Cleland for VA?
The Washington Times speculates this morning that former Senator Max Cleland might be in line for an appointment to the VA Directorship in the new administration;
A source familiar with transition planning said Mr. Cleland, a Vietnam veteran and triple amputee, is under consideration for either secretary of Veterans Affairs or secretary of the Army in an Obama administration, and liberal grass-roots support is building for his selection.
That just might make sense – a combat-injured veteran who has, most likely, spent the last forty years in the VA system knows what veterans need and he’s probably going to do the right thing more often than someone off the street looking for a cushy job. But if they’re considering him to be Army Secretary, not so smart – it would be waste of his expertise.
He voted more often with Conservatives on Homeland Security issues, but as the Army Secretary, he’d only be charged with implementing policy rather than making policy. I’d prefer to see him doing the most good for the troops in the role of VA Administrator.
Category: Politics
Cleland in at V.A.,Chambliss out in Ga.would be very fitting.
The head of VA is called the “secretary”, especially since it became a cabinet-level department in 1989. “Administrator” is an obsolete term…
Ditto on the Secretary vs Admin.
I’m not a Cleland fan. Lotsa reasons, but nobody from the Obama folks asked me.
The last time we heard from Max he was hanging out in Crawford, TX with Cindy Sheehan trying to act as a mailman for John Kerry to deliver a letter to President Bush asking that he call off the Swift Boat Vets.
I don’t want him in Veterans Affairs because he approaches the needs of veterans from the liberal standpoint of how are they all victims.
First, I’ve got to take issue with the “combat injured” tag. He was injured in a combat zone,but not in combat. He blew himself up at a landing zone while drinking beer, with a grenade he shouldn’t have been playing with. To his limited credit, he does not claim or wear a Purple Heart.
Second, Cleland has already run the VA once before, for Peanut Carter. He did nothing for VA morale nor quality of service for the vets. It was one of the periods when large numbers of wannabes and fakes infiltrated the system, because he demanded expedited entrance without confirming eligibility status. Hearsay reports that he has been in a state of depression evr since losing his reelection bid do not bode well for him doing a much bettr job on a second attempt. If you must step in shit, please try to choose a new and different pile.
Jonn wrote: Yeah, I know he blew himself up and he happened to be Viet Nam at the time (I was trying to be sensitive to his injuries – although he probably wouldn’t do the same for me), still he’s been in the VA care system for forty years and understands it. I didn’t know he was a Carter appointee, but it makes sense since Carter brought half of Georgia with him to DC. At that time the VA was part of the Interior Department, though (I think – apparently someone will gladly correct me if I’m wrong).
Irrespective of the job he did then, you know the Democrats have to give him a job and we don’t have a say in that. But I’d much rather he be the VA chief than the Army Secretary, wouldn’t you? The measure of power in DC is the size of the budget cabinet members control – Cleland in his wheelchair will probably get more money for vets from the Democrats than anyone else.
Dear Martha – not this guy. There is a reason he lost his seat in Congress and it wasn’t because of the “bogus ad”. He was inept and nothing more than a partisan hack politican. I appreciate his service to his country but after his shenanigans with Cindy Sheehan and John Kerry, I don’t want him near DC again. And I’m speaking as a former constituent of his.
Before 1989, VA was an independent agency NOT part of the Interior Department. Gosh Jonn, even TSO isn’t that…well, I don’t want to say “dumm” (mispelling intentional), but…