Dog Whistling

Posted December 10, 2008

Politicians like dog metaphors. They reject an argument with "that dog won't hunt" and dismiss one with "I got no dog in that fight". Enemies have canine ancestry (at least on their mother's side). When they create a crisis
to deflect criticism, they "wag the dog" (after the DeNiro film about a
President who goes to war to distract attention from a sex-scandal).
And politicians who skewer adversaries without naming them, are said to "dog
whistle".

This week, Obama has been dog whistling and the effect is almost artistic. Those who listen in on political frequencies saw him all but bitch-slap Paul Wolfowitz and Don Rumsfeld
without mentioning their names. He signaled that he is as serious about science and alternative energy as he is about health care. And he let his Commerce Department nominee know that it is time for a long overdue apology.

Watch closely – this is high order political craftsmanship.

Shinseki
On Pearl Harbor Day Obama nominated a
Japanese-American general with a Purple Heart to run the VA. The choice of Eric Shinseki was inspired – and once again, almost nobody saw it coming.

Shinseki is the four star general who was publicly trashed by Deputy
Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a man not worthy of carrying
Shinseki's briefcase. Shinseki is a careful warrior — a man who was
wounded in combat in Vietnam and became America's first Asian-American
four star general. As Chief of Staff of the US Army, he hated Defense
Secretary Don Rumsfeld — a man he perceived as ideological, not
practical. Shinseki testified before Congress that we needed a force "of several hundred thousand" in
Iraq to maintain order and control a fractious
population. Military leaders and scholars
universally believe that Shinseki was right and Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz were
wrong and that the consequences of these errors were grievous. When
Shinseki would not comply, the Bushies forced him to resign. The appointment of Shinseki repudiates them utterly without bothering to say so.

Chu
Tonight Obama did
it again. The media are reporting that he will name Nobel Prize winning Physicist Steven Chu to be
to serve as Secretary of Energy. This appointment may be even more astonishing
than Shinseki. Nobel Prize winning scientists do not often lower themselves to the task of running federal agencies and most, unlike Chu, would not be good at it.

First, local pride. If confirmed Chu would be the third currently
active professor nominated by Obama in addition to Larry Summers (to
the National Economic Council) and Christina Romer (to the Council of
Economic Advisers). So it's UC Berkeley 2, Harvard 1 – and yes, we keep score.
UC Berkeley is a national treasure, easily the best public education on
the planet per tax or tuition dollar spent, so we are very proud tonight.

Who is Steven Chu? To start
with, he is one of America's top physicists. Chu won the Nobel Prize
for Physics in 1997 for his research in laser cooling and trapping of
atoms (I'm guessing that cooling traps the little buggers, although I
have no idea how a laser cools anything).

Chu is the highly esteemed director of the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, effectively a large public agency. He is known here for having pushed his scientists to develop technologies
that conserve energy and reduce pollution. He has been the cornerstone of an
unprecedented multi-million dollar Energy Biosciences Institute, funded by UC Berkeley,
British Petroleum, and the University of Illinois. He is on the board of Nvidia, a prominent and innovative technology
company and Chu is a vocal proponent of teaching science, not
creationism.

Chu is an inspired choice for Energy Secretary. His
selection and apparent willingness to serve sends a powerful message
about Obama's alternative Energy agenda. He is exactly the kind of internationally credible scientist
the Bush administration disliked, which is why more than one member of the superstitious right heard the whistle.

Richardson
Although it has been a great week for Asian Americans, many prominent Chinese Americans are not
happy about the nomination of Bill Richardson for Commerce Secretary.
Everyone in Silicon Valley knows why — Richardson made a hash out of the Wen Ho Lee affair.

Refresher: as Bill Clinton's Energy Secretary, Richardson indicted Lee,
a Taiwan-born American scientist who worked for the University of
California at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (effectively part of
the DoE). Lee was charged with stealing US nuclear secrets and passing
them to China, arrested, and held in solitary confinement for several months.

The accusations fell apart, in part because FBI officials lied under oath.
Lee received a $1.6 million settlement from the federal government for
having his name dragged through the mud. On Lee's release from jail,
U.S. District Judge James Parker said,

"I
sincerely apologize to you for the unfair manner in which you were held
in custody by the executive branch. The Departments of Energy and
Justice have embarrassed our entire nation and each of us who is a citizen of it."

Bill Clinton declared himself "troubled" by the way the case was handled, but Richardson has never apologized. Many people believe that his handling of the Wen Ho Lee matter is the main reason that Al Gore did not ask Richardson to be his running mate in 2000.

Chinese Americans, especially in Silicon Valley, are justifiably riled at Richardson. The online petition here
had four thousand signatures against Richardson when friends sent it to me five days ago. Today it has 8,000 signatures — many from serious,
respected scientists and technologists.

Richardson must be confirmed by the Senate Commerce Committee, whose
chairman is Daniel Inouye. Inouye is the third most senior US Senator and the most accomplished Asian-American legislator in US history. He is a Congressional Medal of Honor winner who lost an arm with the legendary 442nd in World War II and is not remotely bashful about exercising his duty to advise and consent to presidential cabinet nominations.

If the online petition has 25,000 signatures on it when Richardson comes before Inouye's committee, Richardson either will apologize for his disgraceful behavior or remain Governor of New Mexico.
Richardson should put the matter behind him as a bad mistake in an
otherwise decent public service career. His model should be Attorney
General designate Eric Holder, who has apologized for his appalling decision to support Clinton's pardon of fugitive financier and
mega-donor Marc Rich.

With the appointment of two Asian Americans of extraordinary and undisputed competence and the prospect of appearing before a third, Bill Richardson may hear a faint, high
pitched whistle suggesting that this would be a very good time to get
that Wen Ho Lee apology behind him.