Fun Friday: Secretary Of State

Sorry for the delay in getting the fun friday post out. I thought we'd discuss some current events today. Specifically who the next Secretary Of State should be. Obama apparently wants Susan Rice and the GOP apparently wants John Kerry. I would nominate our very own JLM. Who do you like?

#Politics

Comments (Archived):

  1. Abdallah Al-Hakim

    first time to be the first to comment here πŸ™‚

    1. andyswan

      And you wasted it with that?

      1. Abdallah Al-Hakim

        I wrote another one immediately after it with more substance. It was just meant to be a fun comment.

        1. kidmercury

          #upvoted, first comments are fun

          1. Abdallah Al-Hakim

            Thanks Kid! I am glad someone liked it πŸ™‚

    2. fredwilson

      we should give the mayor of the thread badge to the first to comment

  2. Wavelengths

    With his keen insight, his broadranging experience, his reliable sense of humor, and his deep appreciation of the as-yet-unexplored role of Bingo in international diplomacy, …I vote for JLM.

  3. Abdallah Al-Hakim

    Now for a real comment πŸ™‚ It is an important position and the person need to have the full trust of the president and be able to act independently on the spot. In other words, the foreign leaders need to believe that the Secretary of State has the respect and the approval from his/her boss. As for nominations – I liked Jon Huntsman from what I have read about him. I don’t, however, think he is a leading contender

  4. Barry Nolan

    Bill. It’s got to be Bill

  5. ErikSchwartz

    Jon Huntsman.

    1. William Mougayar

      Who is Jon Huntsman….he’s been mentioned a few times already. I missed that memo.

      1. ErikSchwartz

        Obama’s former ambassador to China. He is a republican.

        1. ShanaC

          I like that idea.

        2. William Mougayar

          Impressive. Thanks

    2. Tom Labus

      Good choice!

    3. LE

      My first exposure to the Huntsman’s (senior) was when they were featured in the Alum magazine around 1998 after donating money to build Huntsman Hall. The picture of the family was unreal to me. Like stepford, done Utah style. Who are these perfect people? It was like a family version of stock photos that you see in picture frames (except there seemed to be approx. 50 of them, all perfect in appearance, trim, perfect teeth, smiling).That said I agree with the choice of Huntsman.

    4. JLM

      .I spent a couple of hours w Huntsman and Gingrich listening to Huntsman expound on his experiences as Ambassador to China. It was one of the single best educational experiences of my life.The guy is whip smart and the fact that he knows all of the Chinese players on an intimate basis and speaks Mandarin made the entire experience one of the most authentic ever.The most important bit of education I received was his handicapping the succession of the 90-year old Chinese Communist leaders to the 50-year old Chinese capitalist leaders — you gotta go through the 80s, 70s, 60s and that will take a long, long, long time.It was interesting to learn how damn dangerous the old Chinese Communist leadership remains. They are still of the Mao personal experience timbre.He was breathtaking in his depth and breadth of knowledge.Proof? He silenced Gingrich for about an hour as he calmly laid out the way the cow was going to eat the cabbage in China. And that is no mean feat..

      1. Mac

        You’re not getting out of this that easily. I second that nomination.Move to Charleston and we’ll make you our favorite son.(lunch next time you’re in town is not necessary…but I’ll take you up on the offer) πŸ™‚

      2. Richard

        Just got back from salt lake. He is proof that we have as a country set the wrong metrics when it come to electing a president.

        1. JLM

          .He suffers from being terminally rich and white.The era of the rich white guy is over..

          1. FlavioGomes

            What’s the big deal with being rich and white anyways? πŸ˜‰

          2. Carl Rahn Griffith

            Chris begs to differ, JLM ;-)http://www.youtube.com/watc…Anyway, Chris Rock and Max Keiser for office, please…http://rt.com/programs/keis

          3. CJ

            He suffers from not winning the GOP nomination.

          4. Dave W Baldwin

            Remember Reagan didn’t win nomination first time and so on. Huntsman was a governor (executive) and was ambassador. If all the claimed millions on something like Twitter started tweeting and retweeting Huntsman we could maybe stand a chance. Not looking at 2016, but the greater good.

          5. CJ

            Not disagreeing with you. Just saying that I disagree with JLM. The GOP needs to get their house in order if they want people like Huntsman to have a shot at being POTUS. Obama didn’t beat Huntsman, ROMNEY did.

          6. Dave W Baldwin

            Very true. I was just thinking out loud about current issue re Sec of State. To simplify JLM, Romney had the supposed end run get out the vote mechanism and it crashed the day it premiered, Election Day.

          7. JLM

            .The GOP picked the guy they wanted to pick.You and I may like another man for the job but that is not the way the nominating process works.The race for the presidency is not a sprint, it is a marathon and perhaps a decathlon.Romney was a good enough choice as the candidate but his campaign, strategy, tactics, polling and messaging were not good enough. They were good but not good enough.Crashing your GOTV effort is like running out of ammunition — it may kill you.The tragedy is that he would have made a great President..

          8. Keenan

            JLM, expound: “The era of the rich white guy is over.”

      3. Abdallah Al-Hakim

        Huntsman was my answer as well for this post. I was confused why he didn’t pick up enough support for the nomination. It is too bad that candidates such as Huntsman and Mitch Daniels never made it far into the nomination process

        1. CJ

          It is a shame. Even though I’m an Obama supporter, I think the GOP would do well to embrace guys like Huntsman. He was easily the most appealing (to a Democrat and therefore to left-leaning independants) candidate in the primary.

          1. JLM

            .No offense intended but the last thing the Republicans need is to take advice from Democrats.It is important to focus on the facts — 555,000 votes change in a handful of states and you have Pres Romney. It was a very close election. The Republicans could have won with a better campaign.Perhaps half of that gap was garnered via corruption.Pres Obama gets 6MM fewer votes than in 2008 and Romney gets 2MM fewer than McCain. Romney should have gotten MORE votes than McCain.The pundits missed some very big things.1. NO Republican enthusiasm advantage of any kind. Huge swing and a miss. Pure fiction.2. The young did not turn out for Pres Obama as a fluke last time, they are for real and they are here to stay. Perhaps the result of the realities of the web.3. The “takers” are for real and they are going to vote for whomever buys their votes most effectively. We are in the Age of Entitlement and the Obama phone. You do not advance your cause by pointing out this unfortunate reality.4. You cannot generate much enthusiasm for immigration reform and lure immigrants/Hispanics to vote for you if your core belief on the subject is “self-deportation”. If you can’t lie your way through this one, then you come in second.5. You better be able to operate at the bleeding edge of technology, data mining and information processing — and you will have to develop and maintain a constituency even among DEAD voters.6. Women are not monolithic. Married women are predictable and single women will vote for whomever provides them the best access to contraception and abortion. “Stand on principle” and you stand at the end of the line. Sad truth.7. The era of the Rich White Guy — even hugely successful specimens — is over.8. You think it was stupid to go on Pit Bull’s — or the Pimp With The Limp — show and talk politics? Then you don’t understand the changing electorate. For the young, that is mainstream news. Sure it is beneath the dignity of an even minimally intelligent person, but it is politics not Mensa.9. The Obama campaign did succeed in defining Romney. Romney had Pres Obama dead to rights and failed to close the deal. It should have been competence v incompetence.

