2008.11.25: November 25, 2008: Headlines: COS - Togo: Writing - Togo: Journalism: Politics: Election2008: Atlantic Monthly: George Packer writes: Will Obama Change?

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Library: Peace Corps: President Obama: 2008.11.25: November 25, 2008: Headlines: COS - Togo: Writing - Togo: Journalism: Politics: Election2008: Atlantic Monthly: George Packer writes: Will Obama Change?

By Admin1 (admin) (151.196.12.195) on Saturday, December 13, 2008 - 1:22 pm: Edit Post

George Packer writes: Will Obama Change?

George Packer writes:  Will Obama Change?

Mary Anne Berkery, a fellow Brooklynite, has a letter in the Times today expressing outrage at Obama’s Cabinet choices. “The reason most Americans supported an unknown, untested, thinly experienced Barack Obama as president was that they were desperate for real change,” Ms. Berkery writes. Obama’s picks should reassure Mary Anne Berkery. They don’t mean that he’s going to govern from the center-right of the Party, pace David Sanger. I think they mean he’s going to govern seriously, without the parochialism of Jimmy Carter or the chaos of Bill Clinton or the self-delusion of George W. Bush. An “unknown, untested, thinly experienced” President who has as ambitious a domestic program as Barack Obama needs advisers who know how to get things done in Washington. That he is not afraid to recognize this shows his tremendous self-confidence. Obama’s advisers won’t be setting his policies, they will be executing his policies. And since 2009 will be a lot more like 1933 than like 1993, Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers and Rahm Emmanuel and the rest (some known for their lack of personal délicatesse but not for their ideological rigidity) will not be reliving their Clinton years. They will not be pursuing deregulation and deficit reduction. They are smart enough to know that history will judge how they do during the Obama years, which will call for thinking and acting anew. Journalist George Packer served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo.

George Packer writes: Will Obama Change?

Nothing to Fear

from Interesting Times

Mary Anne Berkery, a fellow Brooklynite, has a letter in the Times today expressing outrage at Obama’s Cabinet choices. “The reason most Americans supported an unknown, untested, thinly experienced Barack Obama as president was that they were desperate for real change,” Ms. Berkery writes.

His unequivocal mandate was to bring change. Instead, we watch as he appoints person after person from the Clinton political machine, creating a virtual third Clinton presidency—the very re-creation many of us had worked hard to prevent. Instead of taking the mantle of Franklin D. Roosevelt, he has taken the mantle of Bill Clinton. It is more than disappointing; it is dishonest.

Taking this interpretation even further, the Times’ David Sanger wrote on Saturday that the selections prove that “Mr. Obama is planning to govern from the center-right of his party.”

I know other people who share this idea and aren’t happy about it. But I think they, along with Mary Anne Berkery and David Sanger, are wrong. Start with the mantle of F.D.R. Who did Roosevelt place around him in his first Administration? The average age of his top eight Cabinet picks was sixty. They included two sitting senators, a governor, two Republicans, and the chairman of Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 reëlection campaign. The only Cabinet appointees who fit the description of “change agents” were Henry Wallace, age forty-four, a farm expert and newspaper publisher, at Agriculture, and Frances Perkins, age fifty, the New York State industrial commissioner and first-ever woman Cabinet member, at Labor. The others were chosen for reasons of political payback, regional and ideological balance, and experience. Even among his White House advisers, Roosevelt made sure that the Party’s various economic ideas were represented. And then he proceeded to change the country with the New Deal.

Obama’s picks should reassure Mary Anne Berkery. They don’t mean that he’s going to govern from the center-right of the Party, pace David Sanger. I think they mean he’s going to govern seriously, without the parochialism of Jimmy Carter or the chaos of Bill Clinton or the self-delusion of George W. Bush. An “unknown, untested, thinly experienced” President who has as ambitious a domestic program as Barack Obama needs advisers who know how to get things done in Washington. That he is not afraid to recognize this shows his tremendous self-confidence. Obama’s advisers won’t be setting his policies, they will be executing his policies. And since 2009 will be a lot more like 1933 than like 1993, Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers and Rahm Emmanuel and the rest (some known for their lack of personal délicatesse but not for their ideological rigidity) will not be reliving their Clinton years. They will not be pursuing deregulation and deficit reduction. They are smart enough to know that history will judge how they do during the Obama years, which will call for thinking and acting anew.

