Gonna be controversial - what do you all think? I personally approve for a number of reasons. I have to say, I voted Obama as the lesser of two - but he is impressing me with his cabinet picks and his priorities thus far - and he's not even in office yet.


Gates agrees to stay on under Obama
By MIKE ALLEN | 11/25/08 4:35 PM EST


Defense Secretary Robert Gates has agreed to stay on under President-elect Barack Obama, according to officials in both parties. Obama plans to announce a national-security team early next week that includes Gates at the Pentagon and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as secretary of state, officials said.

Retired Marine Gen. James Jones, former Marine commandant and commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Europe, will be named national security adviser, the officials said.

The national security adviser heads the National Security Council, which is the part of the White House structure that deals with foreign policy, and varies in influence from presidency to presidency. Jones insisted on – and got – a commanding role, the sources said.

Democrats familiar with the national-security event early next week said they also expect James Steinberg, who was deputy national security adviser in the Clinton administration, to be named deputy secretary of State; Susan Rice, Obama’s senior foreign policy adviser on the campaign, to be named U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; and retired Adm. Dennis Blair, the former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command and a veteran of the NSC, Central Intelligence Agency and Joint Chiefs of Staff, to be named the director of national intelligence.

Tom Donilon, an assistant secretary of state for public affairs and chief of staff at the U.S. Department of State during the Clinton administration, is a leading candidate to be Jones’ deputy at the NSC, officials said.

The team gives Obama experience in the bureaucracy and credibility with the military, although it could lead to criticism from his party’s left wing that the lineup is more hawkish and less revolutionary than his supporters expected.

David Axelrod, the incoming White House senior adviser, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week”: “The president-elect was clear throughout the campaign that when he became president, that he was going to give the secretary of defense a new mission, and that mission was going to be to wind down our involvement. Nothing has changed.”

Axelrod said Obama enjoys and invites strong opinions and there will be no “potted plants” in his Cabinet.

Gates has been negotiating with Obama emissaries over his deputies — some will be retained, and some new — and how the Pentagon will be run.

The selection of a member of President George W. Bush’s inner circle allows Obama to deliver on his promise of a bipartisan Cabinet, even though Gates has an intelligence background and has not been an active Republican.

The appointment has substantial advantages for Obama, who now can keep his pledge of drawing down troops in Iraq with the aid of an architect of the Bush administration’s successful troop "surge" strategy.

The presence of Gates also will help finesse Obama’s relationship with Gen. David Petraeus, the former U.S. commander in Iraq and now the head of the U.S. Central Command, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Gates nomination was first reported as a “done deal” by ABC News.
Most Emailed News Stories

__________________
Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.
- Robertson Davies

I am glad to see Gates decided to stay on. He has been demanding a lot more out of each branch of the military thus far. He expects the heads of the various branches to justify spending and wants to cut off projects that are not needed or have no chance of working.

All I can say is that if Bush picked Gates then he isn't the real deal.

__________________
I'm Proud I never Voted For Bush!



PAT PAULSEN FOR PRESIDENT

He sure as hell has the best idea of what is happening on the ground. You lose too much efficiency starting with a whole new crew. Pundits say he's bipartisan, and a good manager - and a registered independent. Appointed to clean up the Iraq mess, and one of the few in the Bush team who are respected by most.

Thus far, Obama has made some very wise picks.

__________________
Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.
- Robertson Davies

Gates has made some good changes so far in the Pentagon. He is the reason why budgets are reterning to an acceptable level, people are getting let go for not doing their jobs and generally slapping people around to do the job right. He is refocusing our consentartion on the two wars we are currently engaged in rather than letting the AF have its way and buy eleventy billion F22's that are only useful in combating other standing armies.

This bodes well. I am pleased he is being wise, so far. He'd be a fool not to avail himself of the very best people, regardless of politcal stripe.

__________________
"Oh, bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

That is not a valid argument, Being picked by bush does not make you less capable then you are.

Sooner or later Bush has to get lucky.

Gates is a good choice for now.

__________________

He's getting in trouble on the left wing blogosphere. I am always pleasaed when an office holder gets it from both sides - it means they are doing something right

__________________
Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.
- Robertson Davies

unless their initials are GWB

__________________

Gates and Petraeus can be refocused on Afghanistan, and we do need to bring that battle front to a point of closure also. We can't afford to maintain a never ending war there, and other countries will be ending their involvement.

__________________
National Debt =