So, I recently posted about Kevin Powell's attempts to sanitize his recent crushing defeat by Ed Towns.  I also commented about the fact that Towns was the leading candidate to become the new Chairman of the uber-powerful House Oversight Committee.

Now, the competition is evaporating right and left:

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/cummings-tells-dem-leaders-he-wont-challenge-towns-2008-11-25.html

And my comment prompted a few responses from other folks here on R8NY.com.

Let me address a few ...

First, Manny, I agree with you 100%.  Our elected officials are accountable to the voters, you know?  You cannot just elect someone, ignore what they do for a year and a half, then come back to b*tch about it later.  We all have lives - work, family, friends - and maybe Ed Towns isn't the first thing on your mind in the morning, or last thing on it before you sleep.  But he is only going to respond to us if we use our voices, and if we let him back in and expect nothing from him, well, then the blame lays with us.

Or, as President Bush so eloquently put it, "There's an old saying ... that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

Second, Mary Alice Walker, yes, I'm feeling pretty confident that this election is probably going to go Brooklyn's way now.  Cummings was the last major competition for the gavel.

And lastly, to my friend "Iguana" who said the following: "It's also telling that slothman8888 seems more fixated on insulting Kevin Powell than saying anything good that Towns has done. Not what I'd call a graceful winner, that slothman. I still don't understand how having Ed Towns close to Obama will benefit Brooklyn, or the US, at all."

Actually, having Towns as chairman is going to be a tremendous benefit for Brooklyn.  Waxman has really raised the profile of the Committee to a National level, and when he leaves, not all of those TV cameras and reporters are going with him.  Plus, you know there is going to be a rash of new investigations into malfeasance in Iraq, corruption, the attorney firings at the Justice Department, etc, etc, etc.

And the Congressman from the BK-10 is going to be running them all.  That is going to give him sway in the Capital.

But more importantly, this is where his relationship with Hillary Clinton is going to be helpful too.

The fact remains that despite all the kum-ba-ya'ing, the Democratic party still faces severe divisions between the Obama and Clinton camps.  That is EXACTLY why she is being given Secretary of State, to help to heal that.

Don't get me wrong: Hillary Clinton is incredibly intelligent and incredibly qualified to be a Cabinet member.  So, this ain't about race or gender.  It is about the sheer fact that Hillary and Barack went through 12+ rounds of serious, bare-knuckle brawling.  And that brawl forced people to choose sides, to pick loyalties in a way which hasn't been easy to forgive.  She may be eminently qualified, but she was still a blood rival, a "monster" as Samantha Power (Obama's top foreign affairs adviser) characterized her.  Nonetheless, Obama has just made Hillary Clinton - the candidate who almost defeated him - the most powerful diplomat in the world??

Why would he do that?  One reason: to bring her into the fold *AND* to draw her loyalists closer to his vest.

That is because the next few years are going to require a united front.  Saving the economy, bringing our troops home, universal health care, educational tax breaks, and undoing 8 years of gradual unraveling of our civil liberties.

To do that, the Democrats are going to need a united front.  The last thing Obama wants is a powerful Senator sniping at him.  And the Second-to-Last thing he'll want is a Clinton-ally sniping at him from the Chairmanship of a very, very Powerful Committee.

To think otherwise fundamentally misunderstands how national politics works.

But, just think if Kevin Powell was our candidate.  The BK-10 would have representation on some House Sub-Committee on farm subsidies ... and a few members of Congress would be missing bite-sized chunks from their legs.