I was fascinated by this story about the transition from the Bush administration to the new Obama administration.
(T)he days since Tuesday's election have shown a striking level of comity following the rancor of the campaign, enhanced by President Bush's months-long efforts to pave the way for a smooth transition and President-elect Barack Obama's preelection determination to move quickly.
"Ensuring that this transition is seamless is a top priority for the rest of my time in office," Bush said in his weekly radio address yesterday. "My administration will work hard to ensure that the next president and his team can hit the ground running."
Bush has created a transition coordinating council, populated by experts from inside and outside the administration, and has streamlined the process for obtaining security clearances for key transition officials. National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell flew to Chicago on Thursday to deliver Obama his first daily intelligence briefing.
The Obama team has begun submitting names to the FBI for expedited security clearances, which is allowed under an intelligence reform law passed in 2004. Officials said that more than 100 positions, down to the level of undersecretary, are eligible under the statute.
Bush's chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, said the White House is even preparing a "tabletop" exercise to simulate how Obama's national security officials should respond in the event of a terrorist attack.
"If a crisis hits on Jan. 21, they're the ones that are going to have to deal with it," Bolten said in an interview taped for broadcast today on C-SPAN. "We need to make sure they're as well-prepared as possible."
Likewise, the administration is laying the groundwork for an unusual level of access to the Treasury Department and other agencies involved in attempts to stabilize the foundering economy. White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Friday that Treasury is preparing office space that will allow Obama aides to sit alongside current administration officials.
Fratto said such efforts are intended to send a signal that Treasury's approach will not change too abruptly when Obama takes office. "They don't want to surprise markets; they want to try to make sure that they have predictable information for markets," he said.
Hmm, no signs of BusHitler dictator for life there. But you know, Dick Cheney is so sneaky, they just want us to think George Bush is trying to help Barack Obama.
Well, ok, no, I don't think that. In fact, I think it shows, yet again, what a good and decent man Bush is--not to mention careful and thoughtful--that he has been planning the transition of power for months.
One thing I wondered was if Bush's behavior was an anomaly in a city filled with partisan bickering and long knives. Happily, it was not.
One day after the divisive election's official end, the president-elect attended a prayer service in Austin, Texas...
Each man (President Bush and Al Gore) addressed the nation Wednesday night. Gore said he was disappointed but not bitter, and Bush promised to earn the respect of all Americans "whether you voted for me or not."
In a conciliatory gesture, the president-elect made calls to Democratic leaders in the House and Senate -- Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Missouri, and Sen. Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota -- and took a call from the Rev. Jesse Jackson -- who, during the Florida election dispute questioned the legitimacy of a Bush presidency.
Bush also received his daily national security briefing from the CIA and was slated to meet with his senior advisers to continue planning his transition from Texas governor to the nation's 43rd president.
The president-elect will travel Sunday to Washington to begin a series of meetings that will include his former rival, Gore, as well as President Clinton and a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers. Bush and Gore are slated to meet Tuesday.
Bush and Gore are slated to meet Tuesday, and Cheney said the meeting was one of "great symbolic significance..."
White House Chief of Staff John Podesta plans to meet Monday with his replacement-to-be, Andy Card, a former transportation secretary in the Bush administration, to lay the groundwork for the Clinton-Bush meeting and to discuss other transition arrangements, including a proposed memo of understanding to allow access by Bush aides to information protected by privacy privileges or national security concerns.
Gosh, sounds so cozy. Too bad Dems didn't really mean it.
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