Thursday, February 21, 2008

Revisiting the next Presidential Dream Team

Here's my updated "Dream Team" for the next Administration: the "Competence Cabinet." This would be a bipartisan, centrist cabinet drawn from people with a proven record of competence and results. A key qualification is that the majority of officers should have a proven track record of success outside politics, and be able to work across party lines.

President
Michael Bloomberg

Vice-President
Arnold Schwartzenegger

Dept. of the Treasury
Paul Krugman

Dept. of Defense
John McCain

Dept. of State
Bill Richardson

Dept. of Homeland Security
David Petraeus or Richard Clarke

Dept. of Education
Bill Gates

Dept. of Energy
Al Gore

Dept. of Veterans' Affairs
Colin Powell

Dept. of Labor
John Edwards

Attorney General
Barack Obama

I'm still working on the remaining Departments: any suggestions?

Dept. of Agriculture
Dept. of Commerce
Dept. of Health & Human Services
Dept. of Housing & Urban Development
Dept. of Interior
Dept. of Justice
Dept. of Transport
Posted by at 10:34 AM
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2 comments:

  1. Hi Philip, my aunt (Charity) was good to refer me on to your blog.

    Neat consideration with the "dream team" approach, i think i could get behind Edwards in Labor for sure, Richardson in State, Gates in Education (they've certainly done great work, it appears, in the States), Gore with energy, Powell possibly, Schrwarzanegger somewhere, but two quick comments on McCain and Bloomberg. 1. That would be incredibly worrisome for me to see McCain with that much power. I hope to learn more and do plenty of posts as the Dem nominee becomes clear, but a piece i heard on Democracy Now (great radio/tv show if you haven't heard it) stated:

    "He threatened North Korea with extinction, and he elucidated this doctrine by which– wherever there is an authoritarian dictator, we support the insurgents. And, if we support the insurgent and the dictator cracks down, then we have to defend the insurgents with US force. And any time we make a threat and someone calls our bluff, we also have to use US force. It is incredibly interventionist militaristic approach towards foreign policy that he has had all along. That’s the reason why neoconservatives have flocked to his cause and championed it over the years.

    So, after September 11th, Bush started to embrace those ideas. That kind of policy structure grafted onto Bush and so it was natural that McCain and Bush would become closer over that time. And then– starting around 2004 and 2005, when McCain started eyeing the presidency in 2008, he began this long, slow suck-up to the right, particularly social conservatives, and also to Bush because he wanted to be the sort of front runner of the Republican establishment." (from http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/4/the_myth_of_a_maverick_matt)

    2. I'd be interested to see a post explaining some of your interest in/reasons for having Bloomberg at the top of the heap. I don't know much about him, and would be interested to read. I have to pass on a makeshift poem submitted to "Eduwonkette," a blog under the auspices of the American Ed Week newspaper (http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/eduwonkette). The poem is admittedly about as much as i know about Bloomberg, so i'd love to hear some more. The poem's not complimentary to put it lightly, and definitely makes it sound like he's after his own:

    The roses are dead
    The violets no hue
    Bloomberg's the mayor
    Good times for the few

    Money's the word
    LLP's a cash cow
    Don't agree with his herd
    Then get out of town

    Society balls and party favors
    Don't talk unless spoken
    His arrogant behavior
    There must be a way to revoke-him

    We must stop Mayor Mike
    We must get kahones
    The others don’t have them
    They're busy strokin him

    He has no place in the race
    No matter where you’re from
    Ah fungoo your petition
    respite from mike (author: http://respitefrommike.blogspot.com/)

    Otherwise, will appreciate reading more of your blog as i have time, looks like you've got a wealth of experience and a lot of interesting topics, all the best!
    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Brendan,

    Thanks for your comment. There are no ideal candidates, only less imperfect ones. Here's my rationale behind the "Dream Team".

    http://www.philip-atticus.com/2008/02/why-presidential-dream-team.html

    Any alternative ideas would be warmly appreciated!

    Cheers,

    Philip
    pga@navigator-consulting.com
    ReplyDelete

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