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   Read the story and see the video discussion by the authors about why creeping consolidation is crushing American livelihoods.
 Career colleges and the paper of record face off.
 A forensic tool renowned for exonerating the innocent may actually be putting them in prison.
 Crises can force even the most dysfunctional governments to changeand Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou aims to prove it.
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December 13, 2008
DONOVAN HEADED TO HUD.... The president-elect will announce this morning that he's nominating Shaun Donovan, New York City's widely respected housing commissioner, to be the next head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It's hard to imagine Barack Obama picking a more qualified person for the job.
Looking over Donovan's background, his expertise in housing policy includes the public and private sector, as well as an academic background -- he researched the preservation of federally assisted housing at NYU, was a researcher at Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, and "was a consultant to the Millennial Housing Commission, set up by Congress to recommend new ways to encourage production of affordable housing nationwide." He even worked for "a nonprofit lender and developer for affordable properties." Newsweek noted that the HUD post is "often occupied by a minority candidate," and the NYT mentions in passing that Donavan's nomination may disappoint the Latino community, who had hoped to see a Hispanic official head the cabinet agency. Those concerns notwithstanding, Donavan, with a progressive and ambitious vision for federal housing policy, is unquestionably perfect for the job. —Steve Benen 8:00 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (14)Comments
When did the Irish stop being a minority? Posted by: James Wimberley on December 13, 2008 at 8:51 AM | PERMALINKJames Wimberly: Are you really trying to claim that Irish are systematically disadvantaged in today's society? Or are you joking? Posted by: arbitrista on December 13, 2008 at 8:55 AM | PERMALINK"stop being a minority" Uh, when did O'Arrogantone begin his Entertainment Hour at FAUX? A "Clintonista"? HuffPo and DK fans, lock and load. Posted by: berttheclock on December 13, 2008 at 9:16 AM | PERMALINKWhen did the Irish stop being a minority? Posted by: James Wimberley on December 13, 2008 at 8:51 AM | PERMALINK Read "How the Irish Became White" by Noel Ignatiev Posted by: kP on December 13, 2008 at 9:35 AM | PERMALINKWhen did the Irish stop being a minority? Posted by: James Wimberley on December 13, 2008 at 8:51 AM | PERMALINK Read "How the Irish Became White" by Noel Ignatiev Posted by: kP on December 13, 2008 at 9:39 AM | PERMALINKClearly Obama's subversive habit of appointing nominees not in the "Meet the Press" speed dial or Sally Quinn's address book must end. Posted by: Steve Paradis on December 13, 2008 at 9:54 AM | PERMALINKWhen did Irish stop being a minority? When they became "white" - right around the time large numbers of Jews and Italians started showing up. Posted by: UofAZGrad on December 13, 2008 at 11:30 AM | PERMALINKBut...but...but...is he PROGRESSIVE enough????? /snark Posted by: gwangung on December 13, 2008 at 12:11 PM | PERMALINKJames, m'lad. Sure'n but this January will be a GREAT day f'r the Irish. The whole Administration is talkin' about 'comin' more green and we'll be celebratin' the succession of President O'Bama. That thing about his 'great tan' now, don't let that be tropublin' you. Sure you must have been hearin' the term "Black Irish" sometime in yer life.
And one other point I haven't seen medntioned. Obama isn't just our first black President, he's also our first 'urban' President in a long time. In fact, except for the Roosevelts, we have never had a President from a 'big city' -- and they were, technically, 'suburbanites.' And in the past, this has been one of the 'unimportant' cabinet posts. Given the fact that the housing crunch hasn't gone away while we've been watching the financial industry and the auto industry take center stage, this is no longer a 'minor' position, to be used to ' I've had this computer for a month, but still getting used to the keyboard. That and the fact i'm still waking up explains the typos -- along with my usual laziness at previewing. [...] in the past, this has been one of the 'unimportant' cabinet posts. -- Prup, (still waking up. Nice to know someone is even more of a layabed than I am ), @13:12 I've been noticing this about O'Bama; he seems to be standing all our notions of "important" and "unimportant" on their heads. Partly, because to him, no detail of a functioning government is considered "unimportant". And partly, I think, because he has slightly different priorities than those we've become used to. With Obama, it looks like the motto should be "expect the unexpected and then learn to appreciate it" Posted by: exlibra on December 13, 2008 at 2:06 PM | PERMALINKkp, UofAZGrad: Thanks for understanding this European's question as a question and answering it. But it's still a strange usage. There is now no majority ethnic group in the US population, counting WASPs as one - and that's generous, since Yankees, Appalachian Sccts-Irish, and Southern white Protestants should probably be counted as distinct tribes. That leaves "minority" as a baffling term of art. What does it cover? AAs and Latinos? Are Asians included? If so, why? What have they got in common but darker skin than the other minorities? Posted by: James Wimberley on December 13, 2008 at 4:38 PM | PERMALINKThis sounds like some kind of anti-tokenism. Bush seems to have put people from minority factions into cabinet positions that he really didn't want to succeed. This had the added benefit of failure being stuck on his non-male or non-white picks. Alternatively, he placed unqualified and/or corrupt white-guy cronies into these agencies needing to fail and let them work their magic. Let's see: we have Powell and Rice at State, destroying their future in politics. Doan is an inept two-fer. Gonzales at DOJ. Minetta at the FAA. There was the Harriet Miers nomination, which failed and allowed Bush to go to the ultra-conservative white guys. Posted by: tomj on December 13, 2008 at 4:52 PM | PERMALINKAnd don't forget Alphonzo Jackson at HUD, replaced by Steve Preston. And Roderick Paige at Education replaced by Margaret Spellman. Yes, I see a pattern here. Posted by: Danp on December 13, 2008 at 6:52 PM | PERMALINK
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