This week: mortgages, foreclosures and affordable housing -
Shaun Donovan is another great pick. Here’s Lee Stranahan’s entry about him, from Bob Cesca’s blog:
“Barack Obama has named Shaun Donovan to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Donovan is a former Clinton aide, New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner and a Harvard-educated architect. He’s known for affordable housing.
But it didn’t take much research to find that he’s helped implement sustainable, green affordable housing. I’m kind of an architecture and design geek and so this PDF about the South Bronx Morrisania Homes is neat to me, with it’s stats about an 100% Energy Star Appliance rating.
It’s always been frustrating seeing the rabbit hutches that were synonymous with ‘public housing’ for years because it’s so obvious that it could be done so much better. So, also in my Donovan research I was glad to see another interest of mine - community gardens - were preserved. Inner-city gardens are f-cking awesome.
HPD worked together with Council Member Helen Foster and neighborhood organizations to preserve a community garden on the designated property, and to relocate two additional gardens to an alternative site.
That’s who our President-Elect is putting in place. Architects at HUD. Scientists at the Department of Energy. Hot damn!”
Much as I hate using the expression “believing in global warming” - like it’s akin to believing in fairies, or something.
Perhaps “who believes that global warming is man-made” is a better way of putting it.
Anyway: the man hotly tipped to be named the new American energy secretary, Steven Chu, is a breath of fresh air. Quite literally, given his views on greenhouse gases.
Here’s Chu in action. As it were (I’m sure other ‘in action’ footage could include him being boffin-like, in a white coat in a laboratory somewhere). This is long, but fascinating (well, the part I’ve watched so far ):
With all this talk of inauguration events and how they will or won’t be staged, I have to say: I’ll be happy if I’m standing on the streets of Washington and City Of Blinding Lights by U2 comes on…
Despite Obama a) having nothing to do with Blagojevich’s crimes, b) making a call which led to his downfall, c) now demanding his resignation and d) being called a “mother******” by Balgojevich. On tape.
You know, little things like that.
Bob Cesca spells out what’s going on here - contrasting Obama’s clean record with Bush’s.
And Keith Olbermann and Richard Wolffe discussed (the latter rather disingenuously) the Obama camp’s response to the story last night:
Sorry… for a moment there I thought I was in a Chicago gangster movie.
According to the New York Times, Barack Obama “placed the call” which led to Rod Blagojevich’s downfall. And then he turned around in his swivel chair, and stubbed out his cigarette.
Actually, Barack’s call only indirectly led to it. And he made it three months before Blagojevich’s “downfall”. But, y’know, I have a Chicago gangster movie to script here.
Here was Keith Olbermann’s take on the Blagojevich story last night. It includes a mention of our very own ITV News! And not in a good way:
But fear not: he hasn’t become deeply unpopular overnight. This is simply a move by Democratic Senators - led by Harry Reid - to roll back one of the changes made by the Bush/Cheney administration. Namely: the increased influence of the VP on his party members in the Senate:
“By giving Vice President Dick Cheney regular access to Senate Republican caucuses, at times with White House advisers in tow, party unity became more important to many Republicans than upholding their responsibilities to provide legislative oversight of the executive, experts say.”
Yes, when he wasn’t a) lying about Iraq, b) shooting people in the face, or c) in hiding, Cheney was trying to undo the whole “checks and balances” thing.
And Biden’s more than happy with the change:
“‘Vice President-elect Biden had no intention of continuing this practice started by Vice President Cheney of regularly attending internal legislative branch meetings,’ [Biden spokesperson Elizabeth Alexander] told ABC News. ‘He firmly believes in restoring the Office of the vice president to its historical role. He and Sen. Reid see eye to eye on this.’”
“Philip J. Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., argues that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as Obama says and the Hawaii secretary of state has confirmed. Berg says Obama also may be a citizen of Indonesia, where he lived as a boy.”
Mr Berg: it’s over. Deal with it.
Now, where were we - again? Ah, yes. Getting ready to run the country. Pip pip!
*Update* Here were Keith Olbermann and Arianna Huffington discussing these non-stories on last night’s Countdown:
‘”Part of what we want to do is to open up the White House and remind people this is the people’s house,” Obama told NBC’s Tom Brokaw during a “Meet the Press” interview taped Saturday in Chicago.
“There is an incredible bully pulpit to be used when it comes to, for example, education: Yes, we’re going to have an education policy; yes, we’re going to be putting more money into school construction. But ultimately we want to talk about parents reading to their kids. We want to invite kids from local schools into the White House.”
The president-elect said his administration is interested in “elevating science once again, and having lectures in the White House where people are talking about traveling to the stars or breaking down atoms, inspiring our youth to get a sense of what discovery is all about.”
“Thinking about the diversity of our culture and inviting jazz musicians and classical musicians and poetry readings in the White House so that once again we appreciate this incredible tapestry that’s America,” he said.’
Barack, my ticket is booked! Does it matter that I’m not actually an American jazz musician..?
“With the mainstream news media and the blogosphere caught in the pre-election excitement, I saw no viable path to a rational discussion. Rather than step clumsily into the sound-bite culture, I turned away whenever the microphones were thrust into my face. I sat it out.
Now that the election is over, I want to say as plainly as I can that the character invented to serve this drama wasn’t me, not even close…
The dishonesty of the narrative about Mr. Obama during the campaign went a step further with its assumption that if you can place two people in the same room at the same time, or if you can show that they held a conversation, shared a cup of coffee, took the bus downtown together or had any of a thousand other associations, then you have demonstrated that they share ideas, policies, outlook, influences and, especially, responsibility for each other’s behavior. There is a long and sad history of guilt by association in our political culture, and at crucial times we’ve been unable to rise above it.
President-elect Obama and I sat on a board together; we lived in the same diverse and yet close-knit community; we sometimes passed in the bookstore. We didn’t pal around, and I had nothing to do with his positions. I knew him as well as thousands of others did, and like millions of others, I wish I knew him better”
He talked mostly about the economy, of course, and it was all as eminently sensible and intelligent as ever. You can watch the interview in multiple parts on MSNBC.com - but here was the opening segment:
Barack also used Meet The Press to announce his announcement (as it were) of Eric Shinseki as Veterans Secretary. General Shinseki was given the boot from the Bush administration in 2003 after disagreeing with Donald Rumsfeld over the number of troops needed in Iraq - he was, of course, right, and Rumsfeld was wrong - so his return to the White House is brilliantly poetic.
Here were Obama and Shinseki at the announcement of his appointment yesterday (which was, coincidentally - or maybe not - the anniversary of Pearl Harbour):
*Update* You can watch the full episode of Meet The Press here.
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