Has anyone thought to tell Kingston that the dumbed-down education provided in the Heinous BibleThumperDom of KnuckleDraggerStan (Formerly known as the Deep South, but now worthy of being placed several notches below dehydrated bovine excrement on the Evolutionary Scale of Non-Sentient Rock) has resulted in there being no one from the South who is eminently qualified to work for MY PRESIDENT?!?

oddly, today is the anniversary of south carolina seceding from the union in 1860.
we shoulda never let 'em back in!

and who gives a flying fuck what jack kingston thinks about anything, anyway?

Clearly they all failed the first question in Obama's tough new screening regime - do your girlfriend and sister add up to less than two people?

Kingston and his fellow conservatives have argued for years that employers should consider merit when making hiring decisions -- and nothing else.

Maybe Republicans aren't all as ideological as we tend to assume. And besides, why let principles get in the way of petty umbrage?

Nobody from my condo development was selected for the Cabinet either. I wonder if we're being discriminated against.

Of course Southerners aren't shut out of the government.

They pretty much run the Senate, in spite of not actually having a majority, and have informally changed the constitution so it takes 60 votes to pass a law instead of 51.

They are deferred to by the press and get respectful coverage no matter how dishonest or whack their opinions.

Also, they are apparently not about to let Obama set national policy just because he won the presidency. Why, just this past week southern senators forced the rest of the country to conform to their union-hating philosophy in the car company bailout.

I expect they will continue their strategy of threatening to shut down the government every time the majority wants to pass laws that reflect, for instance, its own opinions instead of theirs. It's worked for two years, after all.

I suspect we will see many versions of straw men in the next four years. After the prolonged reign of Fox news, we are all accustomed to outrage 24/7. It is hard to break that cycle, hard to sustain ratings without it.

Look at the map. New Mexico is in the South.

Until there are 50 cabinet positions and every state gets one, statistics tell us one region or another is going to be "underrepresented at times."

One might also ask how many Democrats the South has to offer after they sold their heart and soul to the Red. The bench isn't deep and the few good democrats that ARE in the South, the Dmeocrats may well be concerned about removing for fear of being unable to replace them.

Nothing personal, Dixie. Send us more Democrats to choose from, we'll be only too happy to invite your best minds. (It's your best minds that'll join us first, I would think.)

Wouldn't a mayor of Dallas be considered a southerner?

Er, the beef would be with the AP hack--Ben Evans--who wrote the story and the editor--if the AP still has them--who passed it on:
"The disparity isn't an accident--"
Indeed? Proof for that assertion, aside from a marginalized Congressman, or is that HIS assertion? Did Ben Evans find a memo that said "screw the South"?
Or is it more lazy reportage from a profession whose standards are falling faster than Tara Reid's? It's getting harder and harder to feel any alarm at the disappearance of print media.

News-story - for the AP these days the emphasis seems to be on the latter element rather than the former. What a made-to-order-political-soap-opera this supposed news agency has proffered! And all for what? To stir some shit? Maybe the AP needs to be down-sized! -Kevo

It is not at all "hard to believe that there wasn't anybody qualified for something from the South."(sic)

Calling the opposing party’s candidate ‘uppity’ is NOT a qualification!

as a death-defying member of the cracker south, i hereby claim vast empirical evidence over my near 60-years, that yes, indeed, there is no qualified southerner who could grace the administration of barack obama with his or her 'failure to communicate'.

bag a'hammers -- every one...

Virginia, being in the South isn't about lattitude, but about attitude. It closely follows, which side one was on during the civil war. New Mexico fought on the side of the union, and is culturally quite distinct from the southeastern states.

It is clear that Obama wants highly educated non-ideological people, who are willing to consider all valid points of view. Such people are proportionately rarer in the south (they are way to uncommon everywhere). The pool of available talent just isn't that large in the south -especially if one includes mainly politicians who have been largely selected to reflect the prevailing ethos of their home states.

It's too bad my ancestors didn't ethnically cleanse Georgia when they had the chance back in 1864. We wouldn't have that dumbass hillbilly Kingston to kick around.

Screw the South. The backed the wrong horse once again and this time they don't get to take the horses home for spring planting.

"It's hard to believe that there wasn't anybody qualified for something from the South."

Is that really that hard to believe....?

Neither Politico nor the Associated Press is a quality source of news and information.

Will other religions be shut out? Oh, that was yesterday's talking point. The addition of John Edwards and Jim Hightower would have gone a long way toward quelling this while broadening ideology, and Robert Reich (outstanding on Maddow last night) and Howard Dean, while not from the South, would have been needed additions too. Not everyone from the South is a rightwing Bible banger, and Obama should have realized it. I'm thinking too much input from Emmanuel.

Hmm... given that most of the political leadership of the South are rightwing Republicans, I can't imagine that Obama wants any of those folks anywhere near a position of power in his administration. And for the Southern Dems and moderate GOPers - they need to hold onto their seats to help the overall progressive movement.

