Political Archaeologists’ Find Surprises During the Transition

NY Times ^ | December 2, 2008 | DAVID E. SANGER

[woofie]

WASHINGTON — For the first time since .........(Bla) 2001 — the BlackBerry as we know it wasn’t on the market yet — the alumni of the Clinton Administration have returned to their old haunts.

This time, they are members of “transition teams,” but several say they feel like more like political archaeologists. “The buildings look the same,” one said over coffee, “but everything inside is unrecognizable.” And as they dig, they have tripped across a few surprises.

.........(BLA BLA BLA)

In the Pentagon’s deepest crevices, the Joint Special Operations Command has mushroomed in size and influence because of the demands of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The list goes on.

But several say that their biggest surprise came when they learned more about how President Bush spends his day, and how he gets his information.

It’s not clear what they expected; .........(Bla Bla putdown). Instead, they have been surprised to see the degree of tactical detail about two wars and a handful of insurgencies — ...........— that surrounds him. Partly this is because the high-tech makeover of the Situation Room, ....... makes instantaneous conversation with field commanders easier than ever.

Both the transition officials and some White House insiders say it may make this communication too easy, sucking the commander-in-chief into a situation in which real-time, straight-from-the-battlefield discussions of tactics masquerade as a conversation about strategy..............(Bla Bla Bla)

“The technology tends to skew the nature of the advice you hear,” ( off the record)“You spend a lot more time talking about hitting a house of full of bad guys in Waziristan than you do talking about why our effort to build schools and roads is moving so slowly.”....(bla bla bla)

Even the face-to-face discussions took on an element of virtual reality.

[woofie]

It turns out that the problem with G W was not that he was stupid or Evil ...it was TOO MUCH COMMUNICATION and TECHNOLOGY....damn Obama is smarter than to be too plugged in!!!!

[Question_Assumptions]

He’s out of touch. He’s too in touch. I wish they’d pick a smear narrative and stick to it.

[Doogle]

..just the NYT smoothing things out for a guy who needed 300 “advisers”, who's “pay grade” nobody knows, has to deal with.....reality.

[woofie]

The article makes it clear that if one is too in touch he/she is therefore out of touch

[GOP Poet]

no domestic attack in the US since 9/11. Speaks for itself.

[tet68]

The article makes it clear that if one is too in touch he/she is therefore out of touch

A touchy subject that’s too touchy-feely to touch.

[OneWingedShark]

lol

[GOP Poet]

What they yet do no know, but Obama does . . . he is so IN the situation room 24/7 after his inauguration. Heck there may even be days he forgets to shower! LOL.

[Yo-Yo]

Both the transition officials and some White House insiders say it may make this communication too easy, sucking the commander-in-chief into a situation in which real-time, straight-from-the-battlefield discussions of tactics masquerade as a conversation about strategy..............(Bla Bla Bla)

Oh, you mean like how Johnson, McNamara, and the Whiz Kids ran the Vietnam war...(Bla Bla Bla)

[Tenniel2]

Speaking of how the "technology tends to skew the nature of the advice you hear," it evidently never occurred to this gormless feckwit that maybe you can't start building schools and roads in Waziristan until after you've hit a whole lot of houses full of bad guys.

No wonder the Times, with all its wonderful wickedness, is melting, melting...

[smokingfrog]

Wow! You mean we've actually had some grown-ups running the govt. for the last 8 years instead of a bunch of wet behind the ears punks trying to do damage control for BJ Clinton and coming up with exciting policies like midnight basketball?