"WHEN FASCISM COMES TO AMERICA IT WILL BE WRAPPED IN THE FLAG
AND CARRYING A CROSS." -SINCLAIR LEWIS

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Richardson Leaves Obama Administration

Damn, I really like this guy:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.

...Obama said Sunday he accepted Richardson's decision to withdraw with 'deep regret.'

"Governor Richardson is an outstanding public servant and would have brought to the job of Commerce Secretary and our economic team great insights accumulated through an extraordinary career in federal and state office," Obama said.

Richardson, 61, was United Nations ambassador and energy secretary during the Clinton administration, and he is in his second term as New Mexico's governor. He also served seven terms in the House of Representatives.

If he had been confirmed by the Senate as secretary of Commerce, he would have taken over a sprawling department that oversees the National Weather Service, the Census Bureau, economic development programs and more.

Despite my support for Obama when the Democratic primaries were just beginning almost two years ago, I always said that Richardson was obviously the most qualified candidate for president on the dais. I'm sorry that he's had to withdraw himself from consideration at this time (I can't comment intelligently about the investigation of his administration) but I hope he still finds a place on Obama's team: he needs all the intelligent, competent people he can get. On the plus side, by writing this post I now actually have a clue what the Commerce Secretary does.

11 comments:

Laura Lee - Grace Explosion said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JBW said...

The voices are getting louder and sassier, aren't they Grace?

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

Tom Delay was as greasy as they came when it came to demanding donations and other favors for the Republican Party in exchange for government contracts. George Bush shit, every one of them do it. It costs a minimum of a million dollars to run for podunk office. How many of them had the honor to resign from a dream job to save his boss from probably at worst a little embarrassment for what every member of Congress, any governor, just about any elected official has done. Richardson is a class act. I hope Obama has a place for him in his administration when this episode has run it's course.

Laura Lee - Grace Explosion said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JBW said...

Yeah, I used to love Miller until he became a conservative: the equal and opposite reaction was that he became a humorless dick.

Laura Lee - Grace Explosion said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Ouch...no grace for the brainrage.

Anonymous said...

He should tap Mark Cuban... though I'd hate to see him go, if he did.

JBW said...

One L, that's what I'm talking about! Fuck all of these financial experts and lifetime politicians; I say add some flamboyant, crazy billionaires into the mix: Cuban, Oprah, Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne, etc.

What, are they going to screw things up anymore than the current crew already has? And the best part is: we wouldn't have to pay them. They live off of equity and interest anyway; in fact, public service would probably qualify as a tax write-off for them.

Just think of what would have happened had we elected Ross Perot in the nineties. OK, bad example but surely you see my point...

Anonymous said...

I'm probably prety biased, but I think Cuban has one of the most creative minds of our generation. Those are the kinds of people I want in my government...

JBW said...

I totally agree, amigo. Let's think outside the box and shake some things up.