motivation was getting power, keeping power (although he didn't seem to know why he wanted it, unless it was --> ), and scoring chicks.  and as a result, whatever political problems he may have had paled in comparison to his personal problems, or, private problems.  or perhaps even better yet, his privates' problems.

bho seems to have some goals.  I'm not entirely sure what they are yet, but he definitely has something in mind.

[AllosaursRus]

bho seems to have some goals.  I'm not entirely sure what they are yet, but he definitely has something in mind.

I'm afraid it's going to be all government, all the time!

[DixieBelle]

sure, I followed your meaning.  I was just disagreeing a bit.     I don't think that he will be very much like clinton at all, because clinton had no overarching political philosophy or belief system whatsoever.  how can a man who tried to nationalize health care also say, "the era of big government is over?"  his entire motivation was getting power, keeping power (although he didn't seem to know why he wanted it, unless it was --> ), and scoring chicks.  and as a result, whatever political problems he may have had paled in comparison to his personal problems, or, private problems.  or perhaps even better yet, his privates' problems.

bho seems to have some goals.  I'm not entirely sure what they are yet, but he definitely has something in mind.

You just said a mouthful. That sentence is what keeps decent people up at night.

[Baruch Menachem]

He sounds more like Carter than FDR.   FDR delegated.   Carter had no clue how to.  He even took over the job of assigning the white house tennis court schedule.


This is actually good news.  Not on the forign affarirs front, but on the domestic front.  If he hamstrings himself, nothing will go anywhere, and no damage will result.

We are probably going to have the same kind of disaster as the Hillarycare proposal, which was such an amorphous mess that no one could steer it, and it wound up stillborn.

not a bad thing so far.

[DumbAss Tanker]

I expect "Amorphous mess" will be the watchword of the coming administration.  It seems like for every principal actor (Cabinet-level officials) there is going to be a "Special advisor" on the subject with at least equal access to the Oval Office, which is going to make any sort of policy formulation a witch's brew of personalities and agendas.

[Wretched Excess]

I expect "Amorphous mess" will be the watchword of the coming administration.  It seems like for every principal actor (Cabinet-level officials) there is going to be a "Special advisor" on the subject with at least equal access to the Oval Office, which is going to make any sort of policy formulation a witch's brew of personalities and agendas.

just last night, I heard a reference to special advisers for consumer affairs and some sort of technology.  I confess I didn't hear the whole title of the last one;  I was shouting at the TV as soon as I heard "special adviser".