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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010
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 OPINION 
2

Obama Should Beware 'Best and Brightest'

A la JFK's Cabinet, too often masks poor judgment, inexperience

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(Newser) – Barack Obama has won praise for appointing “the best and the brightest” to his Cabinet during a time of war and economic hardship. But all the back-patting sounds a little too familiar, Frank Rich writes in the New York Times. “The stewards of the Vietnam fiasco had pedigrees uncannily reminiscent of some major Obama appointees,” he observes.

Financial appointees like Lawrence Summers and Timothy Geithner are renowned for their intelligence, but with the misguided policies they helped create in the public and private sectors, they're the very people who got us into this financial mess. Rich also notes that the phrase "the best and the brightest" originally was intended sardonically as the title of David Halberstam’s book on JFK’s “hubristic team.”

Barack Obama was smart to pass on former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and instead chose Paul Volcker as chairman of his Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Frank Rich writes.
Barack Obama was smart to pass on former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and instead chose Paul Volcker as chairman of his Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Frank Rich writes.   (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, file)
David Halberstam's phrase
David Halberstam's phrase "the best and the brightest" has been often misappropriated since he used it ironically as the title of his book.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
National Economic Council Chair-designate Lawrence Summers, left, is pictured behind President-elect Barack Obama during a news conference in Chicago, Monday, Nov. 24, 2008.
National Economic Council Chair-designate Lawrence Summers, left, is pictured behind President-elect Barack Obama during a news conference in Chicago, Monday, Nov. 24, 2008.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Washington's cheerleading for our new New Frontier Cabinet superstars has seldom been interrupted by tough questions about Larry Summers' Harvard career, writes Frank Rich.
Washington's cheerleading for our new New Frontier Cabinet superstars has seldom been interrupted by tough questions about Larry Summers' Harvard career, writes Frank Rich.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
President-elect Barack Obama is accompanied by his Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner.
President-elect Barack Obama is accompanied by his Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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I keep wondering why the honeymoon hagiography about the best and the brightest has been so over the top. - Frank Rich

We have to hope that wisdom is coming to Summers and Geithner as they struggle with our financial Tet. Clearly it has not come to Rubin. - Frank Rich

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2 comments
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Zebraone
Dec 7, 08 6:05 PM CST
Beware of the 'best and brightest'! They are often the harbringers of total disaster to the country! 'Best' in using YOUR taxes for their purposes only, And the 'Brightest" in squandering the nations assets! Reply
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Shannonals
Dec 8, 08 12:31 PM CST
Is the NYT stating that the Vietname era cabinet and the new cabinet are the same? Reply
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Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • Vietnam • David Halberstam • John F. Kennedy • Paul Volcker • Robert Rubin • financial crisis • President Obama • Timothy Geithner • Lawrence Summers

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