|
1. Mitchell Lauds Obama's 'Effortless' Creation of 'Mosaic' Cabinet
When it comes to building a quota Cabinet that fulfills liberal demands for "diversity," Barack Obama is far smoother than the "artless" and "calculating" Clintons were back in 1992, NBC's Andrea Mitchell argued Wednesday afternoon on MSNBC. In contrast to the Clintons, Obama's approach is "effortless. They're creating a mosaic, but they're not doing it by self-consciously creating that mosaic," Mitchell enthused.
2. Milbank on CNN:'Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy' Wants to Stop Clinton
During his regular "Political Daily Briefing' feature on CNN's No Bias, No Bull program on Tuesday evening, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post used Hillary Clinton's famous descriptive about her conservative opponents in describing one group's latest effort against the outgoing New York Senator: "A group called Judicial Watch, charter members of the vast right-wing conspiracy -- they were on to Hillary back during the commodity trading days -- now, they say because of Article One in the Constitution says you cannot serve in the position where you got a -- voted for a pay raise while you were in Congress, they're saying she is constitutionally ineligible." He then opined that "the only thing for Hillary to do is just give her $191,000 salary as Secretary of State to Judicial Watch for their extraordinary creativity -- just save everybody the court costs."
3. Bernstein: Clintons Bring National Unity Through 'Real Wisdom'
Veteran Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein appeared on Wednesday's Morning Joe on MSNBC and gushed that Barack Obama's appointment of Hillary Clinton to the State Department will benefit from the "real wisdom" Bill Clinton has "when it comes to foreign policy." Continuing to fawn over the President-elect's cabinet choices, Bernstein enthused: "And the real thing about this appointment, though, is that Obama is assembling a group of people to unite the country." The author of the Clinton bio A Woman in Charge optimistically added: "He [Obama] wants a political consensus so he can do what other Presidents haven't been able to do, which is to move the country in the direction he wants without division down the middle."
4. Matthews Wowed by Obama Response to Query on Richardson's Beard
"Wow!" That was Chris Matthews' immediate reaction to Barack Obama's response to a question from a Fox News reporter about why his pick for Commerce Secretary, Bill Richardson, shaved off his beard. After playing, on Wednesday night's Hardball, a clip from Obama's press conference introducing Richardson, Matthews expressed awe at the "intellectual" way Obama analyzed Richardson's personal grooming habits.
 Mitchell Lauds Obama's 'Effortless' Creation
of 'Mosaic' Cabinet
When it comes to building a quota Cabinet that fulfills liberal demands for "diversity," Barack Obama is far smoother than the "artless" and "calculating" Clintons were back in 1992, NBC's Andrea Mitchell argued Wednesday afternoon on MSNBC. In contrast to the Clintons, Obama's approach is "effortless. They're creating a mosaic, but they're not doing it by self-consciously creating that mosaic," Mitchell enthused.
[This item, by the MRC's Rich Noyes, was posted Wednesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Talking about the naming of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as the new Secretary of Commerce and whether Hispanics would demand other slots in Obama's Cabinet, Mitchell panned the approach taken by Bill and Hillary sixteen years ago:
They were trying to pick one from column "A" and one from column "B," and diversity was such an important goal, that there were a number of very, you know, top level Democrats who happened to be white men stashed in hotels in Little Rock waiting and calling reporters like me and saying, 'Have you heard? Am I getting Transportation? Am I getting Interior? What am I getting,' you know. But first they had to check off all the other boxes.
It was very artless and very calculated in the way they did it, and what this seems to be is effortless. They're creating a mosaic, but they're not doing it by self-consciously creating that mosaic. Perhaps it's that America has come so far in the intervening years that there are so many highly, you know, qualified and experienced women and minorities who are already in big positions that it is less exacting a science.
Neither Mitchell nor anchor Norah O'Donnell seemed at all bothered by the racial and gender bean-counting of either Democratic administration, but both seemed happy that Obama was having an easier time of pleasing his liberal constituencies. O'Donnell even wrapped up the segment by saying she "loved what Richard Stengel of Time asked Madeleine Albright, 'When is there going to be another male Secretary of State,' because there hasn't been one in a while -- it's been women and now with Hillary Clinton."
