How many times have you received an email with a signature including "Be the change you want to see in the world"? Gandhi said it and it's a treasured thought to many including my friend and sister blogger Catherine Morgan, who write a blog she calls "Be the Change You Want to See in Yourself." That's the feeling, the sense of purpose, that created so many committed Obama supporters, who surrendered their work, their time and their futures to make sure he was elected.
Today I read the following in the Washington Post:
This, about HHS:
After
Daschle's departure, other top prospects, such as neurosurgeon and television
reporter Sanjay Gupta, lost enthusiasm. That also may have been the case
withDonald Berwick, president of the Institute for Healthcare
Improvement, who had been talked about as a strong contender for the
Medicare-Medicaid job.
And
this, about finding a U.S. Ambassador to Mexico:
They've been trying: Clinton
administration transportation secretary and early Obama backer Federico Peña
turned down an offer, we hear, as did Clinton White House deputy chief of staff
Maria Echaveste. Given the Senate's upcoming two-week recess, there's
little chance an ambassador will be in Mexico City to greet Air Force One.
It's happening in the Treasury Department too, where is sounds like, in addition to the enormous challenges Secretary Geithner, he's also working without much substantial staff support. Between tax and other issues, several potential deputy and assistant secretary people have reportedly either dropped out or been eliminated.
Call me crazy but it seems to me that people should be knocking down doors, walls and White House fences to help. Those with great gifts should be volunteering the way GIs did in World War II. Yet at least from what's been reported, the opposite is true. People are pulling back, especially near the top.
I understand that much of this gap is not refusal to serve but instead the intense vetting process that makes it tough to get anything done. And that the Republicans in Congress are being so tough that often people wonder if it's worth it.
But this is an emergency. The Treasury Secretary is "making do" with a skeleton staff and, I''ll bet, some uncompensated patriots who are helping him until they can unscramble the nomination mess. And I'm a big girl. I understand that more than patriotism motivates many who choose to serve — or not to. But I keep thinking about my mom's funeral. I said to one of her friends, "You guys really were the Greatest Generation. You went through so much and were so brave."
His response: "We just did what we had to do. You will too." I hope he was right.
Maybe they need to look for rising stars instead of relying on former Clinton staffers? It’s possible that those who have already been through this all once before feel they have too much to lose, or at least too many tax flubs to hide.