I’m not really sure why you don’t understand this basic fact about politics. Anyone who wants to actually accomplish things must “use” people who can help, and discard those what can’t. It’s not much different than managing a baseball team. One uses one’s roster to get the most out of it, to win the most games, not to reward “loyalty” when performance is inadequate.

With Geitner, I think you simply ignore the reality that Obama supports what Geitner has been doing, not just because Geitner reprents some “centrist” constituency, but because he thinks Geitner has the brains and skills to figure this economic mess out and implement a policy that reverses our problems. He’s patient iwth Geitner, and he doesn’t expect a turnaround overnight, but I think his patience and faith in Geitner’s skills (which clearly don’t include press communication) is slowly being rewarded. The bank plan that got slammed massively by the media over the weekend was met with glee by wall street and a huge rally. There’s a sense in financial circles that what Geitner and Summers have been slowly orchestrating for the last two months isn’t a mess at all, but a carefully thought out set of interacting policies and programs which really will help heal the economy and get us out of this mess. Now, things might not turn out that way, it’s way too soon to tell, but Obama’s “loyalty” to Geitner has nothing to do with “centrism” and everything to do with feeling that Geitner and Summers are on the right track, and we just need to be patient with what they’ve worked out, and are continuing to work out.

Needless to say, if Geitner and Summers and Obama do in fact lead the country out of this mess, and the economy recovers as they say it will, there’s going to be a lot of red faces out there, including your own. Even worse, as Rush Limbaugh says, it will effectively be the end of the Republican party. What rationale would they have any more, having bet their entire future on Obama, Geitner, and Summers failing abysmally? What possible rationale will any of these folks have to run against Obama on? Vote for me, I was wrong about everything so far, so chances are I’ll eventually be right?

Really, Republicans have a lot to be afraid of. Either the economy continues to tank, in which case they are screwed like everyone else because the economy is in the tank and they have no idea what to do about it, or the economy recovers, and they are screwed because the economy has recovered, and they are utterly irrelevant on every level.

Pledging “Frienemies” makes for a nice sitcom but not much anywhere else.

Congrats on your graduation, and enjoy the pleasant psychological decompression that comes from same.

Obama has been somewhat proficient in throwing his allies under the bus – Geithner now is increasingly rejected by the same craven establishment which is why Obama’s defense of him is sort of surprising. Geithner brings nothing to the table he is utterly clueless, amazingly incompetent and utterly beholden to the banking establishment. He has completely failed in everything but still gets rewarded with jobs in the IMF and Federal Reserve and now Treasury Secretary.
Obama’s defense of Geithner is baffling precisely because Geithner is no longer considered an asset by Wall Street or Main Street so what does it cost to throw him under the bus? He could pick Summers, who would propose bad solutions but at least look somewhat intelligent and not like a deer in the headlights. And it is not like he lacks talent – He has Volcker locked up somewhere, the only economic advisor who was skeptical of the bailouts and who has some common sense. Vocker is completely establishment but Obama picks the deer in the headlights Geithner and Summers who is one of the guys who is responsible for this mess! This is depressing stuff.