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Afternoon Fizz

News   May 11, 2009 at 1:04 pm Josh Feit

Last week, Gregoire’s older daughter, Courtney Gregoire (Harvard Law, Sen. Cantwell’s  chief counsel and legislative director) was named director of legislative affairs at the commerce department—where former Washington Governor Gary Locke is now Secretary of Commerce. 

I know Courtney Gregoire is a brain, but Politico’s Jonathan Martin was not impressed. And he includes her on a list of recent plum appointments, which he prefaces this way: 

Need a job? Under President Barack Obama, as with presidents before him, it doesn’t hurt to have the right last name. 

Obama’s promise of changing Washington hasn’t extended to banishing the age-old practice of giving plum posts to relatives of your top supporters — as he’s done with the relatives of a half-dozen well-connected Democrats. 


  • swatter

    Political chummery is as old as politics.

    What is most disappointing is that Obama said he was above all that.

    Can’t blame him for doing what all the others have done, but please don’t insult me with his do-goodedness which is worse (Note: this rant not picking out the author but the 20% who blindly follow Obama)

  • swatter

    Political chummery is as old as politics.

    What is most disappointing is that Obama said he was above all that.

    Can’t blame him for doing what all the others have done, but please don’t insult me with his do-goodedness which is worse (Note: this rant not picking out the author but the 20% who blindly follow Obama)

  • swatter

    Political chummery is as old as politics.

    What is most disappointing is that Obama said he was above all that.

    Can’t blame him for doing what all the others have done, but please don’t insult me with his do-goodedness which is worse (Note: this rant not picking out the author but the 20% who blindly follow Obama)

  • Zelbinian

    Dude, you’re getting all self-righteous over 6 out of hundreds of appointments? If you want to get all indignant about Obama, his wavering on torture is the proper medium, not this petty bullshit.

    First of all, we actually tell college kids to “leverage your network”. We, as a society, can’t have this shit both ways.

    Also, all you need to know about this article is the last sentence of this paragraph:

    “Obama is hardly constructing a Tammany Hall on the Potomac, as all six have something in their background to recommend them for the jobs, no matter their bloodlines. But neither is it a good government purist’s dream, where those with familiar last names need not apply to keep up a spotless appearance.”

    Jonathan Martin’s dream, apparently, is one in which people receive prejudice for recognizable last names in order to “keep up a spotless appearance.” The man makes no attempts that I can see to indicate that any of these people haven’t earned the job, or are incapable of doing it. He’s bitching for the sake of it.

  • Zelbinian

    Dude, you’re getting all self-righteous over 6 out of hundreds of appointments? If you want to get all indignant about Obama, his wavering on torture is the proper medium, not this petty bullshit.

    First of all, we actually tell college kids to “leverage your network”. We, as a society, can’t have this shit both ways.

    Also, all you need to know about this article is the last sentence of this paragraph:

    “Obama is hardly constructing a Tammany Hall on the Potomac, as all six have something in their background to recommend them for the jobs, no matter their bloodlines. But neither is it a good government purist’s dream, where those with familiar last names need not apply to keep up a spotless appearance.”

    Jonathan Martin’s dream, apparently, is one in which people receive prejudice for recognizable last names in order to “keep up a spotless appearance.” The man makes no attempts that I can see to indicate that any of these people haven’t earned the job, or are incapable of doing it. He’s bitching for the sake of it.

  • Zelbinian

    Dude, you’re getting all self-righteous over 6 out of hundreds of appointments? If you want to get all indignant about Obama, his wavering on torture is the proper medium, not this petty bullshit.

    First of all, we actually tell college kids to “leverage your network”. We, as a society, can’t have this shit both ways.

    Also, all you need to know about this article is the last sentence of this paragraph:

    “Obama is hardly constructing a Tammany Hall on the Potomac, as all six have something in their background to recommend them for the jobs, no matter their bloodlines. But neither is it a good government purist’s dream, where those with familiar last names need not apply to keep up a spotless appearance.”

    Jonathan Martin’s dream, apparently, is one in which people receive prejudice for recognizable last names in order to “keep up a spotless appearance.” The man makes no attempts that I can see to indicate that any of these people haven’t earned the job, or are incapable of doing it. He’s bitching for the sake of it.

  • Trevor

    Politics is patronage. Most campaign reform politics is pure hypocrisy. Moderate liberals are the most hypocritical, because they attack others for being biased and ideological and captive to special interests, so they can’t admit that they too are biased and ideological and run by insider-networks.

  • Trevor

    Politics is patronage. Most campaign reform politics is pure hypocrisy. Moderate liberals are the most hypocritical, because they attack others for being biased and ideological and captive to special interests, so they can’t admit that they too are biased and ideological and run by insider-networks.

  • Trevor

    Politics is patronage. Most campaign reform politics is pure hypocrisy. Moderate liberals are the most hypocritical, because they attack others for being biased and ideological and captive to special interests, so they can’t admit that they too are biased and ideological and run by insider-networks.

  • http://publicola.net/ Josh Feit

    @2,

    Re: Torture. We flagged that in this morning’s Morning Fizz.

    http://publicola.net/?p=5892

    Follow the link to the Center for Constitutional Rights.

  • http://publicola.net/ Josh Feit

    @2,

    Re: Torture. We flagged that in this morning’s Morning Fizz.

    http://publicola.net/?p=5892

    Follow the link to the Center for Constitutional Rights.

  • http://publicola.net/ Josh Feit

    @2,

    Re: Torture. We flagged that in this morning’s Morning Fizz.

    http://publicola.net/?p=5892

    Follow the link to the Center for Constitutional Rights.

  • Riley Sweeney

    There is always several hundreds of people that are qualified for a job. You usually hire people you know and can trust. It makes sense that the highly qualified Gregoire would land a job in Commerce.

  • Riley Sweeney

    There is always several hundreds of people that are qualified for a job. You usually hire people you know and can trust. It makes sense that the highly qualified Gregoire would land a job in Commerce.

  • Riley Sweeney

    There is always several hundreds of people that are qualified for a job. You usually hire people you know and can trust. It makes sense that the highly qualified Gregoire would land a job in Commerce.

  • seabos84

    gary and chris did such and are doing such a GREAT job of beating back the ronnie raygun / tim eyeman brand of politics …

    NOT

    at least they have the nepotism thing figured out.

  • seabos84

    gary and chris did such and are doing such a GREAT job of beating back the ronnie raygun / tim eyeman brand of politics …

    NOT

    at least they have the nepotism thing figured out.

  • http://LOMG!!! seabos84

    gary and chris did such and are doing such a GREAT job of beating back the ronnie raygun / tim eyeman brand of politics …

    NOT

    at least they have the nepotism thing figured out.