          2. William Mougayar

            Hindsight is 20/20. Great analysis.

          3. CJ

            You make some good points on demographics but a lot of the rest just reeks of ‘the 47%’ comment from Romney. This campaign from the Obama end was about inclusion. Appeal to the most amount of people possible, Romney’s appeal was more limited in comparison. In the past a high percentage of that narrow market would still beat out a high percentage of the broader base, not anymore. You say that here, or that’s what I get from your comments on demographics and I agree with that part.The part where you go south, IMHO, is where you talk about ‘Standing on principle’ against abortion and contraception and the ‘Age of Entitlement’. These are all rather condescending terms, IMHO, and mostly they are used to disguise the fact that America just doesn’t think like the GOP thinks they do anymore. Most Americans don’t think it’s the government’s or business’s place to restrict moral decisions like birth control or contraception. They view it as healthcare. Period. I think older generations view this one differently and they’ve just found out that they are out of touch with the younger crowd, more importantly, they’ve found out that the younger people will actually vote to make it known how they feel about these issues.The ‘Age of Entitlement’ as you so inelegantly put it, is due to the age of joblessness which was caused by the Age of Wall St Misconduct which was caused predominately by the 1% or maybe the 10%…largely the same people who are now complaining about Romney’s loss and labeling this the Age of Entitlement. Are government entitlement programs the answer? No. But is giving the ‘takers’ a swift kick in the rear and telling them to bootstrap while we outsource what remains of American jobs the answer? No. Given the choice, and in my opinion the choice really is that simple, which do you think they’ll pick?I made a comment about libertarianism before and to paraphrase it, you can’t teach the hungry to fish without first feeding them so they can concentrate long enough to learn. Once they learn to fish you can teach them to teach others to fish and to help those who can’t fish. But first, you have to feed them, no one learns on an empty stomach.You have one side handing out fish and another side handing out stern lectures on why they should learn to fish for themselves and how if I can do it, you can too. Which line do you think has more people standing in it? The GOP’s goal is laudable, everyone should try harder and success is attainable if you just try a bit harder but the methods…they leave something to be desired. People are going to vote for the guy with the fish, not the guy who has enough fish to share but would rather offer a lecture instead.Lastly, I see your Obama phone and raise you GE making $14bn profit in 2010 and paying less in taxes than I did. Talk about entitlements…

          4. Peter Beddows

            @mlloyd:disqus For the most part, you have expressed my sentiments perfectly re certain of JLM’s observations. Well said.I have very high regard for JLM and agree with a most of what he has to say. Nonetheless, I am inclined to agree with your take regarding the ‘Age of entitlement’ whereas, in regard to ‘abortion and contraception’, I’ve long wondered why it is any business of Men to insert their opinions and restrictions regarding the welfare and wellbeing of Women particularly in regard to something so very personal as becoming pregnant which essentially commits a woman to a life long obligation from which many men find it way to easy to disappear or abrogate. After all, the average male has absolutely no idea or relatable experience of what it is like to be a woman in any society, least of all being a woman in our America society. The book entitled “The Subservient Wife” might well have been written by a Republican since that sentiment appears to fit their philosophy towards women in general.Disclaimer: I used to be staunchly republican until they veird away from consevative principles and embarked into managing moralistic issues. Even once voted for Margaret Thatcher! πŸ™‚

          5. JLM

            .Oh, please spare me. This campaign was about “winning” not inclusion.The Presidential Executive Order creating a paper faux Dream Act was balanced against the idiotic notion of “self-deportation” but nonetheless the faux Dream Act was pandering at its most base nature.The problem with the 47% comment is that it is perfectly true. Even the truth can be a bit churlish when expressed absent a bit of empathy or other condiments. Does not make it false.The outsourcing of jobs is one of the most egregious acts of American business, the Congress and both parties. It is idiotic. It spawns unemployment like cockroaches.I agree completely with your “empty stomach” line of reasoning but that unfortunately is not what is happening.Food stamps, unending extensions to unemployment benefits, tax policy, class warfare are not kin of fishing, they are dependency programs from which the benefactors/victims will never escape. They become institutionally dependent.One set of crack heads luring another into the iniquity of another form of crack. It is a horrific co-dependency. The elected dependent upon the dependency crazed electorate and the electorate dependent upon the crack head spending Congress.As to GE, I would ostracize them. But this is a perfect example of the vagaries of our broken Tax Code. GE should be paying taxes. A lot of taxes. Jeffrey Immelt is as pathetic as any tax cheat.But he is Obama’s boy, is he not?.

          6. ShanaC

            6 – I don’t think that is true about single women. I think single women know (as well as a number of married women I know) that access to contraception and abortions is the determinate of whether I can really hold a job.

          7. Peter Beddows

            Excellent point @ShanaC:disqus

          8. JLM

            .I think more highly of women particularly single women to even suggest they are incapable of controlling their urges or the biology of pregnancy.Pretty damn low hurdles..

        2. JLM

          .You have to run for President once to learn how to run for President successfully. That is particularly true of Republicans.Obama was a Perfect Storm..

      4. Dave W Baldwin

        Huntsman is the logical choice. Wasn’t aware that GOP wants Kerry- disaster. Clinton is mediocre so we shouldn’t set bar too low, but I’m naive.

        1. CJ

          Strategy-wise though, I don’t think Huntsman gets it because it sets him up to run again in 2016 with more name and policy recognition.

          1. Dave W Baldwin

            I’m just a naive independent. πŸ˜‰

          2. CJ

            Ah, to be naive again. I’ve read too much American history to go back to my age of innocence.

          3. Dave W Baldwin

            True, but if we force an issue it opens up discussion. Do it from two sides, make it more than Rice/Kerry or encourage John to become more open regarding foreign policy during the impending disasters via Rice/Kerry.

          4. JLM

            .Of course, you are absolutely right. Hilary got the Sec of State job to pigeon hole her and it worked..

        2. ShanaC

          i thought clinton did a fantastic job, all things considered.

          1. thinkdisruptive

            What exactly are you “considering”? Are you handicapping her because Obama is so ineffectual at the “3 in the morning call” sans teleprompter telling him what to think? Or did you mean Bill Clinton?

          2. Dave W Baldwin

            Libya is at top of list regarding problem, no matter how the wags try to spin from both sides.

      5. Wavelengths

        Silenced Gingrich. That should be high on his resume.

      6. BillMcNeely

        He left the game abruptly to run for President. Would he be allowed back in so graciously?

    5. fredwilson

      that’s a cool idea. bipartisanship FTW

  6. ErikSchwartz

    JLM is way too knee jerk. Obama=bad no matter what he does.

    1. ShanaC

      guys. there are a wide range of political opinions here. You don’t have to like everyone nor what they think. I’m sure people here think some of the liberals that post here are equally knee jerk.I respect most of JLM’s positions, even if they aren’t my own (you and me are probably closer politically).OK?edit: nor was of. grammar

      1. Aaron Klein

        +1

      2. jason wright

        OK babe

        1. Wavelengths

          Babe?

          1. jason wright

            is that beyond the wide range of the acceptable here?

          2. Wavelengths

            Hey, Babe! Between you and me? Probably not. πŸ™‚

          3. Anne Libby

            I’d downvote using “babe” for people of either gender, unless they’re a family member or significant other.

