BREAKING: Obama names Ron Klain Ebola Czar

[MoonRiver]

Last edited Fri Oct 17, 2014, 12:45 PM - Edit history (1)

no link yet

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. So Gramps McCain got his wish. Will the GOPers now complain about another "czar"?

[Atman]

2. I never understood why we have Czars in the U.S. of A.

Seriously...couldn't the marketing people have come up with a better title?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. It's an annoying term, but it's something the media came up with

ages ago to describe an appointed official with broad powers. Of course it isn't the person's official title. Wiki says it was accepted because it's a foreign or exotic word (actually Russian for "caesar&quot . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czar_%28political_term%29 It has been used in the current context since the '30s.

[librechik]

13. the media?

or the Euro sheiks who took over the media in the 80s? The same "folks" who changed "people" to "folks" and "America" to Der Homeland in the early 2000s.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. The use of the term predates the '80s by about 50 years.

[librechik]

16. yeah, by then they figured it was sanitized and nobody would notice.

People noticed. Or rather, folks noticed.

[Sunlei]

53. I don't think appointed officials like the media or 'folks' to call them 'Czars'

In 2009 our group hired a plane to tag 'Salazar, The Slaughter Czar', took a while but he did resign.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

7. Right? Whatever happened to "Advisor"? nt

[pinto]

35. His title is Response Coordinator. "Czar" is a media construct. (nt)

[LawDeeDah]

120. That is what it is. The media. but somehow Thanks Obama!

[dixiegrrrrl]

72. Same folks who came up with Homeland, I daresay. n/t

[badtoworse]

87. How about Shogun?

[cherokeeprogressive]

3. A lawyer.

Whew. Problem solved. I'm so glad the right people are now hot on the case.

[KittyWampus]

6. Dear Ceiling Cat, you are right. He's a lawyer.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

11. He's not even a lawyer with medical expertise

He is political operative who knows how to get the job done, apparently.

This does not make me feel better.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. I don't know anything about this guy, but

they don't really need a doctor, they need a competent manager. The doctors have already screwed things up. I wouldn't hire a doctor to manage anything.

[KittyWampus]

17. Okay, I'll give you that. Thanks for the pep talk. You are probably correct.

[DonCoquixote]

25. regretfully I agree

especially as the one thing keeping Doctors from being animals and miscreants is the fear of being sued, Hippocrates be damned!

[liberalhistorian]

41. Most of the ones I've known and dealt with

can't even manage their own offices properly.

You don't always need to be an "expert" in something to be able to manage it well. What this "czar" is probably able to do is effectively coordinate the efforts of those with the knowledge, which is what's important.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

47. That is exactly the point I've been trying to make.

The "czar" (and I'm not a fan of that term) will be charged with coordinating the work of the medical people. To do so he will have to be advised concerning the medical issues. But he will not need to be an M.D.

[WillowTree]

50. Wouldn't have hurt, though, to get a sompetent manager with SOME medical background.

Surely there must be at least a few of those around.

[Nay]

83. Yeah, that's the way I feel. There aren't any non-doc people around with

Hospital Administration doctorates and experience as same? Really?

I know it's de rigeur to claim that a good manager can manage anything, but I've found that is rarely true in my corporate experience. So who knows.

[RiffRandell]

62. Good point. nt

[Mojorabbit]

84. They need a manager who is also a doctor

i had this conversation with someone yesterday who used to work handling medical catastrophes, ie Katrina and they said morale and disappointment was rife within HHS because of the appointing of people who have no qualifications nor understanding of the work these people do in the field. It makes a huge difference in how deployments are handled.

[LawDeeDah]

121. I am with you on that. The guy doesn't have to get into it with medical knowledge

he just has to know how to manage it. I can understand that as a wise choice.

[KittyWampus]

4. what is the political obsession in the US with "czars"?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. They have "czars" in Britain as well.

There, "the term is more loosely used to refer to high-profile appointments who devote their skills to one particular area." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czar_%28political_term%29

[ChisolmTrailDem]

9. Newspeak. nt

[bklyncowgirl]

10. Why a political operative and not someone with experience in medical administration?

I'd say political hack but maybe that's not the case.

