Obama appoints Bush adviser as national cybersecurity coordinator

[Bluebear]

WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama picked former Bush administration adviser Howard Schmidt to serve as national cybersecurity coordinator, the White House said on Tuesday.

Schmidt is president of the Information Security Forum, a nonprofit consortium of 300 large corporations and public-sector organizations working on cybersecurity issues.

Schmidt, a cyber-adviser in President George W. Bush's administration, will be based in the National Security Council. He will report to the national security adviser to coordinate federal government cybersecurity policy for both military and civilian agencies.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2220558120091222

[ixion]

1. yeah!! more Bush-era neocons! That's the change we need!

:eyes:

[Jim Sagle]

2. Anyone want to defend this? Bueller? Anyone?

By now we should all realize that Versailles is not only robbing us blind but laughing their heads off at us.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. Mike Connell wasn't available.

[Octafish]

17. Disgraced Adm. John Poindexter's still busy at TIA.

Where he alive today, I wonder what Frank Church would say?

The Abyss of Warrantless Wiretapping.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

20. Poindexter is still alive.

[CoffeeCat]

4. So there aren't any Democrats who know cybersecurity?

This is getting fucking ridiculous.

I thought Obama would be like chemotherapy--healing us from the Bush/neocon era, but I
feel like we're just sliding into stage 4 with no cure in sight...

:(

Edited to add: Doesn't Obama give flying frick about what the Democrats--or
the people who got him elected--think?

[no limit]

10. Name one that has the experiance, qualifications, and certifications this guy does

[nutshell2002]

15. Oh, it's like chemotherapy all right

I've been throwing up for months now

[Larkspur]

5. Where's Ezra Klein and Nate Silver on this "change we can not believe in"?

[Vincardog]

6. When did the change we can believe in become the chains we can be buried in?

[Donnachaidh]

11. thumbs up +100000 n/t

[Barack_America]

7. Well, if he's good enough for ebay and Microsoft....

:(

[no limit]

8. Who gives a shit about his politics (BTW: do any of you actually know his politics?)

his job is not to make public policy on anything outside of cyber security. And from what I read this guy is perfectly qualified for that. It's actually kind of nice having someone that knows what they are doing be put in charge of something like this; politics should not factor into this decision.

[Thickasabrick]

12. I was wondering about that too....he might not even vote. nt

[no limit]

13. I couldn't find anything about his political views.

Just that he was in government for the last 20 years under many administrations, including Bush.

[Hippo_Tron]

16. Yep, the National Security Coucnil has a lot of carryovers from previous administrations

Sure you want some NSC people who are political and are committed to carrying out the President's agenda. But you also want people who have been there for a while and have a lot of experience.

[Goldstein1984]

9. Just sent a short email to the Whitehouse

Asking them to do a little more to help us distinguish between Bush/Cheney and Obama/Biden.

[Laelth]

14. Huh? Yet another bitter pill for the left to swallow?

I swear. I think he's actively trying to drive liberals out of the Democratic Party.

Kill the bill.

Forcing people to buy insurance is no more the answer to a failed health care system than forcing people to buy houses is the solution to homelessness.

:dem:

-Laelth

[TwilightGardener]

18. He seems qualified. So unless something evil comes to light about him, I don't care.

[Bluebear]

21. oh goody

[HipChick]

19. As a tech professional, he worked for both Dem and Rep with 31yrs at the WH

He is perfectly qualified for the job..