Mere Conversation

Haste is part of the very essence of blogging (at least a lot of it). Unfortunately in my haste on Friday I failed to make a few salient and ever-convincing points. Forgive me. Indeed, I am failing -- and flailing. 

The topic, of course, was -- and is -- the Sestak Offer, an allegedly dastardly deed in which the Obama Administration -- allegedly -- offered Congressman Joe Sestak a "high-profile position" in the administration in exchange for a political favor, namely, that he abandon his pursuit of the Senate seat held by Arlen Specter.

The current White House explanation for this whole story is offered with simplicity -- and one stunning concession. The simplicity is found in the narrative: former President Bill Clinton merely mentioned to Mr. Sestak that the White House was wondering if he'd consider an "uncompensated" advisory role within Mr. Obama's circle of shakers and movers. The genesis of the idea occurred somewhere in the brain of Mr. Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel; it was apparently his idea to enlist his former boss for such an important task as the Sestak query indubitably was.

Others have already pointed out the preposterousness of this narrative. Mr. Clinton is not some lightweight; he's an obvious heavy. Does he really get trundled out to make such a lightweight, unimportant offer to Mr. Sestak? Egads, no.

Moreover, I learned today that the position Mr. Sestak was offered would have required something other than what the administration expected. You see, the current story is that the administration wanted him to keep his seat in the House of Representatives; he could pull double-duty over at the White House "advising" the president, pro bono, on the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (or something similar). However, it turns out that the rules at play would have disqualified Mr. Sestak from serving on the board without giving up his seat in the House.

The stunning concession, by the way, comes in the last paragraph of the White House counsel's statement:

There have been numerous, reported instances in the past when prior Administrations -- both Democratic and Republican, and motivated by the same goals -- discussed alternative paths to service for qualified individuals also considering campaigns for public office. Such discussions are fully consistent with the relevant law and ethical requirements.

In other words -- well, you already know those words.

By the way, one thing is clear: the White House admits it offered Mr. Sestak something.