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I’ll tell where this goes back to. Earlier this week...there was a meeting at the White House, and the CDC experts who showed up....did a dismal and really screwed up conference meeting with President Obama. Some said one thing,some said something else. This two-hour meeting turned into a literal mess, based on news commentary. The President got all huffy and discouraged because not only is the national agenda screwed up....but this meeting-and-talking stuff is screwed up.

So he hired a guy to run the meetings....pure and simple. That’s it. That guy will hustle all the players other than the President to some meeting points, practice a dry-run prior to the President meeting, and the results will be one simple message at the meeting, which the President will be all happy and smiles about. End of story.

Remember, the czar has no authority over the CDC, any national or health-related agency, or the US military mission in Africa. No authority. If he’d been approved by the Senate, and a cabinet officer, it’d be different....but he has zero authority over anyone, that’s the gimmick positive of Czars. They merely occupy office space and write notes....that’s it.

This Czar? I doubt if any network will invite him to talk other than NBC. He’s worthless and what he says....is worthless. But, as a meeting coordinator....he’s five-star because the White House meetings will function correctly now. That’s the value gained.

In a way I think it is the unspecified, amorphous nature of the position which vests power. Press reports say that Klain will report directly to the president which carries always the ominous likelihood that the man with the president's ear acts as his spokesman, especially behind closed doors where it counts.

Consider the career of Harry Hopkins under Franklin Roosevelt, the immense scope of his power and its generally unspecified nature. Roosevelt liked it that way and I suspect Obama does as well so that he can play Klain off against Susan Rice (to whom he is also to report) and other apparatchiks and send messages through one or the other to various federal agencies and players for which Obama is not personally accountable.

I think it will depend on the force of personalities and who can win the infighting. One thing is very clear, Klain is not weak in the ego department and one might expect to see blood on the carpet in the Oval Office as well as in our hospital rooms.

“But, as a meeting coordinator....he’s five-star”

Yep, and even MORE meetings with even LESS action resulting from all of the meetings gives the impression that things are happening when in fact nothing is happening but meetings.

The big benefit of course is that no actual decisions have to made and no action need be taken. Action, of course, is dangerous because it might not be the best action, and thus exposes the decision maker to criticism. Best to simply make no decisions and take no action, which reduces the chances for criticism. Been there and done that (or at least had it done to me). Meanwhile Rome is being burned down by Ebola.