Bad Idea

Posted on 01/24/2009 at 4:34 pm by JumpyPants

Okay, so I think William Lynn is a mistake and should probably be asked to step off. But the hitch is that he’s was probably part of a quid pro quo of some sort. In other words, if you want X, you’re going to have to appoint Lynn.

I can’t imagine this was done just because he’s somehow the most qualified man in America for the Deputy Secretary of Defense gig. I mean, no-one else can do that job? No-one?

And, discuss…

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  • camel54

    I came to the same conclusion. He should be cut loose. What could he possibly have to offer that Gates couldn’t? If there is some sort of quid pro quo, that just indicates something devious. Seems like if he has something they want, there are ways to go about getting it without violating their own ethics rules and invalidating what should be a terrific gesture.

  • http://www.leestranahan.com Lee Stranahan

    Beat me to it on this post – I agree. I think it’s a mistake to waive the ethics rules and I don’t see what Lynn brings that’s worth it.I actually think this is where The Opposition – like McCain – does the process a real service. Keep Obama honest.

  • sammy1

    It’s a glaring inconsistency right out of the chute that dilutes what otherwise is a great symbolic start toward reforming the way government does business.He should spare Obama the embarassment and withdraw his name so he can spend more time with his family. (besides he can make a lot more money lobbying)

  • SillyGit

    This is not a position that you can drop just anyone into. The DoD is a monster of an organization and the person in this job will be daily making hundreds of decisions that directly effect the smooth operations of the DoD. This is the Job that constantly minds the store. You need someone with knowledge about the whole shebang from day one, since there is no time to ‘get up to speed.’ Decisions can’t wait for that.DoD experts say that their are only six people fully qualified for the job. I have no way of knowing if this is really true or not. The experts that say this cover the political spectrum pretty well. They all agree that Bill Lynn is one of the six.I suspect that the other five of the six are so far to the right that Obama would need to use short wave to communicate with them, thus making Lynn the best choice.None of these people have no ties to lobbyists. Obama is attempting to make a dramatic change to a game that has been played with inadequate rules forever.Lynn is favored by Gates who apparently thinks very highly of him.The Joint Chiefs also applaud the choice and they are certainly not considered to be a bunch of liberals. I’d call them intelligent conservatives with a highly augmented sense of duty. Think William F. Buckley, Jr. or Barry Goldwater, only bigger sense of duty.Obama has far more information and experience on this at his disposal than do I. Based on what I have seen from the President so far, I am willing to trust his decision on this and give him my support.YMMV.[NOTE: Weekly Youtube Address is a Dead End. It does not link to the OH LOOK... post.]

  • http://www.leestranahan.com Lee Stranahan

    OTOH, Git makes a compelling argument.

  • SillyGit

    Is there confusion here? Gates isn’t going anywhere. Gates continues as Secretary of Defense. Bill Lynn is for the Deputy Secretary position, which is the guy that actually runs the ship so the Secretary can attend all the meetings necessary to keep the various segments of the administration coordinated. The Deputy is alway chained to his desk in the Pentagon and is in charge whenever the Secretary is somewhere else.This is a very important position.

  • Zanath

    I think people are concerned because he is a former lobbyist from a huge defense contractor (the name escapes me) and while he doesn’t lobby anymore he still does work there. The question is whether he will be able to perform his job considering he still has interests at the company. From what I understand he is immensely qualified for the position besides that.

  • Packy

    I think it may be a toe-stubber, too, and there may well be a better choice out there.But – outside of the Raytheon gig, Lynn has a pretty impressive resume.

  • rpv

    It may be better to accept some measure of politiklitik concerning defense and intelligence. The alternative is involving the justice department, like the previous administration, and attempt to codify bad ethics.

  • rpv

    Great. Fucked up my first post.Meant to say real.

  • SillyGit

    Yes he worked for Raytheon. He has also said that he will divest his Raytheon holdings before assuming the position if confirmed.Do not be distracted by neocons juggling shiny objects.I see this whole issue as being a Karl Rove style distraction – “Oh Look, your new President sets up some rules and then immediately breaks them.” Totally ignoring that the rule being ‘broken’ can be waived by the President if necessary, it says so in the rule. Did anyone besides me actually read the rule? It’s at Whitehouse.gov.It looks to me like the Rovian crap can still get the democrats to shoot each other in the feet.You won’t find anyone that’s actually qualified for this job that isn’t hopelessly mired in the Defense Contractor / Lobbyist quagmire.

  • kansasdem

    I’m really unsure??????????????None of us know about the private conversations between Obama and his appointees!And I’m thinking along the lines of “it takes a thief”! Not only that but I recall hearing Bob Woodward saying within about the past 12 months that we had some new technology that “no-one” knew about and it was already helping us locate and eliminate threats!However vague that might be, I truly think we have to trust Obama! With his choice of retaining Gates to manage our defense I think we simply need to trust in his intellect and judgment!I’ve watched him win a campaign that none of us truly believed he could, and I’ve seen him already reach across party lines, and also have the balls to say, “I won”, which basically translates into, “bite my black ass”!I think we can trust this guy!So, trust the guy!

