SAMORE APPOINTED as WMD CZAR

Team Obama has named someone to serve in a Senate-confirmed post called the "U.S. Coordinator for the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism."

If that is too awkward to throw around the water cooler tomorrow, you could use the term "WMD Czar."

The position as it was legislated in 2006, is one that the Bush White House had rejected, thinking the position redundant and way too accountable to Congress. Ironic that WMDs are the very threat to our nation's security that President sold the American public in order to get us comfortable with the Iraq occupation.

However; Bush thought the position wasn't worth filling.

This was part of the 9/11 Commission's Recommendation's and the Obama-Biden Team is doing just that! According to Senate sources, this was drafted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Vice-President Biden was its chair. Amazing!

The WMD Czar was established so an expert would serve as the chief adviser to the President on all matters relating to the prevention of WMD proliferation and terrorism and responsible for formulating a national strategy for preventing same.

Watching some of the cable news programs tonight, I followed the reasoning behind this and I fail to see a flaw. This Czar would lead interagency [yes thats a word] coordination, conduct oversight, and oversee the development of a budget for these efforts. Even Jim Baker said this was a serious priority.

Who has Obama picked? Gary Samore. After only four days in office! The media is touting that he is a former Clinton-era "weapons proliferation" watch dog, but I don't remember him. The news media will have to do more background on him during the week, but unlike the other positions, this one doesn't require Senate approval.

Samore will have about a dozen people at his disposal to preside over the accumulated DATA from all other agencies that collect such information. The Commission's intent was to eliminate the miscommunication between these agencies.

Welcome aboard Gary Samore, your seat has been waiting for you for three long years.

COUNCIL of ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

President Obama has offered Los Angeles deputy mayor, Nancy Sutley, as a senior member of his environmental team. Nancy, who is a lesbian, will be the highest ranking "openly homosexual" appointedmember in the new administration.

Sutley, will be named chairwoman of this new Council, which helps develop environmental policy and advises the President while the White House formulates fresh policy on such matters. Honestly, this has been lacking for quite some time.

Taken right from the AP: Nancy Sutley has a rich background in environmental public policy, having served on the California State Water Resources Control Board, as energy adviser to Gov. Gray Davis, and as the deputy secretary for policy and intergovernmental relations within the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Under consideration for an actual Cabinet position for Secretary of Interior, is John Berry. If chosen and confirmed, Berry would be the first openly-gay official to reach such a position and place him in control of all federal lands.

Why John Berry? He is currently the director of the Smithsonian National Zoo and former executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Obama has been steady on his promise to tap quality personnel from a broad spectrum of our society. Like many other minority groups who highlight the gains from this election, I, with my brothers and sisters in the LGBT community, will rejoice in our triumphs as well.


Honestly, I just want them to do their jobs and do them well.

UN AMBASSADOR SUSAN RICE

When it comes to the global image of the US, we all can agree that we've looked and acted better. So, with much research and a determination to engage the citizens of the world in a better light, President-elect Obama has picked Susan Rice as our UN Representative.

Here is a report I found on TIMEonline. I thought it would be worth bringing this article to everyone's attention. I think it's an astounding resume'
* * *
On paper, President-elect Barack Obama's choice for United Nations ambassador has much in common with another boundary-breaking, African-American, Stanford-affiliated, female foreign policy expert with the same surname. But the similarities with Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice end there. Susan Rice brings to the U.N. job a career devotion to African affairs and eight years of experience in the Clinton administration.

• Age 44, Rice is married to Canadian journalist Ian Cameron, executive producer of ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. They met in college when she was a freshman and he was a senior and are the parents of two children.

• She's a Washington, D.C. native and the first African-American woman named as U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

• Her father, Emmett Rice, was a governor of the Federal Reserve System. Her mother, Lois Dickson Fitt, is an academic scholar whose parents were born in Jamaica. Raised in a household that stressed education and public affairs knowledge, when Nixon resigned from office, a 9-year-old Rice was the one who told her parents the news.

• She attended the prestigious National Cathedral School, an all-girls academy. She was a star point guard on the basketball team and was known as "Spo," short for "Sportin'." She also lettered in two other varsity sports, and was president of the student council and valedictorian of her class.