          4. JLM

            .I love going to Charleston to a particular little restaurant because all the waitresses call me “Sweetie”.Plus they have exquisite grits and country ham.It is an acquired taste perhaps?.

          5. Anne Libby

            I think it’s contextual. I’d go to that restaurant, too. (The pie is probably excellent.)In print, it’s tough to see banter, which was what I “saw” in @jasonpwright:disqus’s tone, and why I couched my response…We can pitch and catch a far broader range of expressions when we’re in the same room. We “say” a lot more than we know via body language, facial expression, and tone of voice.

          6. fredwilson

            it’s a little dismissive. at least it feels that way to me reading it.

          7. jason wright

            written to highlight the point that the range of what is and is not acceptable is never fixed, and that to defend the principle of the freedom of speech and expression is not always easy…but is necessary.It was not to dismiss, but to engage, to engage with an abrupt example. too abrupt perhaps. sorry for any offense, unintended.

        2. ShanaC

          i’m ok with being officially the cute girl of the site. As long as you all take me seriously for my ideas, sure why not.Though you should all be aware that IRL I’m single, 26, and a huge flirt with a small amount of a wild streak. I try not to overstep into that area of my personality here because I respect the lot of you.But hey, who knows, maybe this site will un-single me :p

          1. JLM

            .What anyone would give to be 26 again?Enjoy it..

          2. Peter Beddows

            But only if one couild be 26 again yet with the knowledge and wisdom gained from accummulated life experiences. Heck, given that option I would never have quit playing in a rock band when my father insisted that Mick Jagger and the Stones was just a passing phase that would never last. πŸ™‚

          3. ShanaC

            reality sucks that way πŸ™

          4. ShanaC

            being 26 is actually stressful. You’re still growing up in certain ways, and in others you are fully grown. I am really jealous of my 30 year old friends. They are still young and have mellowed a bit

          5. FlavioGomes

            Ha..

          6. pointsnfigures

            Hot girls can be smart. The smarter they are the hotter they are.

          7. ShanaC

            bwhahaha. But really, I actually sometimes wish I wasn’t smart.Something I realized in the whole dating thing is that people want to be with other people they are proud of. The problem is that this leads to trophy behavior, which I sort of hate. A lot. I want to be beyond someone’s checklist.

        3. Peter Beddows

          Use of that term in responding to any female is incredibly sexist and demeaning. Personally, I find it offensive, appalling, jarring and totally inappropriate to be used here.

          1. FlavioGomes

            Ha.

      3. Peter Beddows

        Very well said and most appropriate @ShanaC:disqus; especially apt for this blog.

    2. JLM

      .I take no offense at Erik’s characterization of my view of Pres Obama. I like almost nothing about his policies. I like almost nothing about his leadership — really lack thereof.It is not however “knee jerk”. It is well reasoned based upon considering the outcomes of the policies which I almost universally, in fact, have done.The result certainly could be perceived as knee jerk but only because I know what I think and am able to respond quickly.As an example — I think Obama did the right thing in saving GM but he corruptly rewarded the UAW by giving them a chunk of equity which should have been awarded to the bond holders.The pension and benefit package of the UAW was the death knell of the company and they should have gotten nothing. In fact, their contract should have been rejected as it would have been in any credible bankruptcy proceeding.GM will have another round of trouble before this is all over with.I loved the Cars for Clunkers and the First Time Homebuyers Programs. They were effective but the President cancelled them. They should still be going on today.I hated that the administration bailed out the commercial banks but failed to get them to deal with mortgage defaults. If you give the banks money, then you should have told them they had to work out those positions and they should have been forced to have loan portfolios at 85% of assets.I could go on forever. Don’t get me started on Benghazi. I used to be in the business of going to the rescue of folks like that and I served in America’s Point of the Spear — the 82nd Abn’s Ready Brigade. Sat on a lot of damn cold runways. WE MOVE TO THE SOUND OF THE GUNS TO SAVE OUR PEOPLE.ALL WAYS. ALWAYS. It is what we do when you wear a Ranger tab and jump wings.”People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”It is what the American soldier does when the chips are down. We should have gone to the rescue of those brave men. We let them die and someone has to answer for that.The President failed us all as Commander in Chief by failing to unleash those rough men.Erik and I are big enough guys that I do not take offense at his characterization and maybe I am a bit knee jerk. My tender little ego can withstand that characterization but I only ask that you consider that my views while quick to the trigger are born of a bit of life experience and are reasoned..

      1. fredwilson

        you only have four more years of him JLM. time to start thinking about 2016. How to get Hunstman the nomination??

        1. pointsnfigures

          Fred, we tried in 2012-except Huntsman blew it at the first debate by alienating a lot of the chattering class in the party. Best bets for 2016, a Republican gov or someone like Marco Rubio. We should have nominated Mitch Daniels in 2012.

          1. JLM

            .Daniels did not WANT it. You have to WANT it like you want oxygen. Or water. Or sex..

        2. JLM

          .I have a very bad feeling, skipper. A very bad feeling that we are looking at the lost Japanese decade.If so, it may be Ryan-Rubio or Rubio-Ryan. Or Jeb Bush..

  7. William Mougayar

    Whoever it is, let it be someone who REALLY UNDERSTANDS foreign politics and the state of the world, and who doesn’t become a lackey to traditional domestic lobby pressures.The US has lost a DECADE of poor or inefficient foreign policies and politics since 9-11, e.g. in trying to solve the middle-east problems, issues with Korea, Iran, etc. The US used to fill big shoes in the state of world affairs, but that hasn’t been the case lately.Foreign affairs was almost a non-issue in the last presidential election, and it was obvious that the 3rd debate was the least interesting because of its focus on foreign politics. The US public at large doesn’t understand the rest of the world, which has become even more complex, and in times of economic pressures, they want an in-wards focus. That’s understandable. But at least, the political leaders should understand the world better.I would nominate JLM, Kerry second. Certainly not Rice.

    1. Aviah Laor

      Churchill on Dulles: “The only bull that I know that carries his own china shop around with him”. There are enough china shops out there already

      1. William Mougayar

        Sorry, but I didn’t follow your aphorism.

        1. Aviah Laor

          Nothing special, just following your argument that “foreign” affairs, or world affairs, require really good leadership and policies, otherwise things break up (and no one can replace America’s here)

  8. LE

    Would JLM be able to wear local garb and suck up to foreign leaders as required? Will he wear a burka? A yarmulka when visiting the wailing wall?Along those lines did you ever notice that when we go to foreign countries we tend to go along with their customs? But when they come here they are usually dressed in full home country regalia?

    1. andyswan

      What do you expect when we’re taught to think that the only cultures worth preserving are the ones that aren’t ours….that losers are victims and winners are guilty. It’s a disease.

      1. LE

        Wow Andy. I clicked on “users website” http://andyswan.com/ instead of “link to comment”. That was a totally uplifting image you have there. And high res to boot.Speaking of cultures I was speaking to my wife the other day about China. And for that matter all those cultures that to us over here seem so great.And I said to her something like “notice how we obsess over all those things those other societies seem to posses that we don’t have with envy and we endow them (like that model on your webpage?) with all these extra terrestrial powers of healing and peace and make then all knowing. Like people who go over and discover life at some ashram etc. and search for the meaning of life?Well if they are all so smart, and all knowing, why is it the majority of their people are so poor and have so little (and in the case of China for many years until we started to buy cheap shit from them). And why they seem to want to come here and partake in what we have. Answer that question!I’ve never found anyone that’s obsessed with anything cultural from Germany with the exception of beer maybe. Yet I buy their products all the time because they make some really great things (fully supported by my father and his negative experiences a few years ago).

