To Czar or Not to Czar?

 Posted by at 12:34 am  Politics
Oct 192014
 

In spite of all the anti-Czar propaganda from the from the Republican Party in 2009, accusing Obama of using Czars to implement totalitarian rule, the Ebola problem, has caused a sudden shift on their part from having always been against Czars to having always been for Czars, accompanied by demands that Obama appoint an Ebola Czar.  Now that he has done so, they are beginning to shift back to having always been against Czars, and accusations that Obama has picked the wrong Czar.  Lets begin with the appointment.

1019KlainPresident Obama has asked Ron Klain, who served as chief of staff to both Vice President Biden and former vice president Al Gore, as his Ebola response coordinator, according to a White House official.

"He will report directly to the president’s homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco, and the president’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, as he ensures that efforts to protect the American people by detecting, isolating and treating Ebola patients in this country are properly integrated but don’t distract from the aggressive commitment to stopping Ebola at the source in West Africa," a White House official wrote in an e-mail.

Klain, 53, is a longtime Democratic operative who served as Biden’s chief of staff from 2009 to 2011 and as Gore’s from 1995 to 1999. He helped oversee the Democratic side in the 2000 presidential election recount as its lead lawyer, a role that Kevin Spacey portrayed in the HBO film "Recount."

CNN first reported the news Friday morning.

Obama has been under pressure from Republicans for weeks to appoint an "Ebola czar" to oversee the federal government’s overall effort to contain the disease. Thursday night, the president told reporters: "It may make sense for us to have one person, in part just so that after this initial surge of activity, we can have a more regular process, just to make sure that we’re crossing all the t’s and dotting all the i’s going forward."… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Personally, I consider this a good decision.  If Republicans and a few Democrats, who fear the NRA, had not kept is without a Surgeon General, the natural point person in such a situation, there would be no need.  Furthermore, the people who have been handling it are certainly qualified, but they have other things to do.  For instance, Obama is busy helping with the midterms, and a Republican takeover of the Senate would cause far more American deaths than Ebola will in the next two years  The Ebola threat requires a person, whose sole job is coordinating our national response. Klain had the organizational experience to coordinate professionals and the political acumen to produce results.

Rachel Maddow covered the Republican record on Czars, the history of Czars in America, what a Czar does, and what qualifies someone to be Czar.

If you cannot watch it here, try the MSNBC direct video link.  If you can’t watch it there, it may still be on YouTube.

One of the premier Republican objections is that Obama’s choice is not a doctor, which Rachel just disproved. 

Republicans, however, actually do have a “doctor”, who is also a Republican "expert" on Ebola. Rachel provided his credentials, after talking about other Republican Ebola scams.

If you also cannot watch this one here, try its MSNBC direct video link.  If you can’t watch it there, it may still be on YouTube.

To Czar or not to Czar?  Who, if anyone, would you prefer taking charge of the threat, Ron Klain, or Idiot, Son of Idiot, Named After Idiot?

Also, should we ban travel to and from Texas?

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  9 Responses to “To Czar or Not to Czar?”

  1. Sounds a good idea – but all scaremongering Repugs should be banned as a public health measure!

  2. I wonder what dictionary this – person – went to whose degree invalidates mine.  I've always understood that "Czar" meant "emperor."  Except in America where it means "point person."  (Amusing that the first point person referenced in this sequence was Henry J Kaiser – and "Kaiser" is "Czar" in German.  They both go back to Latin "Caesar.")  As a fan of S I Hayakawa I do understand that semantics is important, but this Republican business of blowing up semantics in lieu of substace is beyond ridiculous. 

    I do think an Ebola Czar should be competent to listen to doctors (not that this is rocket science unless you are a Republican).  I don't see why he or she should be a doctor.  A medical doctor with the organizational abilities to handle this job mught be in the wrong field anyway.

    There are some good people in Texas who deserve the chance to escape.  I'm for that.  Many aren't in a position to do so.  I'd like to be able to support them.  That said, a travel ban to and from Texs makes as much sense as any other proposed travel ban.

  3. If the TeapublicanTs hadn't been so afraid of the NRA we wouldn't be in this fix. Someone please tell me why no one went after Pres. Reagan when AIDS cause over 27,000 deaths and he waited almost 7 years to do anything about it? Because it was a "Gay" disease?

  4. Rachel Maddow clears the air with her news stories. Have a watch and listen to what she says in the videos.

    “Rand Paul stoops low to stoke Ebola fears”

    Rand does not have to stoop low as he is already in on the down-low being an Idiot, Son of an Idiot, Named After an Idiot. lol.

    I’ve always had a problem with the semantics, meaning, connotation of the word “Czar” for years and still do.

    Travel bans in Texass would be wonderful for the likes of Cruz, Perry, Gohmert and other GOP/TP people as public health nuisances. They would be forced to stay in Texass. lol.

  5. Anyone that let’s Faux Spews and other “news” outlets spook them into the frenzy about “The Ebola Crisis” needs their head checked.
    Rachel does herself proud in this one!

  6. Tried 7 or 8 times to post a comment to C2. Can’t get it to go thru.
    But as long as the Repubes have this country in a freak-out over this non-epidemic (in the US) they have us by the short hairs!!

  7. Ebola is now enemy #1, and is being used to scare people so that they forget about the problems that can be fixed by kicking the Republicans out of office.  Rand Paul is a charlatan and I am constantly embarrassed that he is one of my senators.

  8. JD — "As a fan of S I Hayakawa I do understand that semantics is important, but this Republican business of blowing up semantics in lieu of substace is beyond ridiculous."

    JD, they can't help themselves as they are of no substance themselves.  I listen to the crap coming out of the US about ebola . . . I think it is the flavour of the moment for Faux Noise and just another opportunity to stir things up politically.  The problem is that the sheeple are actually believing these charlatans!

    Here in Canada, we are Faux Noise free (our attempted version, Sun News, is an unmitigated failure!  thankfully).  We are having radio and print media educational programming to look at the myths and realities rather than blowing things up.  Have a look at these 2 links from the CBC as examples:

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/canada-s-ebola-response-gets-fresh-test-in-nova-scotia-1.2805258?cmp=rss

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/ebola-outbreak-here-s-what-you-need-to-know-1.2786511

    It is too bad that everything is politicised in the US.  This stands in the way of getting things done.

  9. Thanks all.  Pit stop.

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