Screw how it looks! I work in the defense industry and I can tell you all I care about is how effective he is in carrying out Obama's policies and providing liaison between the political and the physical.

I've never understood that argument. I'm a vet and I voted for Obama. How does that make me look wimpy??? This is truly a specious argument--keep the guy in place because he's good at the job. Replace him when/if it becomes necessary. This is just like the hand-wringing about Obama not campaigning in GA for Jim Martin, i.e., it's just silly.

Reading Spencer Ackerman over the last month has convinced me that this is a good idea. If Gates is indeed a placeholder, I hope he's holding it for Zinni.

Rumsfeld and Cheney effectively ended the notion that Republicans can run the military. Gates is good at his job, primarily because he's been so non-ideological. His appointment was the one and only thing Bush got right in eight years.

Obama wants to wrap up this disastrous war while dealing with the economy. Gates is the man to do it. If he fired him simply to make a statement, he would be acting Bush-like.

It would be wonderful if PE Obama could focus on the Defense Dept and the Iraq situation immediately, but the economy is obviously Job #1.

One of the best things I see about PE Obama and his staff is that they are patient and willing to move priorities to the front burner as necessary. They also appear to have the wisdom to move other situations to the back burner and let them simmer and percolate because the timing for attacking such problems could better down the road (especially after Inauguration when President Obama and staff will have full access to the lockboxes and secrets).

If I was part of the defense industry that relied on the Bushies the last eight years, I would rather PE Obama deal with the Defense Dept in a rush and near panic, allowing for the "falling through the crack" opportunities.

I say that when the time comes, and come it will, President Obama will be comprehensive and smart in reining in the defense industry.

Let's be patient.

I'm fine with keeping Gates under the circumstances but I also get the concern about it. At least for me, it's not about "what Republicans might say." It's about developing and promoting new Democratic and progressive leadership on defense issues. Gates will probably want to keep as many as his people as possible, and that's appropriate, because he has to be effective. But at the same time, that keeps new people out of those roles.

I gather that Gates has been good at shaking up the Air Force, and that's great. Given the two wars and the economy, I see the value of continuity at DOD, as long as it is temporary.

I don't care if Obama hires santa claus to spray his magic powder, anyone to get the job done.And the notion that only dems can handle the economy (whis is true) to reps know how to handly wars (not quite true) is something that we all need to break out of. I think we should drop the dems vs reps debate and have a competent vs incompetent debate.

A whiney leak from "inside obama camp." Sounds like a clinton person. I guess the clintons don't like gates staying on, because of his goodwill and compitence and they view it as a threat to the clintons at state. Hmmm, team of rivals in action. I guess we'll be seeing alot of these leaks now.

Gates is the best man for the job right now - so Obama either self-assured enough to keep him on or should bow to political pressures and put in somebody else? I'll take the self-assured President 10 times out of 10.

Biden wasn't lying when he said Obama would be tested and naming a hawkish experienced FP team and keeping Gates on is sending the message not to play games. Given the two wars and then economy is dire straits, Obama has enough on his plate without testing from outside entities.

What a bunch of handwringing over nothing! Let's give credit where credit is due. Gates took over a near-impossible task and has done about as well at it as anyone could. As long as he and BHO can work well together on the tasks at hand, this is no time to change horses in midstream for the sake of Party ID. Seems like BHO's talked a lot about employing the best people and ideas in his administration, regardless of party affiliation, as long as they are willing and able to work together. Retaining Gates seems like an excellent case of doing just that.

Incidentally, on the whiney leak again, the whiney leak is what perpetuates the perception that dems are weak on defense and national security matters. Appointing a d is irrelevant. The point is the execution by the O team, that's the point and what people will remember. The whiney leak takes away from that. Unbelievable.

O snap - I think I just figured the whole thing out. Republicans think they are living inside the TV show: 24. They talk about it constantly.

Democrats think they live inside the The West Wing.

LOL!

As Obama abandons the republican foreign policy and military initiatives of securing Middle Eastern oil for Exxon-Mobil and redirects these toward targeting fundamentalist terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the delivered message will be clearer than the superficial implications of any cabinet appointments, that this Democratic president means business when it comes to advancing American national security interests rather than those multinational corporations.

People are always looking for something to be concerned about. Give the man a chance before we start going crazy.

-- Cris
My site: Obama Wallpaper Archive

SHOCK! Barack Obama is actually trying to govern. The MSM is full of malarky.

Well, the concern is absolutely correct and well-grounded. And perception matters a lot in politics. Perception can shape the outcome of elections.

This appointment can, and will, be interpreted to say that Dems are wimps who can't handle defense. You know, "the Mommy Party needs the Daddy Party for defense."

Combine that with Obama's pretty clear rejection of liberals the last 10 days and it lets a lot of air out of the balloon.

Worse, we know there is rampant corruption in the Iraq occupation and, given Bush-Cheney, likely more in the Pentagon. Keeping Gates means keeping his whole crew and keeping a lid on corruption.

May we learn more about the whole Gates crew, oh TPM juggernaut? What's the whole package deal here?

This is exactly the concern I have about the pick. It perpetuates the media myth that Democrats are weak on defense. However, of all the Bush appointees I suppose Gates is the least objectionable and I understand all the reasons why Obama is keeping him.
Before she was being considered for SoS, I thought Hillary would have been a good pick for Defense. She would have made history as the first women in that spot, she serves on the armed services committee in the Senate, and I think she has the temperament to run the Pentagon.

Gates is a solid choice. It's the transition.
Gates was a member of the Iraq Study Group - which called a civil war a civil war.

Obama's most vulnerable point (and the Dems) remains defense.

Gates has been thinking long - and hard - about the way out, which cannot be helicopter evacuation from the Green Zone.

The greater danger is "can do" spirit in Afghanistan leading to a quagmire in the Hindu Kush.

Oh, for crap's sake ... No wonder progressives and liberals cannot rule effectively. You are spending WAY too much time worried about every little stinking thing about appearances, messages, blah, blah. Just pick the people who will implement your plan and SHUT UP!!! We won and we need to RELAX!

As long as his deputies are replace. Gates appears to be rational but all those Bush hacks must go. I say put in a solid democrat that will take over within 9-10 months as his deputy. This will allow for a smoother transition.

They should do more than worry. This is a B**tard that had Navy ships hold people in international waters to defeat any attempt to find them while they were tortured.

He is a war criminal. Anyone he works for is also a war criminal.

This is a trojan horse to get the Obama administration tarred with the stink Bush/Cheney created.

Please don't do this, Mr. President Elect.