Dear Mr. President –
By now, the talking heads in Washington, New York and Boston have chewed to rags Republican candidate Scott Brown’s win of Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat. The reminder that electoral seats belong not to parties, but to the electorate, should be a point well taken. The loss in Massachusetts is not the first time a politician and his/her party have forgotten that there are no “safe” open seats.
I don’t want to talk about Massachusetts and how hilarious I find it for Fox News to be saying “Thank God for Massachusetts”. All politics is local, MA pol Tip O’Neill famously said. It’s also subject to severe and continuing memory loss.
 No, what I want to talk about is your Cabnet, Mr. President. Specifically, the presence in your Cabinet of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. I watched Mr. Geithner’s face last week when you made your stern comments about Wall Street. Frankly, he looked like he was in desperate need of a barf bag.
Mr. Geithner may have been acceptable to Wall Street when you appointed him- support you thought you needed at the time, but he is no longer acceptable to this Democrat and many of us far away from the money mills of Manhattan.
I didn’t understand why you picked him then. I have no idea why you keep him. He should have been the one on the phone to Wall Street bankers screaming obscenities at them for their excessive bonuses and cozy deals. Over the last several months, instead of pounding the podium, he’s been soft selling how Wall Street is vital to us all out here in mainstream America.
If you ask me – and of course, you have not – I would tell you to dump the Wall Street guy and hire plain speaking Dr. Elizabeth Warren. She’s presently serving as chair of the  Congressional Oversight Panel and doing more with it than any chair in my memory.
Dr. Warren, a law professor (like you used to be, remember?) has done the best job of explaining to us lay people out here in flyover land why we got in the trouble we got into and how we can get out. She knows the issue and she’s not afraid to argue on our behalf.
Her Buster Brown haircut and big specs remind me of a high school business teacher. That’s not a slam. That’s a comfort. She looks smart and trustworthy and fair. Her mind is sharp and her resolve to protect the little people sharper.
So, tell Mr. Geithner that he needs to spend more time with his family and send him packing. I’m pretty sure there’s a job waiting for him just a short trip away in NYC.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Your friend,
Mary Potter
PS – and if Larry Summers wants to spend more time with his family, too, that would be a good thing.
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