So what is it about these short lists for cabinet positions? Since when has being short been seen as a virtue and tall as a disqualifier? Was this something Robert Reich started? Is Obama worried about competition? In any case I think it should stop. People can be qualified whether they're tall or not, and I look forward to the day when an openly tall person can hold office without being...er... looked down on by his or her fellow public servants.

Looking at Politico's report about Richardson's somewhat controversial corporate-funded air travel, I was thinking I hadn't heard any complaints about his campaign debt before, so I traipsed down memory lane to note that Bill was leaving some small vendors hanging in the lurch back in May and still in June, but the weird thing is I don't remember anyone complaining about it, and I'm sure people would have noticed, because they all stick up for the little people when chips are down.

Lessee, another report today that the GOP spent $180,000 on Sarah's clothes plus another $100K on her hair dresser and other staff. So say $300K total. Which compared to the $10 million she helped McCain raise in 3 days and perhaps another $50-80 million she helped raise over a couple of months (say thank you, Saxby Chambliss) probably isn't a bad return. Maybe we can send Henry Paulson over to ask her how to get a better deal for the $700 billion we put down.

Politico also notes Obama's brought in 20 or so of his Harvard friends to help with the transition,  which starts to moot the idea that the Chicago Machine would run the new show, as well as once more lower expectations that the new government will be packed with people from outside the traditional corridors of power.

There's some suspicion that Caroline Kennedy may be appointed to fill in the soon-to-be-open New York Senate seat, which funny enough is how Uncle Ted, who she interned with, got his start in the Senate. I'm waiting for the columns to appear to decry the Dynasty and her lack of relevant experience, though at least she can't be called much of a carpetbagger, having lived in Manhattan for some time. It remains to be seen whether her well-known designer husband can be controlled and will not interfere with her new career. Having designed the Pope John Paul II Center there is some concern about a conflict of interest (though Carolyn's father seems to have defused this in his race for the President), and there will undoubtedly be some interesting revelations when the pair comes to divulge their rather mixed and diverse income from multiple well-known and lesser-known sources.

If Barack Obama keeps his campaign pledge to withdraw all combat troops within 16 months, that could still leave over 2/3 of the troops there, roughly 100,000. How's that? They're not combat troops, they're "service and support troops". But don't worry, Washington Whispers are that after 2011 this will only be 30,000 to 50,000, with a few sourpusses claiming more like 70,000.

Note that not all combat troops would have to leave, as they could be "re-missioned" with service and support titles. Troop levels today are higher than at the start of the now-finished surge exactly because of these numbers.

Nevertheless, Obama's intent on Day 1 is to end the war "responsibly, deliberately, but decisively". Not that withdrawn combat troops would be coming home - many would be redirected to Afghanistan. And Obama's #1 priority contains actually 2 or 3 priorities depending on how you count - to keep our troops safe in the transition, to make sure the Iraqi people are well-served by their government, and the Iraqi government is taking increased responsibility for their security.

But Obama is not grandstanding - he plans on listening to his advisors, and Gates makes clear, the question is now "how quick and how low". Which acknowledging that means a decrease, a skeptic might rephrase this, "how slow and how little". We went down that road in the early 70's though with a much better supplied opposition. I can't figure out why this withdrawal should take more time.

And I'm still a bit puzzled. I supported our invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, but not because it was run by primitives blowing up Buddhist treasures or keeping girls out of school, but because they were harboring and in all practice helping Al Qaeda attack us. Now that that's out of the way, and we'll certainly pre-emptively take out Al Qaeda where they pop up obviously, I don't think our #1 foreign policy is policing the Hindukush for some unobvious goal. Nor is capturing Bin Laden an important task unless it gives a real security benefit or a PR victory worth the cost. (Futilely trying to take Stalingrad because of its name remains one of the most classic military blunders of all time).

Anyway, Obama's chosen his team and he'll be listening to them. I hope I like what he hears.

Just testing a new TPM feature that allows one to pre-empt yet another John Boy post.

Will it work? Well I’ll be the Cat’s Pajamas if it does.

And another border flare-up occurs. Better a tense relationship than to be ignored, eh?

Update: Oh yeah, the title? All green means of transportation, I guess. Or ways of killing yourself as a kid. Or signs you’re getting a bit grey on top if there’s any top left.

So while we’re playing for time, let’s hear a bit more from the Ice Weasels, my current favorite band.

The Volokh Conspiracy (via Politico) points us to the arguments that a recent pay raise for SoS makes Hillary’s appointment unconstitutional.

He acts as if this boys-will-be-boys turn-a-blind-eye reaction is only on these trivial details of Constitutional eligibility (McCain was born in the Canal Zone, Obama’s mother gave birth in Canada after hiking through the Andes with Shining Path guerrillas, blah blah blah). But it’s the nudge-nudge-wink-wink given to matters like suspending habeas corpus, pretending we don’t know countries we remand to will torture, allowing American citizens to be treated as “foreign combatants” and the like that make this more than a slightly clever noblesse oblige.

However the matter ends up hoisted by its own gender petard - the Founding Fathers presumably never assumed any Founding Mothers might be so presumptious as to vie for power, so the Article in question states, “during the Time for which he was elected”. Hillary may proceed without further ado, in converse to Lloyd Bentsen to whom this question last referred.

It might be a good time for young girls to start leafing through the various statutes, Articles and Bill of Rights to see what mischief they can get away with due to some major oversights in grammatical construction. Inseparate but unequal may just be the lay of the law after all. And the new fashion for the 2000’s.