This Diversity Charge is Bunk

[babylonsister]

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/1/10/95139/7638

This Diversity Charge is Bunk

by BooMan
Thu Jan 10th, 2013 at 09:51:39 AM EST


This is just wankilicious (from Chuck Todd's shop):

The second-term cabinet shuffle has been an unforced error so far. (The reason why the White House is receiving criticism for a lack of diversity is that it has nominated three consecutive white men for cabinet posts -- John Kerry, Chuck Hagel, and today Jack Lew -- but without a high-profile woman or minority thrown into the mix. And that doesn’t include John Brennan at CIA and a likely white male to be the next White House chief of staff.) Indeed, you could argue that the Romney folks thought a lot more about staffing a Romney administration over the next four years than Team Obama did about a second-term administration. In fairness to the White House, its top officials were so focused on the fiscal-cliff talks in the past two months. What’s more, this kind of disorganization isn’t unusual for a second term, especially after winning a hard-fought race for re-election. And finally, it’s a process story. At the end of the day, it’s likely that Obama’s second-term cabinet will have plenty of diversity and top-notch names. But the process hasn’t been pretty. Question for the White House: Why didn’t it have a second-term transition director? Someone whose full-time job was to keep an eye on the optics of how and when to announce, on the leaks etc.?

I'll concede that there has been so sloppiness surrounding the announcement of nominees for the new cabinet, but let's look at this diversity charge. So far, the administration has replaced a white man at Defense with a white man at Defense. They've replaced a white Christian man at Treasury with an Orthodox Jew who faithfully observes the Sabbath (he sure as shit don't fucking roll). He's (for now) retained Eric Holder, a black man, as his Attorney General. He's retained Eric Shinseki, of Japanese ancestry, as head of Veteran's Affairs. He's retained Kathleen Sebelius as head of Health & Human Services. The single appointment that can be described as getting less diverse is John Kerry's replacement of Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of State. Yet, if you think about it, Kerry and Clinton share something different in common. They are the two most prominent members of the Democratic Party who have never been president. Kerry, like Clinton, was selected for his stature, not his gender or race.

It could wind up that Obama's second term cabinet is less diverse than his first. Considering that, in addition to those mentioned above, his first term cabinet included an Asian-American at Energy, Latinos at Labor and Interior, blacks as EPA administrator and as U.S. Trade Representative, and women at Commerce and Homeland Security, it would be hard to get more diverse.

Under the circumstances, it is totally premature to characterize the diversity of the new cabinet, but it's also a contextually-challenged charge. If the most diverse cabinet in history gets a little less diverse, that isn't exactly surprising. The thing is, based on the appointments that have already been announced, it really hasn't become less diverse at all.

[sadbear]

1. Susan Rice?

[babylonsister]

2. What about her?

Last I checked, she's still working for this admin unless I missed her resignation.

[uponit7771]

7. Moron Joe this morning was a crock, conservatives hate facts so much

[Nye Bevan]

3. I think President Obama is more interested than hiring the best people for the jobs

than in checking off boxes.

[babylonsister]

4. Agree totally, and

that's where his attention should be. The lazy m$m must be bored.

[uponit7771]

6. +1 and relative to previous admins he's checked the boxes a lot more than them

[uponit7771]

5. Yeap, his CURRENT cabinet is STILL...STILL one of the most diverse even if it's a little less divers

...than the first.

Conservatives hate perspective...and facts

[tblue]

8. I'd give up all diversity of race and gender

for a bonafide, principled liberal progressive in the cabinet. I am a nonwhite woman, and there's not much I would rather see than an ideological shift leftward among the president's top advisors. Dicersity of race and gender don't guarantee diversity of perspective. Just look at Clarence Thomas. If you can stomach it.