[MineralMan]

18. There's more to this situation than just medical management.

An effective management person is needed, not just another doctor with some management experience. From what I can tell, it looks like this guy has good management credibility.

[GeorgeGist]

22. He's a fucking lawyer with no health experience.

but hey it makes republicans happy.

[bklyncowgirl]

23. I agree a strong manager is badly needed in this situation

Part of the problem though has been conflicting messages coupled with smug certainty from the CDC and other agencies that has led to things like exposed nurses flying on commercial air lines or taking a cruise on the love boat with the apparent blessing of the CDC. Will this guy be able to push back when needed against the medical authorities when necessary?

[cali]

31. far better would be a manager with medical expertise

Healthcare management takes a specific skill set, which Klain evidently does not have-

but then I think the idea of an "ebola czar" is silly.

[MineralMan]

36. Perhaps. Perhaps not.

There are plenty of medical folks involved, at the state and federal level. What there doesn't appear to be is coordination of resources. That's a pure management issue. Sometimes, an individual with strong management skills can turn something around, just by letting the experts do what they're experts in, without the additional burden of general management.

This appointee is not going to be making medical decisions. He's going to be coordinating a broad spectrum of people with different expertise in different areas. It's a valid position in any complex organization, and doesn't require specific technical expertise in the issues involved.

That's my take on it, anyhow. We'll see how it works out.

[840high]

123. Agree on both points.

[Le Taz Hot]

54. An attorney is not a manager.

He's an attorney. If he wanted a manager he should have hired a manager.

[MineralMan]

57. I confess that I know very little about this person.

I do believe that he has been Chief of Staff for a couple of high officials. That's a management position. But more than that I do not know.

[Le Taz Hot]

59. He's a political opeative.

Two ENTIRELY different things. If Obama thinks this is going to make the GOP like him, he's dead wrong. Again.

[geek tragedy]

102. Chiefs of staff are management positions.

You should be embarrassed to be ignorant of that.

[LiberalElite]

73. Maybe he managed something somewhere - large

law firms have managing partners.

[Le Taz Hot]

76. He is a political operative.

That is his "experience." This could be a real health crisis given the right set of circumstances. Maybe getting, oh, I don't know, a health care manager might be in order? Instead of appointing a "czar" (media word), and since he wants this to be a political move (judging by his appointment), then perhaps it would have been a better move to point out that he currently has no Surgeon General because of the obstructionist policies by the Republicans.

[geek tragedy]

112. He managed the stimulus after it passed

Not a small job.

He also managed Al Gore and Joe Biden's staffs.

[geek tragedy]

77. Derp. He was chief of staff to Biden and Gore.

Do tell us how those are not management positions.

[MFrohike]

113. Chief of staff to two VPs

The phrase "tits on a bull" comes to mind.

[geek tragedy]

115. Only to people who don't inform themselves.

He was in charge of implementing this little thing called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Maybe you've heard of it.

[MFrohike]

117. HEH

All I've seen about his role in that Act's implementation was signing off on Solyndra. Perhaps you could share a link that shows that he was running the whole show?

[geek tragedy]

118. Was waiting for the Solyndra talking

point.

Maybe you can throw in a Benghazi reference for good measure.

Here is a hint: he was signing off on billions of dollars of loans.

But, you requested a link showing Biden's team was in charge of the stimulus:

From the start, (Biden) was put in charge of implementing the recession-fighting American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $821 billion of new spending and tax cuts that squeaked through the Senate only after Biden helped win three Republicans' votes.
"He talked to me about the stimulus bill," recalls former Republican senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. "I concluded that it was indispensable to save the country and perhaps the world from a depression." Specter later switched parties -- something Biden had been pushing him to do for decades as they rode Amtrak to and from Washington.
As the economic stimulus czar, Biden held 22 meetings of top government officials and 57 conference calls with governors and mayors. He traveled to more than 40 project sites and referred to the Washington operations center as a "war room."
He stands in for the president overseas, having traveled to 26 countries, nearly as many as Obama. He's been to 35 states on government business and 41 in all, counting more than 150 political events and fundraisers.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-05-31-biden-vice-president_n.htm

More:

It was five years ago this month that the new president signed the $800 billion Keynesian stimulus package, also known as the Recovery Act. A few weeks later, he put Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in charge of overseeing its implementation. As the vice president’s chief economist at the time, as well as a member of the economics team that helped to shape the package, I was an active participant in this important chapter of our economic history.

