Been doing some research into President Elect Barack
Obama's transition team, and seeing some disturbing trends that deserve mention. First, Barack Obama apparently believes in nepotism if one cares to extend the definition to include college friends from Harvard. Secondly, supposedly a Barack White House and Administration is supposed to be about change...with all due respect, the transition team looks a whole lot like a who's who of Washington Insiders, and Clinton Administration cronies. Curious here President Elect Obama, is this what you meant when you promised us CHANGE? Lastly, and most disturbing...based on population averages, and looking at the fact that President Elect Obama is supposed to be the peoples president, there seems to be a disproportionately small number of white people on his staff compared to their percentages in the population at large. This would seem to suggest that Obama gives a hiring preference to minority applicants, and if this is true, isn't that reverse racism? Which begs the question President Elect Obama...
Will white Americans being given our FAIR ACCESS to your inauguration, or will blacks receive a disproportionate share of the invitations?
From various sources:President-elect Barack Obama made his first announcements for a transition team this afternoon, saying it will be overseen by John Podesta, Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse.
Podesta-Chicago native and former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton. Podesta also once served as a staff counsel in the Senate, where one of his bosses was then-Sen. Tom Daschle, a possible White House chief of staff and an Obama confidant.
Jarrett-close Obama family friend from Chicago who has served as a top adviser to Obama throughout the campaign. Rouse has served as the chief of staff for Obama's senate office and is widely viewed as a likely deputy chief of staff in the White House.
Additional co-chairs were named to an advisory board. That list includes: Carol Browner, William Daley, Christopher Edley, Michael Froman, Julius Genachowski, Donald Gips, Governor Janet Napolitano, Federico Peña, Susan Rice, Sonal Shah, Mark Gitenstein, and Ted Kaufman.
Gitenstein and Kaufman will serve as co-chairs of Vice President-elect Biden's transition team, the transition staff said in a news release.
Supervising the day-to-day activities of the transition will be:
Transition Senior Staff:
Chris Lu - Executive Director- Lu was Barack’s Harvard Law School classmate and serves as a trusted advisor on the campaign and in his Senate office.
Dan Pfeiffer - Communications Director
Stephanie Cutter - Chief Spokesperson-native of Raynham, Massachusetts. She graduated from Smith College and Georgetown Law School. She worked for Bill Clinton as Deputy Communications Director at the White House during his administration and as Associate Administrator for Communications at the U.S. E.P.A. Then she served as Communications Director for Senator Edward M. Kennedy and in July 2003 was named Communications Director for the Democratic National Committee. In November 2003, she was named campaign spokeswoman for the Kerry campaign.
Cassandra Butts - General Counsel-Center for American Progress think tank. Obama law school classmate.
Jim Messina - Personnel Director- is currently serving as chief of staff to Montana Sen. Max Baucus, will join the presidential operation of Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in a senior advisory role -- the latest addition of a longtime party operative to the Illinois Senator's political inner circle.
Patrick Gaspard - Associate Personnel Director-Republicans attacked Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his presidential campaign over his political director who was accused of using felons to get out the vote for the 2004 presidential election in Ohio.
Christine Varney - Personnel Counsel-is an American lawyer and internet policy expert, serving as personnel counsel for the Obama-Biden Transition Project.Varney served in the Clinton Administration as a Federal Trade Commissioner and previously as Secretary to the Cabinet. She is currently a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm Hogan and Hartson, where she leads the internet practice group.
Melody Barnes - Co-Director of Agency Review
Lisa Brown - Co-Director of Agency Review
Phil Schiliro - Director of Congressional Relations-Phil Schiliro is the Democratic Chief of Staff for the House Government Reform Committee and the Chief of Staff for Representative Henry Waxman. In 2004 he was the Policy Director for the Senate Democratic Leader and the Staff Director of the Senate Democratic Leadership Committees. He first joined Representative Waxman’s office in 1982 and previously served as his Chief of Staff from 1984 to 2003, and as the Democratic Staff Director on the Government Reform Committee from 1997 to 2003. His responsibilities – both in the majority and the minority – included developing and managing Rep. Waxman’s communications strategy.
Michael Strautmanis - Director of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs
Katy Kale - Director of Operations
Brad Kiley - Director of Operations-has worked in Washington for 20 years. He served as deputy assistant to the president for management and administration at the White House under President William J. Clinton. There he was responsible for all aspects of White House operations, including the travel office, the visitors office, and White House administration, which included finance, human resources, facilities, and library services
