There's nothing wrong with playing the "who will be on x's cabinet" game. Heck, if idle speculation was a crime, the entire blogosphere would be in prison. When Clinton and/or Obama sews up the nomination, you'd better believe I'll be idly speculating about his or her Veep, cabinet secretaries, and judicial appointments. It's what you do.So I'm not mocking Dan Nowicki of USA Today and the Arizona Republic for speculating about who John McCain would appoint to his cabinet. Nor am I mocking the picks -- they seem accurate enough. No, I'm mocking this:
Democrats already are regularly attacking John McCain for offering what they characterize as a third George W. Bush term.In some ways, this is appropriate. Who better for the Republicans to emulate than a man who left office 99 years ago? It's all part of their goal to build a bridge back to the twentieth century.
But a new Theodore Roosevelt presidency might be closer to the mark.
And besides, when you look at this list of luminaries, you'll truly be excited about a John McCain presidency:
• Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., in a prominent job, possibly even secretary of state.
• Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., as attorney general.
• Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as homeland security secretary.
• Former Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas as treasury secretary.
• Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as health and human services secretary.
Whee! That's an awfully Republican list right there! Surely that can't be the end, though, can it? There have to be some more old white guys who can get appointed. What about George W. Bush? He'll be out of work, after all. Maybe he could be appointed Director of FEMA. Or how about George Allen, as head of the EEOC?
But it's not all Republicans and de facto Republicans; McCain says he'll also reach out to that most underrepresented of communities: rich white businessmen!
"I would go out to the smartest and best people in America, no matter what their party affiliation," McCain said last year at a town-hall meeting in Gilford, N.H. "There are some very successful people in this country who have done a great deal and become very rich while doing it. And I'm going to those people — the John Chambers and the Steve Ballmers and the Warren Buffetts and all those people — and say, 'Look ... you've done very well in this country. Now give back something to your country.' "Hooray! Thank goodness for John McCain! He'll make America safe again for rich, old white guys. Apparently, he really does plan to bring the sensibilities of the early 20th century to the office of president. With all the diversity one would expect from that era.