        1. andyswan

          Yep… that tribe with no running water and a yoga mud-pit has it all figured out, man. We’re the greatest exporter of culture in the history of the world and half of us are ashamed to say “American”. The self-loathing is just unbearable to me.Uplifting is what I aim for πŸ™‚ Thanks

          1. RichardF

            No you are not, hubris much

          2. andyswan

            that’s just like, your opinion, man

          3. RichardF

            You are right andy, it is and I should have backed it up. I will tomorrow. I don’t disagree with your comment about self loathing, just your use of the word culture. The US is probably the world’s largest importers of culture imo.

          4. Wavelengths

            With LE’s comment, I jumped over to your website, laughed, kept scrolling, mused, kept scrolling, kept smiling and agreeing.Thanks. I may have to sign up.

          5. andyswan

            #win

          6. FlavioGomes

            I did.

      2. FlavioGomes

        Nonsense…all the others are American subcultures anyways. Bay watch I believe was ranked as the top viewed tv show at one time. California is the centre of world pop culture…although gangnam style has me wondering about a shift.

    2. JLM

      .JLM, I know the guy, is not wearing any freakin’ local garb unless it is waders and a fly fishing vest..

      1. FlavioGomes

        My favorite formal wear.

  9. jason wright

    Dick Costolo

    1. fredwilson

      great choice!

  10. Max Yoder

    I like Kerry in this position, but I’d nominate my dad if I could pick anyone.Maybe Joe Lieberman if my dad and Kerry are tired or uninterested.

  11. LE

    Petraeus – I bring his name out solely to see if anyone will bite on discussing the affair. (Also he does have knowledge of world affairs and additionally would be seen favorably by France.)

    1. Wavelengths

      Hahaha! I think JLM would add a “Well played!”:-)

    2. ShanaC

      nope. he sold himself to washington as pure. he totally killed that…

      1. LE

        Two things I learned from my dad when growing up might apply here.1) Yiddish saying which translates roughly to “if you’re going to eat like a pig, let it drip from your beard”.2) Regarding Andy Williams the popular entertainer back then “He’s such a nice guy he probably beats his wife” (years later, ended up being true).The compromising national security is an issue of course. Of course that didn’t seem to matter much (to the media) with Clinton and Monica (and Linda Trip and anyone else who gained access to that info).

  12. AlexBangash

    Whoever knows how to code. Anyone who has written a compiler gets my nomination.

  13. kidmercury

    i nominate big bird. what difference does it make? there is still going to be imperial wars, they are still going to continue transferring power to supranational governments, while enslaving the population with debt, and people will remain ignorant. at least if big bird is nominated we will get a good chuckle out of it. now we have a bunch of ugly people (internally and externally) who do all the bad stuff and don’t even give us a chuckle.big bird for secretary of state!

    1. raycote

      “supranational governments”By that do you mean transnational corporations and banking operations?

      1. jason wright

        IMF et.c.

      2. kidmercury

        IMF, world bank, united nations, world health organization, international court of justice, all that stuff. the transition in europe — where the european union went from a coal and steel commerce organization into a full blown economy with its own currency, parliament, court system illustrates the transition. it’s not even controversial anymore, people just think of europe as one thing rather than a bunch of sovereign countries. same thing has happened in the US, pre-lincoln the US was a collection of independent states and the federal government was an agreement between those states, but then dishonest abe got on his power trip and started a war to force his taxes on others.

        1. takingpitches

          While I understand the motivation from two world wars, etc., I will give you that the EU is a strange project, especially as it moves toward more of a fiscal union, which it looks like it must given Greece, Spain, etc.But, I’m not sure why the United States, as a much stronger union that it was before the Civil War, is a bad thing…

          1. kidmercury

            there is the viewpoint, common amongst those who advocate limited government, that the only good government is local government. that is why the US was founded so heavily on states’ rights, before dishonest abe threw it all away. now, everything is national. people know more about the federal government than their state governments. yes, the national government is stronger, but this strength comes at the expense of state governments, which are increasingly limited in the types of economic and cutural policies they can implement. more importantly, the trend is towards a world government. a few years from now we won’t be discussing who should be secretary of state, but rather who should be president of the world. the discussion will be meaningless because our votes barely count now, and they will count a lot less when there are 6 billion other people voting and the candidates are on different continents.

          2. takingpitches

            i see the theory, and I think there is room within our federal structure to have less or more local and state government, but I think as a practical matter, we’re a much stronger country and economy now than we would have been with a less strong sense and reality of union. My opinion, at least.I don’t see the trend toward world government. I don’t see either America or China, in particular, making any significant moves to give up their sovereignty to the UN or any other institution above the nation-state (this is different from saying that in certain respects because of technology and bigger and bigger corporations that the nation-state is becoming less relevant in some sense). Curious as to what you see?

          3. kidmercury

            i see the eurozone, which is the most obvious example. i also the united nations, which now has its own army (referred to as a “peacekeeping” force). there has been a longstanding controversy whether the US military is subordinate to the UN military: http://www.nytimes.com/1994…the UN is also interested in taxing and controlling the internet, and are having their meeting about it soon: http://www.huffingtonpost.c…china has repeatedly been calling for a world currency: http://www.euronews.com/201…the UN is also pushing a gun treaty which many interpet as a violation of the 2nd amendment in the US: http://www.forbes.com/sites…of course, for me, it’s all about the cash money. the US funds 22% of the UN budget and 27% of its “peacekeeping” budget. so, US citizens are basically already paying a tax to a world government. http://www.betterworldcampa

          4. takingpitches

            There is a segment of Europe that is more keen on government above the nation-state than we are.China has been pushing for SDRs as a replacement reserve currency to the dollar becuase they have become so dependent on the dollar to store the super surplus imbalance in balance of payments.We pay into the UN and the world community is often pushing global treaties that we often don’t join and sometimes we do.These and other things are all things that we should watch out for and we should vigorously debate giving up any sovereignty.That said, I, perhaps am taking you too literally, but I don’t see any of this is suggesting that we are going to be voting for representatives to the world legislature or for a world executive anytime soon.

          5. kidmercury

            we’ll be lucky if we get to vote. i think it is more likely we’ll continue electing national reps, and those reps and people they appoint will make all the decisions at a world government level.

          6. takingpitches

            That perhaps is our point of agreement!If it happens, dis-enfranchisement of the people would be a project of elites and would be presented to the people as a fait accompli. That is the way it happened in Europe.I think we’re different here and we are more vigilant. I don’t see it happening to date. But who knows; it’s certainly worth keeping a watch out for.

          7. Carl Rahn Griffith

            (Legacy) Europe as in the EU is an utter mess. Primarily an exercice in creating even more layers of bureaucracy, and ‘jobs for the boys/girls’ – the only thing it has succeeded in.http://www.youtube.com/watc

          8. ShanaC

            there basically already is a world currency of sorts. DEYY.

          9. Carl Rahn Griffith

            The world currency is, ironically, debt.