As for Hillary Clinton at State, I imagine she will be as hardworking, disciplined, and in command of her subject as she was in the Senate and during the campaign. My fear is not that she’ll be a bad team player for Obama, but that she will manage the department as badly as she managed her campaign. That’s a fear I can live with.




Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: November, 2008; RPCV George Packer (Togo); Peace Corps Togo; Directory of Togo RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Togo RPCVs; Writing - Togo; Journalism; Politics; Election 2008





When this story was posted in December 2008, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers RSS Feed

 Site Index Search PCOL with Google Contact PCOL Recent Posts Bulletin Board Open Discussion RPCV Directory Register


Director Ron Tschetter:  The PCOL Interview Date: December 9 2008 No: 1296 Director Ron Tschetter: The PCOL Interview
Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sat down for an in-depth interview to discuss the evacuation from Bolivia, political appointees at Peace Corps headquarters, the five year rule, the Peace Corps Foundation, the internet and the Peace Corps, how the transition is going, and what the prospects are for doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Read the interview and you are sure to learn something new about the Peace Corps. PCOL previously did an interview with Director Gaddi Vasquez.

PCOL's Candidate for Peace Corps Director Date: December 2 2008 No: 1288 PCOL's Candidate for Peace Corps Director
Honduras RPCV Jon Carson, 33, presided over thousands of workers as national field director for the Obama campaign and said the biggest challenge -- and surprise -- was the volume of volunteer help, including more than 15,000 "super volunteers," who were a big part of what made Obama's campaign so successful. PCOL endorses Jon Carson as the man who can revitalize the Peace Corps, bring it into the internet age, and meet Obama's goal of doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011.

November 5, 2008: This Month's Top Stories  Date: November 5 2008 No: 1282 November 5, 2008: This Month's Top Stories
World Welcomes Obama Win 5 Nov
Shays Loses Congressional Seat in Connecticut 5 Nov
Steve Driehaus wins Congressional Seat in Ohio 5 Nov
Bill Josephson to speak at UMBC on Nov 13 30 Oct
Peace Corps to Resume Work in Liberia 23 Oct
Tschetter proposes PC Foundation to Further Third Goal 23 Oct
George Packer writes: Roof is falling in on Conservatism 23 Oct
O'Hanlon writes: How to finish the job in Iraq 22 Oct
Mike Paquette writes: Bolivia situation is very troubling 20 Oct
McPherson says bureaucracy delays development initiatives 20 Oct
Philip Razem writes: Reveling in the spirit of politics 19 Oct
Amy Zulman writes: Improving America's Reputation 15 Oct
RPCVs film "Once in Afghanistan" 14 Oct
Some PCVS angry at Peace Corps Bolivia pullout 11 Oct
Hill proposes compromise in Korea talks 11 Oct
Mark Schneider proposes mandatory public service 10 Oct
Ambassador Stephens Visits School after 33 Years Ago 9 Oct
RPCVs promote organic farming with "magic bus" 7 Oct
Obama talks about Doubling the Peace Corps 7 Oct
Conference on Moritz Thomsen held in Quito 5 Oct

New: More Stories from September 2008 and October

Some PCVs return to Bolivia on their own Date: October 23 2008 No: 1279 Some PCVs return to Bolivia on their own
Peace Corps has withdrawn all volunteers from Bolivia because of "growing instability" and the expulsion of US Ambassador Philip Goldberg after Bolivian President Evo Morales accused the American government of inciting violence in the country. This is not the first controversy surrounding Goldberg's tenure as US ambassador to Bolivia. Latest: Some volunteers have returned to Bolivia on their own to complete their projects.

PCVs Evacuated from Georgia Date: August 19 2008 No: 1254 PCVs Evacuated from Georgia
The Peace Corps has announced that all Volunteers and trainees serving in the Republic of Georgia are safe and they have been temporarily relocated to neighboring Armenia. Read the analysis by one RPCV on how Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili believed that he could launch a lightning assault on South Ossetia and reclaim the republic without substantial grief from Moscow and that Saakashvili's statements once the war began demonstrated that he expected real Western help in confronting Russia.



Read the stories and leave your comments.








Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Atlantic Monthly

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Togo; Writing - Togo; Journalism; Politics; Election2008

PCOL42420
95


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: