Holder or Fold 'em.
Regarding Eric Holder’s “Coward” Comment:

Eric Holder’s comments a week ago brought many things to light, but the most interesting bit we gleamed from his speech is just how far out of touch our new Attorney General is with us. If we want to have an honest conversation about race then we need to admit that it cuts both ways; and that there are just as many racist and homophobes in the black community (or any other community for that matter). As the first African American AG Holder missed an opportunity to address that issue head on. Instead the issue has fallen short and until Holder is ready to be honest about people like Rev. Jessie Jackson, and call him what he sadly has become, a racist, then the issue will continue to fall short.

You might recall when Rev. Jackson called New York City "hymie town." You also might recall that nothing much was made of this insensitive comment. Of course we all know that if a white preacher said that “it’s a jungle out there” while discussing the Atlanta Zoo he would be crucified in the media and demanded to step down by the NAACP. Is Holder ready to discuss this double standard that plagues our nation? If so we might just be headed towards a more honest discussion. Otherwise, Holder is a hypocrite, just like Rev. Jackson. But this goes deeper than mere dialogue, and it has nothing to do with whites.

Holder has missed the plot completely. It is not that we are incapable of talking about race. In the South we never stopped talking about race. What Holder misses what his own people are saying and more importantly, doing. There is a phenomenal event happening in America the last three or four decades that no one seems to know about. It called the “reverse migration.” African Americans are moving back to the South it record numbers not seen since their migration north. Henry Lewis Gates, Jr. had a great special on PBS that touched on this subject. What we see is that when blacks become successful, middle class, and can go wherever they want, they do not move to white neighborhoods or even white cities. To the contrary, many move to where there are more blacks, and in this day and age they have some pretty good choices, and most are in the South.

The idea that if blacks ever got the means to do so, they would immediately move to a white neighborhood and join a white country club and desire to hang out with whites is not only dated, it is foolish, egotistical and even mildly bigoted. Anyone who still subscribes to this idea, that blacks want what they have, and even encourages it in the spirit of “diversity” over reality, no doubt has no idea what blacks really want. Instead they have applied some mythical notion to what they think equality is really about, ultimately them and their lifestyle. Otherwise they would move to where non-whites are, in the spirit of diversity of course.

Prof. Gates investigation found a different scenario. He discovered that many northern blacks are moving back down South, in particular Atlanta, because they find that they can relate more to the culture and have common ground there that goes back many generations, something that was missing in the predominate white north. As a result these new successful African Americans are moving into middle and upper-middle class neighborhoods in the South that are predominantly black.

What does this tell us? Is it possible that we do not want to “mix on the weekends?” And if this is of the people’s own volition we have to ask; is that so bad? As long as we respect each other are are equal in the eyes of the law, who cares who we hang out with on the weekends? I know that the diversity police will scoff at this thought, but we have to look at what’s happening in the real world.

Holder’s naive comment is not just out of touch with American race relations it is out of touch with what’s going on within his own black community as a whole. To give Holder some benefit of the doubt one might suppose that he was just speaking about the atrocious race relations in his own city, New York. And he’d be right. Maybe the South should send a few “riders” of their own to New York to show them how to get along. But Holder called all Americans “cowards.”

What Holder missed is that many within his own city are leaving for the greener pastures of Dixie, not necessarily to get away from racist NYC cops, but to get closer to people like themselves and foster old roots. That does not sound as if they want to talk about racism on the weekends with whites. If the US Attorney General's idea of racial utopia is blacks and whites hanging out on the weekend talking about race issues he should look to the past, in particular the failed bussing debacle, and he should look to today, and what people are doing when they can do whatever they want, free and clear of oppression and intrusive laws.

Forcing people to do something by passing shortsighted laws or by belittling the masses from the bully pulpit never works out in the end. The question is, on who’s terms are we to discuss race in America, Holder’s alone, or ours as a people? I am sure Holder was trying to do what he thought was right, but ignorance in no excuse. Our Attorney General has a long way to go.

-CB McQueen

money - money - money....change?

WASHINGTON—Secretary of State nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton intervened at least six times in government issues directly affecting companies and others that later contributed to her husband's foundation, an Associated Press review of her official correspondence found.
The overlap of names on former President Bill Clinton's foundation donor list and business interests whose issues she championed raise new questions about potential ethics conflicts between her official actions and her husband's fundraising. The AP obtained three of the senator's government letters under the Freedom of Information Act.
During Clinton's confirmation hearing Tuesday, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the Foreign Relations Committee's senior Republican, said the foundation's charitable efforts "should not be a barrier to Senator Clinton's service," but he acknowledged the potential that conflicts of interest might arise: "Work of the Clinton foundation is a unique complication that will have to be managed with great care and transparency."
Under an agreement with President-elect Barack Obama, Bill Clinton recently released the names of donors to his foundation, a nonprofit that has raised at least $492 million -- including millions from foreign governments -- to fund his library in Little Rock, Ark., and charitable efforts worldwide on such issues as AIDS, poverty and climate change.
Lugar told Sen. Clinton on Tuesday that her husband's foundation should not accept any more contributions from foreign governments.
The letters and donations involve pharmaceutical companies and telecommunications and energy interests. An aide to the senator said she made no secret of her involvement in many of the issues. Bill Clinton's foundation declined to say when it received the donations or precisely how much was contributed.
"Throughout her tenure, Senator Clinton has proven that she acts solely based on what she believes is best for the state and people she represents, without consideration to any other factor," said spokesman Philippe Reines. "In these instances, she was doing what the people of New York elected her to do: Work hard on the issues of importance to them."
Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Clinton Foundation both declined to answer questions about whether the senator tried to step away from issues directly affecting donors to her husband's charity, and whether the foundation tried to screen out money from those on whose issues the senator had intervened.
"Generally, through a combination of rigorous adherence to Senate and FEC income and asset disclosure rules, coupled with the voluntary and unprecedented release of the names of every single Foundation supporter since its inception, the Clintons are by far the most financially transparent former first couple in American history," Reines said.
Sen. Clinton wrote to the Federal Communications Commission in February 2004 expressing concern that changes to competitive local exchange carrier access rates could hurt carriers such as New York-based PAETEC Communications. PAETEC's chief executive is Arunas Chesonis, whose family and charity later contributed to the Clinton foundation.

Sarah Wood, executive director of the Chesonis Family Foundation, was invited by a part of the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative, to join the initiative after it was established in 2005, Wood said Monday. The Chesonis family personally paid $15,000 for Wood's membership in CGI in September 2007, and the Chesonis foundation paid $20,000 for it in March 2008, Wood said.
The Chesonis Family Foundation made a $10 million pledge last May to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for solar energy research, meeting Wood's commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative to act on a project, Wood said.
Wood said the Chesonis foundation was unaware of the senator's letter to the FCC on the PAETEC issue and didn't have any contact with her office.
PAETEC spokesman Christopher Muller said PAETEC had no involvement in the Chesonis donations to the Clinton foundation. PAETEC asked Clinton to intervene with the FCC on its behalf, he said.
"Yes, PAETEC feels strongly that a competitive telecom environment is in the best interests of New York businesses and consumers," Muller wrote in an e-mail to the AP. "PAETEC has petitioned numerous elected officials in the markets which we serve in an effort to retain the spirit of the Telecom Act of 1996." The issue is still pending at the FCC, and PAETEC remains involved in it, Muller said.
Pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. is also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, company spokeswoman Amy Rose said. Merck joined CGI in 2006, when dues were $15,000, and also was a member in 2007 and in 2008, when membership dues rose to $20,000. As part of its commitment to CGI, Merck sponsors public health initiatives around the world, Rose said. Merck joined CGI on its own initiative, she said.
Sen. Clinton wrote a November 2005 letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt urging approval of the human papillomavirus vaccine. Merck applied in December 2005 for approval of its HPV vaccine, Gardasil, and the vaccine was approved for use in females ages 9 to 26. Merck is still seeking approval for use in older women, Rose said.
Rose said Merck's participation in the Clinton Global Initiative was unrelated to Sen. Clinton's letter. Merck didn't communicate with Clinton or her office about its HPV vaccine and was unaware of her letter before it was sent, Rose said.
Another letter involved an issue important to Barr Laboratories. Sens. Clinton and Patty Murray, D-Wash., wrote to Leavitt in August 2005 urging that "science, not politics" guide the agency and "that a decision be brought swiftly on Plan B's application." Leavitt's office described the Clinton letter as pertaining to Barr's application for Plan B, the emergency contraceptive also called the morning-after pill.

