Skip to main content

Empty for a year

Transitions are hard. It's hard for people to change and even harder for institutions to change and usually any change requires either a crisis or a "change agent" to spur on the needed transformation. Sometimes you get both. When we talk about transitioning into the White House and what a monumental task it has become we're illuminating the crisis. Just filling the job openings left by the previous administration is a terrible burden on the incoming President and his staff - in fact, you actually NEED a big bloated campaign apparatus to grow head count for all the patronage you're able to dole out once you're in the Oval. A candidate that runs a lean, cost effective campaign can't take the reigns of power because he won't have enough yes men to act as cogs in the machine. CHAOS.

Even BHO, who had a huge campaign operation with lots of eager beavers willing to take a corner office in DC, could not fill the jobs at the Treasury Department for over a year. The US Treasury people!!! We're not talking AmeriCorp. or the Dept. of Ed. here - we're talking about the place where they print greenbacks. And it's like that all across Washington DC in Federal Department after Federal Department with empty seats waiting to be filled at the end of January 2017. That is the problem. That is the crisis. And Morning Joe doesn't realize it. Mark Halperin doesn't get it. Eugene Robinson is still smarting from the dig at Obama. Mika nods.

It's frightening, dangerous chaos folks, frighting, dangerous chaos.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson

She was "sexy", but "too much hard work." I'm a regular Fox & Friends viewer (mostly in protest of the other insipid morning programs like Today and Good Morning America) so over the years I've gotten to know Gretchen Carlson pretty well. Stuck between Steve and Brian she always seemed a prudish scold with an irritating, self-righteous demeanor that I simply put up with because I figured some people in the Fox audience actually liked her persona. It was obvious that Steve and Brian did not, but they were stuck with her like so many talking heads and had to make the best of it - which they did. Besides, she was no worse than any of the other women on morning show TV - I mean, you're only going to find a certain kind of person to do this kind of work and that kind of person is the Gretchen Carlson kind. Then, one day, she was gone and replaced by Elisabeth Hasselbeck and the F&F ratings began to climb, and climb and climb - in two months view

The 4th Estate "does not know"

Last night Jim Acosta sat down for an interview with Larry Sabato at a national symposium series presented by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics titled “Democracy in Perilous Times.” The evening’s topic was “ The Fourth Estate: Enemy of the People? ” and the crowd was warmly receptive of Acosta’s message which, boiled down to its essence, is that Donald Trump is a liar and he’s making life dangerous for reporters. Sabato introduced Acosta to the audience as Enemy #1 which drew mirthful laughter from the auditorium and then presented a short video montage of President Trump and his deplorable rubes insulting the reporter on many occasions over the past two years. This was all a set up for his first question which was, “how do you do your Job?” Acosta said the he accomplishes his duties by maintaining focus, reporting the story and telling the truth but acknowledged that it is difficult when the White House erodes the peoples faith in the press by bullying reporters. Whe

A Apolitical Blues

Well my telephone was ringing, and they told me it was chairman Mao. You got to tell him anything 'cause I just don't want to talk to him now. According to the brilliant troubadour Lowell George the Apolitical Blues are " the meanest blues of all" and who am I to disagree with this soul man now after all these years of living by his maxim.  I first heard the song bursting from the 1972 vinyl of Little Feat's Alt-Rock-Country masterpiece "Sailin' Shoes" in the second story bedroom of my friend John's older brother Edie who, being about 3 years our senior, was instructing us on the importance of good music. This was circa 1975 and a formative time for my musical taste and overall aesthetic which, for better or worse, infuses every aspect of my existence including the KOTCB blog so a debt is owed this unforgettable "older brother" now that  he has shuffled off this mortal coil  and left us with smoky memories. A born rebel with the heart o