Obviously, former Secretary of State Colin Powell would disagree with the notion that it's been all women in the job in recent years.
Here's the relevant transcript of the exchange that took place shortly after the top of the 3pm EST hour on MSNBC Live during a report about Obama's introduction of Richardson earlier on Wednesday:
NORAH O'DONNELL: [Bill Richardson] has already held a lot of Cabinet roles and big roles in government. Striking the theatrics about today -- I mean, we've seen the national, the economic team rolled out where there were several people. We've seen the national security team, where even Hillary Clinton was amongst others standing there, and yet Bill Richardson got his own day today, his own press conference today. In terms of a nod to the Hispanic community, how significant is that? And what else do Hispanics want in terms of cabinet posts?
ANDREA MITCHELL: Well, they want more than just a photo opportunity and a press conference for Bill Richardson. So they want other, other people to be named, you know, leading members of Congress of the Hispanic community, the Latino community, they want at Interior potentially and at, the U.S. Trade Representative. There's talk of the trade representative being Congressman Becerra from California. That's one possibility. So they do want other positions. They want to be heard, and what you heard Bill Richardson say in Spanish -- and what he said in Spanish was not what he had said in English in his news conference -- was to tell the Latino community, "I'm going to be fighting for you and there will be more, and this is just the beginning."
And what Barack Obama said, I think, was very powerful -- that we're interested in experience and in diversity and it is a mix of goals here. And what you don't see is what we saw back in 1992 when Bill and Hillary, you know -- very importantly Hillary Clinton -- were creating that first Clinton cabinet. They were trying to pick one from column "A" and one from column "B," and diversity was such an important goal, that there were a number of very, you know, top level Democrats who happened to be white men stashed in hotels in Little Rock waiting and calling reporters like me and saying, 'Have you heard? Am I getting Transportation? Am I getting Interior? What am I getting,' you know. But first they had to check off all the other boxes. It was very artless and very calculated in the way they did it, and what this seems to be is effortless. They're creating a mosaic, but they're not doing it by self-consciously creating that mosaic. Perhaps it's that America has come so far in the intervening years that there are so many highly, you know, qualified and-
O'DONNELL: Women and minorities.
MITCHELL: -experienced women and minorities who are already in big positions that it is less exacting a science.
O'DONNELL: Yeah. I loved what Richard Stengel of Time asked Madeleine Albright, 'When is there going to be another male Secretary of State,' because there hasn't been one in a while -- it's been women and now with Hillary Clinton. Andrea Mitchell, as always, thank you very much. We appreciate it.
 Milbank on CNN:'Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy'
Wants to Stop Clinton
During his regular "Political Daily Briefing' feature on CNN's No Bias, No Bull program on Tuesday evening, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post used Hillary Clinton's famous descriptive about her conservative opponents in describing one group's latest effort against the outgoing New York Senator: "A group called Judicial Watch, charter members of the vast right-wing conspiracy -- they were on to Hillary back during the commodity trading days -- now, they say because of Article One in the Constitution says you cannot serve in the position where you got a -- voted for a pay raise while you were in Congress, they're saying she is constitutionally ineligible." He then opined that "the only thing for Hillary to do is just give her $191,000 salary as Secretary of State to Judicial Watch for their extraordinary creativity -- just save everybody the court costs."
[This item, by the MRC's Matthew Balan, was posted Wednesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Milbank is correct in pointing out the historical opposition that Judicial Watch has towards the Clintons. However, the organization has been a bit "bipartisan" in its lawsuits, since it also sued Vice President Cheney over the apparent lack of transparency surrounding his energy task force.
For more on Judicial Watch's lawsuit against Vice President Cheney, see their document "Judicial Watch Calls for Transparency, Openness and Honesty in Government Dealings," at: www.judicialwatch.org
Host Campbell Brown brought up this development by asking Milbank about "some very strange rumblings about Hillary Clinton. Some conservatives saying she might not be able to serve as Secretary of State because of a clause in the Constitution." After Milbank gave his initial analysis/commentary, Brown turned to CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who, before concluding that this "does appear to be a problem," admitted that despite reading the Constitution "many times," that he had "never noticed this clause before."
