IEEEEEEEEEE IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LittleClarkie]

(pant.pant.pant)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!




Don't mind me.

I'll be (twitch) fine.

I want the most qualified people put in positions of power. Not the people who are owed the most. If that makes me lacking in political acumen, then I'm proud not to have any.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need a drink.

[JI7]

1. Kerry is most qualified

that's one reason i hate it when people talk about him being owed anything. even if Kerry had endorsed Hillary he would be the best choice.


but i have to wonder, does everything think Kerry wants the sec of state job as much as people here want him to get it ? when i think of how it's likely that sec of state will serve 4 years or less it doesn't seem to appealing.

if Dems were in the minority or Kerry was not going to get the foreign relations job i might think it was worth it. but i'm not so sure right now.

maybe him getting it in Obama's 2nd term might be better. he would have been able to serve as chair also with that.

i can think of so many times that i was watching the SFRC and thinking it would be much better if Kerry could chair it. while both Kerry and Biden talk a lot i think Kerry is better at making his points. he isn't afraid to be critical . Biden seemed much more the type to give in too much.

[wildflowergardener]

10. Kerry

I don't know whether it is better for Kerry to be secretary of state or senator. I am fine with either. It would be nice if it was offered to him, though - whether he accepts that or not. However if that is the case we may never know it. I haven't read alot of the outside posts because posts outside of this forum always turn into bash Kerry fests.

Meg

[ginnyinWI]

11. I'm on the same page you are, JI7.

Of course we Kerrycrats would love to see Sec of State on TV, going around to all nations and being great at knitting this fragmented world back together again. We know he would be a superb Sec-State. But after four years, then what? He'd no longer be in the Senate--that's the trade-off.

Hillary hasn't accepted the offer yet, as far as I know...she's got to be thinking the same things. After four years, then what?

It's an interesting thing to watch anyway. Whatever happens, we are still 1000% better off than with Chimp and Darth.

[Muttocracy]

2. I'm with you - I have this weird preference for people with decades of experience

I was astounded that the three top Dems out of Iowa were the least experienced (I liked Biden and Dodd, would have liked Kerry or Gore if they'd run again).

Reading posts about Hillary for Sec of State when there are all different kinds of experienced choices (Kerry, Holbrooke, Susan Rice, Power, Richardson, etc.) whether they're my cup of tea or not...

:wtf:

[JI7]

3. here is something about Dean not getting the HHS job

i don't know how much to believe this. i think Dean would be one of the best for the job. we need someone who has a professional background in science in more positions.

i posted this because there are some similar stuff to the talk about Kerry and the snarky comments from "advisors" "dem sources" and other types.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4457175

[Muttocracy]

4. imagine... someone who knows medicine, govmt admin, and politics..

nah, wouldn't want that...

:crazy:

[Starry Messenger]

5. The strange thing is I was coming down here to post the exact same thing!

Only I was going to go ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH first instead of IIIIEEEEEEEEEE. But I think I can be persuaded. ;) GDP is totally crackers tonight. I've been seeing GD behind its back. But I'm tempted to just park my ass in here until the inauguration. I'm a longtime lurker.

[LittleClarkie]

6. Welcome

It is indeed crackers.

I'm being accused of being a sycophant, when I'm arguing against giving Kerry any post based on what he is owed.

Meanwhile, I never thought of McCaskill as being such a heavy hitter. It seems so stupid to me to compare how much this person or that person helped during the campaign, and then use that comparison to bash someone.

[globalvillage]

7. Watch the last 10 seconds of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqMNLqt5OC8

I agree with Tweety. Masterful and perfect are how I'd describe JK as SoS. I just hope, if he doesn't get it, that some statement is made about his having been offered, or his preference for the SFRC chair or SOMETHING, and that either Richardson or Susan Rice or someone with diplomatic skills gets the job.

Hillary is better suited for Homeland Security of HHS or anything but SoS, IMO. If she wants a cabinet post, she should get one she'd excel at. Unless we're looking to obliterate a foreign nation, I don't think that's SoS.

[MBS]

8. THANKS for posting that link!!

I saw that last night in real time, and really appreciated what Matthews had to say. And I also share Bernard's and Donahue's comments in toto.

(Warning: take a deep breath before you read the horrid Gail Collins in today's NYT. I now hate her more than ever.:nuke: :grr: :grr:

And, yeah, for sure:AAAIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

[ginnyinWI]

13. maybe she should be Sec of Defense.

She is on Armed Services, after all, and it is a high-profile position--something she'd probably want. It doesn't always have to go to some man...

[fedupinBushcountry]

18. I caught Doug Brinkley on Hardball

Here is the transcript:

Let me ask you about foreign policy. You have written well and positively about John Kerry. I'm very big on John Kerry myself. I also love the idea of a grand Cabinet, where there's Cabinet members who are ministers, in other words, heavyweights, colleagues, almost equals to the president, in the way of a major Cabinet, like Kennedy had, people that challenge him, that argue in the back room, who are not just staff people that enable and carry out orders, like President Bush has around him.

Give me the case for John Kerry as secretary of state.

BRINKLEY: Well, there's a political one, for starters.

