Thinking Citizen Blog — Patronage, Meritocracy, Identity Politics: State (Tony Blinken), Defense (Lloyd Austin), Health (Xavier Becerra)
By: John Muresianu
Tags: Biden, USA, Thinking Citizen Blog, Administration

Thinking Citizen Blog — Sunday is Political Process, Campaign Strategy, and Candidate Selection Day

Today’s Topic — Patronage, Meritocracy, Identity Politics: State (Tony Blinken), Defense (Lloyd Austin), Health (Xavier Becerra)

Picking the right person for the job matters. Are Biden’s choices the right ones? Have they been made for the right reasons? What are the right reasons? Patronage has been around for a long time. Today, the US “has more political appointees than any other industrial democracy.” Should the number of political appointees be capped? How important are experience and expertise relative to other criteria? Diversity, for example. And, with respect to the Department of Defense, how important is the principle of civilian leadership given the two notable exceptions? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.

LLOYD AUSTIN — DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE — appointment requires a waiver of the National Security Act of 1947

1. “The idea that this nation’s military should be under civilian leadership remains a time-honored principle — as it should be. But what is the magic number of years after which a general is transformed again into a civilian? And the more important question is: Should this nation be deprived of retired General Lloyd J. Austin III as the first Black man to head the Department of Defense because he hasn’t quite achieved that number?” (Boston Globe)

2. After all, Truman got a waiver for George Marshall in 1950 and Trump got one for Jim Mattis in 2017.

3. Bernie Sanders opposed the waiver for Mattis in 2017 but has indicated that he will support a waiver for Austin. On the other hand, Elizabeth Warren, who voted against the Mattis waiver, intends to stand by the principle of civilian leadership and oppose the waiver for Austin as well.

NB: “Austin’s selection would also be meaningful representation, at a time when 40% of this nation’s all-volunteer active military personnel are people of color.” (Boston Globe)

XAVIER BECERRA — should experience and expertise be paramount?

1.”Mr. Becerra has no expertise in how drug and insurance markets function, let alone experience running a health-care bureaucracy.” (Wall Street Journal editorial)

2. “Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo had been a top contender for HHS, but she was vetoed by progressives as too white, too moderate and apparently also too qualified.” (ditto)

3. “Mr. Becerra is none of those. The AG served 24 years in the House before being selected in 2016 by former Gov. Jerry Brown to replace Kamala Harris after she was elected to the Senate.”

NB: “Mr. Becerra’s selection is what happens when identity and ideology trump experience and expertise. He is Mr. Biden’s most disappointing choice so far.” (ditto)

TONY BLINKEN — STATE DEPARTMENT — “Europeanist, multilateralist, internationalist”

1. Unquestioned experience and expertise: Deputy Secretary of State, 2015–2017. Deputy National Security Adviser, 2013–2015, Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President, 2009–2013, staff director, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 2002–2009, member of the National Security Council staff, 1992–2001.

2. “On every major foreign policy issue — terrorism, climate, pandemics, trade, China, the Iran nuclear deal — he has a recurring mantra: the U.S. should work with its allies and within international treaties and organizations.” (Politico)

3. “Tony Blinken’s ties to Europe are lifelong, deep and personal — and he is a fierce believer in the transatlantic alliance.” He is fluent in French and is the stepson of a Holocaust survivor. His wife, Evan Ryan, is a former Assistant Secretary of State (2013–2017), A DC power couple reminiscent of Cass Sunstein-Samantha Power and the fictional Elizabeth and Henry McCord in the TV drama, “Madame Secretary.”

NB: Was there a better choice? Who? Why?

Lloyd Austin

Retired general merits top job at Pentagon — The Boston Globe

A civilian should run the Pentagon, not a retired general — The Boston Globe

Opinion | Another General at Defense?

Xavier Becerra

Opinion | Biden’s Identity Health-Care Pick

Xavier Becerra, H.H.S. Pick, Was California’s Anti-Trump Attack Dog

Antony Blinken

Opinion | Biden’s Liberal Internationalists

https://www.politico.eu/article/nine-things-to-think-about-antony-blinken/

Biden Chooses Antony Blinken, Defender of Global Alliances, as Secretary of State

Madam Secretary (TV series)

BACKGROUND READINGS

Political appointments in the United States

Trump rewards big donors with jobs and access

Under Trump, More Big Donors Are Named Ambassadors — And Controversies Have Followed

Troubling Trends in Ambassadorial Appointments: 1980 to the Present

Democrat unveils bill capping number of ambassadors who are political appointees

Obama donors net government jobs

Patronage

United States federal civil service

Here is a link to the last three years of posts organized by theme:

PDF with headlines — Google Drive

YOUR TURN

Please share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to political process

or campaign strategy or 2020 candidate selection or anything else for that matter. This is your chance to make some one else’s day or change their thinking. Or to consolidate in your own memory something worth remembering that might otherwise be lost. Or to clarify or deepen your own understanding of something dear to your heart. Continuity is key to depth of thought.