"U.S. policy is not about one individual, and no matter how much faith people place in President-elect Barack Obama, the policies he enacts will be fruit of a tree with many roots.... But the best immediate indicator of what an Obama administration might look like can be found in the people he surrounds himself with and who he appoints to his Cabinet. And, frankly, when it comes to foreign policy, it is not looking good." (Jeremy Scahill, "This Is Change? 20 Hawks, Clintonites and Neocons to Watch for in Obama's White House")
If I wait long enough, Jeremy Scahill will write down my thoughts better than I can. Scahill provided readers today with a vast guide to foreign policy advisers of the Obama transition team and administration. He makes a damning case that Obama is currently leading us down the same foreign policy path we've been on for the past 2 administrations.
I especially like his critique of the mainstream press coverage of Hillary Clinton:
"For all the buzz and speculation about the possibility that Sen. Clinton may be named Secretary of State, most media coverage has focused on her rivalry with Obama during the primary, along with the prospect of her husband having to face the intense personal, financial and political vetting process required to secure a job in the new administration. But the question of how Clinton would lead the operations at Foggy Bottom calls for scrutiny of her positions vis-a-vis Obama's stated foreign-policy goals."And I never thought I would be imressed with Maureen Dowd until today. She used the New York Times to criticize Obama for considering Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State.
"The man who vowed to deliver us from 28 years of Bushes and Clintons has been stocking up on Clintonites," New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd recently wrote. "How, one may ask, can he put Hillary -- who voted to authorize the Iraq war without even reading the intelligence assessment -- in charge of patching up a foreign policy and a world riven by that war?"Progressives wake up. The honeymoon is over. Obama needs to be pushed in the right direction.
photo from yumpickles