neera

They Were Young Once, Too: Neera Tanden Even in high school, Joe Biden's OMB pick knew the right role models Matt Taibbi Dec 23, 2020 22 16 On February 9, 1968, Secretary of State Dean Rusk blew up at reporters. The Tet Offensive had just kicked off and the press wanted was bent on giving the Johnson administration a hard time, about the whole losing-a-brutal-occupation thing. One reporter asked if Rusk, who’d begun service under Kennedy years before, was “satisfied” with the intelligence on the ground in Vietnam. “One is never satisfied,” he quipped. “But the point is, I don’t see why you have to start from the dissatisfaction. There gets to be a point where the question is, whose side are you on?” “You’re not suggesting…” the reporter began. “During World War II there was never a time when you couldn’t find a reason to bitch at your allies or at intelligence or the commander of the adjoining unit or the quartermaster who wasn’t giving you your toilet seat at the right time,” Rusk went on. “But what do you talk about? Do you talk about how to win this thing? Or do you throw this thing in and say everything is lost?” Rusk wasn’t all bad, but this association with the defense of the Vietnam War would end up high in most of his obituaries later, on, with even the New York Times noting that sixties protesters “reviled” him and frequently shouted things like “Murderer!” in his direction. Rusk earns a mention only because an intrepid citizen of Bedford, Massachusetts recently alerted TK to an item in an old school yearbook. While Bedford High classmates identified themselves by nicknames like Nikki, Rob, and Hambone, and quoted Bob Dylan, The Monkees, Van Halen (and Sammy Hagar), Fleetwood Mac, the Cult, and (of course) the Grateful Dead, Neera Tanden, Class of ‘88 — also known as Joe Biden’s recent controversial pick for the head of the Office of Management and Budget — thought to cite a different role model: There are a number of photos in the public archives, but only one other of note, taken at a mock jail: It’s an odd occurrence when one’s yearbook photos aren’t at least a little cringe, but not many were digging neoliberal icons like Dean Rusk or thinking about how power doesn’t come from “arms alone” in the MTV era. Then again, not so many thought invading Libya and taking its oil was a great idea, either, although Tanden and Donald Trump both disagreed. If you live in a small town and have a yearbook item you’d like to share, please don’t hesitate to write to reportingbytk@gmail.com. 22 16 ← PreviousNext → Write a comment… Jillian R - WisconsinDec 23, 2020 Why is someone's high school yearbook items (or high school anything) something to write about? They're occasionally funny, but otherwise really irrelevant. 1Reply 4 replies Paul RainsDec 28, 2020 Neera pimping for Neoliberal war criminals as a high school student is not only alarming it's a clear message to us all what she's all about since childhood. Neera is the Steve Miller of the Democrats, plain and simple. The comments on here disparaging your reporting on this FACT is not only depressing but also comical in a tragicomedy kinda way. Typical for many US citizens unfortunately Reply 2 replies 14 more comments… © 2021 Matt Taibbi. See privacy, terms and information collection notice Publish on Substack

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