Al Gore, Colin Powell, Caroline Kennedy in Obama's Administration? Check out the leaked flow chart.

[jefferson_dem]

Al Gore, Colin Powell, Caroline Kennedy in Obama's Administration?
November 11, 2008 05:01 PM ET | Paul Bedard | Permanent Link | Print

Obama transition team boss John Podesta threw open the curtains of his operation today to reporters, signaling that the president-elect wants to move quickly, but not hastily, to set up his government. In a pen and pad meeting with reporters—that means no cameras—Podesta, tieless, was at ease and confident as he proposed ethics rules governing the transition, promised top cabinet picks by December, and gabbed at length about the friendly and professional relationship he has with the Bush chief of staff, Josh Bolten. He made little news at the packed briefing but pledged that news was coming as he promised to conduct the most transparent transition in history. What we know: He has a budget of $12 million, $5.2 million in federal money with the rest from donors. Some 450 aides will be picking through résumés and policies as they create the government for the 44th president.

President-elect Barack Obama will name top cabinet picks in Chicago, while key White House officials could be named at Washington press conferences.

Security at transition HQ is tight, as evidenced by the long line for reporters in the picture below. But to its credit, the able and efficient Obama press team gave fair warning, and everybody got in before Podesta arrived.

Now the above transition flowchart. It is making the rounds in Washington tonight, though our source would not reveal the actual source of the document. It lists suggestions for top cabinet posts, many of which have been rumored for days inside and outside the new administration. Of note: Al Gore might be under consideration for a "climate czar" position; Colin Powell could be education secretary; Howard Dean might get health and human services; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might be the head of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Caroline Kennedy could be the ambassador to the United Nations. It's just an unofficial guide but a fun one to follow.

<SNIP>

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2008/11/11/al-gore-colin-powell-caroline-kennedy-in-obamas-administration.html

FLOW CHART (PDF) - http://static.usnews.com/documents/whispers/transition-flowchart-08.pdf

[Captain Hilts]

1. Colin Powell let down the military. He failed the US. nt

[jefferson_dem]

2. Perhaps.

But, as Secretary of Education, he will be as far from military issues as anyone in the Cabinet.

I welcome Powell into the Obama Cabinet. One could argue that without Powell we would be less likely to have had an Obama Cabinet at all.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

6. While I agree with you 100% on what Colin did...

I think Colin HATES HIMSELF for not having left earlier and said, "F-U!" to the Republicans. Fact is, it was a time when the Repukes were calling everyone who didn't love the war, "unpatriotic." Even ordinary people having nothing to do with the military were terrified of speaking up against the war. This administration from hell had made it impossible to disagree or express an original thought and the rest of the nation was going along with that.

Colin has come crawling back slowly, saying something here, something there, and finally admitting Obama was his man, and he'd be voting for it. That was NOT easy! McCain was a POW, and Colin is a GENERAL! More than one Repuke has called him a traitor.

How many Repukes do you know that didn't have to change, but DID? I only know of that Lee Atwater who repented when he was dying with a tumor in his brain.

[charlyvi]

3. Powell is all over the chart.

IMO he doesn't deserve consideration. He lied, knowingly.

[ProSense]

4. Leaked?

Appears a lot of people are spending a lot of time guessing.

[Gman]

5. There are some great picks on there

Colin Powell would be great anywhere. Dick Gephardt for Labor Sec? Fantastic! He's a CWA member. And Max Cleland for the VA? Perfect!

DOn't know how true this is but it's a move in the correct direction.

[Captain Hilts]

14. Powell would be "great anywhere," how about...Gitmo?

[AZSlacker]

7. Sam Nunn made a short list?! That ought to be a very popular pick amongst the GLBT community

:eyes:

[Captain Hilts]

11. HE's the guy that showed Republicans that Democrats would not support their own prez.

In the first weeks of the new administration.

Going to Norfolk for the press conference about gays in the military on a submarine. In the submarine force they don't care about gays because you pee by yourself and shower by yourself. No one cares.

[valerief]

8. Powell education? "I'll teach you how to be a soldier." Nah. nt

[Captain Hilts]

12. The US military is a great educational institution. But lots of military folks can do this job. nt

[bklyncowgirl]

9. Department of Homeland Security would be sweet vindication for Richard Clarke

Lot's of people here who sound almost too good to be true. RFK Junior at the EPA be still my beating heart!.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

10. Remember who Bush put in? People he'd probably @#$#@d off with in college....

...while making Ds and Fs? After 8 years of a mafia of the retarded, to have a man so brilliant be designing his staff and cabinet with such study and care rather than merely give the positions off as GIFTS for giving him money.

