Czar #1 & #2

1. Aneesh Chopra as the nation's first Chief Technology Officer: The Federal CTO will be an assistant to the President, as well as the Associate Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He will work closely with Vivek Kundra, the recently-named Federal CIO, to develop and implement the President's ambitious technology agenda. It appears that some of the Czars get to go through the motions of being approved by Congress. Chopra was confirmed May 21 by unanimous consent. Everything that I could find about this Tech-Guru has been great. The CTO's priorities will include expanded use of technology to create a more transparent and interactive government. If he does what he says, I would be shocked. I think that this Czar has great intentions. However, I also think he will find that, though Obama preaches that he wants transparency, the meaning of that is far different. And what about this crazy overspending for a re-vamped website? I wonder if he had a hand in this million dollar website cost for recovery.gov??? Probably not. I certainly read some glowing recommendations for Aneesh so for this Czar, I give a thumbs up!

2. Drug Czar: Gil Kerlikowske: known as an innovator and fierce defender of community policing principles that emphasize relationships with citizens over force. He pledged to take a balanced, science-based approach to the job and he wants to focus on reducing the demand for illicit drugs rather than the past focus of stopping the drugs from getting over the border. Now that sounds pretty passive to me. His thought is that if we reform the junkies; demand will be lowered and therefore the supply. (Dream on!)Gil is Seattle's police chief and is credited with bringing the city's crime rate to a 40-year low. I am definitely in favor of that. However, there is one stain on his career in Seattle. During the "Mardi Gras Riots" in 2001, Kerlikowske ordered his officers to stand down after the police donned riot gear and formed lines . The officiers stood by and watched as drunken idiots and criminals had a free-for-all riot. Damage to local businesses exceeded $100,000. 69 people were reported injured and several women were sexually assaulted. A 13 year old child was among the injured. Paramedics were not able to reach some victims due to the lack of police control in the area.One person, Kris Kime, died of injuries sustained during an attempt to assist a woman being brutalized. It is interesting to note that once the police chief gave the "go-ahead" to his men at 2am, the riot was stopped, however the "stand-down" lasted 5 hours. In the end, Gil's comment was, "You're damned if you do and damned if you don't do something." For this Obam Czar I give a thumbs down! (Off work today-using home computer)