          10. ShanaC

            it is denominated in DEYY though

          11. ShanaC

            i just want to get rid of state government and increase the power of local and federal. Then again, what is local – nyc government is huge.

          12. pointsnfigures

            just the opposite. get rid of a lot of the feds, make it less powerful and return power to cities. local politicians are more accountable.Entitlements and far reaching power weaken the US. turns us from capitalists to crony capitalists.

          13. ShanaC

            we tried that in US 1.0. US 2.0 was the constitution.

          14. JLM

            .I agree more with Kid Mercury than Kid Mercury agrees with Kid Mercury.From your lips to God’s ear….

          15. FlavioGomes

            What’s wrong with having a world government? I’d be up for giving that a try. Cause lord knows…it’s pretty shitty as we know it now.

          16. ShanaC

            could get worse

    2. ShanaC

      i rather do andrew wk

    3. JLM

      .Plus I think BB would work for say — bird seed and thereby reduce the deficit..

    4. BillSeitz

      I nominate Ron Paul, so we reduce our foreign entanglements.

  14. CJ

    Jesse Jackson Sr. Why? Because all the countries who hate us, love him. Or Bill Clinton for the same reason.

    1. Dave Pinsen

      How about Jesse Jackson Jr.? If he says anything crazy, we’ll have a built-in excuse.

      1. CJ

        LOL – I’m in Chicago so have been watching his fall from grace in real-time. This guy is anything but crazy. His lawyer choreographed this entire scenario to try and avoid an indictment for attempting to bribe Blago, an indictment for illegal use of campaign funds, an indictment against his wife, a semi-prominent alderman, and allegations of infidelity When you think about it, I can see how his life could have potentially driven him a bit nuts lately but there is no way this guy decided to become a public spectacle and throw away a promising political career due to a ‘mood disorder’ that is perfectly treatable via standard prescription drugs.There’s more to it. He’s looking to get this over and done with, sit out an election or two and reclaim his seat. And since this is Chicago, it will probably work. LOL I mean one of the guys running for his vacated seat was convicted of all manner of things and was forced to resign back in the 90’s which opened up the door for Jesse Jr. to win the seat.

        1. JLM

          .I love that his anointed replacement arrives “pre-indicted and convicted”.That is very efficient.You gotta love an efficient Chicago political machine, no?.

          1. CJ

            The Chicago way. There are no innocent local politicians here, they are all pre-indictment and pre-conviction. Sad but true.

          2. pointsnfigures

            Amen.

  15. Pete Griffiths

    Rice or Huntsman.

  16. John Fazzolari

    I say Bill. As Joe Nocera said, Susan Rice is the safe choice but doesn’t have the breadth the job requires. Bill does. nyti.ms/SnQBzv

    1. fredwilson

      Bill would not work for Barack

      1. John Fazzolari

        True, the relationship between a sitting president and his predecessors is rocky at best. However, would any entrepreneur work for Barack?

  17. Balu Chandrasekaran

    I think we should nominate someone who speaks at least 2 languages (besides English) fluently, in addition to having all the other quals needed to be SoS.

    1. jason wright

      there are plenty of good translators in this world. what is said is more important than the language it is said in. what is done is even more important.

    2. Carl Rahn Griffith

      “Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language.” ~ Oscar Wilde.

  18. takingpitches

    The real life Tony Stark — Elon Musk.Who else today is thinking “beyond borders” more than Elon (damn, he’s thinking beyond atmosphere) and represents American innovation better?

    1. Carl Rahn Griffith

      The guy is simply awesome. Head down, just gets on with the job – charming interview with him on The Economist a few days ago. What a guy – far too sublime a polymath to ever enter politics.

    2. fredwilson

      yup, he’s a hero for our times

      1. kidmercury

        elon musk is on kid mercury’s list of punk ass chumps. he supports the carbon tax, which conveniently benefits his unprofitable business. someone in his industry really should know better.

  19. RichardF

    a Canadian…

    1. William Mougayar

      Lol. Outsourcing!Canada has outsourced its foreign policy to the US lately anyways, so doing the reverse for 4 years should be ok.

  20. ericlklein

    Bill Bradley

    1. fredwilson

      that’s a nice idea

    2. Kirsten Lambertsen

      I like this one.

  21. andyswan

    GW Bush. Soon the only sand not on fire will be his Iraq.If Kerry can’t get it, maybe Jane Fonda is available?

    1. ErikSchwartz

      Iraq is on fire and the fire there is getting bigger http://www.nytimes.com/slid…. We’re just not getting killed there any more so it doesn’t make the news much.

      1. andyswan

        just another day in the “Arab Spring” #forward

        1. ErikSchwartz

          All the more reason to stay the heck out of the affairs of the region.

          1. andyswan

            We agree. There is a lot of “who cares we shouldn’t be sending anyone anywhere” in my answer. The tone may not come through.Get out of the U.N. and deal with countries voluntarily and out of our own national interest. This doesn’t seem that difficult to me…

          2. jason wright

            “Get out of the U.N. and deal with countries voluntarily and out of our own national interest. This doesn’t seem that difficult to me..”every country needs a fig leaf to save its embarrassment.

          3. kidmercury

            when you’re a big corrupt corporation, it’s easier to push for a UN so you can buy all the governments at once — sort of like an ecommerce bundle. pain in the ass to go one by one, who has the time for that? next step should be one click checkout from a UN mobile app

          4. JLM

            .The current UN is easily one of the worst institutions in the world today. I would trust the Shriners to do a better job on any given day.All these inconsequential countries posing as real countries taking themselves so seriously while we still have piracy off the coast of Africa.The UN has long since outlived its usefulness..

          5. FlavioGomes

            Impossible.

          6. FlavioGomes

            Impossible

        2. JLM

          .The Arab Spring will turn out to be one of the most unfortunate turns of a phrase in history.By naively allowing the opposition — Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda — to unseat even despots we have unleashed a wave of change which will be fed with fountains of blood for decades.This is perhaps the greatest justification for a coherent energy policy that gets our chestnuts out of that coming inferno.This is going to be a huge mess.Did I mention that Iran is is is is is going to get nuclear weapons?.

          1. William Mougayar

            The paradox of the middle east is that weak or corrupt governments breed terrorism and extremism, whereas the autocratic ones are able to put a lid on it. Both types are bad, and none of the Arab countries has been able to operate a real democracy WITH real stability. Unfortunately, the US stopped understanding that part of the world after 9-11 because it couldn’t dissociate its foreign policy from the war on terror. Now, the US is a spectator in that mess, being late to the party. Iraq & A’stan drained the US for 10 years in more ways than one. I agree with you- the mess is gonna get messier.

          2. JLM

            .No small bit of wisdom on your part.America has to understand that even when the region is faced with “shitheads” sometimes they are OUR shitheads..

          3. William Mougayar

            Exactly. Otherwise the countries go from shitheads to shitholes, & we miss the interim step of stable democracies.