I swear I'd be the happiest woman on the planet if I could just see Bush and Cheney in orange jumpsuits and with metal jewelry on their ankles.

[Cleita]

13. I think Powell is a war criminal by aiding and abetting

the Bush administrations march to Iraq. I know he wasn't in favor of it, yet he argued the case for Saddam's WMD with phony drawings. If this administration is every tried for war crimes in the World Court, Powell will be part of it. I think it would be a bad move no matter how contrite he is now for being a Bush administration patsy.

[akbacchus_BC]

15. No, not Colin Powell! He lied to the American people and lied to

the UN. Dear President Elect Obama, please do not even consider Colin Powell or Condi to your administration. I know you want to reach across, but that would be too reaching. Those two scumbags need to be kicked out of Washington. Remember, Change!

These two fuckers enabled an invasion into a sovereign country and mutilated that country and moreso, the deaths of American soldiers for no reason.

Please President Elect Obama, shut down Guantanamo Bay, bring home the troops from Iraq and don't threaten Pakistan. Stay with your words when you started campaigning for the highest office in the world!

[davidinalameda]

16. Carolyn Kennedy as UN ambassador would speak volumes

but I think that several of the choices listed are pure speculation

I'd hope that Obama would really think outside the box and put people in positions where they have expertise and not just big names

John Kerry as SOS? Why? Bill Richardson should be named and named soon. He's been out there as a diplomat and he's done a pretty good job

I'd love to see either Powell or Wes Clark at Defense; both have the practical experience; I still respect Powell; I think he was lied to by the Bushies and they threw him to the wolves after he did their dirty work

[akbacchus_BC]

17. If Powell was lied to, man, that's a fib, he was such a higher up,

should he not have found out first if he were lied to before going to the UN. No, Powell has no right to be in an Obama administration. Let him skulk away with no dignity! Would you trust him again?

[davidinalameda]

19. I still trust him

when you had people like Cheney calling the shots, I don't doubt that people in the administration, no matter how high up they were, were lied to

[akbacchus_BC]

22. Powell was a higher up in the administration and he lied to the

world when he went to the UN to get the UN's approval to invade Iraq. Sorry, I do not trust Powell and Obama is not going to be better off having him in his administration. Let Powell go and suffer if he has a conscience! Over 4,000 American soldiers and millions of Iraqis have died for his lies. Sorry, am not that forgiving!

[Captain Hilts]

28. He could see Abu Graib and Gitmo on television and didn't stop it. nt

[davidinalameda]

36. who knows what the Bushies told anyone

they lied out their asses to the American people and we know that they lied out their asses to members of their own administration

this is what I believe; until I get hard proof, I will continue to think that General Powell is an honorable person

[akbacchus_BC]

18. I support Carolyn Kennedy for the Ambassador to the UN. That

announcement should have been made already!

[tabbycat31]

38. It's Caroline not Carolyn

as someone named after Caroline Kennedy, please get her name right. Sorry to correct you, but it gets to me big time.

[bklyncowgirl]

20. Are the people on top the first choices, interesting, almost too good to be true in fact.

A few surprising ones in there. I'd have thought Richardson for state department but Interior works for his skills and interest in the envoronment. Howard Dean for Health and Human Services, great. Tim Roemer for homeland security is a conventional choice but I'd love to see Richard Clarke in that post.

Robert Kennedy Jr. for E.P.A., too good to be true.

[gblady]

21. 'twill be....

very interesting to see how this whole selection process plays out...
and, I dare say, extremely amusing to watch the infamous DU response mechanism...
:popcorn:

[ecstatic]

23. I was hoping he'd make room for Oprah somewhere

:cry:

[akbacchus_BC]

24. As what, talk show host? Some how I don't think the President Elect

needs a talks how host, but I could be wrong. Just saying ....

[AtomicKitten]

25. I vote yes on Al and Caroline.

[akbacchus_BC]

26. And I am voting NO against Colin Powell being in the President

Elect administration.

[AtomicKitten]

27. my diplomatic exclusion was not lost on you

:thumbsup:

[Peace Patriot]

29. US News & World Report (v. rightwing), whispers. Grain of salt. But...

there are a couple of items that flash bad signals, and some good:

Colin Powell for Dept. of Education? What's he gonna teach our kids? How to lie real good for fun and profit, no matter the cost in human life?

I just don't want him anywhere near our government ever again.

-----------

Eric Holder, Chiquita Internat'l's death squad attorney for A.G.? Jesus God.