I mean, I think the matter-the fact of the matter is, there's some, they're going to have to some people coming in to the Obama administration from the Pelosi/Reid/Kennedy/Kerry/Daschle side of the equation. They were the original supporters of the Barack Obama. I do think Secretary Gates looks like he's probably going to be staying at least for, again, a year, perhaps, at Defense.

So, you're going to have to bring in some Democrats. And State, looks like two people seem to be in the running, John Kerry, Bill Richardson, both with good profiles. Kerry is a war hero, three Purple Hearts, Silver Star, Bronze Star. Kerry has a long history in the Senate, Foreign Relations Committee. In fact, if he wasn't picked as secretary of state, he would be a head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee right now.

And he is a respected world diplomat, speaks numerous languages. So, I think Kerry is-and Kerry is the one who picked Barack Obama in 2004 at the Democratic Convention, gave him that big start in national life. So, I think you're seeing that the momentum right now is turning to Kerry, although Bill Richardson is in the running, also.

MATTHEWS: You make a strong case. I agree with you on the second one. On the first one, we disagree.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27718585/">link

[beachmom]

21. Thanks, Fedup. I really liked what both Tweety and Brinkley said.

[LittleClarkie]

19. For THAT, I think we can call him by his name. THANK you Mr. Chris Matthews

My sentiments exactly.

What drove me so nuts last night was that I was having a fight with someone out in GDP who couldn't understand that I wasn't just being a blind sycophant to John Kerry, that I didn't think he or anyone should get SoS because of what they were owed.

And it was the first time I've heard someone pull out a name like McCaskill to say that she did more to get Obama elected than Kerry. And then when I didn't know what she'd done, I got the old "If you don't know I'm certainly not going to tell you" response. Okay, so she was a friend of the campaign and did much. Spiffy.

But to me that was beside the point. The thread was about something being owed Kerry. Nothing is "owed" him in terms of a job in the administration. Nothing is owed to McCaskill or Hillary either. Hell, I worked on his campaign too. So where's MY job, eh?

I want people to get positions on the campaign because they are qualified. If someone thinks that person is Hillary and can discuss that opinion civilly then I'm all for it. But don't dismiss me, say I have no political acumen and generally talk down to me if I happen to think that person is Kerry.

I haven't done this for a while. I haven't been around. Been working on the campaign I guess, and taking a break mostly from here. I'd forgotten how frustrating it can be. So my favorite Dem is Kerry. So that means I will defend him. If that makes me tiresome and redundant, so be it.

But I think I'm generally civil. And that's all I expect in return. A civil conversation. What is so damned hard about that.

[beachmom]

20. Thanks, GV. I needed to hear that.

I don't like the way this thing has played out. It really rubs me the wrong way. I am a proponent of him staying in the Senate, but it seems to me the disrespect he is getting here is unconscionable. Glad to see Tweety speak the truth for once of what an extraordinary public servant he is. As to the five languages ... really? It is my understanding that he is fluent in French. I am sure he knows phrases in other languages, but I was unaware of him knowing any languages past English and French. In Tour of Duty it says he had trouble learning Vietnamese, and never mastered it. Now that doesn't mean he can't exchange a few greetings, but that is not the same as knowing the language.

[MBS]

9. a calming thought

a news headline this morning actually summarized the FACTS well, that is:

Hillary and Richardson have both met with Obama at the end of this week. SoS seems to have been part of the conversation for one or both of them.

Think about it: for all the blather, that's IT so far.

[Inuca]

16. I don't know....

even if that's the case and O has made no decision yet, the obsessive media coverage does not help AT ALL if it turns out that she is not the eventual choice.

As for Richardson: I never was a fan and I am only marginally happier with that choice. It would be OK in my humble, insufficiently informed (and biased) view only if he were to play a reduced role, and Biden (and of course Obama) were to be in charge of the higher level, strategic and more complex issues. I think Richardson can be a good implementer, good at talking to people and sometimes convincing them, but I think he lacks the "vision thing".

[MBS]

17. I share your views about both people

I just meant that nothing is certain at this point.

[Mass]

12. Well, the nasty rumors are what bothers me more than all. Sorry,

even if they do not come from Obama, they make me think less of him and his ability to hold his team.

[MH1]

14. Yeah, what you said

On the radio this morning someone suggested that Clinton's name was floated as a way to derail the media's current obsession with Palin. That makes more sense than Obama actually picking her for the position.

I think Kerry would be an excellent SoS, but staying in the Senate would also be good for him, I think, with presumably getting the SFRC chair.

As for GDP, well I've come to really appreciate the "hide thread" feature. :)

[Inuca]

15. Yes, what you said x 2

I think this is wrong on so many levels. At the beginning I thought/hoped that it is mostly idle gossip, but there is just TOO MUCH of it for this to be the case. I can see some rationale from O's point of view, but I also think that the minuses far outweigh the pluses. The one personal advantage of all this: it makes these dreary, gloomy, rainy and depressing november days feel like spring again (when I was screaming at the screen: what on earth is your FP experience, exactly?). Personal preferences aside (to the extent possible), I think she simply is not fit for the job in terms of experience, vision, and probably temperament.