Alyssa Rosenberg over at the Plank breaks news regarding an important appointment:
President Obama has just made John Berry, the
current director of the National Zoo, the highest-ranking openly gay
appointee ever by tapping him to head the Office of Personnel
Management (pending Congressional approval).
Berry has a record as an activist and will presumably reverse past OPM resistance to provide equal rights for federal employees. Apparently Sen. Lieberman had been a key advocate for such rights but had been stymied by the Bush officials. Good on the Senator.
I was ultimately unimpressed with the handling of the inaugural invocations. However, that's ultimately a symbolic matter. Changing federal policy has a direct impact on the lives of government employees nationwide. This is no panacea but it does show that the President is starting to spend some political capital on this issue which bodes well for the future.
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