Posted by
Mike Bates on Saturday, January 03, 2009 12:21:46 PM
Stop the presses. After an exhaustive investigation, the Washington
Post has exclusively learned that "some" conservatives believe that
"some" advisers to Barack Obama are too liberal. The newspaper's Web
site yesterday included the article,
"Obama's Team Rankles the Right: To Some Conservatives, Advisers Are Alarmingly Liberal." The piece begins:
To some staunch conservatives watching President Bush
relinquish the reins of power to President-elect Barack Obama, a few
too many ardent liberals are now crashing the gates.
Some well-known Democratic activists are advising Obama
on how to steer federal agencies, including a few whom conservative
Republicans fought hard to keep out of power in the Clinton
administration. They include Roberta Achtenberg, a gay activist whose
confirmation as an assistant housing secretary was famously held up by
then-Sen. Jesse Helms (N.C.), and Bill Lann Lee, who was hotly opposed
by foes of affirmative action and temporarily blocked from the
government's top civil rights job.
So who are these conservatives disturbed by the liberalism of Obama's aides? The Washington Post quotes one, Roger Clegg:
"The transition team as described to me was made up of
nothing but people on the far left. Though Obama is more moderate, that
makes you wonder what kind of advice the president is given, and what
range of choices he'll be given when it comes time to make
appointments."
And who else does the Post use to buttress its contention of conservative displeasure with Team Obama? No one:
Besides Achtenberg and Lee, other transition advisers'
past positions are sending off flares in the ultra-conservative wing of
the Republican Party. None of them responded to requests for comment.
It shouldn't be surprising that conservatives would be displeased
with the people around Obama. What is surprising is that the
newspaper's staff could only find one conservative willing to voice his
concerns. How hard were they looking?