Hillary will be the Secretary of State, it seems. A few posts down, I reminded readers that the SOS position was robbed of its usual significance and power during the Nixon administration, when national security adviser Henry Kissinger began running foreign policy, shunting aside William Rogers.

The Kissinger of the Obama administration will be Marine General Jim Jones, who is poised to become Obama's new national security adviser. (There was previously some talk of Jones taking the veep position.) This piece makes clear that Jones is demanding as much power as possible, so I don't think that my Kissinger/Rogers reference is wide of the mark.

Yeah, I know: Jim Jones. You may as well get your Kool-Aid jokes out of the way right now, although a better use of your time would be to check the man's resume.

Following his retirement from the military, General Jones became president of the Institute for 21st Century Energy[3], an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce[8] and chair of the board of directors of the Atlantic Council of the United States.[9] He also served as chair of the Independent Commission on Security Forces of Iraq, sponsored by the Atlantic Council of the United States.[10]

General Jones joined the Board of Directors of the Boeing Corporation on June 21, 2007. He serves on the company's Audit and Finance Committees. [11]

On May 28, 2008, General Jones was elected to the board of directors of Chevron Corporation. [12][13]

Diplomatic roles

Jones was asked twice by Condoleezza Rice to be Deputy Secretary of State after the resignation of Robert Zoelick. He declined.

Here's more about the Atlantic Council, which is the epicenter of Yankeeness, as Carl Oglesby defined the term. Surprisingly, the Council does not yet have a prominent place in the lore of paranoid theorists. That will change. (Start here.) On the Council, Jones works closely with -- but of course! -- Brent Scowcroft.

Plus ça change...