Early Confirmation Notes

Some notes as the nascent Obama Administration begins to take shape:

• During the early stages of the Bush 43 administration, Colin Powell was spinning the concept of "smart sanctions" against Iraq. It was a case of "old wine, new bottle" but it prompted someone to ask if the old sanctions, which had been in place for a decade, were "stupid." I'm picking up the same vibe when I hear Ms. Rodham-Clinton discussing "smart power diplomacy". Were we practicing "stupid power diplomacy" for the past 16 years? I ask since I thought the liberation of 15 million people wasn't, well, a moronic thing to do.
• Tim Geithner's tax dodging has been described as a "hiccup" by the Senate majority leader and as a "distraction" by Candy Crowley on CNN as he faces confirmation hearings. (You'll have to trust me on this but she said it last night. Curiously, as I write this, there is no mention on CNN's home page about this issue. Go figure.) How about this -- a f*ck up? Moreover, he certainly gives the appearance that if he wasn't going to be named as Secretary of the Treasury then the IRS wasn't going to get a check. He may get confirmed, but he's damaged goods.
• In the schoolyards, we all learn at a young age, never to make a threat that you cannot carry out. More importantly, if you have to choose a side, go with the guys likely to win. I say this because Obama came out in support of the Senate Democrats who opposed Rod Blagojevich's selection of Roland Burris to be his successor. Now that Burris will be the new Senator from Illinois, it looks like Team Obama would have been wise to have kept quiet.
• The noted philosopher, Michael Tyson, once noted: Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth. So it goes with Obama's plan to spend the remaining $350 billion of TARP money without limited Congressional strings. Moreover, his economic "recovery" plan also faces opposition. I trust that Team Obama has developed a Plan B (and C, for that matter.) Bloody mouths are not pretty.

Well, we're only a week out. Things should get even more exciting!

Let's Go to the Audio Tape!

I don't personally know Rahm Emanuel. I know people who do know him. In their eyes, he's a piece of work. I suspect that he doesn't get too many holiday cards this time of year.

Yet, his type serves a function. President-elect Obama needed someone on his staff wise to the workings of the Washington.

In 1992, Bill Clinton ran as a centrist (I'm still waiting on that middle-class tax cut) but it wasn't long before he lost the initiative to his fellow Democrats in Congress -- Tom Foley the House Speaker and George Mitchell, the Senate majority leader. Obama doesn't want to be the tail of the dog -- even if it's wagging.

So you hire a guy like Emanuel to make sure that doesn't happen.

Unfortunately, a guy like him is like a launched nuclear missile. Once it's out of the silo, there's no stopping it.

So this is how I see his meeting with Rod Blagojevich went. He told the governor, that the President-elect endorsed the following candidates. That's all. There was no winking, nodding, or nudging. Blagojevich, as a good Democrat was going to follow orders. There was nothing to negotiate.

Unfortunately for Emanuel & Co., they underestimated Blagojevich. (Putin is probably taking notes now.) Caught on tape, hard boiled Chicago politics, doesn't look pretty.

But then again, it's not.