Congratulations to best-selling author Barack Obama (The Audacity of Hope, Dreams from my Father), who was elected last night to the office of President of the United States by an enthusiastic majority. This marks the first time a best-selling author has been elected president since John F. Kennedy, who penned the 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning Profiles in Courage.
We bandied about some names of popular authors to fill the various cabinet positions, which we're offering to President-Elect Obama as part of our national service:
Secretary of State - Thomas L. Friedman
Dept. of Agriculture - Michael Pollan
Dept. of Interior - Rick Bass
Dept. of Commerce - Paul Krugman, fresh off his Nobel honors for economics
Dept. of Justice - Scott Turow
Dept. of Defense - Annie Proulx
Dept. of Labor - Wendell Berry
Dept. of Education - Maya Angelou
Dept. of Energy - Al Gore
Dept. of Transportation - Tony Horwitz or newly naturalized man-of-the-road Richard Grant
Dept. of Health & Human Services - Mehmet C. Oz
Dept. of Treasury - Warren Buffett
Dept. of Homeland Security - we had originally thought Michael Crichton, until we learned today of his untimely passing. Perhaps Stephen King would lend his warped imagination to this task.
Dept. of Veterans Affairs - Tim O'Brien (The Things They Carried)