...
But before I close, a quick word about a positive aspect that doesn’t get enough attention and in the spirit of learning for next time, is essential: the Recovery Act was well and cleanly implemented. Efficiency and oversight were well balanced; in fact, I’d argue that the transparency and oversight structure should serve as a model for future stimulus programs. I can also tell you that from where I sat, a big part of the credit for the act’s successful implementation should go to Vice President Biden and his chief of staff, Ron Klain.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/economix/2014/02/24/lessons-from-the-recovery-act/

[MFrohike]

119. Again, HEH

Hey man, if you don't like the mention of Solyndra, take it up with USA Today. That's where I got it. It was literally the only mention in the article of Klain and the Act. But hey, don't let facts get in the way of conspiracy theories.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/10/17/ron-klain-bio-resume-recount-stimulus-ebola-czar/17430563/

Thanks for the links. The first, from USA Today, mentions Klain twice. Actually, it quotes him twice. There's really no mention of him in the link otherwise. It's not much in terms of proof, but it's better than nothing

The second link is better. The author, also a former staff of Biden, credits Klain and Biden with efficiently and transparently administering the part of the Act with which they'd been entrusted. It's not a bad article, though a bit long-winded on the history side. I give the author credit for mentioning that 2/3 of the stimulus was not in direct aid, but in tax cuts.

Of course, there is the little problem of the recent McClatchy series on the massive fraud in connect with the Act. Hell of an oversight job with results like this.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/static/features/Contract-to-cheat/

[geek tragedy]

122. Yes, Klain is to blame because he didn't spend 100%

of stimulus funds on paperwork inspectors.


Speaking of financial fraud, your claim that Bernstein 'admitted' the stimulus was 2/3 tax cuts.

From the article :

Be More Direct: About one-third of the stimulus package went to tax cuts. There’s an excellent political rationale for that apportionment, but particularly given the diagnosis noted above, tax cuts’ bang-for-buck in terms of jobs is less than optimal. First, for the cuts to stimulate the economy, recipients have to spend the extra money, not save it. In a deleveraging cycle, that’s a heavier lift. Second, when they do spend the money, they need to spend it on domestic goods. So there’s a lot of potential leakage.

It’s also the case that one-quarter of the tax cuts went to relief from the alternative minimum tax that would have happened anyway, so that part wasn’t even stimulus (which by definition means new spending or tax cuts).

[MFrohike]

125. You got me

I was citing the later $670b of what the author terms "fiscal support." Two thirds of that was tax cuts.

I'm not really sure why you highlighted the AMT section. Unless my math is way off, you highlighted the fact that 1/12 of the total value of the bill was the AMT change.

As for you comment about paperwork inspectors, I have to admit that I'm completely mystified at your attitude. Hundreds of thousands of workers got screwed by being intentionally misclassified. This wasn't an Enron-style scheme of extreme complexity. It was the usual bullshit of calling them independent contractors while exercising full control over their work. It's a pretty easy scheme to spot, but nobody could be bothered.

In addition, the GAO reported in 2011 that $24B was given to companies that owed federal taxes. Seriously? Does no one do their homework in Washington? Is it really that hard to make a determination?

Looking at the blatant frauds that occurred with Klain's "oversight" of the stimulus funds, I have no idea why anyone would think he's competent at anything but self-promotion. This picks reeks of "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."

[geek tragedy]

126. Bonus points for the bogus Katrina reference in

attacking the stimulus. You're quite good at what you do.

[MFrohike]

127. Why, thank you

It's always nice to be appreciated.

[JoePhilly]

38. He'll probably spend all his time answering stupid

... questions from the right wing media.

Creating a focal point for their insanity would let others do their jobs with fewer distractions.

[Ykcutnek]

12. Served as chief of staff to both Gore and Biden.

Good pick with lots of managerial experience.