          4. Peter Beddows

            “Both types are bad, and none of the Arab countries has been able to operate a real democracy WITH real stability”Even Lawrence of Arabia could not forge a lasting measure of cooperation and stability amongst the various clan/tribal factions that make up Arabia and he was probably better suited to accomplishing that task than anyone before or since with the possible exception of the gifted ambassador/negotiator Richard Holbrooke.Not so surprising given that many of the various Arabic factions are actually neither natural boundary countries nor countries consisting of cohesive ethnic populations but were “created” as “countries” by collonial rule.Furthermore, without oil, most would still be meandering from oasis to oasis with their camels and tents. With oil, only those connected to those in power have any real life and thus fiefdoms and dictators (those with access to the oil money) proliferate. Backsheesh (bribery) is a way of life as also is trust and devotion to Alla, the power and impact of which we cannot begin to appreciate in our own form of Democracy here in America”Unfortunately, the US stopped understanding that part of the world after 9-11″ becuase W’s objective was to justify action in Iraq to best his dad and to put money into the pockets of his cronies: Remember his catch phrase “Money trumps Peace!”

          5. William Mougayar

            True. Some parts of the world make progress, other parts go in reverse. The tribal dynamics in the m/e are mind boggling.

          6. Abdallah Al-Hakim

            “Furthermore, without oil, most would still be meandering from oasis to oasis with their camels and tents.” this is an offensive way to describe the Arab people. I am sure that any respected historian will disagree with this grossly inaccurate depiction of the Arab people. The region was at one point the beacon of knowledge in the world but unfortunately due colonialism and later dictatorship – the regin has never full recovered. The hope of the Arab spring is that the Arab world regain its presence on the world stage and contribute back in the areas of science, math, art, engineering, etc….

          7. Peter Beddows

            You are, of course, correct up to a point @abdallahalhakim:disqus, there was a time long ago in history when the region was “a beacon of knowledge”: That fact is neither in dispute nor at issue here. My comment was intended as a pragmatic observation of the likely alternate modern day reality were it not for the impact of Oil on the region in relatively recent history, Certainly my observation was not intended to be offensive and, if taken as such, I unhesitatingly apoligize for that; I should have taken greater care in how I expressed the notion.I have not spent long in that part of the world but from the brief time I did spend in Ryadh, Daharahn and Bahrain, it was very clear that, beyond the coastal strip of countries bordering the Mediterranean, oil has been the enabling resource that has changed the otherwise fundamentally dry, arid desert lands in the heart of the region into a plethora of thriving oases in which the majority now dwell, albeit many not so far removed from subsistence level and very low level of gainful employment which is a fertile environment for constant unrest and political upheaval.On the other hand, the western world, from Europe to North America, has also been changed due to Oil but just look at how vastly different the results are in terms of beneficial developments achieved by and for society by western cultures that have been enabled by access to that same Oil.That said, recent advances in DNA have shown that, regardless of current day ethnic origin, we all have originated from the same “seed”. Only our ego’s would prevent us from realizing that none of us can escape the challenges we all face without first finding a way to collaborate to achieve mutually beneficial peace and prosperity: That is well beyond the scope of any suggested candidate for Secretary of State sponsored in this thread because whomever would be selected will be caught between the proverbial rock and the hardplace also known as intransigent, myopic, Republicans and Democrats which, it appears to be our fate, we have chosen to send back to Washington for another futile round of posturing and money grubbing …. but that’s just my personal opinion of course. Thank goodness for free speech.

          8. Abdallah Al-Hakim

            Thanks Peter for the response. I appreciate you taking the time to clarify the previous article. The Arab region of the gulf despite their wealth is still backwards in many ways. Unfortunately oil has been a curse for that region rather than a blessing. In fact one of the countries most resistant and opposed to the Arab spring is Saudi Arabia because they hate and fear change. I remain optimistic for the future but the change will come from places such as Egypt.

          9. Peter Beddows

            Thank you Abdallah: I agree with you.Just saw, on CNN, that Morsy and the new constitution is getting peaceful support in Egypt today so perhaps your optimism is justified for at least that country’s future. I hope so.BTW: Pleased to make a connection with you.

          10. JLM

            .Actually the notion of wandering from oasis to oasis with camels and tents sounds delightful to me.Where do I sign up?My only real concern is the quality of the Internet service..

          11. Abdallah Al-Hakim

            There is a booming business for westerners doing desert safaris in Egypt and Jordan!! I don’t think the interent will be part of it though πŸ™‚

          12. Dave W Baldwin

            Remember former Sec State Rice was working a promotion towards Democracy in the region which was going to take time.

          13. JLM

            .It is a great American failing to suggest that the alternative to every despot is a Thomas Jefferson democracy loving patriot.In every instance in the Middle East, it is simply the bunch of shitheads who came in second v the bunch of shitheads who won.Where we wander off the game board is the supposition that regional peace — a measurable commodity like rainfall — can only be achieved by a freely elected democratic government.Egypt was a stable country which provided protection of Israel’s western flank, a good trading partner and a stable regime. Democratic? Hell no. But stable.When the rockets fly — BTW how many rockets would land in YOUR hometown before you would get irked? — nobody cares whether you have freedom of speech. You want to be safe.We have now unleashed the genie in the entire Middle East and that toothpaste is not going back into that tube. Ever..

          14. Dave W Baldwin

            My comment to Peter, who is fun to talk with, had to do with Condi working with the leaders in Mid East. That had nothing to do with peace at any price, but instead utilizing patience. Don’t blame her for Arab Spring.

          15. FlavioGomes

            A mess that needs to happen. Disruption is never painless. And there exists a strong opposition to the current political regime from within the populace that gives hope against the dooms day scenario. Understand the youth culture of these countries is to understand the future.

          16. Abdallah Al-Hakim

            As an Arab-Canadian, I strongly believe that the Arab spring will turn out to be one of the most important and great turning points in modern Arab’s history. The region has been stagnant and backwards for the last 60 years while the rest of the world has moved on. For instance: Egypt had a higher or equal GDP to South Korea in the 1950s and look where the two countries are now. I am optimistic that the people of the region will figure it out. Also, I think you overestimate how much influence the US had managing the course of events for the Arab spring. The US like everyone else was completely caught off guard and could not do much other than watch. The one exception was Libya where it was the Europeans who were the major driving political force but needed the US military’s leadership. It might sound cliche but a democratic Arab world will be an important step in bringing ‘true’ stability to the region and beyond.

          17. Peter Beddows

            @abdallahalhakim:disqus, you make some excellent points here but the idea of a democratic Arab world, something that – I believe – the western world has been attemping to foster for at least the past century, is most unlikley to ever be accomplished given the very nature of the makeup of the regional environment and its people.For example, Iranians literally hate Iraquis and vice versa. Sunnis and Shiites cannot peacefully coexist never mind also co-exist with Christians and/or Jews. At least in western society, for the most part, Baptists do not go and physically attack Lutherans nor do Catholics physically attack Church of England followers even when they disagree with each other’s doctrines – which they often do quite fervently in speechifying and print.In general, there is a much greater tolerance for differences of opinion, of faith, of beliefs and of ways of life in western society as a whole which is just one of the reasons that people like yourself, myself, your family and my family can not only safely come to America and make a very good life for your selves but also find a generous welcome from most of your neighbours and colleagues. Having achieved a Ph.D in Biochemistry is a tremendous accomplishment and I am very pleased for you. BTW: I am also an immigrant here – albeit from the UK – and have also enjoyed such benefits though not the Ph.D. per se. πŸ™‚

          18. ShanaC

            Christians did used to go attack each other. Now they barely know the theological differences between different branches of christianity.

