Electric Politics | A Shambolic Process

Momix dancers in Lunar Sea How curious! The Senate today has a confirmation hearing for Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State, with the aim of having the whole Senate confirm her appointment by the time that Mr. Obama is sworn in on January 20th. So who sent her name to the Senate? Mr. Obama, as he likes to remind us, has no official position yet. Have they done this on their own? By what authority? If she were to be confirmed before Mr. Obama is sworn in — and why not — what would be her status vis-à-vis Condoleezza Rice? And does the Senate, exercising its power of confirmation, think that Mrs. Clinton might be more forthcoming than the president-elect regarding policy, before he is sworn in? If not, and obviously she has almost nothing of substance to say, then why have a hearing to hear nothing unless it's purely a formality?

Which leads to the real question: given the absurd nature of this process why is it that nobody dares talk about the overly long transition between administrations? The answer, probably, is an irrational worship of the U.S. Constitution together with a deeply rooted fear that if we were to logically inquire how our fundamental government processes actually work we would despair at what we find. Such corruption of language and behavior impoverishes us, however, much more than we realize. Instead of obfuscation we should seek clarity, truth being the better ally.



Home FAQ Contact Archive EP Store EP Alerts © 2012 ElectricPolitics	A Shambolic Process How curious! The Senate today has a confirmation hearing for Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State, with the aim of having the whole Senate confirm her appointment by the time that Mr. Obama is sworn in on January 20th. So who sent her name to the Senate? Mr. Obama, as he likes to remind us, has no official position yet. Have they done this on their own? By what authority? If she were to be confirmed before Mr. Obama is sworn in — and why not — what would be her status vis-à-vis Condoleezza Rice? And does the Senate, exercising its power of confirmation, think that Mrs. Clinton might be more forthcoming than the president-elect regarding policy, before he is sworn in? If not, and obviously she has almost nothing of substance to say, then why have a hearing to hear nothing unless it's purely a formality? Which leads to the real question: given the absurd nature of this process why is it that nobody dares talk about the overly long transition between administrations? The answer, probably, is an irrational worship of the U.S. Constitution together with a deeply rooted fear that if we were to logically inquire how our fundamental government processes actually work we would despair at what we find. Such corruption of language and behavior impoverishes us, however, much more than we realize. Instead of obfuscation we should seek clarity, truth being the better ally. Posted by George Kenney on January 13, 2009 12:46 PM « EP Podcast Schedule Resumes January 16 \| Main \| Vace » Share this post: Leave a comment Name Email Address URL Remember personal info? Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)

A Shambolic Process

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