There's no mystery as to why Obama's cabinet lacks Southerners: the South is by far the most Republican region left in the country. I doubt the Bush cabinet had lots of people from Massachusetts or Berkeley either.

Oh South, please secede! I beg you. This time we'll let you go.

America loves a sequel.

as a death-defying member of the cracker south, i hereby claim vast empirical evidence over my near 60-years, that yes, indeed, there is no qualified southerner who could grace the administration of barack obama with his or her 'failure to communicate'.

bag a'hammers -- every one...
Posted by: neill

Good Gods and and the ghost of Bobby Lee, Neill---I think I might owe you a steak dinner for that one!!!

Associated Press appears to be approaching Fox News in their emphasis on scandal and innuendo, plus "analysis" which seems drawn straight from RNC talking points. It's a bit mysterious given that the AP is supposed to be a cooperative supported by its subscribing news outlets and run by a fairly large board representing a broad cross-section of corporate news media executives. On second thought, maybe there's no mystery here...

Being from Georgia I know the only post Jack Kingston is qualified for is Sec of Ignorance. I could care less where Obama's cabinet members are from. I just want competent and honest people - and no idealogs.

And - even though it is not a cabinet post - Robert Gibbs is from my neck of the woods.

...."Southerners need not apply," said Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga. "It's hard to believe that there wasn't anybody qualified for something from the South." [...]

Well actually -- it's not at all "hard to believe that there wasn't anybody qualified for something from the South."

...."Southerners need not apply," said Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga. "It's hard to believe that there wasn't anybody qualified for something from the South." [...]

Well actually -- it's not at all "hard to believe that there wasn't anybody qualified for... (O's Cabinet)... from the South."

Are they suggesting Obama select Al Gore, or John Edwards? Isn't Hillary from Arkansas? I like the mention of Jim Hightower. He is from TX, I believe. See, there are Southerners who are qualified. Mr. Kingston hasn't proferred any names, has he?
peace,
st john

Truthfully, I don't care if the South's feelings are hurt. After watching Southerners wreak havoc in the last administration and in Congress, I think Washington needs a nice long de-Southification process.

Wolfgang Schivelbusch's Culture of Defeat is a good resource for thinking about this. He documents three different moments when defeated nations used the politics of resentment as a cudgel, politically and culturally, to get what they wanted, and he does an excellent job of analyzing the history of "Lost Cause" mythology that arose out of the defeated South after the Civil War, and seeped its way into the national consciousness through plays, novels, films, etc. Kingston may be an idiot, but he knows exactly what he's doing, and from the backlash against Reconstruction onward, this kind of politics of martyrdom has a long and sadly successful history.

Tim Kaine isn't in the cabinet because Virginia has off-year elections, and he wasn't going to leave his office to a Republican Lieutenant Governor before his term was done. I suspect he'll be in the cabinet the first time an appropriate position opens up after a year from now.

But more broadly, you can judge just how phony this outrage is by thinking back to past administrations -- when has anyone ever even thought about whether a cabinet had complete regional diversity?

The answer is never. It tells you a lot about how far the Village scandal-mongers have had to dig to find something objectionable. And it tells you even more about their motivations, that finding something objectionable was worth the effort.

But it's Jack Kingston's whining that's especially jarring.

I'm not sure why Kingston being hypocritical would be jarring to a liberal observer. This is the guy who criticized Obama for not wearing a flag pin while not wearing one himself, and who argued that Democrats didn't care about families because they wanted members of Congress to work five days a week instead of four. His public persona is based entirely on false outrage. He doesn't even have the intelligence to address the issues, all he knows is flag pins and whining about people disrespecting the South while simultaneously embodying everything that is wrong with its politics. It would be more jarring if he actually made some kind of reasonable argument supported by facts.

I also don't think this qualifies as the meme "picking up steam." I suppose a Congressman saying something on the record is more significant that a couple of staffers speaking anonymously, but it's just as easy to get Kingston to make some inane statement in support of your baseless article as it is to get it from staffers who are smart enough not to publicly associate themselves with such stupidity. In fact, I think it is pretty likely that the journalist wanted to write this article and had Jack Kingston at the top of the list of prominent Southerners who would eagerly spout of the sort of nonsense that would seem to legitimize the claim that Southerners in general feel snubbed, and that subsequently Obama will probably have to alter his 2012 strategy, as it certainly relied heavily on winning the South.

"Will other regions start questioning whether they've been snubbed, too?"

Yes! On Thursday, Joel Connelly's column in the Seattle PI was titled "Obama overlooks Northwest in Cabinet choices". Connelly claims that Obama "has yet to announce an appointee from north of Des Moines, Iowa, west of Denver or north of the Bay Area." The fact that Robert Gates owns retirement property in Washington state apparently doesn't count.

i read the ap article and noted that there are no southern DEMOCRATS quoted as to how they're feeling shut out....