Barr Laboratories gave $10,001 to $25,000 to the Clinton foundation, the charity's donor list shows. Barr joined the Clinton Global Initiative in April 2007, spokeswoman Carol Cox said. Cox didn't comment on Clinton's letter.
Several of the letters involve issues directly affecting KeySpan Corp., the energy company now known as National Grid. KeySpan didn't ask the senator to intervene and had no communication with her office about its later donations to the Clinton foundation, said company spokesman Chris Mostyn.
KeySpan joined the Clinton Global Initiative in 2007 because it wanted to become involved in the climate change issue, Mostyn said. KeySpan paid $15,000 for its membership in 2007 and $20,000 for 2008, Mostyn said.
Clinton joined several other members of Congress from New York in February 2003 asking the Commerce Department to consider an appeal by Islander East, a limited liability company formed by subsidiaries of KeySpan Energy and another company, to build a natural gas pipeline to serve Connecticut, New York City and Long Island, N.Y.
Clinton and the other lawmakers wanted the Commerce Department to overturn the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection's determination that Islander East's pipeline plan was inconsistent with the state's coastal zone management program. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and other Connecticut lawmakers wrote to Commerce urging denial of Islander East's appeal.
Clinton earlier wrote to the Long Island Power Authority and to KeySpan urging them to consider the modernization of KeySpan's New York power plants. Her letter in June 2002 offered her help on the issue. Also in 2002, Clinton wrote the federal government letters on the natural gas Millennium Pipeline Project in which KeySpan was involved, urging an extension of a deadline for public comment and forwarding information on route alternatives.
Mostyn said KeySpan didn't ask Clinton to get involved in the issues. The Millennium Pipeline began commercial operations in December, the Islander East project is on hold due to Connecticut's rejection of permits, and the company is working with the Long Island Power Authority to study power plant modernization, he said.

God help us

Yes, it's anti-Semitism
Boston Globe

Criticizing Israel doesn't make you anti-Semitic. But those who demonize and delegitimize Israel, who say the world would be better off without it, are most definitely anti-Semites.
Jeff Jacoby
January 7, 2009

CRITICIZING Israel doesn't make you anti-Semitic: If it's been said once, it's been said a thousand times. Yet somehow that message doesn't seem to have reached the hundreds of anti-Israel demonstrators in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who turned out last week to protest Israel's military operation in Gaza. As their signs and chants made clear, it isn't only the Jewish state's policies they oppose. Their animus goes further.