Earlier, Toobin described some of the history behind this clause: "There is actually this clause, and presidents have to had to deal with it in the past. When President Ford nominated William Saxby, who is the senator from Ohio to be attorney general, this issue came up.....[I]t's called the Emoluments Clause, and there will have to be some way to address it."
The full transcript of the segment, which began 39 minutes into the 8 pm Eastern hour of Tuesday's No Bias, No Bull program:
CAMPBELL BROWN: Finally -- finally, we are hearing some very strange rumblings about Hillary Clinton. Some conservatives saying she might not be able to serve as Secretary of State because of a clause in the Constitution. What is going on?
DANA MILBANK: You got to love this. A group called Judicial Watch, charter members of the vast right-wing conspiracy -- they were on to Hillary back during the commodity trading days -- now, they say because of Article One in the Constitution says you cannot serve in the position where you got a -- voted for a pay raise while you were in Congress, they're saying she is constitutionally ineligible. I think the only thing for Hillary to do is just give her $191,000 salary as Secretary of State to Judicial Watch for their extraordinary creativity -- just save everybody the court costs.
BROWN: In all seriousness, Dana, stand by for a second because we had to bring Jeff Toobin in for this one. I couldn't believe it when I saw the press release today. But I mean, give us a reality check. Should she be in full-on panic mode here?
JEFFREY TOOBIN: Well, no. There is actually this clause, and presidents have to had to deal with it in the past. When President Ford nominated William Saxby, who is the senator from Ohio to be attorney general, this issue came up.
BROWN: Uh-huh.
TOOBIN: What they have done is they have arranged for Congress to pass a law reducing the salary, so that there would not be a raise. I mean, they would just do it by a few hundred dollars.
BROWN: Right.
TOOBIN: That's one way of doing it. Another way of dealing with the problem is simply for Hillary Clinton to take less money. Another way is simply to ignore Judicial Watch, because it's pretty clear that Judicial Watch doesn't have the right -- doesn't have standing to file the lawsuit. But there is this clause in the Constitution -- it's called the Emoluments Clause, and there will have to be some way to address it. But I think Hillary Clinton is safe -- she is going to be secretary.
BROWN: I mean, this is fascinating because we are -- the Constitution is not something you necessarily want to muck around with.
TOOBIN: Well, you know, and I have read the Constitution many times. This is something I consider my field. I had never noticed this clause before. It's Article One, Section Six. It's there. It does appear to be a problem, but you put lawyers to work and there are ways around it.
BROWN: And you would know -- spoken like a true legal scholar. Jeff Toobin for us and Dana Milbank, as always, with the 'PDB.' Thanks a lot, guys.
 Bernstein: Clintons Bring National Unity
Through 'Real Wisdom'
Veteran Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein appeared on Wednesday's Morning Joe on MSNBC and gushed that Barack Obama's appointment of Hillary Clinton to the State Department will benefit from the "real wisdom" Bill Clinton has "when it comes to foreign policy." Continuing to fawn over the President-elect's cabinet choices, Bernstein enthused: "And the real thing about this appointment, though, is that Obama is assembling a group of people to unite the country."
The author of the Clinton bio A Woman in Charge optimistically added: "He [Obama] wants a political consensus so he can do what other Presidents haven't been able to do, which is to move the country in the direction he wants without division down the middle." Bernstein didn't explain how the liberal Senator, who's lifetime American Conservative Union score is seven, would "unite the country."
[This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Wednesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
On Monday, Bernstein appeared on CNN and suggested that members of the media should "ratchet down our own cynicism" regarding the Clinton nomination. He also marveled at the "sheer star power" of the New York Senator. See a December 2 CyberAlert posting for more: www.mrc.org
A transcript of the exchange, which occurred at 7:55am EST on December 3:
JOE SCARBOROUGH: What about Hillary Clinton, who some people in the '90s called Nixonian? Are you surprised-
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Yes. Will she be the woman in charge of the State Department?
