A Tower of Eagles

Obama isn't building a "Team of Rivals". He's creating a "Tower of Eagles".

Much has been made lately of the comparison between the premise of Doris Kearnes Goodwin's best-selling book about Abraham Lincoln and the actions of President-Elect Barack Obama as he builds his cabinet. 

I've listened to the other pundits as they postulate that consideration of Hillary Clinton or some other individual constitutes evidence that Barack Obama is building a "Team of Rivals". Many of them suggesting that there is great danger in such an approach.

Serendipitously, at the same time, our blog, Unified Visions, is running a humorous contest asking people to create collective nouns for entities like Sarah Palin supporters and Keith Olbermann fanatics. For those who don't know, a collective noun - also known as a "Term of Venery" - is a term that defines a grouping of things: a gaggle of geese, a murder of crows, etc. In researching this contest I came upon the term for a group of eagles (there are several)and what I think is a far more apt descriptor for the efforts of our President-elect; A "Tower of Eagles".  

I've been uncomfortable with the Team of Rivals concept because it seemed incongruent with the tenor of the Obama campaign and the promise of his presidency which is optimistic and exceedingly aware of the power of words. Further to this point, if I were Hillary Clinton or even a Hillary supporter, I would take umbrage at being referred to as a rival after hundreds of campaign appearances on behalf of Barack Obama. 

Finally, while historically interesting, the notion of a team of rivals is - for the purposes of building a cabinet real-time-now is oxymoronic. Suggesting an approach that is more Machiavellian than merit-based. 

Barack Obama is not building a Team of Rivals, he's building a Tower of Eagles. Setting aside differences, looking beyond politics as usual, to build a cabinet and a team composed of the best and the brightest*.   

Of course there will be some folks from the Clinton administration - after all we had eight years of peace and prosperity, a budget surplus and a diminishing national debt and middle income folks saw their incomes rise by $7,000 a year on average. I'd be a lot more worried about our new President if he DIDN'T have any Clinton folks on board. Let's not forget that the first months of the Bush Presidency were dedicated to trashing all things Clinton and it was all downhill from there.  

Now I'm not silly enough to believe that I can change the lexicons of the tsunami of folks who have adopted the Team of Rivals as the de rigueur lens through which they view the workings of the Obama transition. I am even willing to admit that I was using the term myself before it became the catch phrase of the zeitgeist. But like a piece of ill-fitting clothing the more I used it, the less comfortable it felt. At best, I'm going to continue hoping that those who cling to using the term will at least acknowledge that it fails to fully capture the essence of what is happening and that - in their hearts - Americans will know that what Barack Obama wants ultimately is not a team of rivals who keep their knives hidden, but a tower of eagles with their talons entwined lifting us, together, toward a brighter future.

Wayne King is a recovering politician and publisher. He thinks and speaks from his spot on the porch in Rumney, NH where he proudly flies both the American and Iroquois flags; he blogs from his space in the Blogosphere, Unified Visions:  www.UnifiedVisions.Blogspot.com where he advocates for a post-partisan approach to governing.