Demonstrators chanted "Nuke, nuke Israel!" and carried placards accusing Israel of "ethnic cleansing" and bearing such messages as: "Did Israel take notes during the Holocaust? Happy Hanukkah." To the dozen or so supporters of Israel gathered across the street, one demonstrator shouted: "Murderers! Go back to the ovens! You need a big oven."
The Arab-Israeli conflict induces strong passions, and the line that separates legitimate disapproval of Israel from anti-Semitism may not always be obvious. But its's safe to assume the line has been crossed when you hear someone urging Jews "back to the ovens."
The Danish website Snaphanen posted a photo the other day of a pamphlet being distributed in Copenhagen's City Hall Square. On one side it proclaimed: "Never Peace With Israel!" and "Kill Israel's People!" On the other side: "Kill Jewish people evry where in ther world!" The leaflet's spelling left something to be desired, but its message of genocidal anti-Semitism couldn't have been clearer.
Likewise the message in Amsterdam on Saturday, where the crowd at an anti-Israel rally repeatedly chanted, "Hamas! Hamas! Jews to the gas." And the message in Belgium, where pro-Hamas demonstrators torched Israeli flags, burned a public menorah, and painted swastikas on Jewish-owned shops.
Only marginally less vile is the message that has been trumpeted at demonstrations from Boston to Los Angeles to Vancouver: "Palestine will be free/ From the river to the sea" - a restatement in rhyme of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for Israel to be "wiped from the map."
Let's say it for the thousand-and-first time: Every negative comment about Israel is not an expression of bigotry. Israel is no more immune to criticism than any other country. But it takes willful blindness not to see that anti-Zionism today - opposition to the existence of Israel, rejection of the idea that the Jewish people are entitled to a state - is merely the old wine of anti-Semitism in its newest bottle.
The hatred of Jews has always been protean, readily revising itself to reflect the idiom of its age. At times, it targeted Jews for their religion, demonizing them as Christ-killers or enemies of the true faith. At other times, Jews have been damned as disloyal fifth columns to be suppressed or expelled, or as a racial malignancy to be physically exterminated.
In our day, Jew-hatred expresses itself overwhelmingly in national terms: It is the Jewish state that the haters are obsessed with. "What anti-Semitism once did to Jews as people, it now does to Jews as a people," the British commentator Melanie Phillips has written. "First it wanted the Jewish religion, and then the Jews themselves, to disappear; now it wants the Jewish state to disappear."
The claim that anti-Zionism isn't bigotry would be preposterous in any other context. Imagine someone vehemently asserting that Ireland has no right to exist, that Irish nationalism is racism, and that those who murder Irishmen are actually victims deserving the world's sympathy. Who would take his fulminations for anything but anti-Irish bigotry? Or believe him if he said that he harbors no prejudice against the Irish?
By the same token, those who demonize and delegitimize Israel, who say the world would be better off without it, who hold it to standards of perfection no other country is held to, who extol or commiserate with its mortal enemies, who liken it to Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa, who make it the scapegoat not only for crimes it hasn't committed, but for those of which it is a victim - yes, such people are anti-Semitic, whether they acknowledge it or not.
Criticize Israel? Certainly. But those who so loudly denounce Israel in its war against Hamas are siding with some of the world's most virulent Jew-haters on earth. They may tell themselves that that doesn't make them anti-Semites. But it does. "When people criticize Zionists," Martin Luther King said in 1968, "they mean Jews. You are talking anti-Semitism."

blag-blag-blag...what's ya hiding?

A Hard Change Is Gonna Fall?

President-elect Barack Obama said Monday that he is withholding, for now, an internal review of his staff's contact with the office of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich at the request of the U.S. attorney handling the governor's corruption case.
Obama, speaking at a press conference where he unveiled his energy and environment team, said the review was "thorough and comprehensive" and backed up his previous claim that his aides were not involved in any wrongdoing.
"There was nothing in the review ... that in any way contradicted my earlier statement that this appalling set of circumstances that we've seen arise had nothing to do with my office," Obama said.
Blagojevich was arrested last week and accused of trying to auction off Obama's vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder, in a series of "pay-to-play" schemes.
Obama said he is waiting one week to release the contents of his review to the public. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald released a written statement Monday confirming that he requested a "brief delay" so that investigators could conduct certain interviews.
In personally disclosing the results of the investigation he ordered, Obama said, "As I said in a press conference last week, I had no contact with the governor's office and I had no contact with anybody in the governor's office. What I indicated last week was there was nothing that my office did that was in any way inappropriate or related to the charges that have been brought."
Obama's transition team said earlier Monday in a written statement that the review will show that Obama's staff did not take part in "inappropriate discussions" with Blagojevich over filling his Senate seat.
Obama said he was directing his staff to conduct the review at a press conference last week.
"That review affirmed the public statements of the president-elect that he had no contact with the governor or his staff, and that the president-elect's staff was not involved in inappropriate discussions with the governor or his staff over the selection of his successor as U.S. senator," Obama spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said in the statement Monday.
"Also at the president-elect's direction, Gregory Craig, counsel to the transition, has kept the U.S. attorney's office informed of this fact-gathering process in order to ensure our full cooperation with the investigation," Pfeiffer said.
The brief statement, however, did not say whether Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, was heard on a wiretap providing the governor's top aide with a list of names that the president-elect favored. Nor did it say who, if anyone, on Obama transition's team had made contact with the governor or his aides concerning a replacement for Obama.
Obama, fielding questions at the news conference, sidestepped when asked whether Emanuel had spoken with aides to the governor about potential Senate appointees. Emanuel was one of several aides who watched the news conference from the wings.
Obama resigned his Senate seat last month to prepare for taking the oath of office as president. Blagojevich, who has the power to appoint a replacement, was arrested last week on charges he schemed to sell the seat in exchange for money or political favors for himself or his wife.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

change? dollars is more like it...