          19. Peter Beddows

            True that but not recently in the western civilized world.Back to the days of, and before, Henry VIII in particular when he split from the Catholic Church to get a divorce. His two daughters, older Mary, who became Queen of the Scots was Catholic while younger Elizabeth – who became Elizabeth Ist – was of her father’s new church Church of England faith and Elizabeth did battle with Mary though not directly in person and that was really about rights to the English throne although there was a strong push to avoid having a catholic back on the throne.After declaring separation, Cromwell, Henry’s “cable-guy”, launched attacks on Catholics throughout the country. The Farmhouse where my cousins grew up and where I spent every available school holiday hour, was built around that time and, to this day, has what was called a “Priest’s Hole” built into it – a secret room where the priest could be hidden if Cromwell’s soldiers came by looking for Catholics. Meanwhile, Europe had its own inter-faith battles from the time of the reformation in Europe but all long ago now. I suppose you could also include the days of The Crusades when English Kings would mount battles into places as far afield as Palestine.

          20. Abdallah Al-Hakim

            There are certainly tensions and problems between the different religious group in the Arab world and some of it were exasperated by the dictatorial regimes to their benefit (good example is Syria). However, the Arab world demographic with over 50% of the population under the age of 30 do represent hope. Most of these people whether they are Sunni, Shia or Christian have grown up in the age of the internet and connectivity with others online is independent of religion. Also, Women entrepreneurs are rising in the Arab world (they still have a long way to go) but that is another important part of the society that is critical fo the economic prosperity of the region. The caveat for the youth opportunity is the need to create the economic conditions for entrepreneurship to flourish and result in jobs. There are some very exciting things happening in the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Cairo, Alexandria, Beirut, Dubai, Amman, et… – Here is a link to an excellent 6-part series of posts by Chris Schoreder about entrepreneurs in the Middle East http://pandodaily.com/2012/

          21. ShanaC

            How do you think GDP growth will affect the Arab Spring in the future

          22. Abdallah Al-Hakim

            The Arab countries need to improve and create jobs for the youth or the region will be in troube for a long time to come. I read somewhere that 150 million jobs need to be created by 2020 to employ the large youthful population. Having said that, my sense from talking with people there is that no one is waiting for the government to create jobs and they are taking an entrepreneurial appraoch to solving the problems in health, education, entertainment, etc.. while creating small businesses that can hopefully scale. A big reason for the youth inspiration are the startups they hear about in the US!! Here is a link that I am reposting with a series of 6 articles about entrepreneurship in the Middle East http://pandodaily.com/2012/

      2. JLM

        .Everything that Al Qaeda had in A’stan has been reconstituted in Iraq — closer to the smoldering remains of Iraq, Libya, Syria, Gaza.The inferno has not yet even begun..

        1. Peter Beddows

          If ever there was an ominous prophetic observation – aside from the Mayan Calendar prediction which is amusing but unreal – @JLM:disqus has surely stated it and I agree.

        2. ShanaC

          who are you hearing that from?

    2. ErikSchwartz

      11/27/12 Baghdad (CNN) — At least 29 people were killed and 126 wounded Tuesday in eight car bombings in Iraq.In the first string of attacks, at least four people were killed and 41 others wounded when three car bombs exploded in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday morning, Kirkuk police officials told CNN.

  22. awaldstein

    Don’t know…But I once heard Clinton say that with foreign policy we just stumble forward and every day we wake up and the middle east hasn’t exploded is a good one.A master he was.

  23. ShanaC

    Move Genakowski. He will know and understand a lot of the details behind cyber warfare, which I think the next few years is going to be an increasingly important part of issues State will deal with.

  24. anon

    rob delaney

  25. Rick Mason

    Just flashed on JLM telling a foreign leader, ‘you can’t handle the truth’. Maybe he would be a better Secretary of Defense.

    1. JLM

      .Haha, one of the greatest scenes in American film. Saw it just two days ago — Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise. He apparently did 40 takes of that scene and EVERY ONE was a keeper.I would only accept Secretary of OFFENSE..

      1. Carl Rahn Griffith

        Awesome film. Chilling moment and so true.β€œIn times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ~ George Orwell.

        1. JLM

          .Funny thing I knew a few Colonels who actually could have been Col Jessup. Good men all..

    2. fredwilson

      ha!

  26. Eliot Pierce

    Tom Friedman

  27. DaveGoulden

    Bill Gates. Already focused on making a difference around the world. Understands how to work on the root cause of issues. Plus, will diffuse all that Middle Eastern angst with his geeky (squeeky) voice.

    1. LE

      He’s out to pasture totally. If he wasn’t he wouldn’t have given up on running Microsoft. Other than health reasons (a possibility with Gates definitely) you don’t find many business people who wake up in the morning and decide they want to leave the business world in their 50’s anymore than you find successful attorneys leave law or physicians leave medicine or tenured Ivy league professors or federal judges. School teachers otoh with tenure they get out as soon as they can from that rewarding career.

      1. DaveGoulden

        We’ve got a great tradition of “out to pasture” people turning to public service starting with Ben Franklin as Sec State. Bill Gates is definitely an outlier in terms of career. You don’t find too many business leaders who dropped out of Harvard at 18 or 19 and went on to become the richest guy in town.

        1. LE

          Helps to have a grandfather who was governor of the state where you live and more importantly a mother who sat on the board of the Red Cross with John Opel the chairman of IBM.

          1. DaveGoulden

            I’m no MSFT fanboy to be defending Gates, but he’d probably be the first to admit that a significant amount of good fortune played a role in his fortune. That’s another reason its admirable what he’s doing with his and Buffet’s cash these days.

      2. FlavioGomes

        Successful people can change their minds on occasion. And the attorneys physicians you speak of aren’t remotely close to Gates’ league….

  28. Aaron Klein

    Fred’s approach speaks volumes. He’s playing against type. Put a hardliner in a position where he has to make peace, and Nixon can go to China.Let’s be clear: it’s going to be hard to top Hillary. She has been a great Secretary of State for our country, even when she didn’t agree with administration policy.I do find it humorous that some Democrats are claiming racism is behind the Republicans’ questions about Susan Rice. Because clearly, we don’t like African-American Secretaries of State.

    1. andyswan

      Agree on HIllary.Everything is race to the Left. Well that or gender. Or bedroom habits. Little-boxes for everyone….some targets more equal than others.

      1. Aaron Klein

        It’s sad.

      2. FlavioGomes

        It’s funny…never fully grasped the race dynamic as an outsider…..character seems the better metric.

      3. Kirsten Lambertsen

        everything? that’s a bit sweeping, isn’t it?

        1. andyswan

          Within rounding error

    2. Dave Pinsen

      Especially African American Secretaries of State named Rice.

    3. Brandon Burns

      The GOP is responsible for 2 of 2 black Secs. of State.Nevertheless, the GOP is still the party that openly supports policies that are perceived by many to be discriminatory against immigrants, gays and women. As such, people will always pull the discrimination card on you guys, whether its about race or not, and whether its fair or not. #thatslife

      1. JLM

        .The Republicans made some world class blunders — my favorite being “self deportation”. I often self-report myself for speeding when driving on the Interstate. I am sure you do also.Self-deportation, really?The voting bloc of young folks is not an intransigent phenomenon, it is real and it is only going to grow. They are not going to be lead by old rich white guys. These guys are their Daddies and they don’t dig their Daddies. Sorry.They will speak a different language until everyone speaks the same language.Single women are distinctly different from married women. Married women are predictable, single women are not. They are slaves to the whim of fashion even if the fashion is free condoms.The Republicans are going to have to learn how to pander and not throw up as they do it. The Republicans are terrible liars.Having said that, the Republicans are way more inclusive than they are given credit for going all the way back to LIncoln..