• She earned her bachelor's degree from Stanford University went on to earn a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford, where got her master's degree and wrote a doctoral dissertation on the transformation of white-ruled Rhodesia into black-ruled Zimbabwe. While a college student, she launched a divestment effort to protest South African apartheid. After earning her Ph.D. at age 25, she briefly worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company.

• In her mid-20s, she worked as a foreign policy aide to Michael Dukakis during his 1988 presidential run. She later worked for John Kerry's 2004 campaign and was a senior foreign policy advisor to the Obama campaign.

• Rice was Clinton's top Africa diplomat when al Qaeda bombed the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, which led to her first middle-of-the-night official phone call — from Kenya's ambassador alerting her to the attacks. Working for Clinton's National Security Council, she also dealt with issues related to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, including the president's widely criticized decision not to intervene. In 1995, she was appointed the NSA's lead Africa expert; she became pregnant with her first child while in the post and didn't take leave until one day before her son was born. She later served as assistant secretary of state for African Affairs in her early 30s. After leaving the state department, she worked as a senior fellow for the Brookings Institution.

• According to an article in the Stanford alumni magazine, while an assisant secretary of state, Rice once listened as Nigerian opposition leaders praised a recent tough speech she had given, completely unaware that the 5-foot-3, 33-year-old Rice was the one who had delivered it. Rice waited until the discussion had ended, smiled and introduced herself, shocking the men.

• Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is a longtime family friend and mentor.

OBAMA TEAM TAPS ANOTHER LOCAL

The Obama team has tapped another local for his advisory team.

Ginny Apuzzo, who lives in Rosendale, was reached by the transition team to work on behalf of the Gay and Lesbian Community and lending her expertise on issues that continue to set some of us back when dealing with government and society in general.

Ginny has been active in the equal rights movement since her early days as a teacher in the 60's and joining the Sisterhood in the 70's.

Working with the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and becoming the national spokeswoman to raise support for people suffering with HIV/AIDS, Ginny has got enough experience to be a wise choice for the Obama team.

Ginny has her government experience as well. She worked in NYC with then Mayor Koch before the journey to Albany to work in the Cuomo administration. Eventually she found herself in the Clinton White House as the office manager in charge of the daily workings for Bill and Hillary's second four years.

You'll find her working tirelessly on Wall Street here in Kingston as she remains the driving force behind our regional LGBTQ Community Center. I served with Ginny during the first two terms of the Board of Directors and am proud to have had the experience as a team player; making a profound difference for so many people in the Hudson Valley.

Ginny was quoted in the AP as saying she will remain local to continue her efforts here, but will participate in the advisory role temporarily as the Obama Administration takes its first steps.

I am thrilled to know our new President has the forethought to bring in a well grounded and experienced activist for equality such as you.
Congratulations Ginny!

US AG ERIC HOLDER: WELCOME BACK

The buzz in the national political world is about the future US Attorney General. Obama is rumored to have picked Eric Holder, a former DC Judge, and Deputy AG under Janet Reno, he is rumored to have accepted the offer.

Holder, 57, whose appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate, was co-chairman along with Caroline Kennedy of the vice-presidential selection process which gave us Joe Biden as VP.

I think it’s evident that we are going to see a lot of very experienced political operatives filling the positions within the Obama Cabinet and key Capital Hill leadership rolls. If we are going to get out of the economic and judicial mess that Obama will be given on Jan 20th, we need people who know Washington in these positions.

Like Obama himself, Holder gets the title of the first black man to hold the chief prosecutor position for our great country. Born and raised in the Bronx, he has made a lifelong career in the Justice Department. Both he and Pres Elect Obama graduated from Columbia University. Holder would have to leave the firm Covington and Burling before entering the new office.

Considering the bad reputation the justice Department has gotten because of the actions of Ashcroft and Gonzales, the placement of Holder, the poster-child for integrity, is necessary and over due. I am once again impressed with the placement of these incredible talents by our new leader.

You know I’m watching the Secretary of State issue develop.