so, we've passed a historic threshold by electing a black man as president and yes that is quite a nice feel-good emotion and reality. Substance-wise, we won't truly know until history provides us with hindsight, although Obama's apparent charisma and stated sincerity have put many of these concerns at ease. After all, his election was by no means a grand mandate, but nonetheless a reflection that the country (well, 52% of it) did in fact find his rhetoric as believable, or least more palatble than what McCain & others offered. Obama definitely seemed sincere & 'presidential' and this worked to his advantage, especially during the campaign's ending days. While McCain seemed desperate and willing to vilify the senator from Illinois, Obama seemed a figure of cool composure & professionalism, in spite of his own party's attack ads & misinformation. Now that he is soon to take the seat of our government, we all must remember to stop patting ourselves on our backs for 'overcoming racism', and cast a scrutinizing eye to the White House. To be free from racial concerns, good or bad, is the basis of a good citizen, and we must as always watch those in positions of power. Sadly, as we approach January 20th, our new, untested president of change already has scandal pooling around his loafers. Obama was able to dodge William Ayer, Preacher-gate, and Tony Rezko during his campaign, although with effort. It is likely that these may again rear their heads and be heard; in fact, they already are. Obama's friend and colleague, the governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich has been caught trying to sell Obama's now vacant senatorial seat to the highest bidder. This is on top of strong-arming both a children's hospital and Wrigley Field into political donations, amongst even more speculation of wrong-doing. He was voted into office as an example of change to replace the prior corrupt governor and now we see more of the same scandalous behavior. Blagojevich seems now just another cog in wheel of old-time Chicago politics of paybacks & pocket-stuffing. It may have to do with the company he keeps. After all, he is a good friend of Tony Rezko, the slumlord, political fundraising kickback artist who has helped (& now hurt) the political life of both the Illinois governor and senator. As well, he is friends with Dan Rostenkowski, disgraced Chicago congressman, who was considered the symbol of Clintonian corruption. One wonders about such company and how close Obama is to any of this. Possibly not at all. Yet this in itself may not be a good thing, as ignorance of fellow Democrat politicians & fundraisers, as well as friends, shows poor judgement, at least. Keep your eyes peeled as "Change" becomes very greasy dollars.

Clinton's Confirmation May Spark Constitutional Battle:
A provision in the Constitution technically bars Sen. Hillary Clinton from becoming President-elect Barack Obama's secretary of state.
By Stephen Clark

The biggest obstacle facing Hillary Clinton's Senate confirmation as President-elect Barack Obama's top diplomat may not be her husband's wheeling and dealing abroad for his foundation, as many suspected.
Instead, it could be the U.S. Constitution.
According to an emolument clause in the Constitution, no lawmaker can be appointed to any civil position that was created or received a wage increase during the lawmaker's time in office.
President Bush ordered Cabinet salaries raised to $191,300 from $186,600 by executive order early this year, while Clinton was senator.
"My understanding is that does prohibit her unless they can find some way around it and I gather that they have in the past," former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger told FOX News.
"This isn't the first time this has come up," he said, referring to appointees of other presidents. "Maybe she has to renounce the salary increase but I'm sure they'll find a way around it."
The Obama transition team did not respond to a request for comment.
Some constitutional lawyers don't foresee the provision derailing Clinton's nomination.
"I don't believe it presents a serious issue because the legislative fix which has been done in the past is perfectly constitutional," said Adam Bonin, an attorney at the Philadelphia law firm of Cozen O'Connor.
The legislation that Bonin referred to is the "Saxbe fix" that allowed President Richard Nixon to name Ohio Sen. William Saxbe his Attorney General.
The attorney general's salary was raised during Saxbe's term in 1969 but Nixon convinced Congress to lower Saxbe's salary to what it was before 1969.
The most recent case involved Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, who was nominated to be President-elect Bill Clinton's treasury secretary in 1993. To avoid conflict, Congress passed legislation lowering the salary of that position to its 1989 level.
Bonin believes Congress should pass similar legislation for Clinton.
"I think that's the safe move to make," he said, adding that he believes Clinton could be confirmed without a legislative fix because Congress didn't vote for Bush's pay raise.
Daniel Dreisdach, a professor of law at American University, said it would be difficult for anyone to use the provision to challenge Clinton's confirmation.
"In this respect, it's a bit analogous to this question of whether Barack Obama is a natural born citizen," he said, referring to a lawsuit, dismissed last month, seeking to obtain a copy of Obama's Hawaii birth certificate.
"Then it becomes who has legal standing to challenge his credentials as president or Hillary Clinton's assumption of the office," he said.
Dreisdach said as long as Democrats control the Senate, the Obama transition team won't worry about this provision in the Constitution.
"The Obama team is well aware of it and they have dismissed it," Dreisdach said. "I find it hard to believe that a Democratic majority will take a different view."