See
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-kovalik/lawyer-for-chiquita-in-co_b_141919.html


Big corpo attorney who got Chiquita execs off with a handslap (and secrecy--both arranged by the Bushwhacks) for paying Colombian death squads $1.7 million to take care of Chiquita's "labor propblem" by murdering FOUR THOUSAND union leaders and other workers in Chiquita banana plantations. With all the good civil rights, environment, public interest and lawful law enforcement attorneys in this land, this is what Obama comes up with? It is UNTHINKABLE! Yet, according to unknown insiders floating this name for A.G., Holder is high on the list!

-----------

Sec of State

John Kerry, superb choice! Chuck Hagel, Colin Powell--stinking choices!

----------

Veterans Affairs

Max Cleland - there couldn't be a better choice!

----------

Homeland Security

Richard Clarke - the man has balls of steel. So much courage to oppose this extremely dangerous junta the way he did. Really, that's who we want.

-----------

Health & Human Services, Labor - good choices (Dean, Daschle, Gephardt, Bonior)

----------

Treasury

Larry Summers? Robert Rubin? They've got to be kidding! No more "free trade"! No more neoliberalism! No more welfare for the corpos! No more deregulation! Capitalism is a fucking catastrophe! We need FRESH IDEAS, BRILLIANT **NEW** PEOPLE! Paul Krugman comes to mind. Joseph Stiglitz (Noble prize winning economist who opposed these fuckers). Get rid of these Clintonites, who set things up for the Bush disaster!

[mwooldri]

30. There's a position missing on that sheet.

Presidential Dog Warden.

The Obamas are getting a dog after all. And they need more bi-partisan representation.

Enough said I guess.

[book_worm]

31. I'm not going to comment on rumors. I'll wait until Obama actually makes selections.

[MarthaMyDear]

32. This all seems like pure speculation to me...

...like a magical dream for some, a disatrous nightmare for others...

I'd rather not speculate and just see who have accepted and rejected appointments when offered.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Bucky]

34. Better job for Powell: Undersecretary of Education for Adult Students with Disabilites

When you think about the rehabilitation and job skills retraining 1000s of American vets will need because Powell lied and sent them off to be mutilated in a country that didn't attack or threaten us, this might be a good way for him to start to make amends for destroying the lives and limbs of loyal veterans who made only the mistake of believing he put America's interest first.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

43. IMO Powell is the only person who as Secy of Defense could make drastic budget

cuts and survive the ensuing political storm.

As commander of the highly successful first Gulf War, Powell earned huge political capital that he still has not used. If Powell ended the scientifically-impossible Star Wars boondoggle, closed long-unnecessary military bases in Europe, Asia, and the US, canceled expensive weapons systems not requested by any service branch for any potential mission, and curtailed the cost-plus contract gravy train, many fewer Republican fat cats would savage him than they would savage any other Defense appointee.

The man just commands that much respect. Obama has a unique potential opportunity to drastically scale down "Defense" spending and put that money to use on healthcare, education, and other priorities.

[tkmorris]

35. Anyone pleasantly surprised at Tammy Duckworth?

I would think they'd want more experience to head Veteran's Affairs. Then again no one seems to know the true source of this list.

[SoxFan]

37. Leaked? Doubtful.

For one thing, the Obama operation has been remarkably tight. It had far fewer leaks than any presidential campaign in recent history.

Second, this is basically a rehashing of the conventional beltway wisdom. Every short list has Susan Rice as NSA, Witt at Homeland Security, Napolitano as AG, Vilsack at Agriculture, etc. There are a couple of odd omissions (Joel Klein not mentioned for Education) and one sensible but overlooked name (Tim Roemer, an early Obama backer, at Homeland). But for the most part, any of us could have put this list together after spending half an hour on the web.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

39. Red highlights and irregular blanks on the Cabinet flowchart add an aura of authenticity. Seems

to reflect an objective of at least three but at most five candidates per position before Obama makes a decision on a given high-level post.

The red highlights might mean all background checks are complete. Names already in red include current high-ranking Federal employees Gates and Geithner. key campaign adviser Holder, and high-priority "short-list" possibilities Summers and Napolitano.

Giving the chart to USNews would have been a classic "tiral balloon float" PR move for fast-track decisionmaking.

[milkyway]

40. Anybody could have made that chart. It's just a listing of names that have been kicked around in the

media. It's unlikely that it's coming from the Obama camp.

[amitta]

41. hope that list isn't real

very disappointing.
bunch of clinton era retreads and washington insiders.
the economic team is scary.

[Feron]

42. Ugh! I hope that RFK doesn't get the EPA job.

The last thing we need is a person that ignores all science contrary to his opinion or dismisses it as a part of some larger conspiracy.