Hillary Clinton was sworn in as Secretary of State yesterday, and most likely Timothy Geitner and Eric Holder will be confirmed as Secretary of Treasury and Attorney General, respectively, in the near future.  So, along with Bob Gates at Defense, the senior cabinet positions in the Obama Administration will be filled.

What’s striking about these three is that they all have serious flaws of direct relevance to their positions.  Washington has been the scene of much highly damaging blood-letting, as individuals are skewered for elements of their personal life that have nothing to do with their ability to perform the job for which they have been nominated.  But that isn’t the case here.

It does matter that Clinton’s husband is receiving millions of dollars for his foundation from countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran.  It is ludicrous to believe that she is unaware of these contributions, or that they will in no way influence her decisions.  It does matter that Geitner failed to pay his taxes, and instead pocketed the reimbursement for those taxes given him by the IMF.  Now he will head up the IRS, but will lack the moral integrity to inspire the rest of us to pay our taxes on time in full.  And it does matter that Holder pardoned Marc Rich and the Puerto Rican terrorists, even if he now says he’s sorry.  He yielded to political pressure - at least, I assume that was his motive - and that’s exactly what an Attorney General is not supposed to do.

I would have wished for a more rigorous vetting process, but I can understand that Senate Republicans want to let Obama pick the people he wants for his Administration.  I can also understand that they want to acknowledge the significant mandate he received from the American people.  The fault for this lies elsewhere.

Is it really the case that, in all of the Democratic party establishment and Democratic political elites, these are the only individuals who can fill these jobs?  I suspect that Obama’s lack of national experience (and the contacts that go with it) put him at a disadvantage in the selection process.  It is also possible that he intends to rely on his White House staff, and the Cabinet posts are only window-dressing. 

But Obama will still suffer from the mixed messages he’s sending.  Yesterday he made a big point about more transparency, which for most people translates as ‘clean government’.  Well, that message is in direct contradiction to the one sent by his choices for these senior Cabinet posts.   

  

    

 

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