well people said he's a new Lincoln....

Small Change?

Obama's Cabinet Picks Heavy on Washington Experience
Thursday, November 20, 2008



WASHINGTON — For months on the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised to bring change to Washington. But now that he's president-elect, his first potential Cabinet picks indicate that he may bring more years of Washington experience to his administration than Bill Clinton or George W. Bush did.
Obama's first four likely Cabinet choices, including former first lady Hillary Clinton, have a combined total of more than 60 years of Washington experience.
By comparison, President Bush's first four Cabinet picks had a total of 30 years experience in Washington, and former President Clinton's had 58.
Obama has chosen former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, a 30-year Washington veteran, to be his secretary of health and human services, and former deputy attorney general Eric Holder, a 20-year Washington veteran, to be his attorney general. His transition team is also reviewing Hillary Clinton, who has 15 years of experience in Washington as first lady and as New York senator, for the position of secretary of state.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Obama's pick to lead the 7-year-old Department of Homeland Security, is a Washington outsider.
Obama signaled early on what kind of Cabinet he would recruit when he named Rahm Emanuel, a veteran of the Clinton administration and a fellow member of Congress, as his White House chief of staff.

Russell Riley, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, said he wasn't surprised that Obama would be relying more on Clinton veterans "who participated in a presidency that is viewed to have its accomplishments and was viewed as well run."
He added that Obama is entering a political landscape that is far different from the one Clinton faced when he was elected.
"When President Clinton came in, Democrats had virtually no farm team of executive branch hands that they could rely on for White House and Cabinet positions," Riley said.
In 1992, Clinton became the first Democratic president in 12 years, compared to the eight year-interval between him and Obama. Clinton also faced difficulty in picking veterans from Jimmy Carter's administration because Carter's four-year presidency was widely viewed as a failure, Riley said.
But Obama faces pitfalls when relying on Clinton veterans because he ran on a mantra of change, Riley said.
"The argument that Obama people would make ... it's possible to rely on people who know how the levers are pulled, but move it in a different direction than the last eight years," he said.
President Bush brought many Texans with him to Washington, but the ones who had the most influence on his administration were the Washington insiders, Riley said.
Bush's first Cabinet choice was his secretary of state, Colin Powell, who had 14 years of Washington experience, including a four-year stint as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the first President Bush and President Clinton.
Bush's treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill, had 16 years of Washington experience, including his work as the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, which creates the executive branch's fiscal blueprint.
Non-Washington insiders who were early choices in the Bush administration included Don Evans, a private businessman, as commerce secretary, and Mel Martinez, who had been a Florida utilities official, as secretary of housing and urban development.
Bill Clinton's first Cabinet pick was Lloyd Bentsen to be secretary of the treasury. Bentsen had 28 years of Washington experience, including 22 in the Senate. He also had been the Democratic candidate for vice president in 1988.
Clinton's other early choices included Ron Brown, a former head of the Democratic National Committee, as commerce secretary; Donna Shalala, head of the Washington-based Children's Defense Fund and a Carter administration official, as secretary of health and human services; and Robert Reich, a veteran of the Ford and Carter administrations, for labor secretary.
Riley said it's a good idea to appoint Washington veterans to positions that a president must rely on for so much.
Every president is "at the mercy of the people" he surrounds himself with, he said. "You have to have a good mix of eminence, people you can rely on and not mind being in a foxhole with."