CARL BERNSTEIN: I'm not surprised she took the job. She didn't want to go back to the Senate. She would not have been very satisfied being one of 100 senators. You know, she is the biggest star of all, in many regards, in Washington except for the President of the United States. And to go back diminished would not have made her happy. What's so interesting here, though, Obama now gets the wisdom- and Bill Clinton has real wisdom when it comes to foreign policy- of Bill Clinton in this deal. Not only will Clinton not be sidelined, carping from the sidelines, he will be giving his thoughts about what he is strongest at. And, you know, there's been a lot of criticism during the campaign by Obama about Hillary Clinton on foreign policy, that she was weak on foreign policy. You wouldn't say the same of her husband and particularly the Palestinian question. She's got some real credibility. We are seeing Tony Blair who she and Bill Clinton are close with. That's going to be a focus of what she does. And the real thing about this appointment, though, is that Obama is assembling a group of people to unite the country. He wants a political consensus so he can do what other presidents haven't been able to do, which is to move the country in the direction he wants without division down the middle. And I think he's done a pretty good job of it so far.
BRZEZINSKI: Carl Bernstein. The book is A Woman in Charge. Thank you very much for coming on the show this morning.
 Matthews Wowed by Obama Response to Query
on Richardson's Beard
"Wow!" That was Chris Matthews' immediate reaction to Barack Obama's response to a question from a Fox News reporter about why his pick for Commerce Secretary, Bill Richardson, shaved off his beard. After playing, on Wednesday night's Hardball, a clip from Obama's press conference introducing Richardson, Matthews expressed awe at the "intellectual" way Obama analyzed Richardson's personal grooming habits.
[This item, by the MRC's Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Wednesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Matthews made the following observation during the "Sideshow," segment of the December 3 edition of Hardball:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Back to Hardball. Time for the Sideshow. A brilliant pollster friend of mine once said that every great politician has three characteristics: Motive, you know why he or she is there, passion and spontaneity. Well Barack Obama certainly has got that third characteristic. Talk about being quick on your feet. Here he is today giving Bill Richardson, his new clean shaven pick for Commerce Secretary a ribbing.
(Begin clip)
WENDELL GOLER, FOX NEWS: And if I may also ask the Governor, what happened to the beard sir?
BARACK OBAMA: I'm gonna answer this question about the beard. I think it was a mistake for him to get it, get rid of it. I thought that whole Western, rugged look was really working for him. For some reason, maybe because it was scratchy when he kissed his wife, he was forced to get rid of it.
(End clip)
MATTHEWS: Wow! Reminds me of that same mock serious way that Barack Obama went about describing his dog-buying decision. The less important the issue, the more intellectual he gets.
-- Brent Baker
|
When it comes to building a quota Cabinet that fulfills liberal demands for "diversity," Barack Obama is far smoother than the "artless" and "calculating" Clintons were back in 1992, NBC's Andrea Mitchell argued Wednesday afternoon on MSNBC. In contrast to the Clintons, Obama's approach is "effortless. They're creating a mosaic, but they're not doing it by self-consciously creating that mosaic," Mitchell enthused. 
During his regular "Political Daily Briefing' feature on CNN's No Bias, No Bull program on Tuesday evening, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post used Hillary Clinton's famous descriptive about her conservative opponents in describing one group's latest effort against the outgoing New York Senator: "A group called Judicial Watch, charter members of the vast right-wing conspiracy -- they were on to Hillary back during the commodity trading days -- now, they say because of Article One in the Constitution says you cannot serve in the position where you got a -- voted for a pay raise while you were in Congress, they're saying she is constitutionally ineligible." He then opined that "the only thing for Hillary to do is just give her $191,000 salary as Secretary of State to Judicial Watch for their extraordinary creativity -- just save everybody the court costs." 
Veteran Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein appeared on Wednesday's Morning Joe on MSNBC and gushed that Barack Obama's appointment of Hillary Clinton to the State Department will benefit from the "real wisdom" Bill Clinton has "when it comes to foreign policy." Continuing to fawn over the President-elect's cabinet choices, Bernstein enthused: "And the real thing about this appointment, though, is that Obama is assembling a group of people to unite the country." 
"Wow!" That was Chris Matthews' immediate reaction to Barack Obama's response to a question from a Fox News reporter about why his pick for Commerce Secretary, Bill Richardson, shaved off his beard. After playing, on Wednesday night's Hardball, a clip from Obama's press conference introducing Richardson, Matthews expressed awe at the "intellectual" way Obama analyzed Richardson's personal grooming habits. 