  • trustno1

    Count me in the disappointed camp on this one. It just looks bad. Unless there’s something specific that he can do that no one else can, he should have to wait the two years.

  • Lyle

    Well, the ethics guidelines did include a waiver if in the public interest (national security for example) so it must be in the public interest. Someone like Wesley Clarke would have been a real bad choice and a threat to national security I suppose.

  • http://www.dugshop.com Paula Bonhomme

    I think O is waiting for Chuck Hagel to finish out his term so he can offer him the Sec of Def job and have Gates step down. Are there any links between Lynn and Hagel?

  • http://www.windonwater.net QueenTiye

    This was one that really bothered me, and so SillyGit’s explanation has some balancing effect. But Raytheon is a BIG corporation – and a serious monied interest. Even understanding SillyGit’s explanation (and I don’t believe the majority of the people will have the benefit of that explanation – nor anyway to verify it), its an ugly situation.QT

  • http://jaykamins@yahoo.com Jay Kamins

    Hi Bob, love your writing and the blog.I’ve been concerned by this as well, but after doing a bunch of research and reviewing Lynn and Obama’s reasoning for picking him, I feel better about it. It’s a good thing that we are all on alert and ready to call BS if Obama messes up.Lynn seems like a highly experienced guy with stronger ties to the Dem party. I’m inclined to accept the waiver and trust appropriate oversight will be in place to make sure Lynn stays in line.I have some info and links online here if interested.http://tipandwag.blogspot.com/2009/01/should-obama-have-william-lynn-for.html

  • SillyGit

    QT – Yes. It’s a very ugly situation. For my entire life (I’m 53) there has been a revolving door between the DoD, Defense Lobbyists, and Defense Contractors. Eisenhower warned us about the growing Military Industrial Complex and this revolving door issue was his greatest concern. We didn’t listen, nothing was done.Obama is the very first President that has committed to doing something about the Lobbyist revolving door. The very first. Finally.I am convinced that the loophole in his ethics rule was placed there because of the Deputy SecDef. There are no qualified candidates that meet the requirements of the ethics rule. At least not now. Now that a rule exists, people that want that job in the future will know what they have to do.You can’t clean up a half century (or more) of corruption in the Defense Department in a week. I read somewhere that if appointed, Lynn will not make decisions about contracts that involve Raytheon. These will go to Gates or an assistant Deputy.Obama has stated his goal to eliminate industry/government revolving door employment. I believe he is serious about this. Thank God.I’m not happy about Lynn either, but we have to have a highly qualified person for Deputy SecDef.Up until this Administration, this appointment was typical of DoD appointments. Go back over the CVs of all previous SecDefs and Deputy SecDefs since Truman. They all have had huge conflicts of interest. This is really same old, same old. At least Obama is *trying* to stop this. No one has even tried before.

  • SillyGit

    Paula – I think you may be on to something. I don’t know the answer, but it is certainly one of the correct questions.Lyle – I wondered about Wesley Clark myself. One would think that he would be a good candidate. He has the appropriate knowledge of the DoD. I can only assume that he must have been asked and passed on the offer. He might not want that job, it’s a bitch of a job. It’s not a job I would want. You need to be able to juggle about 50,000 details at once without dropping any. Being *well* organized is inadequate. Keeping your work week limited to 10 hrs/day 6 days/week is difficult. *Everything* in the DoD crosses the DepSecDef’s desk. Everything. Only a small subset crosses the SecDef’s desk as well. DepSecDef runs the DoD. SecDef is the interface to the rest of the government, adviser to the President, and the bringer of policy.

  • http://www.dugshop.com Paula Bonhomme

    Being a layperson (as it were), sounds like the DepSecDef is to the SecDef what a line producer is to a producer in the movie biz – i.e. the dude who has the thankless task of actually getting shit done. Except, you know, entire countries don’t suffer when a line producer fucks up. Although I suppose Valkyrie contradicts that argument, eh?

  • http://www.dugshop.com Paula Bonhomme

    Must add, I doubt the line producer is the one who fucked up on Valkyrie…

  • SillyGit

    That’s a good analogy Paula.SecDef spends his time in Meetings with the Joint Chiefs, the President, the Cabinet, the Nat. Security Advisor, the CIA, the NSA, the Press, etc…DepSecDef minds the store and makes certain that everyone is asses and elbows and working on the right stuff.

  • LiveJazz

    I’m willing to give Obama the benefit of the doubt here. Since the DoD depends on the defense industry for…well, pretty much everything, I’m thinking it would pretty hard to find an appointee that doesn’t have some involvement with a contractor.Furthermore, I’m reading some articles claiming that Lynn was only a lobbyist in name: he registered as one out of caution because is post required him to oversee government operations. If the AP is to be believed, he was not busy schmoozing Pentagon officials to get contacts.And finally, he apparently did an excellent job reforming the Pentagon’s budget process back in the Clinton years. Sounds like he is pretty qualified.All that said, I will admit that this looks bad for Obama, even if the appointment turns out to be an excellent one. He is wasting valuable political capital.