Let’s Talk About Joe Biden’s Top Cabinet Picks.
By: Lauren Elizabeth
Tags: Politics, Joe Biden, Democrats, Elections, Government

Let’s Talk About Joe Biden’s Top Cabinet Picks.

Yes, the list is as disappointing as one might have expected.

John Locher/AP

With Joe Biden officially the President-Elect of the United States of America, I’m sure I’m not alone among those of us on the left when feeling an array of mixed emotions after considering everything the country has gone through, and the fight that still lies ahead. As Naomi Klein observed, it should be a fundamental right to celebrate the downfall of a tyrant. Every single one of us who has understood the threat that Donald Trump poses, and knew the full-blown shock and awe we would have experienced in his second term deserves to breathe a sigh of relief at the thought that he has been defeated, buying — if nothing else —just a little bit of time to prepare for the next one like him who comes along in the elections ahead.

On the other hand I would be lying if I said I was not just angry, but afraid of what the outcomes of the neoliberal, status quo Biden Presidency would be, and his rumored short list for cabinet picks — as I expected — has done little to alleviate the concerns.

Forbes Reporter Andrew Solender addressed highlights of a recent Politico piece that detailed the contenders for top seats at the table within the Biden administration, tweeting:

“Per Politico, frontrunners for Biden cabinet include: State: Susan Rice, AG: Doug Jones, HHS: Michelle Lujan, Grisham, Transport: Eric Garcetti, Commerce: Meg Whitman, Energy: Ernest Moniz, Interior: Tom Udall, Agriculture: Heidi Heitkamp, VA: Pete Buttigieg”

At least when Joe Biden said nothing would fundamentally change, he meant it.

Is there a single voting bloc in America who turned out to vote for Joe Biden hoping that Susan Rice, Eric Garcetti, Meg Whitman, and Doug Jones would be given these positions? What, exactly, is this administration going to do to alleviate the fact that it was precisely this sort of dynamic within the halls of power that made liberals complicit in the misery that led to the rise of Donald Trump in the first place?

After the layoffs at HP and the disaster at Quibi, I’m sure the nation is anxious to see Meg Whitman potentially representing American businesses in the Biden administration as Secretary of Commerce. As the Mayor of one of the most expensive, gentrified cities in the country with one of the largest homeless populations in the entire nation, I’m sure the people of Los Angeles are ecstatic at the thought of Eric Garcetti moving up within the Democratic party ranks. After leaving the Obama administration with the United States involved in more wars than it had been when he came to power, I suppose we should be thrilled at the prospects of his former National Security Advisor Susan Rice — who played an instrumental role in that devastating legacy — could have an even more critical role determining foreign policy within an administration than she did before.

With that being said, it’s also worth noting that cabinet level positions are oftentimes used as a means by which a political party can elevate some of the up and comers among their ranks, so that they might persue higher office one day. Biden’s list appears no different. It’s difficult to even begin to describe how bleak it feels to see names like Susan Rice, Pete Buttigieg, and Eric Garcetti deliberately being elevated in this manner, and tells me everything I need to know about what the old guard of the Democratic party envisions for the future.

For years, any critiques of the Democratic party that have come from the left have almost immediately been met with calls for them to stop, with liberals arguing that they only enable Donald Trump. Well now the election is over, and here we are with a Democratic party that seems to have absolutely no interest in doing anything to prevent the rise of a far more capable, intelligent, and palatable fascist from coming along and finishing what he started. Are we not supposed to express our concerns that the Democratic party seems incapable of learning its lessons, bringing us further to the right with each passing election, and then insisting we bite our tongues, bow our heads, and vote for them anyways, only to leave us even worse off than we were before? With the election out of the way, I genuinely hope at least some liberals who insisted we should just push Joe Biden to the left after the election will join in the attempts to do so. If we don’t want to see a red wave in 2022, and President Tom Cotton or Tucker Carlson in 2024, I would highly encourage them to get involved in the efforts.