Sigh - another right extremist talking point to stir up "outrage". BFD Let's just swat them down for what they are - another right wing talking point. Not necessary to say more. Next response is: Do right-wing complainers feel the picks are competent?

I thought the most succinct comment was that there are more Norwegians in the US than Jews, but no Norwegians among the appointees. If we selected based upon representing every group we'd need twice as many appointees to represent the diversity of people and viewpoints in this country.

The next generation will have many products of the melting pot so we may be looking forward to the day when we can have a Pacific Islander / Latina, Mormon, Trangendered, union activist and Marine veteran in the White House.

The next generation won't have the same issues of Left vs. Right, and identity / regional politics will become so complicated that they will have little relevance.

That's what's scaring the southerners.

Conservative ideologues are hypocrites and liars -- what a surprise!

The crucial point of this election was to exclude Southerners - the slave-state Republicans' campaign made it clear that we would elect a black guy over their dead body. So now they're dead. Dead, dead, dead! *stab table with knife* Just bury the inbred stumpjumpers so they never embarrass us again.

I am a resident of the South. I would be highly concerned if PEOTUS Obama chose any Southerner. . . yes, VA, FL, NC went blue. . . but barely. The deep South rose again shortly thereafter, in the re-election of Saxby Chambliss. As long as the South continues to elect racist good old boys, they should be relegated to the backyard of the White House.

And, as it happens, Obama does have a southerner in his cabinet: Ron Kirk, the USTR, is from Texas.

This is not a mystery. First, most prominent politicians in the South are Republicans, so there are simply fewer choices. Second, from a strategic point you don't want to pull what few Democrats you have in Congress or Governorships out of their offices since it is likely that they could go Republican. The Republicans pushing this story would love to see Bill Nelson or Mary Landrieu give up their Senate seats.

Jack Kingston got his butt whipped on Real Time with Bill Maher. Umm, interestly, this guy couldn't hold a decent conversation or argument.

I think Kingston & Palin would make perfect running mates.

Besides, why would Obama want to bring in a lot of the southerners, aren't they some of the culprits that were yelling, "Kill Him, He's Not A Citizen, He's A Muslim."

It's all race-bating here, just like Corker in TN, causing Ford Jr. to lose the election based on running playboy campaign ads.

Wow, they push the issue of Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers and now they want a seat at the big house? Give me a break.

"Southerners need not apply"

And southerners need not blindly vote for Republicrats, either.

Payback for slavery and the ensuing century of Jim Crow is a bitch, isn't it?

"Look at the map. New Mexico is in the South. "

Um, no. In American demographic speech, New Mexico is in the West, or the Southwest, if you want to get picky. Nothing west of Texas is in the South, and Texas itself seems to claim the South when it suits them, and the West when it suits them, but being so wide in the butt, Texass can fit in both handily.

You want to see South. Look at the electoral map. Down there in lower right-hand corner is a big hunk 'o red. That's the South.

Notice Florida doesn't seem to be in it anymore. Florida (like California) is unto itself. Come to think about it, we both have this coastal thing goin' on, so maybe we're closer in nature than I'd normally like to think.

re ericfree's mention of Jim Hightower, I totally agree. From the number one agricultural state in the Union, one that brings you fresh fruit and vegetables and not so much corn sweetners or white bread, I am always appalled at the Farm Bill. I was SO upset with Nancy Pelosi on the last one.

Vilsack was a total bad choice as far as I'm concerned.

Some of you "progressives" seem to have a problem with southernors in general. If we forget the Civil War, will you?

If we forget the Civil War, will you?

Most people in the North and West have already forgotten the Civil War. It's the Southerners who seem to think that a war that ended 150 years ago needs to be re-fought at least once a year.

Tell you what -- you get Southern conservatives to stop referring to it as "the War of Northern Aggression" and we'll be well down the road to letting bygones be bygones.

Wow, you mean to tell me the Southerners now want to pal around with A TERRORISTS!!!

Wasn't it the Southerners who kept calling Obama by the name Osama Hussein as if it was a mistake?

So why would Obama want to hang around someone who has FOOT-IN-MOUTH Disease?

Some of us Southerners think Jack Kingston is a shithead.

Just sayin.

"Some of you "progressives" seem to have a problem with southernors in general. If we forget the Civil War, will you?"

No.

Go.

Um, *anything* and *EVERYTHING* that any Democrat, especially a newly-elected president-elect, *does* *WILL* "invite criticism."

Republicans aren't honest analysts here; they're trying to retain and gain political power.

No reporter should confuse the two states.

And Jack Kingston is a whiny bitch.

Ya and the Minnesota Vikings perpetuate a terribly unfair and deeply hurtful stereotype about Scandinavian Americans. Whatever.