[Le Taz Hot]

58. Which means he's a political operative.

You sure showed up all of a sudden out of nowhere cheering for the president in like a dozen different threads, all with the same agenda. Makes one go, "Hmmmmm."

[Ykcutnek]

64. Yes, I am part of a taxpayer-funded operation to promote Ron Klain.

Busted.

Now my pay will be docked.

Thanks a lot.

[Le Taz Hot]

69. Not even close.

[deutsey]

19. Czar

God, I'm so sick of that term.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

20. Me too. As tired as I am of "Homeland". nt

[TBF]

21. Ron Klain according to wiki -

Ronald A. "Ron" Klain is an American lawyer and political operative best known for serving as Chief of Staff to two Vice Presidents - Al Gore (1995–1999) and Joseph Biden (2009–2011).[1][2] He is an influential Democratic Party insider. Earlier in his career, he was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Byron White during the Court's 1987 and 1988 Terms and worked on Capitol Hill, where he was Chief Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination. He was portrayed by Kevin Spacey in the HBO film Recount depicting the tumult of the 2000 presidential election. On October 17, 2014, CNBC reported that Klain is to be named the newly created "Ebola Czar" by President Obama.[3] == Wikipedia

That's dandy. Put a lawyer with no medical training in charge of a deadly disease. Brilliant.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. What is needed in this situation is a good manager, not a doctor.

In fact, it seems to me that most of the screwups so far have been the result of doctors mismanaging the situation. Management is not what doctors are trained to do. In fact, they are infamously bad at it. I'd much rather have someone who knows how to use the knowledge and expertise of the medical people, and how to deploy that knowledge efficiently, than the smartest epidemiologist in the world who hasn't a clue how to get the right people to the right places.

[TBF]

29. Is that the latest talking point -

good luck w/that.

Honestly, this is just embarrassing.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

33. No, it is not a "talking point." It's reality.

In a serious situation you want someone in charge who can figure out how to use the knowledge and skills of the people who are actually doing the actual work. I don't know anything about this Klain guy - never heard of him - but it doesn't concern me that he isn't a doctor. Doctors are trained to diagnose and treat sick people; they typically have no management experience of any kind. The fact that this situation has not been managed very well so far has been mainly the fault of the guys with the M.D. degrees at the hospital in Texas and the CDC.

[TBF]

37. The fact that this has not

Last edited Fri Oct 17, 2014, 12:08 PM - Edit history (1)

been "managed very well" is that we do not have a Surgeon General (due to republican obstruction). I will not listen to yet another fan club member beat up on the MDs and nurses who are risking their own lives to save people while the CDC drops the ball. There are people who need to be appointed - namely a Surgeon General and a new head of the CDC. What we do not need is a lawyer trying to be in charge of an outbreak of a deadly disease.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

46. What "fan club" would that be?

I don't belong to any Obama "fan club" if that's the implication, nor am I explicitly defending the choice of this particular person. I don't know anything about him other than what's been posted here. I am simply trying to make the point that you don't need to have an M.D. degree to manage a public health problem - you need management skills, which doctors typically are not trained to have. I am also not in any respect beating up on the front-line medical people, who are clearly doing fine work at their jobs, which involve treating patients. I don't know whether Mr. Klain will turn out to be the best choice and I don't know why he was chosen or whether other people were considered. My only point is that what is needed here is good management ability more than medical knowledge.

[TBF]

67. YOUR statement:

"The fact that this situation has not been managed very well so far has been mainly the fault of the guys with the M.D. degrees at the hospital in Texas and the CDC."

THAT is blaming doctors.

CDC is the organization to blame here. I am quite sure they suffer from lack of funding (republicans), and I know that we don't have a Surgeon General due to republican obstruction. But someone needs to be in charge of a coordinated effort to treat patients who are in the US and I'm very sure a lawyer is not that person. He was appointed simply to protect the administration (Obama) - that's his role.

My view is that flights need to stop out of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. We can send charitable organizations in with the assistance of the US military. We can send $$$ - in fact I think rather than bombing ISIS and so forth we should be very focused on appropriating funds for treating/curing Ebola wherever it is in the world. And we need to set up a few centers in this country, led by a DOCTOR (not a lawyer) to take care of the cases we have here.

