William Lynn Named To DoD

President-elect Obama has named William J. Lynn to be deputy defense secretary. Lynn certainly seems well qualified for the position – he served as Under Secretary of Defense (comptroller) in the 2nd Clinton term, and the director of program analysis and evaluation in the DoD from 1993 to 1997. Dartmouth educated with a law degree from Cornell, he appears to bring the credentials and record of distinguished service to the position to which he was named.

But what is interesting here is Lynn’s current position – he’s the senior vice president for government relations at Raytheon Co., which is a fancy way of saying that he is a lobbyist. And if memory serves me correctly, candidate Obama vowed that lobbyists and their ilk would never darken his Oval Office doorstep. More to the point, no political appointee would be allowed to work on areas that “directly and substantially” relate to their prior employer for two years in an Obama Administration.

Is there a direct and substantial connection here? You bet – but that doesn't necessarily bother me. Some of the brightest minds in defense, foreign policy and economics have shifted from the public to the private sector and back again when administrations change hands. It is not a Left or a Right thing, it is the nature of Washington.

What bothers me is the double standard by which the Left and the press appear to be viewing this appointment. When it involves someone like Dick Cheney and ties to Halliburton, it's a part of some dark, vast right-wing conspiracy; when it involves an Obama appointment, it is an exception during exceptional times.

If the Left thinks the days of the Washington lobbyist are coming to an end with the election of Obama, they'll need to think again. Seaman First Class Obama is about to go on liberty leave with a $750 billion bankroll in his pocket, and there will be lots of pretty ladies with names like Raytheon and Bechtel who will be eager to help him spend it.