| | On the foreign policy team, white guy for secretary of state, white guy for defense secretary, white guy for CIA. For Treasury secretary, white guy. Obama窶冱 replacement as chief of staff 窶 as yet unnamed, but the rumor mill names no one but .窶.窶. white guys.To be clear: I窶况e got nothing against white guys. Some of my best husbands are white guys. White guys get to be secretary of state, too, and John Kerry will be the first in 16 years. But to look at the most important jobs in the government, in 2013, and see such lack of diversity is just so drearily disappointing.Especially because it could easily have been so different. Imagine the tableau of Obama flanked by secretary of state nominee Susan Rice and defense secretary nominee Michﾃｨle Flournoy. That would have been the ultimate you窶况e-come-a- Louis Vuitton Outlet long-way moment.And what would have been so nice about it is it wouldn窶冲 have been a stretch. The gratifying thing about my now-imaginary Rice and Flournoy picks is that they would hav e occurred organically, reflecting the rise of women in the foreign and defense policy establishments.Thinking about Obama窶冱 selections, I had a flashback to the moment in December 1992, when newly elected Bill Clinton exploded in anger over 窶彙ean counters窶 at women窶冱 groups 窶徘laying quota games and math games窶 in lamenting the lack of diversity in his still-evolving Cabinet choices. Clinton had a point. He ended up with what was then the most diverse Cabinet in history. And there is something distasteful and fundamentally demeaning about judging a Cabinet solely by the color of its skin or the composition of Louis Vuitton On line its chromosomes. To make this personal: I believe that I bring something to the task of being an opinion columnist because I am a woman, but I do Borse Louis Vuitton not think I was given the job for this reason. It would be hurtful 窶 in the sense of injured feelings, but also of harmed reputation 窶 if readers were to see a female byline at the top of this column and assume, she got this gig because she窶冱 a woman.And yet, an opinion page with only white-guy columnists 窶 just like an opinion page with only conservatives, or only liberals 窶 would be lacking in the most important diversity: of viewpoints and experiences. This ought to happen in the natural course of events, with writers of both genders displaying the talent 窶 or foolhardiness 窶 to become columnists. But an editorial page editor who found herself, or himself, with a stable of only white, male columnists would be wise to do some reshuffling, and some outreach.The White House will point to women in other Cabinet positions 窶 although one, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, has just announced her resignation 窶 and to women in sub-Cabinet roles. Okay, but State, Defense and Treasury, along with Justice, are the Big Boy jobs. It matters if some of those boys are girls. It sends a disturbing signal when they窶决e not.Read more from Ruth Marcus窶冱 archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her Louis Vuitton Outlet updates on Facebook. Read more on this issue:The Post窶冱 View: Flournoy would be a superior choice for DefenseRuth Marcus: Obama treated Susan Rice badlyKathleen Parker: Obama窶冱 woman problemSusan Rice: I made the right call
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