        1. FlavioGomes

          “Republicans way more inclusive….”as a centrist I agree with that. Met many common sense repubs in my time.

        2. Brandon Burns

          “The Republicans are way more inclusive than they are given credit for.”True; on a 10 point scale, a 3 is probably more accurate than the 1 the GOP gets in the court of public opinion!

        3. Kirsten Lambertsen

          Please tell me you were kidding:”Single women are distinctly different from married women. Married women are predictable, single women are not. They are slaves to the whim of fashion even if the fashion is free condoms.”

          1. Anne Libby

            It’s a bit more nuanced, @JLM:disqus!

        4. ShanaC

          I’m single – and I don’t vote according to fashion

      2. Aaron Klein

        Which is utter BS. #thatstruth

    4. awaldstein

      Yes that Hilary did a great job.Living a few blocks from where the towers were hit, the idea of safety carries some special bite.I worry by nature. That has not been one of mine over the last years.

  29. Brandon Burns

    Kid Mercury.But seriously, I’m with the GOP on John Kerry. I think the international community will take him more seriously than the under-the-radar Susan Rice. But you never know, Condi Rice was also a political unknown who ended up gaining much respect.Either way, Hillary 2016!

    1. fredwilson

      Kid for Sec of State! what a brilliant idea

    2. JLM

      Sec Rice was on GHWB’s NSC as the Russia expert when the Soviet Union was imploding. Big spot in the orchestra.She was also GWB’s NSC Advisor during his first term.She was a player for a long, long time before she got to sing solo..

  30. Tom Labus

    Senator Jim Webb from Virginia.

    1. fredwilson

      nice call

  31. Dave Pinsen

    I nominate The Last Psychiatrist. Because he was more astute about the Middle East than Bush, Obama, Hillary, etc. See this post of his from back in March, 2011, during the peak of Arab Spring optimism: “3 Media Narratives About The Middle East You Should Defend Against”.

  32. Tom Hughes

    Michael Bloomberg. He fixed New York (well, he got it in the best shape possible given the time available), one of the world’s most diverse and intractable cities; he is not impressed by power or wealth; he thinks clearly about complicated problems; he accepts partial solutions and compromises when he has to, but doesn’t deal from weakness. And although it shouldn’t matter, the fact that he’s Jewish will armor the U.S. against attacks of being anti-Semitic when we force the government of Israel to accept and actually implement a two-state solution.

    1. William Mougayar

      That would be a great choice actually….IF he wants it.

    2. LE

      Qualifications are only one thing (and not sure of his knowledge in foreign affairs anyway). Most importantly, Bloomberg isn’t diplomatic enough.

      1. Tom Hughes

        It would, for sure, be playing against type; I agree with you there. He’s not a diplomat But everyone said he would never survive in NYC politics either, because he’s not a politician.Being Secretary of State is a bit like being a multi-billionaire mayor: you have to be prepared, at certain times, to go outside the system that everyone else is working inside, and use the “unfair” advantage of being the richest guy / most powerful country in the game. Then everyone else’s game changes, and starts being about how to keep you in the regular game, knowing you could defect from those rules to your own set of rules — could defect, but won’t automatically defect. (I’m using the term ‘defect’ in the game-theoretic sense.)

    3. Tom Labus

      Treasury would be better for him and us.

    4. fredwilson

      he can’t work for anyone else. he’s an entrepreneur!

      1. Carl Rahn Griffith

        Lol, I have discovered (the hard way) that entrepreneurs are unemployable – so, this kind of resonated:http://www.kernelmag.com/yi

      2. William Mougayar

        That’s perfect then! We don’t need a Secretary of State that is influenced by the president or lobbyists. Let him form his own vision and execute on it. He knows what’s good for America as well as he knew what was good for New York.

      3. Tom Hughes

        He sure is, but it’s clearly on his mind, since apparently he proposed the same trade only the other way around: http://www.nytimes.com/2012

  33. MLE

    Richard Lugar: knowledgeable, available, an “elder” statesman already.

    1. fredwilson

      good call

  34. JLM

    .I will only accept the position of Secretary of OFFENSE in a Wilson administration.We will wage extraordinarily violent wars of no more than one week’s duration and if any rebuilding is to be done, it will be done in Newark or Staten Island..

    1. fredwilson

      or breezy point

  35. JLM

    .Huntsman or Kissinger.There is something wildly nostalgic and attractive at seeing Kissinger speak today. If you can stand to listen to his slow and low cadence, the guy is brilliant.The old fox who broke Egypt from the arms of the USSR and thereby delivered a safe left flank for Israel and kept Egypt under wraps for decades.Henry Kissinger had a plan. Today, we do not have a clue.I miss Henry Kissinger..

    1. William Mougayar

      I’m with you & was going to say he was the last great SS of my times. He was machiavellic but effective.

        1. William Mougayar

          Lol. Good one

    2. FlavioGomes

      Slow cadence preferred in fact…I find most wise men speak in that manner…

  36. pointsnfigures

    JLM. Except if we are being realistic, Kerry would be the choice.

  37. David Petersen

    Fred Wilson is the only viable candidate, as far as I’m concerned.

    1. fredwilson

      NFW. i can only say what i think. that disqualifies me for any kind of diplomacy role.

      1. Carl Rahn Griffith

        Sir Les Patterson is a fine example of managing to combine both diplomacy and the truth ;-)http://www.youtube.com/watc…

      2. David Petersen

        Haha.. Perhaps a bit too cynical! I think there is room for truth in politics and diplomacy. Look how much progress Ron Paul has made.

  38. Carl Rahn Griffith

    Makes one wonder about the pros/cons of a yin/yang style of company culture and its leadership – or is it better when the ‘leaders’ have the same synergies/empathy?Maybe a blog idea – when I have recovered from my last posting a couple of days ago. My wife kindly suggested I make my next one somewhat shorter, lol.Now, there is a great yin/yang example – us!

  39. BillMcNeely

    Ok first observation. This community is a pretty educated sophiscated and world traveled lot and at best the group knew less than 10 viable candidates for this important post and the issues the candidate will be facing. Remember the Secretary of State is in line to assume the Presidency (Remember the Reagan Shooting fiasco? ) Second observation. The group seemed to come up with a pretty good candidate profile. The Secretary of State needs to be a tough individual, a counter weight to the President’s political views , speaks 2 business launguages fluently, a well worn passport with several used ones as keepsakes in a shoe box, advanced degrees are a must, (Ph.Ds prefered) a strong personal brand especially if you are female ( sorry in the Middle East this is a must, otherwise more China- Clinton incidents will become the norm) and knowledge of Russia, China, Asia, the Middle East and Europe are expected on day 1.

    1. JLM

      .Excellent analysis. Well played.Kissinger or Condi..

  40. Donna Brewington White

    What a versatile crowd in terms of what will be consumed as “fun.” I vote @JLM:disqus too.

  41. fredwilson

    i read them

  42. fredwilson

    πŸ™‚