Gates Was ‘Hoping the Question Would Never Be Popped’
Fresh off his official introduction as the current and future secretary of defense, Robert Gates took questions at the Pentagon on Monday about his party affiliation, President-elect Barack Obama and his outlook on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.Fresh off his official introduction as the current and future secretary of defense, Robert Gates took questions at the Pentagon on Monday about his party affiliation, President-elect Barack Obama and his outlook on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Asked why he seemed to change his mind about joining Obama’s team, Gates gave a surprising and candid answer about his own brand of “strategic deterrence” in the months leading up to the election.
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Since April, at least 69 people have been appointed or transferred to political jobs within the administration with little or no fanfare. A ProPublica investigation reveals who some of them are.
The Obama administration has seen another key player out the door. This time, it's national security adviser James Jones, whom Obama thanked for his "sacrifices" in his announcement in the White House's Rose Garden on Friday. Who's next?
In alleged retaliation for Republican stonewalling, President Barack Obama will bypass the Senate and make recess appointments to 15 high-level administration jobs. For context, George W. Bush made more than 170 such appointments; Bill Clinton made nearly 140.
Could the current climate in Washington, D.C., be discouraging lobbyists from practicing their persuasive trade in and around the White House? Or does the downsizing of their ranks have more to do with the economy than the political zeitgeist on Capitol Hill?
The bad rap that "faith-based initiatives" got during the last administration hasn't kept the new management at the White House from treating its Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships seriously. It has fleshed out the lineup of advisers to a total of 25 with two new recruits.
Here are the five most-read stories of the last seven days, including Chris Hedges on America's moral meltdown and Robert Scheer on the economic incompetents who find easy employment in the Obama administration. Full list after the jump.
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