[geek tragedy]

78. You would prefer Ben Carson?

If you don't know how administrators have different skill sets than doctors, stop embarrassing yourself with this hyperbolic nonsense.

[TM99]

39. Here's reality for you.

What is needed is a 'manager' with relevant medical knowledge with a particular emphasis in disease control & epidemiology. That does not need to be an MD, but....

Klain is a fucking lawyer with no relevant expertise in this arena, who worked on Gore & Biden's staff. He is a political choice and not the best medical choice in this situation.

It is a boneheaded move designed to cover Obama's ass.

[geek tragedy]

101. "a fucking lawyer" you love your Fox talking points

He was a high level manager in two white houses. That does qualify him to coordinate federal agencies.

Those who hate the President hate this choice for their own unprincipled motives.

[TM99]

108. So I guess I got under your skin?

That isn't hard with someone of your acumen.

Is he a lawyer? Yes. I and others can imagine far better choices than, yes, a fucking lawyer for this position.

[geek tragedy]

111. Your refusal to acknowledge his relevant

gives away your game.

That, and your entire posting history.

[TM99]

128. Do you know what the word relevant means?

It means pertaining to the actual issue at hand.

A lawyer whose experience has been political posts as chief of staff and involvment with managing an economic stimulus plan is not someone with relevant experience in public health, infectious disease control, and medicine.

A research pathologist or epidemiologist MD with an MBA or MPH and (here's that word again!) RELEVANT professional experience related to his or her education and the field in question would be a far better choice.

My 'game' as you put it is about what is the best choice for the relevant situation. It is not about justifying this President's continued bad appointments which are either political paybacks for party faithful or revolving door Wall Street lackeys who support his neo-liberal agenda.

[KingCharlemagne]

51. Robert Oppenheimer 'managed' the Manhattan Project. But Opie was a nuclear

physicist of some repute himself.

Why wasn't Dr. Howard Dean named? He would have kicked ass and taken names and not taken any bullshit.

[suffragette]

70. Howard Dean

Now he would have been an excellent choice!
But they never seem to call on him, even when it would benefit us all.

[geek tragedy]

75. The hair on fire crowd should be embarrassed

over their histrionics over a disease that has killed zero Americans.

[TM99]

85. Until it does.

That is the point. With a disease of this nature, it is prudent to get out in front of it. The CDC, the Texas hospital & its staff, and Obama are all making politically expedient and short sighted choices that for now have only caused the death of one patient on American soil. That can and likely will change very soon.

[geek tragedy]

86. Thanks for the Fox News spin on this.

The reality is that one hospital disregarded protocols, and it has half of DU calling for color-coded Ebola alerts from DHS.

[TM99]

90. Are you always such a snarky person?

Are you that fucking partisan that any criticism of this administration and its responses to various issues that affect the well-being of Americans deserving of such a response?

It is not panic. It is called seriousness. I thought Democrats were the fucking adults.

[geek tragedy]

91. Fear-mongering and mindless bashing of

the President are not hallmarks of adulthood.

This is sounding like the Benghazi blame game.

[TM99]

92. Ah, so exactly as I said.

You are that much of a partisan hack.

The President put forth a lawyer with no relevant medical background. Criticizing that appointment is hardly mindless bashing.

The CDC and the hospital and its staff in Dallas have thus far handled the Ebola cases in America quite poorly overall. Criticizing them for those actions is not fear-mongering.

You have nothing but a pom pom for you beloved President. Sad really.

[geek tragedy]

93. You give away your agenda by describing

Joe Biden's chief of staff- and before that Al Gore's chief of staff--merely as a lawyer with no relevant experience. I mean, what does the guy who oversaw the implementation of a $ 1 Trillion stimulus package know about interagency coordination? Just a lawyer. You know his experience better than the President who has appointed him twice?

There is zero daylight between your uninformed commentary on Obama and the CDC and that found on Fox & Friends.

Clearing that low bar does not make one a cheerleader.

[TM99]

97. Wow you are a piece of work --

A mind reader, a pundit, and a party cheerleader all in one.

Non-sequitur much - a lawyer who worked with an economic stimulus package still has zero professional experience working with crisis management of a medical nature. I am sure that if Obama took the time, he could have found several possible public health doctorates with the relevant medical and management experience.

To attempt to argue otherwise actually shows us your agenda.

[geek tragedy]

98. "A lawyer who worked on an economic stimulus

package."

Your message discipline is admirable in a way, though woefully misinformed.

Klain has served at the highest levels in all three branches of government. He was not, as you deceptively put it, "a lawyer who worked on a stimulus package." He was the person placed in charge of implementing a $ 1 TRILLION economic effort. From the executive branch. In a position of management and authority.

That is real experience in making government work. Public health PhDs are nice as wall decorations, but they don't make anyone an effective manager.

[TM99]

99. Again with the non-sequitur's.

Public health doctorates are not decorative and your attempt to make them so to support Obama's choice displays your craven political agenda.

Are you sure you are on the right site? Anti-intellectualism is usually a hallmark of the conservative party. They also think that a business man or lawyer can run a public health program. So I assume you have no problems then with the GOP businessman running Ohio's department of public health taxed with dealing with any potential fallout from the traveling Ebola nurse to that state from TX?

[geek tragedy]

100. He is not running a public health program or agency.

He is a point person coordinating the efforts of federal agencies.

That is not a skill set one picks up as a student.

Did you pick up the talking point of pretending he's spent his entire life in a courtroom from your fellow luminaries using the hashtag #ronklainqualifications?

Those of us who don't hate Obama recognize the value of government experience and don't bend over backwards to imitate Steve Doocy.

What is pathetic is the ODSers of all stripes using Ebola hysteria to get in their petty little partisan digs.

Like the partisan hacks who pretend to be progressive and then bash Obama for seeking to cut nuclear stockpiles.

[TM99]

107. You are really a piece of work.

You have no idea what you are actually talking about. You don't understand public health in the least especially with regards to infectious disease control. That much is obvious.

You throw around more talking points and jargon than anyone in this thread.

Where did I or anyone say we 'hated' Obama? We just don't agree with his choice.

ODS? What in the fuck is ODS?

Who is being hysterical? I am questioning his choice for Ebola Czar.

Again with the bullshit. This has nothing do with cutting nuclear stockpiles, does it?

Finally, I am hardly suggesting hiring a new graduate of a public health program. You do realize that once a doctorate is had, we are no longer students, right? We become this thing in the real world called a working professional. Then we garner experience in our professions over the years.

I am quite sure there are many candidates that would meet the qualifications necessary to not only have management experience at a governmental level but also this little thing that might be important - actual work experience in public health and infectious diseases.

[geek tragedy]

110. How many people have experience coordinating

federal agencies from the White House?

Sorry it burns your chaps that a person whose experience is dealing with bureaucrats has been chosen to deal with bureaucrats. Awfully naive about how government works.

[TM99]

129. Naive?

Hardly. This is a political payback appointment of a man with ZERO relevant experience.

Let's take bets on whether this turns out like Brown & Katrina shall we?

[cali]

32. what's needed is a manager with healthcare expertise and an understanding of epidemiology

this is a specific field with a specific skill set. There are, of course, quite a few people with those qualifications.

[Logical]

48. How about both? nt

[Le Taz Hot]

68. Management is not what lawyers are trained to do either.

[amandabeech]

82. I'll second that!!!

I practiced law in the past, and every managing partner or president of any law firm that I've been near has been just absolutely lousy.

[geek tragedy]

94. Why do you insist on ignoring his 12 years

of management experience in the White House?

[MFrohike]

114. The hospital in Texas has reputable managers

Hell of a job they're doing, wouldn't you say?

[HereSince1628]

66. If I've got the right guy, wiki says his congressional experience is with insurance

and government sponsored enterprises.

I suppose the War on Ebola is going to be a government sponsored enterprise,
but color me surprised.

[GeorgeGist]

24. Stupid shit. Again.

Goes great with Swat teams.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

26. If we had a Surgeon General

he could be the 'czar'...

[cherokeeprogressive]

30. We have an acting Surgeon General. n/t

[KoKo]

40. I wondered why we hadn't heard from the "Second in Command"

I don't even know who they are....but, maybe they can't speak well or their funding sources for the Dept. have been cut back so hard that they don't even know what's going on.

[Iggo]

61. What's he acting like?

[cherokeeprogressive]

63. The Invisible Man.

Apparently he's quite an accomplished actor.

[Iggo]

65. .

Nice.

[Laurian]

28. I'm fine with the choice. A coordinator and manager of the

entire government response is needed....not another medical person. He will have all the input he needs from medical experts.

[cali]

34. It's Klain, not Klein.

[Marrah_G]

42. Seriously, What the Fuck, Mr. President?

A lawyer? a former chief of staff? Seriously, of all the great minds in this country, you choose someone who has absolutely no knowledge on infectious disease?

[cherokeeprogressive]

55. I'm entirely confident, given the time between idea and appointment...

That an exhaustive nationwide search was undertaken, many names were floated and interviews conducted, and the perfect person was found for the job.

I'm also certain that his being a party operative and former Chief of Staff for VPs is merely a coincidence. In fact, they were probably surprised to learn of his employment history.

Psst... wanna buy a bridge? I gots one for sale. Cheap.

[Marrah_G]

56. thank you for making me smile :)

It's all so frustrating my friend.

[cherokeeprogressive]

60. I'm with ya. n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

95. plus 1

[geek tragedy]

74. This is an administrative, not a research, post. nt

[Tatiana]

43. I'm sorry. This is caving.

Not impressed with the leadership so far.

We should have someone else nominated for the Surgeon General position. If they want a point person, Congress needs to confirm one.

We have two people who have contracted Ebola so far. While tragic, I'm not sure why that requires a "Czar" when we don't have a "Flu Czar" or a "Enterovirus Czar."

This plays in to Republican fear-mongering... which, by the way, they will still complain that the President isn't doing enough!

[Marrah_G]

44. I agree, we don't need one

But to then choose someone to head up something they know NOTHING about? it is insane.

[Historic NY]

45. Oh boy that proves he is a communist, socialist...

CZAR. I can hear it now.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

49. Just last week John McCain demanded the appointment of an ebola "czar."

The term has been used since the '30s to designate a high-level appointee whose job is to manage a specific situation. There's nothing new about it and every president since Roosevelt has used them. I don't especially like the term but it's been around and accepted for a very long time. By the way, a "czar" (meaning emperor) is the very antithesis of communism. Lenin overthrew the last actual czar during the Russian revolution. So you can't rationally equate czars with communism.

[rusty fender]

52. Maybe appoint someone with a degree in Public Health

[TBF]

71. That makes far too much sense. nt

[liberal_at_heart]

88. +1. Obama never fails to disappoint when it comes to appointments.

[KamaAina]

79. Not Robin Cook? Damn!

[liberalmuse]

80. Oh boy.

This czar sh*t has no place in a republic, but I guess it's good for PR and gets asshats like McCain off your back for a few moments.

[CTyankee]

81. A Surgeon General would be nice, too...

[maced666]

89. Dr. Klain?!

Omg. Really. So many better (medical background) choices, why? I've stopped trying to explain or excuse to myself some of the blatant dumb things coming out of Washington....
Tired of it they can own this one, nor fighting for....incompetence. Advisors need to be replaced White House is smarter than this.

[Rex]

96. We need to stop appeasing batshit crazy republicans!

Why is it we always do what they say, but they NEVER do what we say?

[MoonRiver]

104. And exactly WHY do you think I am judging him?

I just reported the appointment!

[scarystuffyo]

106. So how much power goes with this position?

Can he tell the CDC where to delegate monies too?

Can he by pass congress for additional funds if needed ?

Or does he just end up just being someone to point the finger at and place blame if Ebola gets out of control in this country

[grasswire]

109. why not Dr. Howard Dean?

THAT would be a no b.s. appointment

[840high]

124. Yep.

[MFrohike]

116. Welp

A lawyer who's been counsel to Congressional committees and chief of staff to two VPs. If that doesn't scream JV team, I don't know what does.